Beer Breweries/ Home Brewing in Cincinnati! (Dayton: insurance, maintenance, prices)

[Zen_master]

Originally Posted by CinciFan

You should definitely take the "Prohibition Resistance" tour in Over-the-Rhine. They take you into several of the old 19th century breweries and down into the lagering cellars. It was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend it.

The Original Cincinnati Brewery Tour | Since 2006


There's also a German beer brewing club. I don't have any experience with them know so I can't give you much information.

Bloatarian Brewing League

Thanks for this. Not sure if anyone subscribes to HBO and is watching the series Boardwalk Empire but the George Remus character is becoming a central character in the show.

http://www.preservinggaminghistory.c...ICEWASKING.pdf

More on this topic is Branch Hill (Loveland) as a gambling mecca in Cincinnati.

The Story of Milford's Arrowhead Inn - Greater Milford Area Historical Society

Gene Trimble on Chips

Gene Trimble on Chips

[WILWRadio]

Thanks for the useful information. I too am a home brewer. My last batch was a Sam Adams Double Bock knock off. Nice to know I probably won't have to use mail order to get most of my supplies.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Thanks for the useful information. I too am a home brewer. My last batch was a Sam Adams Double Bock knock off. Nice to know I probably won't have to use mail order to get most of my supplies.

Years ago I had a relative, actually an uncle, who ran a beer and wine making mail order supplies business out of his home here in Cincinnati. Remember the small ads in the back of the old Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines? No you probably don't as I am going back to the 50s. They were the only places he advertised. When people would inquire, he would send them a mimeographed catalogue of his offerings and a price list. He did quite well at that for a number of years. Sure was better than beating your brains out working for someone else. He built a large multi-bay garage on his property which served as his warehouse. More temperature sensitive supplies he stored in his basement. Of course he was also a user of his product, more into the wine making rather than the beer making.

I had a co-worker and friend who is an avid home brewer. He left Cincinnati and went to Seattle to work for Boeing. Of course I feel the micro-brewery industry started in Seattle. Every time I contact him he has joined some new club out there of home brewer fanatics.

[deg1114]

I have a question just out of curiosity. It's okay to brew your own beer but not, for a lack of a better word, moonshine? Or is it okay to make that as long as you aren't selling it? No, I'm not planning on building a still but just wondering what the big difference is between personal brewing and personal distilling.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by deg1114

I have a question just out of curiosity. It's okay to brew your own beer but not, for a lack of a better word, moonshine? Or is it okay to make that as long as you aren't selling it? No, I'm not planning on building a still but just wondering what the big difference is between personal brewing and personal distilling.

You are allowed to make your own beer or wine but it is illegal to operate a still. Depending on who you talk to, the nominal reason for this is that a still is a fire hazard.

As a chemist, I know several ways (not necessarily economical, though) to increase the alcohol content of my brews (solid or liquid phase extractions, pressure swing distillation, freeze concentration, etc), although I don't know the technical legality of these processes. If it is merely a safety issue with stills, freeze concentration should be legal. It ruins the taste though, so the point is somewhat moot.

[carterocks88]

so excited to move down there! I will use your advise! if you are looking into brewing let me know because we could always do a share-brew

[kjbrill]

The only thing I ever tried to home brew was Root Beer! That's right the soda pop variety. Couldn't even get it right. I had it all nice and bottled in the basement of my parent's house. All of a sudden one night I am hearing POP, POP, POP as they exploded. I had glass and root beer all over the basement floor.

Do you think I may have done something wrong?

[Ohioan58]

I've been reading up a bit. Exploding bottles are due to over-fermentation due to adding too much sugar to the bottles prior to capping. There's apparently a very tight balance between developing good fermentation and creating a bottle bomb.

I have a Mr. Beer kit (a prepackaged newbie beermaking kit) and I made a batch of west coast pale ale a few weeks ago. After the first week of the bottle fermentation, I could slightly press in on the walls of the plastic bottles. After three weeks, the sides of the bottles are absolutely rigid - I'm sure if I dropped one on the floor it would explode.

I'm keeping them in a Rubbermaid container to contain the mess if any go off.

[t45209]

Home brewing can be a bit dangerous. I know of experienced homebrewers who have had heavy glass carboy vessels explode in their basements. It was lucky no one was nearby, because the shrapnel from the explosion was deeply imbedded into the floor joists above.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by t45209

Home brewing can be a bit dangerous. I know of experienced homebrewers who have had heavy glass carboy vessels explode in their basements. It was lucky no one was nearby, because the shrapnel from the explosion was deeply imbedded into the floor joists above.

I don't know how this could happen. Carboys always have an airlock. The only thing that explodes are the bottles if there is unfermented sugar left over before priming and bottling. If you bottle it right, the glass won't break and the cap just shoots off. You can avoid all glass entirely by using corny kegs.