Hello Everyone,
I just joined at the Apprentice level, and I'm excited. I've done a few extract brews in the past, then I became an apartment dweller and had to stop due to space constrictions and such, the club seems like the perfect thing for me. So, I figure I'll share my opinions, goals, and what I'm hoping to learn here so I can get pointed in the right direction:
I'm not a fan of over-hopped IPAs, I guess I'm just tired of them.
I love german beers, I'm always amazed by the consistent perfection of the Weihenstephaner Brewery, love everything they do, the clarity, the head and lacing, the deliciousness…it gets me every time!
Marzens and Maibocks are my favorite styles.
I really want to learn about full grain brewing, having only brewed extract in the past. Sparging, infusion vs. decoction, mash tuns, it's a whole new world and I'm eager to learn.
Also interested in learning about lagering.
A few random related things, I can get a yeast starter going and bake one hell of a loaf of bread, also, I've made ginger beer with left over yeast from baking bread, turned out pretty good.
I'm looking to do my first brew possibly in 3 or 4 weeks got a race, my birthday, and my in-laws visiting all packed in the next few weekends. Saturdays are my best days, my wife works saturdays and I don't so I can hang out in the brew house and help out, learn stuff, and brew. Week days are usually bad because I work long hours and often times late in to the night, it's unpredictable, so I don't want to schedule something and get trapped at work.
So there you have it, I look forward to meeting you all, making some new friends, learning a lot, and sharing my knowledge and beer experiences.
Joe
After walking over to Revolution and having a few of their Maibocks, a few questions came to mind which I'll assemble in list format for ease of reply:
1. If I'm going all grain, what would be a good recipe to get my feet wet with, I'd like to choose asap so I can start studying.
2. What will I need for my first brew, a fermenter, grain, and yeast, anything else, my own sanitizer maybe?
3. Should I get something like Beersmith? is that a worthy investment?
4. Are there any other like-minded souls in the club, fans of the german beers?
5. Who should I consult about supervising my first brew?
6. What's the parking situation?
I think that's it for now. Thanks.
Joe,
First, welcome! Glad you're here. I'm certainly not an expert at all of this, but I thought I'd share my thoughts and I'm sure several others will also chime in.
1. Given your love of german beers, I would do one of those, possibly a wheat. My first all grain was a porter and it worked out, there's a ton of styles that would be decent.
2. We have everything that you need aside from what you mentioned above. You need your ingredients and a fermenter (plus airlock). If you have some of your own sanitizer great, but we keep star san, oxyclean, and PBW at the brewhouse.
3. There's some people at the brewhouse that use it, and some that don't. I think that pretty much everyone has a way to handle their recipes, from BrewSmith, to a phone app, to Excel. Lots of people do you it though, so if you do have any questions there's plenty of people that can help. I'd suggest that you do something to help with your calculations.
4. I'm a big fan of Belgians, but I do also enjoy a lot of German beers.
5. As you're an apprentice, what you'll need to do is look on the calendar for when people of the Brewer (NOT intro level) or Alchemist level are brewing. These people have 24/7 access to the brew house and know the code. You need to make sure that your brew time is covered by people with this access. If there's a time that you do want to brew, post in our Brewhouse Schedule forum and see if someone can help you out.
6. If you look on the "About > The Brewhouse" page you'll find a map at the bottom that shows some places where you can park (the green lines) relative to the brewhouse.
Oh... my... god. Why haven't we done this? http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...
Hey thanks,
I like the Belgians quite a bit too. I like the banana esters in St. Bernardus abt 12 a lot, and look forward to exploring Belgian styles as well. I was thinking a blueberry lambic might be nice experiment once those come in to season. Looking at brewing a Kolsch to get started, seems like a good one to start with. Looks like I'll have some time to stop by the brew house on the 25th for sure to introduce myself and say hello to whomever's around. I don't live too far from the Brew and Grow, is that a good place to get grain?
Hi Joe,
First, welcome to the club! Brew and Grow is a good place to get grain. Plus, CHAOS members receive 10% off of ingredients with our club card. The club also does group grain buys, which is super cheap becaue you buy in bulk. (You may have noticed a discussion started for an upcoming grain buy on the forum.)
Hey Joe! I know your brother David! Welcome to the club. Schedule a brew time anytime on the future and I'm sure one of the brewer level memebers or higher will be able to help you out. I would check out the upcoming classes as I think there is an intro to all-grain coming up.
If you want to craft your brew, we do have beer smith on a computer at the brew house. I would also recommend you get a copy for yourself. You can then bring your recpies to the house incase there are any adjustments you need to make.
Welcome to CHAOS and I look forward to brewing woth you in the near future. Oh, and get David to join up too!!!
Conrad