I have been brewing since about 1990, and I started in college because it was cheaper and better than anything store-bought. I was fortunate enough to have known Doug O'Dell when I was starting out, and O'Dell's was just being brewed out of an old house (converted) as a micro-brewery. I took his advice to heart and have never had a failed batch. BUT, I had NO IDEA that there are programs out there now to help create a new recipe. Wow. So yes, I'll subscribe. Impressive...

experimenting is the best part of brewing for me, beersmith really helped me get creative without the headaches of pen and paper and guesswork.

Super informative.

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks heaps mate, some really good advice and tips.

Thanks for another great video 😊

One comment on the ‘it’s not the equipment’ comment - I made a lot of very mediocre beer, but wouldn’t say I made anything good until I switched to an electric system. This isn’t the case for everyone of course, but with the stoves/burners that I had access to, temperature control was very difficult. To anyone that can swing it, I’d highly recommend an electric BIAB system - it’s worth every penny

Thanks a lot for the very in-depth and informative video! It's great to get insight into your process

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Bit of a deeper dive than usual in this one but glad you enjoyed it!

Great info! Perfect length for the commute home. Cheers!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks!

Great Video, thank you.

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Yes! Thanks for the video! Definitely want to make some beer in the near future, cheers!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers!

10 lb maris otter 4 lb Vienna. Low mash temp is delicious

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Sounds great!

@Cerevisi

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I'm doing a Citra with this. Also, pressure fermented.

As always, thank you

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!!

Great video. Thank you for your insite into maltscand the flavors they bring to a beer. Malts are a tricky thing to guess without knowledge. Thank you for your wisdom. Cheers

@TheApartmentBrewer

10 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Thank you kindly. My Christmas Wiezenbock is currently fermenting. Good luck with yours. I used Martin from Homebrew Challenge's recipe as my base and tweaked to my taste. Thanks Steve, looking forward to your next video. Prost 🍻

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome stuff! Weizenbock is a great base for a Christmas beer.

Thank you for taking your time that it took to make this informative video. I do similar research which makes it interesting and fun. 🍺

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I think its always worth doing some comparison and research even if you've made a beer style multiple times before

@Bullsbrew551

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheApartmentBrewer another source for building a recipe I like watching is “Mean Brews”

@asifhasan5323

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheApartmentBrewer aaQ

Nice

Regarding fermentation of the Aventinus: I heard from people closely to Schneider, that fermentation starts low at around 16 degrees celsius. Slowly go to 18 degrees. Use a huge amount of Schneider yeast. For home brewers it is recommended to strip the yeast from a few (young) bottles of Schneider "Tap 7" (the normal Weizen) and first do a normal batch. Then use harvested yeast to ferment an Aventinus clone.

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

I'm sure it would be more authentic if I built up a starter from aventinus dregs. Schneider yeast is amazing! I decided to do a slow ramp from 62-65 F, but its chugging along slowly, so I might bump it up a bit more.

@januszkszczotek8587

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheApartmentBrewer This is not recommended. The yeast in Aventinus bottles isn't healthy anymore because of the high alcohol content. Also the yeast in Tap 7 is identical - Schneider has only one yeast. Cheers.

So I know I'm late to the party here but... if you could brew a basic beer using basic biab equipment that would be awesome. Something a complete novice could use to show off to their friends with. Like a basic pale ale. Really get in to the meat and potatoes of the hop additions and what they do. Just a passable basic beer that biab, bucket fermenter and bottling can do for a run of the mill dude showing off. Something your friends drink and say "wow, great job braj".

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Actually, I really want to get back to doing something like that. I realize I've produced a ton of homebrewing content but I have yet to really do a "how to brew" kind of thing. Thanks for the motivation!

