I know it's a strange topic to bring up on a website full of ultra healthy people but I manage to brew beer, drink beer, and be healthy all at the same time.

Just brewed an AMAZING batch of pumpkin ale for October. Seriously ten times better than anything I've tried from the store and 8% alc from what I calculated!

Anybody else brew? If nobody does you should seriously try it. cheap and delicious.

I know it's a strange topic to bring up on a website full of ultra healthy people but I manage to brew beer, drink beer, and be healthy all at the same time.

Just brewed an AMAZING batch of pumpkin ale for October. Seriously ten times better than anything I've tried from the store and 8% alc from what I calculated!

Anybody else brew? If nobody does you should seriously try it. cheap and delicious.

I've given it a whirl. Had some success and some failures hehe. I'll definately do it again once I am more settled down and buy more equipment.

I tried it once with a store bought kit and it was undrinkable. I think that really I didn't follow directions properly. It was very alcoholic and flat as hell.

I didn't try again because I've in the past had a real problem keeping alcohol in the house: If it's there I drink it. I'm better now, so I may try again.

What do you recommend for a total newb to try? I detest dark heavy beers. Maybe I don't deserve to try home brew but I like the pale ales and I will happily drink anything from a bud light to a heineken, but I don't like thick heavy crap, which seems to be the favourite beers of real beer connoisseurs.

Also, is it much cheaper than store bought?
Secondly, don't I need a hot room to let it sit in for a while? I think that my garage would be awesome for this in the summer, but in the winter I can't keep the entire house at 90!

I've never home brewed beer...I'm too lazy to do all that work for something I would just drink once a week on my alcohol allowed cheat day.
That pumpkin ale sounds awesome!

I do have a kegerator in my garage, It's been Guinness for the longest while (which I love, ummm...Sorry Skoorb), but I am thinking of swapping out for some Heffenweizen when this keg of Guinness is tapped out.

As for health & beer intertwined in one lifestyle...everything in moderation and it's all good...

I've been brewing for nearly two years now. Unfortunately, I rarely drink the stuff I brew anymore due to it not fitting in my diet and with what I think is a low tolerance to tyramine.

Regardless, I enjoy the process and my friends enjoy the results at parties, get togethers, football games, etc.

:tu:

I've been brewing for nearly two years now. Unfortunately, I rarely drink the stuff I brew anymore due to it not fitting in my diet and with what I think is a low tolerance to tyramine.

Regardless, I enjoy the process and my friends enjoy the results at parties, get togethers, football games, etc.

:tu:What is that? Irecall reading a while ago about how some people are really prone to hangovers. I know that I am! I have been only roaring drunk once in the past several years, because I just can't handle lots of liqour anymore. It just ruins me the next day.

What do you recommend for a total newb to try? I detest dark heavy beers. Maybe I don't deserve to try home brew but I like the pale ales and I will happily drink anything from a bud light to a heineken, but I don't like thick heavy crap, which seems to be the favourite beers of real beer connoisseurs.

Also, is it much cheaper than store bought?
Secondly, don't I need a hot room to let it sit in for a while? I think that my garage would be awesome for this in the summer, but in the winter I can't keep the entire house at 90!

A nice easy beginner beer I'd probably go for, and one I like to brew semi-often in different variations is a fairly light wheat ale. When you go for ingredients lighter colored stuff is always easier to make taste right. Make a wheat beer with lightly roasted grains (not dark "chocolate grains"). Less roasting means less bitter compounds being formed. Also, use light malt extract rather than dark. The same principle applies with the malt as with the grains. Also, use a recipe with very little hops added and that will make it more drinkable like a bud or a heineken. I'd say 1 oz hops per 5 gallons of beer is best for most people to be able to drink nice n easy. If you bought a cheap beer brewing book I'm sure they would tell you exactly what sort of beer is good for beginners. I'm the same way really. I don't like the dark stuff as much and when I do brew a dark batch, it definitely stays in the fridge for MUCH longer than when I brew lighter stuff.

As far as cost goes, I figure most recipes to be between 50 cents to a dollar a 12 oz beer. The recipes get more expensive when you add crazy stuff like honey or fruit.

