Homebrew

[acoustix]

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2: Use different sweeteners at different times for different tastes. In winter, my father used Maple Syrup and it came out awesome. Conversly, he would use honey in the summer.

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Interesting. The honey beers I've made have really been more winter beers. One thing about doing this though, be careful about adding additional sugars. Add too much sugar, whether honey, malt, fruit, etc. and you'll bump the alcohol too much and it may get a bit harsh tasting....not that you'll mind after drinking one.

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Oh yeah, never too much sugar. I think in a 5 gallon drum, we'd use about a bottle of maple syrup. It's interesting how good you get at doing this though. My father would taste it as he went along, and if it needed more sugar, he would add it as he went along. I don't know if that's really what you should be doing, but it always came out perfect. It was cool too, because when you add more sugar late like that, you can actually see it bubble as soon as the syrup hits the liquid.

I still have all of the equipment, but haven't done it in years. I think I may dust it off now.

[Gunny Highway]

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Oh yeah, never too much sugar. I think in a 5 gallon drum, we'd use about a bottle of maple syrup. It's interesting how good you get at doing this though. My father would taste it as he went along, and if it needed more sugar, he would add it as he went along. I don't know if that's really what you should be doing, but it always came out perfect. It was cool too, because when you add more sugar late like that, you can actually see it bubble as soon as the syrup hits the liquid.

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Adding the sugar late is sometimes good because it doesn't completely ferment and allows you to taste the syrup, fruit or whatever. But you have to be carefull because it will then still be fermenting when you bottle and you've increased your possibility of your bottles blowing their caps.

[poincaraux]

Nice writeup. Buying a wort chiller before your first batch was brilliant. I'd suggest buying a siphon starter next.

[JPinAZ]

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anywho, I don't brew b/c its cheaper, I brew b/c it's kind of a fun hobby and it's a bit of a novelty to have your own beer.

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Anyone who tells you it's cheaper to homebrew is either a liar or doesn't homebrew. If you just want to drink to get wasted, stay with Budmilloors.

To the OP & others interested in homebrewing, here are a few other resources.

www.howtobrew.com - John Palmer's excellent book on line. You can order a paper copy also
www.northernbrewer.com - great store & they have very good forums as well
www.morebeer.com - great store
www.brewery.org - one of the biggest online homebrewing resources avaialble
www.beertools.com - very handy recipe calculator. If you get a membership (it's only like $10/year) you can store recipes online. That comes in handy when you get to your LHBS for ingredients & forget to take your recipe. Not that that's ever happened to me. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Edit: I forgot to include the Homebrew Digest at www.hbd.org This is an email list (there are forums as well) that's been around since the early 90s. Lots of very knowlegeable people from all over the world.