[bikerman]

Hey, me and some buddies are thinking of doing u-brew beer this summer. Wondering if anyone has some advice of a good cheap place to go. Im not expecting to make amazing craft brews, just a decent lager or something at a reasonable cost.

Thanks.

[unit]

buy the equipment from rj spagnols and do it yourself.
takes 2 weeks to make a batch (65 beers).
after the equipment cost (60 bucks), the beers work out to something like 50-60cents each.

i got wine in progress right now. too bad it needs to age 3 months before drinking.
might make a 4 week wine that requires little to no aging next (white).

[bikerman]

buy the equipment from rj spagnols and do it yourself.
takes 2 weeks to make a batch (65 beers).
after the equipment cost (60 bucks), the beers work out to something like 50-60cents each.

i got wine in progress right now. too bad it needs to age 3 months before drinking.
might make a 4 week wine that requires little to no aging next (white).

do they sell bottles too ?

[unit]

i think they do. if not, any u-brew type place will.
im gonna do a batch of beer this summer too.
gonna get the 500ml bottles.
nothing like opening your fridge to 46 500mL bottles of cold beer.
seriously brings a tear to my eye. :drool:drool:drool

[bikerman]

i think they do. if not, any u-brew type place will.
im gonna do a batch of beer this summer too.
gonna get the 500ml bottles.
nothing like opening your fridge to 46 500mL bottles of cold beer.
seriously brings a tear to my eye. :drool:drool:drool

HAHA, yea me too. I Love beer its all i drink. Do you have any experience with how long the beers lasts once its bottled.

[unit]

from my experience, beer lasts a few minutes once its in a cold glass in front of me. :D
jk

it depends on how cold its kept. in a fridge i think it should be good for 8-12 weeks. kept out of the fridge... not long. probably a month.

by the way, i went to spagnols and bought these 2L bottles of home brew beer.
it looks like this:

http://www.brewsuppliesdirect.com/ingredient-kits/beer-ingredient-kits/easy-2-liter-kits.html

they sell it for under 3 bucks! thats equal to a six pack. all you do is put a yeast capsule inside, and screw on the new lid. wait 10 days, fridge, and its ready.
awesome!! im gonna drink it today, let u know how it turns out. if its good, im gonna buy like 5 of them next time.

the ultimate lazy man home brewed beer. zero equipment needed.

[Fafine]

^ be sure to come back and tell us how it taste =D

[bikerman]

from my experience, beer lasts a few minutes once its in a cold glass in front of me. :D
jk

it depends on how cold its kept. in a fridge i think it should be good for 8-12 weeks. kept out of the fridge... not long. probably a month.

by the way, i went to spagnols and bought these 2L bottles of home brew beer.
it looks like this:

http://www.brewsuppliesdirect.com/ingredient-kits/beer-ingredient-kits/easy-2-liter-kits.html

they sell it for under 3 bucks! thats equal to a six pack. all you do is put a yeast capsule inside, and screw on the new lid. wait 10 days, fridge, and its ready.
awesome!! im gonna drink it today, let u know how it turns out. if its good, im gonna buy like 5 of them next time.

the ultimate lazy man home brewed beer. zero equipment needed.

holy fuck $3 for a 2liter. Are you going to the spagnols on annacis island ?

[therubberguard]

Hey, me and some buddies are thinking of doing u-brew beer this summer. Wondering if anyone has some advice of a good cheap place to go. Im not expecting to make amazing craft brews, just a decent lager or something at a reasonable cost.

Thanks.

might be kind of far from you, but my buddies and i have did a u brew at this place http://www.brewcastle.com/ good experience, gotta make sure to keep the beers in a cold place.

[Jermyzy]

I'm doing a one-month European land tour this summer and I'm looking forward to trying all the different beers!

[unit]

^ be sure to come back and tell us how it taste =D

it tasted not bad! pretty good actually i was shocked that it was 'homemade' and only 3 bucks! the only downside of it is the yeast sediment on the bottom of the 2L. you have to be careful when you pour and probably pouring into larger glasses helps, since you disturb the sediment less often. definitely gonna try it again.

holy fuck $3 for a 2liter. Are you going to the spagnols on annacis island ?

thats the one.

[bikerman]

Just picked up a 2liter for 2.89 ! hopefully it turns out well.

[Manic!]

it tasted not bad! pretty good actually i was shocked that it was 'homemade' and only 3 bucks! the only downside of it is the yeast sediment on the bottom of the 2L. you have to be careful when you pour and probably pouring into larger glasses helps, since you disturb the sediment less often. definitely gonna try it again.



thats the one.

Why not filter it?

[Fafine]

damn think imma grab a bottle next week see how it goes

[bikerman]

damn think imma grab a bottle next week see how it goes


only 2 left when i was there, but the lady said they may be ordering more in the new few weeks. Hopefully they do because they are below MSRP, online they are suggested to go for $4-5. Defiantly cant complain with $2.89

[unit]

Why not filter it?

you probably can, but then you're beginning to borderline real home brewing.

this is as simple as drop a tablet, screw on cap, wait, drink.

[suzuka84]

just go to a ubrew place, the process is simple.

for those wondering about cost, think of it this way: the government deems this stuff as food services so it's not subject to liquor tax.