For temperature, Ales ferment at between 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit while lagers ferment at 35 to 40 or so. I just keep the fermenter in a spare room in the dark. I put a stick-on thermometer on the side of the bucket (like you put on a fishtank) to watch the temperature to make sure its in the range. I've never made a lager because my mini-fridge won't hold my 6.5 gallon fermenter and my roommates wouldn't go for taking all the shelves out of the big fridge and devoting it to beer only. I wouldn't want that either but I would LOVE to make a lager sometime. Maybe this fall when the temp starts falling I'll try to ferment a lager outdoors. I'm just afraid it would freeze though.

About a year ago, I noticed that I started having problems consuming ANY amount of beer. Sometimes after having only one beer, within two hours I would get a horrible headache and could feel my blood pressure pounding in my neck and head.

For a long time, I had no idea what could be causing it, so I pretty much just had to stop drinking beer. I'm not much of a liquor or wine drinker, but I noticed that liquor did not seem to have the same effect.

Recently, I heard mention of tyramine being a substance that can increase blood pressure and trigger headaches particularly in those susceptible to migraines, which I am. I started doing some research on the subject, and it seems to be a pretty good fit to my symptoms.

Tyramine is found in higher concentrations in bottle-conditioned beers, due to the long yeast contact time. I had made quite a shift from American macrobrews to foreign and domestic microbrews (which are often bottle conditioned) about the time I started having the symptoms. Tyramine is also found in a lot of soy-based products, which I was consuming a decent amount of at the time.

I rarely drink at all now, mostly due to the fact that it seems to have a huge detrimental affect on me while cutting, but also because of the headaches / blood presssure.

It was very alcoholic and flat as hell.
Did you try to drink it right after fermentation or did you bottle it and add more sugar so that it would bottle condition (self-carbonate)?

I used to brew my own beer. My first batch came out awesomely. It was really good. My second and third batch just plain sucked ass. They were pretty much undrinkable. In my second batch I put too much sugar in the bottles for carbonation, so every bottle I opened was like Mt. St Helens erupting. It was pretty funny actually. Anyway, after making those crappy batches, I just got fed up, because you have to wait so long for the beer to ferment. It's a big let down to wait that long in anticipation of drinking some good beer and when it sucks it's just a huge disappointment. I wouldn't mind trying it again though. I had fun doing it.

I've always wanted to try making my own wine. Anyone try that? I've always wondered if you have to use fresh grown grapes for that or can you use store bought grapes? Is there a difference in the grapes?

I've always wanted to try making my own wine. Anyone try that? I've always wondered if you have to use fresh grown grapes for that or can you use store bought grapes? Is there a difference in the grapes?
I've never tried but at the homebrew supply store I go to (Modern Brewer in Cambridge Mass if anybody is in the boston area) they sell concentrated grape extract. Supposedly it's easier than brewing beer...I've heard. Then again, I've heard that from people who brew beer so it's probably a bit biased. I think if you wanted to use your own or store bought grapes you would need A LOT of grapes.

Oh yeah !

Started about 10 years ago when I lived in Seattle. (it's almost a religion over there :D )

I'm a stout or porter kinda guy.

Maybe we could swap some finished products ??

I like to have it for the holidays, so I'll probably brew up some this month.

Usually do about 10 gallons at a time. That used to be a 1 month supply, but since JSF, it'll be around a lot longer.

Did you try to drink it right after fermentation or did you bottle it and add more sugar so that it would bottle condition (self-carbonate)?I can't remmeber exactly now. i think that I tried to drink it as soon as I could, loosely following the instructions :)

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My dad makes wine a lot, and has been for years. He has used fresh grapes, blueberries, and crab apples. I hate wine so I can't say if it was good, but I presume that it must be ok :) It never seemed terribly hard to do, although I recall his crab apple batch he complained about.

Almost done brewing a nice stout. I feel like stouts are the most "forgiving" when it comes to doing it right or wrong.

Almost done brewing a nice stout. I feel like stouts are the most "forgiving" when it comes to doing it right or wrong.That's cause they're so damn nasty anyway :D

Heheh I thought I was the only brewer around here. :)

I brew 2 or 3 times a month, but I've a hardcore group that buys just about everything I make. Someday when my wife is out of school I'm going to get my official brewmaster license and work in one of the local breweries.

Next invention - zero calorie protein beer.