Home Brewing aboard?

[Andy73]

Just wondering if anyone is successful brewing bear or wine (mead) on their boat?
Preferably looking for comments from someone who has attempted while cruising (not living aboard at dock).

[Ellen Bumblebee]

I haven't done it myself (but would love to try to), but I recently read a post on the Just A Little Further site on this topic that you might find helpful - Brew-meister at Work | Just a Little Further

[skipmac]

I do believe MarkJ had a go at brewing beer. Seems like his avatar used to show him displaying a few bottles.

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by Ellen Bumblebee

I haven't done it myself (but would love to try to), but I recently read a post on the Just A Little Further site on this topic that you might find helpful - Brew-meister at Work | Just a Little Further

Thanks for the link... cute article.

Funny enough, I started brewing in Perth, Aus for the same reason... $$$

I think with a good water lock & cap (to minimize spillage) you might be able to get away with it in light seas...

[MBLittle]

Originally Posted by Andy73

Just wondering if anyone is successful brewing bear or wine (mead) on their boat? Preferably looking for comments from someone who has attempted while cruising (not living aboard at dock).

Great web post by Jon Hacking who has been rising with his family for decades now on Ocelot:

http://hackingfamily.com/Jon/Brewing/brewing_beer.htm

[skipmac]

Here's a couple of previous discussions on brewing on board.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ard-49431.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-98696.html

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by Andy73

Just wondering if anyone is successful brewing bear...

I think it would be very difficult to brew a bear. Especially on a boat. Were you thinking grizzly, black, panda, or what?

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist!)

[Capt RonB]

I did a batch once using the 'Mr Beer' kit. Worked out quite well. The resulting beer was very drinkable and given the price of beer in the Bahamas, it was quite reasonable cost wise. You will need stowage for the keg and bottles though not to mention patience.

When I say very drinkable consider that I never met a beer that I didn't drink.

[MBLittle]

Brewing beer from the canned kits is extremely easy and cheap. And with care you can create very delicious beer.

The only time when stability of the boat would be needed is the 12-24 hours before bottling as the yeast would need time to settle. You could always do a secondary fermentation to allow
more yeast to settle before bottling.

The canned kits can be had on amazon for $18-30 and all that's "needed" after that is a source of sugar. I've used everything from honey to fruit to table sugar. Corn sugar ($7) being the easiest because of it tiny size in granular form.

A food grade bucket with a tight lid ($5 at lowes) and an airlock ($5) is all you need to get started. Then some plastic soda bottles and a hose when you need to bottle.

$35 and you've got 5 gallons (40 pints) of beer you made yourself.

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

I think it would be very difficult to brew a bear. Especially on a boat. Were you thinking grizzly, black, panda, or what?
(Sorry, I just couldn't resist!)

Darn mis-spells.... I meant brewing BARE... its a spin off from the sailing naked thread that got so lively a few weeks ago

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Here's a couple of previous discussions on brewing on board.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ard-49431.html

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-98696.html

Thanks for that... did a search but didn't get those. Operator error probably...

[jkindredpdx]

Last year I switched over to dry malt. Pretty sure Steinbart's ships anywhere: https://www.fhsteinbart.com/products/index.php On land I used a 6 gal carboy, in the boat I'm fermenting in 1 gal glass jugs (they're just easier to shove in small corners).

With the dry malt I can make as much or as little as I want, the boil can be shorter, it has good shelf life, and it's much less sticky. A brew-master told me the dry has better flavor because it isn't boiled down like the syrup.

I'm fermenting 2 gal now, dry hopping with pellets, will condition in snap cap beer bottles, and start another 2 gal to keep the supply continuous. I put my gal jugs in plastic buckets in case there was spillage, but haven't had a problem yet.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Andy73

Thanks for that... did a search but didn't get those. Operator error probably...

Probably sampled too many of your own brews before you did the search.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

I think it would be very difficult to brew a bear. Especially on a boat. Were you thinking grizzly, black, panda, or what?

(Sorry, I just couldn't resist!)

Probably a pretty nasty after taste too!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Andy73

Just wondering if anyone is successful brewing bear or wine (mead) on their boat?
Preferably looking for comments from someone who has attempted while cruising (not living aboard at dock).

I've brewed a simple ginger "beer" aboard in 1 liter plastic bottles before, but just for grins. I'm fairly heavy into home brewing, both beer and mead. I have dedicated space for it ashore...thinking about serious brewing aboard makes my head hurt.