Irishbrewer89
Member
Hey guys, new to the forum, I have been homebrewing since Feb. 2011. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Hello from Michigan
- Thread starter Irishbrewer89
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Welcome!
Isn't there an Air Force base in your town? My grandma used to have a place in Lewiston and we'd hear all sorts of aircraft fly over. Was told they came from Grayling.
Cheers!
TB
Isn't there an Air Force base in your town? My grandma used to have a place in Lewiston and we'd hear all sorts of aircraft fly over. Was told they came from Grayling.
Cheers!
TB
Camp Grayling? My BIL used to go there on weekends once a month for "vacation". Sleep in a tank.
Best suggestion is to search your questions and ask for any help you can't find through search. There are a LOT of helpful people here.
Best suggestion is to search your questions and ask for any help you can't find through search. There are a LOT of helpful people here.
doodlebug
Well-Known Member
Michigan, the Great Beer State!
Dinomyte
Active Member
I love that Michigan is represented well here!
Welcome to HBT...
There are a lot of Michigan Brewers!!!
Largest Group is Michigan Mashers!
There are a lot of Michigan Brewers!!!
Largest Group is Michigan Mashers!
Irishbrewer89
Member
Thanks guys for the welcome. I am practically obsessed with brewing beer. Just ask my wife. I would eventually work my way up to all grain brewing hopefully at the end of the year.
Camp Grayling is traditionally a Army National Guard base, but a lot of people that serve in all 4 branches of the U.S. Armed forces do come here to train year round.
Camp Grayling is traditionally a Army National Guard base, but a lot of people that serve in all 4 branches of the U.S. Armed forces do come here to train year round.
I hear ya on the obsession. Nothing wrong with that!
Welcome! Good to have another Michigander on here. I know that up in Traverse City Diversions (the hat shop...) has a huge home brewing selection and a lot of experience. I stop in every time I am up there.
Happy brewing!
Happy brewing!
Wow, they have have exanded liek crazy since the last time I was there. Their supply was very small IIRC. They keep their hops hanging out at room temp and their selection of grain was modest. And when I asked about buying a sack he had to look up the price because he had never thought of selling by the sack. He wanted $60 for 2-row.
So I bought a sack. At Right Brain Brewing! ($40).
Brkstoutfeind
Member
Sweet!Another Michigan brewer here, I just joined the other day as well. I've been brewing for about a year and half now and I'm stoked to find this site!!
Haha - fair enough. It is no Adventures in Homebrewing which is just down the highway from me but Ann Arbor has a total lack of any good homebrew shops of its own (though I saw a hand made sign the other day saying a new place was opening up?) so I got excited by their selection. Right Brain Brewing is the best, om nom nom Right Brain beer.
Cheers.
Hoppopotomus
Cedar Hollow Brewing
Welcome to HBT! This is the best home brewing resource out there and a kick a$$ community. If there is anything that you need to know about anything that has to do with home brewing, you can find it if you look. If not, post a thread and people are more than willing to help. These folks have helped me with every phase of home brewing from first batch jitters to building my keezer. Welcome aboard! 
Adventures in Homebrewing is opening up in Ann Arbor. It is going to be HUGE!!!!! 12,000+ sq ft! I stopped by to check it out. The are currently dealing with the communist govt trying to get permits and everything in line to be open in a month. Tyler asked me to stop calling the Taylor store to ask when it will be open. Finally, Washtenaw county will have a well stocked HBS!!! It will be on the south side of Jackson avenue just West of Lowes.
They are expanding. The new location is zoned for both wholesale and retail. The place is huge!!! I would say it is at least three times the size of the Taylor store (just the retail space alone). They will be working with local breweries and servicing online customers.
The Beer Depot may as well pack it in. They are going to lose all their home brew customers. They didn't do a good job servicing us anyway.
