Any home brewers here?

[ekengland07]

Well if you need anyone to bounce ideas off of, let me know. I have a little knowledge and some friends with far more than me. But if/when you do it, please write about it. I'm definitely interested in hearing how it turns out.

[shunoshi]

Originally Posted by ekengland07

Nice! Do you cook the rhubarb? If so, how long/how hot? My 5 gallon MLT is a converted water cooler. Works great for most things, and I think cost me like $30.

Yeah, my 2 gallon is a water cooler as well.

I didn't cook the rhubarb at all. We'll see if that comes back to bite me or not. I washed it, froze it, and thawed it. Then I chopped it up and let it soak in little water for a few days with a some CaCO3 to try and cut down on the oxalic acid. I then strained the fruit and used the remaining juice as the base for all three batches.

All three batches are 1 gallon test batches (this is my first time using rhubarb). I just wanted to try a few recipes to see if any were to my liking before doing a massive harvest next spring for a big batch.

[ekengland07]

Originally Posted by shunoshi

Yeah, my 2 gallon is a water cooler as well.

I didn't cook the rhubarb at all. We'll see if that comes back to bite me or not. I washed it, froze it, and thawed it. Then I chopped it up and let it soak in little water for a few days with a some CaCO3 to try and cut down on the oxalic acid. I then strained the fruit and used the remaining juice as the base for all three batches.

All three batches are 1 gallon test batches (this is my first time using rhubarb). I just wanted to try a few recipes to see if any were to my liking before doing a massive harvest next spring for a big batch.

Excellent. I'm a bit test batch guy myself. Working on a 20%+ ABV beer. Trying to get everything ready before doing it. We'll see.

[Depa]

Wow, when I first saw this I thought you were talking about software.

I once made several batches of mead. It tastes terrible.

I could pull the recipe if you like, if anything, it's easy to make.

[ekengland07]

Originally Posted by Depa

Wow, when I first saw this I thought you were talking about software.

I once made several batches of mead. It tastes terrible.

I could pull the recipe if you like, if anything, it's easy to make.

LOL Thanks for the offer, but I'll stick to my recipe. It's really easy too and drinkable quick.

[Herf N Turf]

While I no longer brew, I've brewed hundreds of batches in the past. A few tricks I learned:

It's all about speed. Dropping your wort temp as fast as you can is crucial. Get it <70 as qickly as possible. Use a copper-coil immersion chiller and stir. I could drop my temp in 15min.

Never use dry yeast from a brew store. Befriend a brewmeister at your local brew pub. Ask him for "slurry". There are millions of times more yeast in an oz of slurry than in a case of dry packets. Not only that, but they are pissed off! This will get you into a royaling ferment in a matter of hours, as opposed to days for propogated yeast. Be sure you take a sterile jar in a plastic bag with you. This will tell the brewmeister that you know what youre doing and that your container isn't going to infect his room. He will like you even better if you have iodine solution in the jar when you hand it to him. He will rinse it for you.

STERILIZATION is KEY. Never use chlorine. It takes 20min for chlorine to do anything and hours of rinsing to get it off. Sterilize everything you can get into it, in the dishwasher. For the stuff you cant, use reagent iodine. Iodine is harmless to injest in small quantities, works on contact, and is easily removed in one rinse. Do your bottles in the dishwasher and siphon and cap next to that. Keep your caps in a dilution of iodine and remove as you cap. Never use dishwasher detergent, as it contains chlorine. Instead, a few drops of reagent iodine will hedge your bets against any waterborn bacteria.

Before you drink, allow beer to rest in the freezer for about 20min. Cold causes rapid precipitation of any remaining sediment and leaves you a very hard deposit in the bottom. Your beer will be as crystal clear as any commercial/filtered product. I also hit it with Irish Moss in order to promote sedimentation. I could literally invert a 20oz Newcastle bottle to decant to a pitcher and never disturb the sediment layer! Always decant if possible and never pour a partial bottle.

Taste your grains. I used to go into the brew store and literally blend my beers on the spot. I few grains of black, a few grains of chocolate, a few pale... chew them up and create your recipe.

Never use pellet hops. Get a bag and go for the buds.

Hope this helps.