The newest of newbies

[Hayzer]

Hello all! I am new to brewing (BrewDemon gift this Christmas from wife) and new to BeerBorg. I have wanted to "attempt" a batch for a very long time and this BrewDemon has been a great way to get me introduced.
I live in north Misery, some of you outsiders might call it Missouri. There seems to be a wealth of information on this forum and I am eager to learn as much as my brain can retain. Oh look, a squirrel.

Hayzer

[Kealia]

Welcome! We all started the same way and are happy to help move you along as needed.
You will have questions, no matter how experienced you get so don't hesitate to ask away.

And don't forget to post pics when you pour your first brew!



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[Dawg LB Steve]

Welcome to the Borg, Hayzer! We almost all started with Mr Beer or BrewDemon kits, there is a wealth of info from your fellow brewers here, all levels of experience all for your brain to be picking. Please ask if you have any questions we're all here for the same outcome good home brewed beer.

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[berryman]

Welcome to The Borg I like your introduction and you will fit right in. Ask questions as needed and tell about how things are going.
Good Luck and Happy Brewing

[Hayzer]

Thank you! One quick question, so I can either stop thinking about it, or move forward with it. How difficult would it be to create a recipe using only self-grown ingredients, perhaps other than yeast? I do have a background in Horticulture/Turfgrass Management so growing things has not been difficult for me. However, being "new to brew" I am not sure what all is needed.

[Beer-lord]

Howdie Hayzer and welcome to the Borg.

[berryman]

Thank you! One quick question, so I can either stop thinking about it, or move forward with it. How difficult would it be to create a recipe using only self-grown ingredients, perhaps other than yeast? I do have a background in Horticulture/Turfgrass Management so growing things has not been difficult for me. However, being "new to brew" I am not sure what all is needed.

Good question and I as a farmer have thought on this. Not impossible to do but would be very hard to do and to do a good job on the kind of beer we like now days. the biggest problem would be to malt your grains after harvest. You can grow some of your own hops and not that hard to do, a lot of us here grow some hops to use in our home made brews. The grain part wouldn't be as easy.....

[HerbMeowing]

How difficult would it be to create a recipe using only self-grown ingredients, perhaps other than yeast?

Basic ingredients for brewing beer
- Water (non-chlorinated)
- Malted barley (tricky on a small scale but not impossible)
- Hops (some varieties do better than others in the Midwest climate)
- Yeast (can be cultured and cultivated; however ... most people don't)

Maybe you can grow some of your own hops.

Welcome to the obsession!

[BlackDuck]

Welcome to the Borg. I remember my Christmas present years ago that got me into brewing. Little did I know what my wife was getting me into. But I now have beer whenever I want it. You will too soon!!!

[bpgreen]

Welcome.

As others have noted, you can use homegrown ingredients. A number of us grow our own hops and some of us give away or trade rhizomes in the spring.

Hops are easy to grow. I live in Utah, and we get almost no rain. Some years, when I've traveled a lot, I didn't even water them, but still got some hops.

Grains are another story. Growing them isn't the problem. Malting them is.

The Professor (he hasn't been active lately) has successfully malted a number of grains. I've tried malting wheat a couple of times (The Costco near me has wheat in 45 lb buckets that are a perfect size for fermenting 5 gallon batches when they're empty). I haven't been successful in my malting efforts. I decided it was far easier to simply buy malted two row from my LHBS. You can always use something like two row in conjunction with unmalted grains, since the two row will convert the starches in the unsalted grains (as long as you use enough two row). That would allow you to use some homegrown grains in the process. It's possible to malt your own, and you can find information on how to do it, but when I tried it, I just wasted time and wheat.

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

Welcome to the OBSESSION, Hayser! Glad to "see" another midwesterner in here.

Anyway, I have recently (like really recently....as of last Tuesday) gotten back into brewing after a 2 year hiatus. I started on a MrBeer kit back in 2012 and the old timers in this forum (including me) are all refugees from that one. They are all knowledgeable and will answer any question, any time. (Just as long as you don't ask about throwing 6 pounds of sugar into an extract brew to make the ABV higher. on your 2nd batch....LOL)

So I'd say that as a sparkling new brewer, you may want to take a look at this: http://www.howtobrew.com/ That is the first edition and it's been updated (my hardcopy of 4th Edition and you can get one off Amazon.com). Remember 2 things.......TIME is your friend as a homebrewer and there is no such thing as over-sanitization!!

[Wings_Fan_In_KC]

You can always use something like two row in conjunction with unmalted grains, since the two row will convert the starches in the unsalted grains (as long as you use enough two row).

Excellent point, BP since 2-row pale malt should easily convert up to 50% of its own weight in unmalted grain. Some beer styles use that like Belgian Wit, which typically is based on 60% pale malt and 40% unmalted wheat give or take.

[bpgreen]

You can always use something like two row in conjunction with unmalted grains, since the two row will convert the starches in the unsalted grains (as long as you use enough two row).

Excellent point, BP since 2-row pale malt should easily convert up to 50% of its own weight in unmalted grain. Some beer styles capitalize on that like Belgian Wit, which typically is based on 60% pale malt and 40% unmalted wheat.

I'll often do partial mash batches where the mash is equal weight two row and raw wheat. I probably let it convert a little longer (I swim and shop while it's in the cooler), but it works for me.

[Hayzer]

How difficult would it be to create a recipe using only self-grown ingredients, perhaps other than yeast?

- Water (non-chlorinated)

What if this water was from a spring on my property? Would you boil and go, or go further and distill this spring water? I drink it and have not had the scoots yet.

[bpgreen]

How difficult would it be to create a recipe using only self-grown ingredients, perhaps other than yeast?

- Water (non-chlorinated)

What if this water was from a spring on my property? Would you boil and go, or go further and distill this spring water? I drink it and have not had the scoots yet.

Does it taste good? If so, it will probably make good beer.

The chemical composition of the water used in brewing does affect the final product. I've never gotten into that aspect, but others have. Check out @screwybrewer for more info on this.