Welcome. I am a new homebrewer as well. I have an I.P.A. bottled for 25 days that tastes skunky. I feel like I sanitized everything but perhaps didn't use the correct techniques? Do you have any certain way of sanitizing? I just threw the B-Brite sanitizer in the primary and stock pot along with everything that would come into contact with the beer and "swished" it around for a while. I then drained the water and rinsed with cold water. I really thought this I.P.A would turn out great because I felt like the brewing process went much smoother than the octoberfest beer we had just previously brewed. The octoberfest turned out much better.
Skunky normally is from too much light (sunlight or florescent). Chemicals from hops photochemically react to light and turn "skunky". Not sure about incandescent lighting.
To Sanitize I use a chlorine and vinegar mix (2 OZ chlorine and 2 OZ vinegar per 5 gallons of warm water) and I soak everything for 20 minutes and then rinse with boiled water. I boil the rinse water for 10 minutes then let it cool and keep it covered and use it to rinse everything. Bottles I sanitize then actually boil them, cool and fill.
PS: Mix the chlorine into the water and then the vinegar into the water. Never mix vinegar and chlorine directly, produces a very nasty gas....
Since most of us here are Michiganders.... and if you are ever near Grand Rapids.... just west of town on Lake Michigan Drive is a FANTASTIC HBS that I recently discovered. The name is Siciliano's Market. http://www.sicilianosmkt.com/ They have been there quite some time now but have just added an additional room which is strictly devoted to brewing. When you live in the sticks like I do, you get used to going without or driving long distances to get what you need. This place is worth the drive!
Irishbrewer89
Member
Wow, I didn't realize how many people from Michigan were on this site. Awesome. I am originally from Georgia, and I have to tell ya, ever since I moved to Michigan 5 years ago, I can't believe how many micro breweries there were. Ever since I started home brewing as well, I have people come up to me and can't believe I make my own beer. However in the end, most people just want to drink it and really don't care how it's made. (Which is 1/2 the fun!)
Dinomyte
Active Member
Sicillanos is great as is O'Conners Home Brew. It's just east of downtown GR and they just opened up this spring. The whole store is all about brewing and they were a ton of help when I got started. They also have their Mount Olympus Imperial IPA on tap to sample from one of their free brewing seminars. I had them convert their recipe to extract for me and it's in the primary right now.
It's nice to have a couple of places to choose from!
I'll have to look for oconnors if I'm down that way. I love Siciliano's Market though. And they have a new Breadmaking section now! I haven't been there since they expanded and re-organized the product areas.
Sicillanos is great as is O'Conners Home Brew. It's just east of downtown GR and they just opened up this spring. The whole store is all about brewing and they were a ton of help when I got started. They also have their Mount Olympus Imperial IPA on tap to sample from one of their free brewing seminars. I had them convert their recipe to extract for me and it's in the primary right now.
It's nice to have a couple of places to choose from!
Consider yourselves lucky! We don't have much of a selection up here, and what little there is available is mostly extract equipment & ingredients. Midwest Supplies ends up being my HBS 95% of the time, and I feel like I'm keeping FedEx in business alone.
I will also have to check out O'Connors. I have always just gone to Sicilianos. How do the prices compare at O'Connors?
Odawg
Well-Known Member
Greetings Irishbrewer89, from the UP.
And as Tiber said, you are lucky down there. There's one small local homebrew store here, but not a single microbrewery. I have to go 50-100 miles from my current location for a brewpub or another homebrew store.. Midwest also is my main supplier.
And as Tiber said, you are lucky down there. There's one small local homebrew store here, but not a single microbrewery. I have to go 50-100 miles from my current location for a brewpub or another homebrew store.. Midwest also is my main supplier.
Dinomyte
Active Member
I haven't taken the time to do a thorough price comparison. I am also pretty new to homebrewing so I am just starting to venture away from pre-packaged kits and have yet to really buy in bulk....but they seem to be comparable from what I am able to tell.
