DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Any "Home Made/Home Brewed" Wine or Beer Enthusiasts?

Used to make home made wine. Merlot. Nothing fresh-fruit wise. I'd buy the grape juice and do the yeast, fermentation, etc in a large carboy as per the instrucions.

Would like to try home brewing a "Light Beer".

Any home beer brewers? If so, any trials and tribulations? Successes? Disasters?

Anyone have the recipe for Bud Light?

I tried to make wine once and ended up with salad dressing. My brother-in-law made some home-brewed beer once. It was potent, but awful and my sister's whole house smelled like feet. Buy some Bud Light and take up bread baking would be my advice.

What Dave said.

Maybe 20 years ago a friend and I made some home brew over a few years.

The stuff we produced tasted good enough as we stuck to proven recipes, and used quality ingredients, but in the end we figured it was costing us way more in cost, not to mention the cost in labor to produce.

A labor of love just became labor. Drinking a beer is supposed to be enjoyable. We decided that sitting at the bar, drinking a few draws off the tap, laughing about our days as "Brewers" was time better spent.

I used to brew all the time, back in the 90s. I also did some small batch (3 gallon) brewing a few years ago - surprisingly that was much harder than the full 6 gallon carboy.

I brewed Ales only - mostly Pale Ale, IPA, and Stout - though I brewed a few reds and blond ales. I never did any lagering. If you want to do a Bud Light style beer (pilsner) somewhat traditional, you'll need more equipment (like a fridge) because lager yeasts work at lower temperatures than ales. Or you can make it with Ale yeast - it won't be as crisp, but I'd bet there's a strain of Ale yeast that would get you close.

I didn't keep any recipes, so I can't share those with you, but I know that there are a ton available online if you don't mind a little time googling.

I used to make beer, and it was pretty good...but I just haven't found the time to do it since I've had kids.

To ride peen's train of thought a little further... depending on where you live there might be a large homebrew scene. This can range from groups meeting in garages to people trying to set up their own small commercial operations. As someone that's already set with hobbies, I've found that supporting the guys that are trying to make a go of it left me much more satisfied than trying (and probably failing) myself.

I occasionally make my own ginger beer (non-alcoholic); mostly when the Aldi brand stuff isn't available. I'm thinking of planting a couple of sassafras and birch trees to make my own root beer.

Anyone ever try to make spruce beer? Did you know every part of a spruce tree is edible?