Homebrewing- Do we have an active group, if not, do we want one?

Put me down as a definite maybe.

I was thinking Mead could be the first group brew :slight_smile:

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This is one of those things that I’ve always been interested in, but I haven’t felt like teaching it to myself.
I’d definitely attend a SIG meeting for homebrewing.

How is the learning curve?

It’s not terrible. I have all the imaginable equipment that we can use until its determined we want to get a set that belongs to the space. Mead is an easy first go because it hearty and delicious. First time around I would likely get all the ingredients and just go for donations to get a bottle or 6 (depending on demand). Then we could go from there into various wines or beers. I could do classes that start with a simple premade beer/wine kit (very easy to do), then graduate us up to full grain or grape only classes for intermediate and advanced (a fair bit of technique and math involved).

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I wonder if this is something that @Team_Science would be interested in?

I’d definitely take a class on brewing even if you aren’t able to gather the momentum for a SIG

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Here is the link to the thread I started on this last year:


Mead would be simple and actually can be done at the space as you do not need to heat anything. The only issue is traditional mead needs at least a year before it even starts to get close to where it should be. A traditional mead really starts peaking after 3+ years.

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Traditional mead yes, however I have a recipe for a back-sweetened simple mead that is honestly pretty good at 3-6 months, excellent at a year. I had to develop that one since the Mrs. only likes mead when its sweet.

But it sounds like the whole thing is going to be tough due to the lease rules.

Lets brew some wine too!

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Does anyone in the group have a winepress? I’ve been considering building one and I wanted to look at an example.

There is undoubtedly much interest among many DMS members and I love homebrewing myself and have friends that have some amazing brew setups. Science had a Brewing SIG and still has equipment but was sadly shutdown due to language in the lease. I believe it was at the Nov or Dec Board meeting in 2016 that the Board voted to consult with the landlord to clarify. Zero details were divulged to me and I was simply told a week later that the landlord was against it.

To get brewing going again, I believe it’d be best practice for the Board to approve. Maybe with the lease negotiations, something can be worked in… I don’t know. I hope somebody makes this happen.

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I have a complete starter home brew kit as well with the glass 5 gal carboy, if this gets going it’s something I’d definitely be interested in and could certainly bring it up to the space

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Agreed. In a lot of ways, wine is easier than beer. The main thing being that you don’t have to boil before.

That’s the easiest thing to brew because of the few ingredients and needs the least set up from what I’ve read over the years. There are some YouTube videos with people that actually have a clue what they’re doing that are really good guides for it.

Yeah, just get a milk jug, balloon, sugar and frozen grape juice. :joy::joy::joy::joy:

Don’t forget the 1 Step. That stuff is brilliant.

Obviously, you have to drink a lot of product to determine if you’re any good at the brewing thing.

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Good news, I’ve got that part down!

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week later that the landlord was against it.

Yep, that’s why I’ve only done a simple class for Science on fermentation instead of several on meadery and more classical wines like elderberry or beers like Egyptian Hequt or Mesopotamian beers like Sikaru.

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It’s one of those things where the base knowledge isn’t difficult to grasp but really important to be solid on like making sure every single thing is sanitized etc. Then once you get comfortable with your basics it kinda morphs into an art/science collaboration that makes liquid gold. But as stated it gets more complex and requires maths and things. At least that’s my take from the Brewers I know

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am i interested in homebrewing…? is that really a question…lol