And of course you might wonder what someone from Belgium does on an English forum? I am also a member of the Flemish and Dutch forums, but I need input and ideas from other places too. And when I was reading this forum I saw a topic of someone who spends this New Years' Eve at Bruges, so I decided to give my own input, especially since I live at the vicinity of Bruges.
I am 51, and only brewing a year and a half. I would have started earlier, but I did not want to brew 20 liter at a time. Then, last year, two things happened. Two different local supermarkets had suddenly each a brewing kit for brewing 3 and 4 liter respectively, and I got one for Father's Day. I also discovered http://www.thekitchn.com/5-reasons-why-i-became-a-1gallon-brewer-beer-sessions-189903. So that decided it, I knew now that I could brew less than 20 liter. Once the kit was done (which as a malt extract kit), I once brew a beer using pure DME, but afterwards I went to all-grain. I was lucky, my father still had an old
coffee grinder which I could use to crush my malt (this kind of mill works fine for that: it does not break the husks, and it can be adjusted to mill coarse). So, my first brews were done with this mill and pots and pans from the kitchen, and a 5 liter DJ I bought for fermenting. My very first brew was done using a mechanic oven thermometer.
Things I specifically bought in the first half year of brewing were a better electronic thermometer, a pH-meter, a Bulldog malt mill and a 17 liter boiling pot.
However, I like to try my hand at brewing with recycled things, so I built a filter from two buckets, retrieved from the local fries shop, and one fermentation bucket.
After having done 20 brews (yes!) I have now a good idea of the amounts I want to brew. I use a 5 l DJ for lagering, I also have a 6 liter plastic barrel, used for lagering a little bit more. When I want to brew even more then it is from the fermentation bottle in the bucket. I think that my practical limit is now 24 0.33 cl bottles, which suits me fine.
My favorite blog is "Shut up about Barclay-Perkins".
I also tried my hand last year at cider, but it was a little bit too sour. This year I also tried wine, since I grow grapes too. I hope to have nice dry wine for next summer.
That's it! Cheers, and happy holidays,
Jürgen
I am 51, and only brewing a year and a half. I would have started earlier, but I did not want to brew 20 liter at a time. Then, last year, two things happened. Two different local supermarkets had suddenly each a brewing kit for brewing 3 and 4 liter respectively, and I got one for Father's Day. I also discovered http://www.thekitchn.com/5-reasons-why-i-became-a-1gallon-brewer-beer-sessions-189903. So that decided it, I knew now that I could brew less than 20 liter. Once the kit was done (which as a malt extract kit), I once brew a beer using pure DME, but afterwards I went to all-grain. I was lucky, my father still had an old
coffee grinder which I could use to crush my malt (this kind of mill works fine for that: it does not break the husks, and it can be adjusted to mill coarse). So, my first brews were done with this mill and pots and pans from the kitchen, and a 5 liter DJ I bought for fermenting. My very first brew was done using a mechanic oven thermometer.
Things I specifically bought in the first half year of brewing were a better electronic thermometer, a pH-meter, a Bulldog malt mill and a 17 liter boiling pot.
However, I like to try my hand at brewing with recycled things, so I built a filter from two buckets, retrieved from the local fries shop, and one fermentation bucket.
After having done 20 brews (yes!) I have now a good idea of the amounts I want to brew. I use a 5 l DJ for lagering, I also have a 6 liter plastic barrel, used for lagering a little bit more. When I want to brew even more then it is from the fermentation bottle in the bucket. I think that my practical limit is now 24 0.33 cl bottles, which suits me fine.
My favorite blog is "Shut up about Barclay-Perkins".
I also tried my hand last year at cider, but it was a little bit too sour. This year I also tried wine, since I grow grapes too. I hope to have nice dry wine for next summer.
That's it! Cheers, and happy holidays,
Jürgen