Anyone brewed at Deja Brew?

My son and I have brewed there a few times. We love the place.
After the initial investment of bottles (unless you happen to have 72 bombers yourself), the prices are decent.
It's only extract brewing with specialty grains, but you do get to crush the grains and measure everything out yourself.
Not a true "home brew" compared to those who use all grain set ups, measure for attenuation, etc, but fun nonetheless.
Have you been yet, or considering going?

 

None.

 

I haven't been but excellent brews can be made with extract don't count it out. It's a great way to get started brewing less time, lower equipment start up cost. If you enjoy it making the move to all grain is easy

 

My Dad goes there every once in a while to brew beer. I try to meet him there to help out if I'm available. Really cool place...well worth checking out for any beer fan. They have binders full of recipes that you can choose from (you might be able to bring your own recipes...although I'm not %100 sure) and some of their recipes are quite tasty. They almost always have some beer to sample while you're working on your own brew. Prices are reasonable, once you get all the bottles and/or kegs to put your beer in once you're done that is. The staff is knowledgeable and has done well to answer any questions that me or my Dad might have.

 

the "samples' are the best part. Basically, after you bottle your beer there, it is customary to leave one or two behind in their fridge for others to sample. While you are brewing or bottling, you can "sample" as much as you'd like.

Also, bring food. People order pizza's, bring chips or other snacks to eat and/or share with others, or just eat for yourself.

 

I have done several 'guest brew' sessions at Deja as a professional brewer. Love these guys! Definitely give it a shot. You get 6 cases of your own beer per batch and you don't have to clean up your kitchen before dinner. A nice way to get started in brewing.

To answer the question above about extract being used by breweries. None is not technically true at all. The brewery on Block Island uses extract as do other breweries for bigger beers to increase the gravity without using corn or cane sugar. It certainly is a small amount of breweries I am sure, and I have never used extract, but I know it exists.

 

I'm new to homebrewing (as in, there's an unopened Mr. Beer kit in my dining room) but I'm arrogant. Not arrogant so much as just eager to do stuff on my own. Deja Brew sounds cool and I've thought about checking it out, but I'm worried it's like a cooking show where everything is measured out for you, recipes are exact, and essentially all I'm doing is combining preset ingredients to make rack beers. If that's the case, I'd rather just buy something in the store. Are there any "variables" in doing it this way, or would my X recipe beer taste the same in theory to someone else's X recipe beer?

Not for nothing, I'm new to the posting area of the site (been reading forever) so I don't think I can post in the beer trades forum for 30 days, but I go to Burlington, VT and Portland, ME all the time for work. If there's anything special you guys have been looking for from those areas, let me know and I'll try to help you out. I think the trading restriction is for shipping trades...mods, if I'm wrong, my apologies and feel free to delete this post and I'll wait the 30 days.

 

You crush the grains that you measured out yourself. You also weight out the hops and add them at the appropriate times. Its not like homebrewing in your kitchen or garage with a propane tank under a 5 gallon pot. There are enough recipes that you can pretty much make what you want and if you want, you can even make some minor substitutions with your recipe (switch out some fuggles hops with tetnanger, etc).

So yeah, its quite foolproof and you can't mess up, but what amounts to about $2 or $3 a bomber, its a great price.

 

The question was " How many commercial craft brews are made with extract and not whole grain." Not if commercial brewers use extract at all.

 

I've brewed three or four times there. It's a great time. You have someone helping you but you do have some leeway in your process and ingredients. Have pizza delivered, watch football, have a beer and make beer. What could be better?

 

Pretty definitive statement. Any comment on these pro brewers discussing their extract systems?
http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?19023-Commercial-Extract-Brewers

 

The answer was, in essence, saying that there are commercial breweries using them, but he doesn't know exactly how many or how many beers they collectively make.

Yes, extract brewers are by far the minority in the professional brewing word, but they do certainly exist. I read an article in Brew Your Own or Zymurgy a couple years ago about pros who use extract, and they talked to several brewers. Like I said, it's not common but it does exist.

 

Boy was I wrong.
Notes to self:
Google is your friend.
Don't post on the forums after a 15 hour workday and two beers.

 

I've brewed there twice (actually, my profile picture is from there!). I was worried that it would also be something like "here's the ingredients, watch what we do" but it's not that way at all.

Yes, you can bring your own recipes, but they have binders full of them in all different styles
Yes, you get to mill your own grain, pour your own extracts, do the full thing end to end except when they take over to put the wort into their storage containers/pitch the yeast as they are careful about sanitation
Yes, there is a pretty good pizza place in the same strip mall as these guys, and you can bring your food back.

The owners are great, knowledgeable and helpful. The others that work there are great too!

PROS:
- Get to try your hand at a partial grain brew
- Get to work very 'hands on' with the whole process
- Get to pick whatever style/recipe you want
- Get to come back in 2 weeks and bottle using their bottle sanitizer, filler station, etc
- Get to grab a sub/pizza and eat while you're counting down your boil
- They have a fridge full of beers for you to drink while you're brewing, plus one on draft

CONS:
- Cost of bottles (keep your bottles and use your own); I will say that they had a better price on bottles than going to a homebrew store and bringing them in
- You miss some of the stuff that happens in the 2 weeks from when you get done brewing and come back 2 weeks later to bottle (this could be a PRO for some though)

PRO TIP:
- Sign up for their 'half batch' night -- it's once a month and there are 5 or 6 different recipes brewed and you get 6 bottles of each (+ need to buy bottles if you didn't bring your own). Plus, you get to meet a bunch of similar minded people and have a few beers with them -- really great fun
- Ask for the 'tour' -- they showed us where they keep all the fermenting beers, the cooler, etc. and explained the whole process that happens in the 2 weeks you've left your beer (and they showed us where they keep the wine, etc.)

I would totally recommend this place to anyone.

 

Bringing this up to ask: Anyone who HAS brewed here...do you think they pitch enough yeast? I know most often they suggest the liquid yeast to pitch right after the wort has cooled, instead of the default dry yeast... But is one vial enough for 15 gallons?

I do know that they ALSO pitch a dry packet of yeast after it begins fermentation (was told by one of the guys working there) but after reading the homebrewing forum here, it really seems like it is still WAY underpitched.

Anyone else with their thoughts on this?

 

I hate reading this kind of post. Homebrewing should be fun and as a hobby it's possible to do as simply or as complex as you like. Whether intended or not in my opinion it provides a disincentive for anyone considering trying when you make a statement like the above.

I'd much rather direct someone to a place like this or incredibrew in NH to try the process without investing in equipment and being able to rely on the expertise of the staff. Places like this are in the business of helping you make a beer and as such are uniquely qualified to help you get a good result. If they weren't they'd be out of business quickly.

Advocating for better beer also includes encouraging people to try homebrewing. Save the "expert level" commentary for the circle of all grain diehards. Having judged BJCP competitions for years I can tell you that there are more than enough regional and national winning home brewers that have and continue to use extract. Great beer comes down to technique and quality ingredients. Not simply going all grain.

 

Negativety wasn't my intention. I love the place and I only made that comment for anyone who thinks they would be doing an all grain set up. I have no problem with extract brewing. I think you misread my post, or I worded it poorly, probably a combination of both.