I may be mistaken... or perhaps they have closed down... but I have had beers at local breweries in both Tahquamenon Falls and near Crystal Falls. (they must be all near falls
)vicratlhead51
Well-Known Member
Man sounds like you guys have some nice stores to go to. My LHBS is just a small alcove in a liquor store, Opperman's Cork & Ale in Saginaw. They do have a pretty good selection of extracts and grains, even some liquid yeast vials but they're pretty weak in the hop selection. Has anybody checked out the Lager Mill in Frankenmuth? It's been almost a year since I've been there and they had just opened when I was there so they had some really basic supplies, I've been curious as to whether they've expanded and if it'd be worth checking out again.
oconnorshomebrew
Active Member
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Welcome,
Grew up fishing on Bear lake between Grayling and Kalkaska................great memories!
Brew on
Grew up fishing on Bear lake between Grayling and Kalkaska................great memories!
Brew on
I may be mistaken... or perhaps they have closed down... but I have had beers at local breweries in both Tahquamenon Falls and near Crystal Falls. (they must be all near falls
There is no local brewery near Crystal Falls, unfortunately! The nearest one is probably Marquette or Ishpeming, quite a ways away from Crystal Falls.
We're in a beer wasteland here- that's why we brew!
Dinomyte
Active Member
I thought I remember a brewery in Grand Marais. Lake Superior Brewing I think. Is that still around?There is no local brewery near Crystal Falls, unfortunately! The nearest one is probably Marquette or Ishpeming, quite a ways away from Crystal Falls.
We're in a beer wasteland here- that's why we brew!
Not surprised there isn't much in the middle of the UP. Used to camp and fish near Seney and it was just hard to find a cold beer after 8 pm let alone a brewhouse. Ahhh....I miss it up there. Gonna have to get back soon!
Yeah, Lake Superior Brewing was still open as of 2009, and maybe still, but I haven't been there since. They had a couple of good brews.
The Keweenaw peninsula has 3 micros, going on 4 now (Brickside Brewery in Cu Harbor opening this year). Seems like the spread of breweries isn't very even in the UP.
Edit: so Yoop, no more Van Wilder I see... I liked your Red Green avatar better. He's way more handy with duct tape.
The Keweenaw peninsula has 3 micros, going on 4 now (Brickside Brewery in Cu Harbor opening this year). Seems like the spread of breweries isn't very even in the UP.
Edit: so Yoop, no more Van Wilder I see... I liked your Red Green avatar better. He's way more handy with duct tape.
Those places are along ways from Crystal Falls area...
It's hard to justify a microbrewery when there is so much Leiney's up there!
It's hard to justify a microbrewery when there is so much Leiney's up there!
There is no local brewery near Crystal Falls, unfortunately! The nearest one is probably Marquette or Ishpeming, quite a ways away from Crystal Falls.
We're in a beer wasteland here- that's why we brew!
I had to contact my good friend who no longer lives up there but he informed me that it was not Crystal Falls... but Florence, WI which is, of course, on US 2 just 15 miles or so east of Crystal Falls. I do not know if they are still open nor do I recall the quality of their brew, however, if you are ever feeling adventuresome and get out there.... let us know what you think.
We will be up at Brevort Lake for our annual 10 day vacation in two weeks. I will have 2 cases of weissbier and 2 cases of oatmeal stout all ready to go. Can't wait!!!
I had to contact my good friend who no longer lives up there but he informed me that it was not Crystal Falls... but Florence, WI which is, of course, on US 2 just 15 miles or so east of Crystal Falls. I do not know if they are still open nor do I recall the quality of their brew, however, if you are ever feeling adventuresome and get out there.... let us know what you think.
We will be up at Brevort Lake for our annual 10 day vacation in two weeks. I will have 2 cases of weissbier and 2 cases of oatmeal stout all ready to go. Can't wait!!!
Oh, Nicolet Brewing closed ages ago. It wasn't open very long at all.
The only place to get a good brew in that area now is at lschiavo's house!
