Good Brew

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I brewed my first beer closely following AB’s recipe; great-tasting amber ale. AB nailed it for beginners!

Ice: It’s essentially sterile. Ice made in the US is regulated by FDA. It starts with drinking water meeting EPA standards. It’s then further purified. Careful use of commercial ice won't cause contamination.

Bleach: AB's bleach dilution yields ~160 ppm available chlorine (Cl, a "mild" disinfecting solution. It's why he wants 30 min. contact time.

It would require bad technique, but assume 1 oz of bleach solution is diluted with 5 gallons of wort. This is ~0.25 ppm Cl, assuming all of the Cl is still available; not likely. Most people can’t taste or smell this. Still, I started using brewer's disinfectant.

Tap water in airlock: Possibly a problem. I’m a water treatment plant operator & typically can't pull a "clean" water sample from a kitchen sink faucet (the aerator & swivel are typically contaminated with bacteria. I used bottled drinking water. I will try vodka.

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I have been brewing beer for a while. I was happy to see Alton's episode on brewing. It's a great hobby and he brings it to our attention. He does a good job with most of it but he stressed the steps to sanitize so well, but then I could not believe he tossed dirty unknown ice into the wort. There are many better ways to cool the wort safely. The ice bath in a sink is good. Also bleach is not good to sanitize with. Products like Star San will do a much better job without killing off the yeast. One other thing that got me is he filled the air-lock up with tap water. There is a remote chance of leaching from the air lock, so use sanitized water in the airlock or vodka.

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For the brewing newbies out there, don't listen to many of the experts dissing this beer. I don't have a ton of experience, but I'm on my 4th batch of beer now. I use some of AB's methods while I brew and the beer comes out great. A couple of myths that are being reported:

Don't use ice to cool down the wort: Why not? I've never had a problem with this method.

You need to boil the wort for an hour: When using extracts, the need to boil the extract is not as dire. In fact, boiling it too much may lead to undesired caramelization. I know this has happened to a Marzenbier I made.

You need to aerate your wort: Actually, when he sent the wort through the colander and strainer he did a pretty good job aerating it.

You have to use a starter: No you don't. It may be worthwhile, but you don't have to.

The point is, even if the nitpickers are correct that they can get a better brew using their techniques, AB will get you 99% of the way there with 75% of the work and equipment.

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awesome recipe worth every drop

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This episode got us started on homebrewing. Would love for Food Network to reair or at te very least SELL the episode on DVD!!!

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This GE installment got me started on homebrewing. As with anything, once you're interested, go out and get more information. Jeremy's right...there are inaccuracies...but you'll find that out by reading and by experience. This is a great basic recipe that has been a launching point for some great brews that I made myself. If you get into this as a hobby, the phrase: "sit back, relax and have a homebrew" will take on greater meaning in your life. Thanks for the inspiration, Alton!

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If your truly interested in making quality beer at home, do yourself a favor and avoid Alton's tips on homebrewing. There's a handful of flaws with his techniques, some of which can produce a very unpleasant tasting brew. I really dig Good Eats but he's way off the mark with this one. Making good homebrew is easy but there are a few procedures in this show that were executed improperly and some very important steps that were completely neglected altogether. He was also inaccurate with some of his brewing terminology. I will give Alton some credit for helping to fuel my interest in homebrewing though. Amber Waves helped introduce me to my favorite hobby. Alton's a stud and Good Eats is a great show, just go elsewhere to find proper homebewing techniques.

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I've been homebrewing for 20 years, and Alton's recipie/method is similar to my first brew, except for the ICE. Why go to the bother to use bottled spring water and then finish it with 7 pounds of frozen water from whearabouts unknown? Just don't. Put your brewpot in the sink and keep changing the water until it's cool. If it's winter, sit it outside in the snow.

I'd like to see "Amber Waves 2" where he goes into all grain brewing. It's easy, and you can do it with "multi-taskers" laying around the house. I doubt it will happen, Alton sort of showed his cards in "Amber Waves" and he's probably not a realy homebrewer.

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Alton got me interested in brewing my own beer when I watched the ?Amber Waves? episode of Good Eats. I started reading more information about home brewing and decided to try it. I think everyone has their own style for home brewing. This is a recipe review, NOT a critique of Alton?s brewing technique. This recipe turned out great, my wife loves this beer and I will be making it again. It took a little longer to ferment, 14 day?s, I think my basement is rather cool. I did check specific gravity to know if fermentation was complete and to know how much alcohol by volume I would have. I used 20L crystal malt and removed it after the steep, rather than let it stay in during the boil. It?s a good looking great tasting beer, slightly sweet, with citrus flavors, nice aroma and very refreshing. Good Brew! Thank you Alton!

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I noticed that there were a lot of different crystal malts to choose from, i was wondering which one would tast the best for this beer?