Is this harder than winemaking? What kind of hops should I buy?

[LJPelletier]

I think I want to make some beer... looked online for some hops, and there's so many different kinds, with different acid levels... do I want a low acid level or a high acid level? Is that what determines how bitter the beer turns out?

 

[Dougxox]

I would suggest to do a kit or two for a first try. with hopps the higher the IBU (International Bittering Unit) the more Hoppy it will be. A Bud light uses a low IBU ( or acid #) where is Heinekin uses a higher IBU hopps. Other things to concider with hops, is some are used for bittering and others are used for arimatic or the smell. the hopps may be the same, its just when you cook them in your wort. For instance, you may start out with Cascade at the begining of cooking your wort, then after 15 min you add Hallertau, then in the last 5 min of cooking your wort add Golding.This will give you different flavor and aromas to your beer. this is why I recomend a kit first then get a few books and look at the recipies and see how they differ. Good luck


I need spell checker on here..lol

 

[Wade E]

When starting off I too recommend starting off with kits and they dont have to be premade. Decide what kind of beer you want and most shops can custom make a kit for you withn ingreients they have in store. After that youll wan to follow some recipes and there are tons out there\. There are also many books like Clone brews which is actually written by a shop owner minutes away from my house that have lots of these clone recipes in there.

 

[mmadmikes1]

There is a great beer brewing store in Bellingham, if you would like to go. I will get you directions
I have brewed 6 batches now and none were from kits.
I through the first one out but since then they disappear fast than the wine I make. It is not hard. Brewers just pretend it is to make themselves feel better than a winemaker. BTW the Brewer at North Fork Brewery drank 6 glasses out of my last keg and said it was real good. ? does anyone no where to get some Amarillo Hops. I cant find any more and all the local shops are out

 

[LJPelletier]

There is a great beer brewing store in Bellingham, if you would like to go. I will get you directions
I have brewed 6 batches now and none were from kits.
I through the first one out but since then they disappear fast than the wine I make. It is not hard. Brewers just pretend it is to make themselves feel better than a winemaker. BTW the Brewer at North Fork Brewery drank 6 glasses out of my last keg and said it was real good. ? does anyone no where to get some Amarillo Hops. I cant find any more and all the local shops are out

You can get anything online

http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/Amarillo-Hops-(US)-%2d-1oz.-Whole.html

 

[LJPelletier]

I think I'd better slow down and make sure I have everything first. I'm already making a bunch of wine and skeeter pee and don't have enough wine bottles lol I will collect some bottles, then get just the right ingredients (hopefully! lol) and make my perfect beer

 

[Geronimo]

"Extract" beer is like making wine, but you still need to boil to get the hops right. The volume of liquid boiling (6-7 gallons) is a daunting task for most people. When using extract, the kits usually include specialty grains that are steeped. Do this very gently in accordance with the instructions. Do not squeeze the grain bag after steeping to get the rest of the liquid out... you get some huskiness and tannic bite if you do. You want all the bittering and tannins from the hops, not the grain. Pay careful attention to the hop schedule during the boil, a 10 minute addition is completely different than a 60 minute addition (measured in minutes of time spent boiling). IMO, wine making is (so far) at least 10 times easier. I've made over a thousand gallons of beer over the years, and many times come up with excellent beers... however it's not that easy to be really consistent.

 

[LJPelletier]

Thank you for the input Geronimo