Best ♥️

Another great video. I think there is no better way to advance one’s brewing skills than to experiment by making your own recipes. Just making a few tweaks to existing recipes gives one a much broader understanding of how the ingredients work together. While I appreciate the brew software, a pen and pad of paper is really all you need. For the majority of history beer was brewed without measuring gravity, ph, calculating ibu, etc., One suggestion for bolder experiments is dialing back to a 2 1/2 or 3 gallon batch. If you have a particularly wild idea, might want to make just a gallon. Quite a few of my batches have substituted grains based on what I have in hand and maybe few ounces more or less than my plans called for. No need to strictly follow guidelines for beer styles, just make the style you like and tweak here and then with specialty grains, yeast and hops.

Great video, Steve!! Like you, I also use resources available to me through the AHA websites and other similar ones. The information out there is VAST! Also, I document/write everything down in a journal, so if I want to tweak a beer, I know exactly what I did the time before. I too, am making Christmas beers at this time. I have a Chocolate Peppermint Stout that will be kegged probably on Thanksgiving. (This brew is extremely popular in my family and has a finish that tastes just like a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie) I'm also brewing a Spruce Tip ale the day after Thanksgiving and finally a Cranberry Ginger Saison to be ready on New Years Eve. The way you build your recipes is absolutely rock solid. I also use BeerSmith 3, and I believe it is well worth the money.. You can scale up and down and do just about anything you need to do to brew a fantastic beer. I loved this video, and I am looking forward to your next one! With that, I want to wish you and your family a VERY Happy Thanksgiving!! Cheers, Steve!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Happy Thanksgiving!

My own concoctions were failures. I brewed a couple "gutter beers". At $40 and 5 hours of work, I learned my lesson. I stick with BJCP Gold Award Winners now. I'll tweak a winner at the most. The Classic Beer Styles recipes were OK................ if I'm putting that much effort into brewing, I want it to knock my socks off!

"I'm gonna do a weizenbock with spices for christmas!" PLEASE STOP BEING ME, I'M LITERALLY DOING THE SAME THING

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Haha it seems like there's a bunch of us here with the same idea!

I feel your vibe! I steer clear of crystal in favor of good base malts. However, there are use case scenarios.

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Definitely! Usually English beers are where I will still use the typical 20/40/60 etc

@Cerevisi

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheApartmentBrewer Porters. And definitely Stouts. Gotta have some crystal in them!

@Cerevisi

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheApartmentBrewer us04 or Notty, that is the question.

Happy Birthday Baby Braj!!!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks T Man!!

Well, I was able to cook a spaghetti dinner while watching this. Good information and instruction and advice. STEVE

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Haha thanks Curt - this was a bit of a longer one for sure

@curtpick628

2 жыл бұрын

@@TheApartmentBrewer Would be a difficult subject to cover properly without some time involved. You did a great and thorough job Steve!👍

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

@@curtpick628 Thanks Curt - Appreciate the kind words!

happy bday week braj!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks man!! Catch you for a bit Wednesday!

Mech note: That shirt is great and so soft and everyone loves the graphic! I'm going to have to get a few more!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoy them!!

I totally agree, you deffinatley need the knowledge on the style of beer you want to make, im not at all experienced with all grain as I've only just started, for example I wanted to brew an oat cream ipa and I shared the recipe with my good friend who has been brewing all grain for years and he made some adjustments that I wouldn't have known to do, for example, in my recipe for the oat cream ipa I had the bitterness to high, for an oat cream ipa you want around 10-15 IBUs, I had it on about 28, and before when I was just doing mini mashes I didn't know the difference between specalty malts and base malt, I know now that your maris otter, pilsner, 2 row, vienna etc are base malts and your roasted barley, chocolate and crystal malts etc are specialty malts and will really only usualy give you flavour, mouthfeel, aroma and colour etc not alot of fermentable sugars, now that really stumped me, because how do you get a stout to be really dark without the use of alot of chocolate/roasted barley well as I've learned it doesn't take alot and you want an ale malt/2 row as your base, I spose i know a bit about it now and know how to formulate a recipe and brew it but before I had no idea. Anyways cheers! 👍🍻

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Right on! By getting the experience working with those different ingredients you gain a ton of useful knowledge. Keep learning and keep brewing!

