I wish I had room for a setup like that! My kitchen stove can BARELY boil the amount of wort I collect for my 5 gallon batches.
I looked for the article, which used to be online, but it isn't available anymore. It was around 1996. It definitely made the "all grain", (all day), brewing days worth it. I also did my bottle & keg cleaning on those days in the deep sink right next to the kettle. Of course there was racking and fermentation vessels to clean as well. I was really into it. But shortly after I accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of my life I decided I didn't want alcohol to be a part of my life anymore. Not that there is anything wrong with the responsible consumption of alcohol, I just felt I needed to take a 100 % break from it so that it would not be a stumbling block for me.
Just put a batch of Apfelwein in the fermenter. Very simple recipe. 5 gallons of apple juice, 2 pounds of dextrose and 1 packet of wine yeast. While it looks like a recipe for hooch, but it is a traditional German hard cider.
homebrew Just don't brew it where it is to hot or you will think that someone is shooting a shot gun at you. that is what happen to my mom and stepdad. Yellowwolf
Really depending on how hard you want to get into it, probably $50-100, leaning more toward the $100 range I'd say. I couldn't find a really good site that has the kit, but here is one that will give you an idea. I started out with the same "True Brew" kit. You can order beer ingredient kits which are considered extract recipes. These kits come with malt extract (dry or liquid). These kits are really easy to follow, and pretty much impossible to screw up. Add the malt extract to the boil and youre good to go. Of course, like any "hobby", it can quickly get expensive. I switched over to All Grain after my first extract batch. All grain requires mashing enough grain to be able to extract fermentable sugars in what is called the wort. In extract recipes, this step has already been done for you. Mashing however requires more equipment, such as the ability to boil larger volumes of water (speed burner), a mash tun (converted cooler), a sparge system (how you extract the wort from the spent grain), and a wort chiller. I probably missed a few key points, so ask if I left anything out.
Homebrew I do have a book on how to make white lighting. I have to dig it out of a box, if I can find the box it is in. Still going through the job of unpacking, and getting stuff together for a basement sell. Yellowwolf
A good bit harder, depending on how high gravity you want it to be. The thing with higher alcohol beers is that there has to be more fermentable sugars in the initial wort. This either means buying a kit that gives you more extract, or mashing more grains. Malt extract is pretty expensive, so going over 7% ABV might get pricey. I just made an all grain IPA that turned out to be around 5.9% (it was supposed to be more toward 6.5).
so let's just say I've bought all the initial equipment I need to brew and what not... how much is it going to cost to brew a nice, high 9-12%abv beer?
Check out this page on Northernbrewer.com. This page is all of the high gravity kits. Make sure you order the extract version. They dont say what the actual ABV will be, but they all say the OG (original gravity before fermantation) will be at least 1.060 which will make roughly around a 7% ish beer. The highest gravity one on the list is the Double IPA with a OG around 1.090. Im guessing that might give you around 11% ABV. That extract kit costs $42.
Oh, and it would be a great idea to check out howtobrew.com. Its a little in depth and wordy, but it really tells you everything you need to know before you start your first batch.
Captain America, You will find a lot of great info here.. http://forums.moreflavor.com/ and at their home site http://morebeer.com/ for supplies, etc. Take a look at this piece of hardware, talk about ADs! http://morebeer.com/view_product/15198/102323 this guy has a wild set up too http://www.nhbrewers.com/mdf/index.html http://forums.moreflavor.com/viewtopic.php?t=22330&sid=4f64083e35022737ad1fdeb32fee4368 http://s59.photobucket.com/albums/g309/BelgianBrewer/?action=view¤t=DSCN3021.jpg These guys have pumps, chillers, electronic timers.. It's scary. and not entirely necessary... They typically brew 10 gal batches at a time once or twice a week. thats a lot of beer. :: A batch of beer (if 5 gal) will depend on your use of ingredients, and if you are all grain or malt, etc. May I suggest you go with a regular-ish brew of 4-6% for your first one? Higher alcohol brews are finicky, IMHO, and are a little less forgiving. Plus, higher gravity beers (ones that finish to higher alcohol levels) take much longer to finish. You could be waiting for six months for that bad boy to "cure". Just my opinion here. Enjoy yourself. You will find more friends than you ever knew you had! Dang it, I love home brewing. And sure wished I could right now. perfect weather for it..
