Farm beer

"My goal is to make fairly good, or decent beer as simply as possible and for as little as possible." And yet people are recommending wort chillers and fermentation chambers. While he hasn't specifically stated that he wants to do spontaneously fermented beers he mentions the possibility of using sourdough yeast which is very close to being in that realm. The "wild" styles of beer also aren't aren't as reliant on controlled fermentation temps which would help keep things simple. The only real downside would be the extended fermentation time needed.

OP: Here's a link with more info, there's a lot more out there as well! http://www.brewery.org/brewery/library/LmbicJL0696.html

 

Except that he apparently didn't know sourdough yeast would make a sour beer.

And that says "Lambic" to you? Okay.

 

I am slightly confused as to why a simple book suggestion is so offensive to you as you didn't seem to feel the same way about any of the other book recommendations. Or, for that matter, the insistence of many that he NEEDS to control fermentation temps, chill the wort quickly, etc... None of which is cheap. It makes your ire at recommending a ~$15 book seem somewhat silly. The point is to give him information and expand his options so he can figure out what he wants to do. It's not much of a stretch to think that someone who ferments his own food and has an interest in brewing a beer with ingredients cultivated by his own hand could also be interested in spontaneous fermentation with the bugs found naturally on his own farm.

But I'm obviously wrong and therefore bow to your internet expertise...

@Thamnophis if you have any interest in reading Wild Brews or Farmhouse Ales I would happily lend them to you. They're both very interesting if only for the history.

Edit: Me can't spell gud.

 

I'm not offended. And if you read the whole thread, you'll see that I felt the recommendation for Farmhouse Ales was also missing the point.

Ah. I see your confusion. I didn't object to those bits of advice, because I agree with them. And fermentation temperature control and wort chilling don't have to be very expensive.

I'm not angry. I just think your advice missed the point of the questions.

 

Ice also helps a bit and its still pretty standoffish

 

I see where you had good intentions, but I'll be the roughneck here, and say this..

The guy wants to make cheap homemade hooch at the house, and would like to use what he has on hand, "farm beer" if you will in it's most elegant terms.. He hasn't gotten the process down of making good beer yet, or apparent by his questions, doesn't have the knowledge yet, and thats why he came here asking.

I get where you went with the whole wild ale thing, using homemade stuff, using nature, and his own ingredients.

Point is.. it's probably a bit over his head since a simple pale ale, is probably over his head at this moment too. People were offering suggestions to making a good clean beer, which can be done on the cheap. Cheap being the difference of opinions.

I think the idea is cool, but it's probably best left for him to find what he likes and just go with it.

 

The lacto will survive if it takes hold of the wort after the boil.. It wouldn't be a lambic I'd say, but maybe someone would consider it one. Just a wild ale, that will be sour of course.

 

65F is so last week. All the cool kids are doing 64F now. I saw it on facebook, so it must be true.

 

I don't do facebook. I'm not that interested in what others are doing, and that stuff is for college kids anyways.

The guy is gonna ferment the "beer" at whatever temp it is, whatever day he makes it.

 

Well you know the internet is often referred to as the "truth machine." I saw it on fox news.

 

Almanac makes a sourdough beer that's pretty decent, just go for it and see what happens! There are a ton of great online resources out there and homebrewtalk.com is probably a better home brew forum to look for info on as there's just more of it there.

It seems as though many fail to remember that in the ~10,000 year history of beer it has only been "clean" for a little over a hundred years.

 

By providing more sources of information was I not doing just that? Making a wild/sour/lambic style ale isn't more difficult than doing a straight pale (hell, it's probably easier with a little knowledge), it just takes some more time in most cases.

 

Great post, nails the most important concepts of homebrewing, in my opinion.

 

Wow, I guess I missed this thread when it was started a few months ago, but it was a really good read. The best part about it is that it is showcasing exactly what the hobby of homebrewing should be, by which I mean make it however YOU want. You can spend as little or as much money and spend as little or as much time reading and learning and being scientific in your approach. What matters in the end, though, is that you are enjoying whatever process you use, and enjoy drinking whatever your final product ends up being. I pretty much fall right in the middle of this. I try to learn when I can, and enjoy reading books about brewing for the most part, but some of the material I'm just not interested enough in to really absorb it and incorporate it into my brewing. I really like the idea of making a beer completely from ingredients i've grown personally, and would really like to make this a goal to do at some point in my life, but I'm sure that would require a lot of reading I might not want to do haha. But to the OP, I say rock on with your farm beer, I hope it turns out great, and you have a good time making/drinking it. I'm going to look forward to seeing updates about this thread and seeing how it all turns out.

 

I have to agree 100% with jono0101. I've always liked beer but it wasn't until a few months ago after attending EBF, NERAX at Aeronaut, Montbeerlier and most recently ACBF that I knew I wanted to finally brew my own. Also in the middle of "Proof: The Science of Booze" by Adam Rogers which is pretty good so far.

I'm brand new here but this thread is exactly what I want this to be about and it makes me happy to see it. OP, you're doing something really cool. I'm envious! It's great to read all the different opinions and perspectives. Good stuff!

 

It's been nearly 24 hours, we need another update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sorry to necro this thread but I want an update!
Thamnophis, where are you?! Any updates?!