Enjoyed the video. What malts do you keep on hand all the time. I want to start brewing alot of continental lagers and I’m trying to put together a grocery list to buy in bulk. What would you suggest to keep on hand all the time?

Brewing note: I know... everyone hates 211 Steele Reserve, but it was my first beer and I'm going to miss it when it's gone. My friends: "awww, you're sad because they are discontinuing your trash beer." LOL But I love this video and I followed your advice and there are a few of us out there looking for a replacement recipe. I will make this beer!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Nothing wrong with brewing your favorite beer, even if people don't like it the way you do!

I notice you included a link to Northern Brewer. I stopped doing business with them. Caught them suppressing negative product reviews. The majority of my reviews were 4 or 5 stars but I submitted a couple bad ones that never showed up on their website. When I complained, they said I probably didn't know how to use the products properly. Nope, I've been home brewing since 1993. Pretty sure the products were junk.

Beersmith 4 life!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

I probably should check out some of the other software but I'm just used to beersmith. Cheers!

Anyone watching this with CC on are the real winners in this whole deal. According to the machines, you are brewing a "Holiday Bison Block" and when brewing a German beer, one should use German hops, like "Howlertown Middle Fur"

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

😂🤣🤣 amazing

6 oz... white wheat, good head!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Thats always a good touch as well!

Thanks for the video! Right on time for my next experiment. Do you know any beer-making programs, that are free to use? This is pretty neat👍

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! I know brewers friend is free to use as well as brewfather (with some limitations)

Aventinus (also called "Tap 6" in Germany) is one of my favorite strong Weizen beers - especially the versions that were lagered for 5 years. I can also highly recommend Schneider's "Tap 4" and "Tap 5" (both are very hop forward Weizen using Saphir hops). But regarding a real Weizenbock try to get hands on a "Gutmann Weizenbock" and "Gutmann Dunkler Weizenbock". Both are phenomenal! The normal Bock has a strong banana aroma and flavor, the dark version additionally comes with slight roasty flavors.

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Glad you share the love of that beer too! I'll keep an eye out for the Gutmann beers

Keep the pith (white stuff) from oranges out of your boil - otherwise you'll get a lot more bitterness. One of the recipes you reviewed had a 5 step mash...how would you cheat and what does doing the 5 step get you in finished beer? Great video.

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Very true! That 5 step mash is really more of a traditional method - they're doing an acid and protein rest to avoid correcting mash pH with lactic acid and a protein rest to help with laurering the high protein grist. It's a more traditional method that does have subtle flavor and body impacts, but I stuck with a single temperature mash at 154 for my own brew, I don't have the time for a 9 hour brew day and I'm expecting to get 95% of the same effect as the 5 step mash

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Also, step mashing a wheat beer can be sketchy and I've scorched them before by doing that

Is it possible to build a recipe with percentages rather than ounces or pounds? Or, is there an assumption that USA brewers make 5 USA gallon batches?

Nice mention of the AHA website. Do you post on the AHA forum? I've been on there for about 2-3 years (user= Scallywag). Recently I have been wondering if you're one of the posters there.

@TheApartmentBrewer

Жыл бұрын

Nice! I don't post but I've spent many hours reading the forums

What's an IBu

😎👍🏻👍🏻🍺🍺

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Cheers Tom!

Am I going crazy or there is a piano sound in background? :D Nice tips!

@TheApartmentBrewer

2 жыл бұрын

Just some low background music haha

We've been brewing 1 year & just brewed our 1st custom brew. It was very good. What is a beer you want to brew but haven't yet?

@TheApartmentBrewer

10 ай бұрын

Gonna hve to answer that question with Czech Dark Lager. Congrats on a successful first custom recipe!