I started with extract cans, then found a nearby brew-store that does powdered malt extracts and fresh hops... and can provide the ingredients for pretty much any recipe you throw at them.
I haven't gone AG yet, but that's the next step. My main blocker is I don't have a pan/burner big enough to mash 30l...
Also tempted to try a hard tea soon; that seems VERY interesting...
Does anyone else home brew? I would be keen to share some thoughts/experiences (and maybe a bottle or two to get some tips on what I can do better)
I brew quite a lot with a 50l brew kettle and an induction burner, ferment in the basement and generally age in oak barrels. Switzerland has quite a few very very good online shops for all your brewing needs, drop me a message if you need any tips / links.
I live fairly close to brauundrauchshop - so have relied on them for stuff so far...
My biggest challenge at the moment is cleaning bottles... I tried just about everything, but it seems like mechanical (brushes) are the only way that actually gets the crudd off the inside of bottles.
Have you gotten a fastwasher thing? I see a lot of people using that, but can't see how that can dislodge the crud.
With regards to bottling, how worried about oxygen are you? I saw CO2 purging bottling things to avoid oxygen...
Re bottling, I typically bottle my barrel-aged beers and I keg my "quick" and fresh beers. A barrel-aged beer has quite a lot of o2 ingress anyway and I am typically not too bothered. Also, bear in mind that during the secondary fermentation in the bottle, the yeast WILL consume o2 as this is basic yeast metabolism.
If you tend to brew and like a lot of dry hopped beers, I would strongly advise that you to consider kegging. It does require a small upfront investment, but the sheer ease of use, time spent drinking vs. cleaning is all worth it. A dry hopped beer will have a much higher impact from o2 than a non-dry hopped one and kegging allows you to control this variable much easier and I have my NEIPA and IPA on tap staying fresh in my kegerator for over a month with no perceptible loss of flavor whatsoever.
The easiest wat to clean your bottles is to rinse it quickly right after you pour one, this makes sure you don't have any sediment drying up at the bottom. I also have the Flip-top caps and once rinsed I just close it and leave the bottle aside until its ready to fill again. I would typically clean and sanities my bottles only the first time I get them and from then on I don't bother.
Good to know! I've been worried about figuring out how to sanitise the bottles - got some oxyclean, but then don't want to leave residues of that in the bottles, so will rinse/flush them out a lot.
Most of my bottles are from friends, so I have a lot of encrusted crud (have around 100 bottles so far - should cover my barrel, but want to try to get 200 or so bottles). This would mean that I can drink one set while the second ferments
For the crud, it seems like my "drill + brush" works quite well after a night in oxyclean... so I'll stick to that for now.
Do you sanitize the pipes and whatnot, or just wash and rinse after a batch?
Indeed, if you have some really stuck dry sediment, soak overnight and should be easy to remove.
You mean for the bottling equipment? Yes, I sanitize it typically right after bottling and then just flush with water before using it again the next time. But my bottling "equipment" is simply this thing which is incredibly simple, cheap and works perfect for both my small (0.5l) and my Champagne style bottles.
tbh I have no experience with either. I use this because I've been using it for years to sanitize my equipment and it works well. I am sure both options you have above are more than fine, just pick one and get used to it.
Yes, definitely. From what I see from the ones you are looking into they seem to be non-rinse which is quite a time-saver so give them a try. I personally don't feel mentally ok to leave some sanitiser there simply because it will not give me good sleep as i would be worried about the potential impact on the yeast, but then again, they were designed to be this way so i am sure it will work well