[Presto]

Bumping this old thread.
I jumped on the U-brew bandwagon. We always talk about it, but we never do it. Finally, my brother-in-law just dropped in on a U-brew place in Langley, and got a batch going for $57 (taxes in). Yesterday, we went and canned his beer. It was $17 extra for the cans. All you do is fill them up, put the lid on, and a machine fastens them together. It took about 10 minutes with one person filling and another attaching the lid.

Anyways, I found the process really easy. I placed an order for another batch, and it'll be ready at the end of the month. Cream ale was the first batch, which tastes pretty good. The second batch will be a red ale, like Rickards. We ended up with over 70 cans of brew. We're going to go with glass bottles for the next batch. They can be washed and reused, and that'll cut down the cost per beer, significantly.

[Sid Vicious]

drove past a place in richmond on jacombs at cambie that was offering 12 dozen beers for $150ish. not sure if this included the cans or not. still $1-$2 for a beer aint bad

anyone brew a big batch before? how did it taste? was it that much cheaper than buying like a 15 pack of old mil?

[young_howee]

Most u-brews charge like $1 for each empty bottle. So i would just save up my own bottles

[Presto]

Have a look at the U-brew thread in the Food and Dining Forum:
http://www.revscene.net/forums/617701-good-places-u-brew-beer.html

I, recently, bottled some u-brew with my bro-in-law in Langley at Von Euw Brew. $57 for 23 liters, which works out to 66 cans of beer. You can bring your own bottles, buy theirs, or can 'em. Canning is $17 extra, and we went that route because we didn't have bottles, yet. Bottles are major savings in the long run.

[Culverin]

Don't get cans.
Just go straight to bottles.
I'm using 500ml plastic bottles, they work well.

[artmotion]

I just did my first batch a few weeks ago and should be ready for bottling. My friends all use ez top bottles (like the ones from howe sound brewery or grolsch) and have been doing it for a while. Their beers all taste pretty good and they just brewed a new one with earl grey tea. Can't wait to try it!

As far as it being cheap or not, it all depends how you want to do it. My basic equipment wasn't too expensive and if you're doing it at the u brew place, they probably supply everything as well. But if you get more into it and do it at home, you'll end up spending a lot on more sophisticated equipment. The ingredients are generally cheap and as long as you're following good recipes with good ingredients and keeping everything well sanitized, it should be pretty hard to make a bad batch.

I say definitely give it a shot. It's fun, you'll get to learn more about beer and hopefully it'll get you away from Old Milwaukee.

[Great68]

I've tried U-Brew places a few times in the past, and never really been a big fan.

I find the taste from those beer kits not that great, and the shelf life of U-Brew beer sucks. Sure you get 12 dozen beers for $150, but they start going bad after 2-3 months. I likes my beer, but I can't possibly drink that much in that amount of time.

[Hondaracer]

My buddy was brewing some on and off for the past few years

I find most of it has the same aftertaste which isn't a great one and you'll never have a worse hangover than from ubrew, ill pay the extra and drink Somthing I enjoy
Posted via RS Mobile

[punkwax]

I have yet to try a U-Brew that I've enjoyed..

[SlySi]

I've tried U-Brew places a few times in the past, and never really been a big fan.

I find the taste from those beer kits not that great, and the shelf life of U-Brew beer sucks. Sure you get 12 dozen beers for $150, but they start going bad after 2-3 months. I likes my beer, but I can't possibly drink that much in that amount of time.

Yeah.. same here. Iv done about 6 batches. Trying out different tastes and combination.
Not sure if its where I made the batches.
There never seems to be a high enough alcohol percentage on them.
All my batches have a taste of watered Coors Lite.

[Graeme S]

I've tried U-Brew places a few times in the past, and never really been a big fan.

I find the taste from those beer kits not that great, and the shelf life of U-Brew beer sucks. Sure you get 12 dozen beers for $150, but they start going bad after 2-3 months. I likes my beer, but I can't possibly drink that much in that amount of time.
Culverin and I go in and split batches...we must be alcoholics because generally speaking we'll order a new batch for two weeks out...and run out just around the same time.

24 litres of beer (each) in 14 days. Whoops.

[GLOW]

by the way, i went to spagnols and bought these 2L bottles of home brew beer.
it looks like this:

Contact Support (http://www.brewsuppliesdirect.com/ingredient-kits/beer-ingredient-kits/easy-2-liter-kits.html)

they sell it for under 3 bucks! thats equal to a six pack. all you do is put a yeast capsule inside, and screw on the new lid. wait 10 days, fridge, and its ready.

there's a thread in off-topic but it seems appropriate to post there. i also just bought a couple 2L (not sureif the same as your link is dead). it's called big & easy brew...it cost $6.95 though...bought a cerveza and pilsner to see how it is...i'll report back on how good it is...wish i could find a $3 version if it's decent.

[punkwax]

^ So using round numbers (3 beer / ltr) pretty much 72 beer in 14 days? ~5 beer a day.. that makes me feel much better about myself.

Thank you Graeme S & Culverin! :D

[Graeme S]

Beer doesn't grow in cans, y'know. When you DIY it, most people do it in either 500mL or 1L bottles. You end up with very different consumption tallies when it works out that way, because two beers equals three (355x3 and 500x2 work out almost the same). Often you don't realize that you had a lot more to drink than you normally would just because you're not going through as many units.

One batch is 48 litres give or take, and you bottle it however you'd like. Cans are cheaper up front, but not reusable. Bottles are a bit more expensive (especially glass) but can be used until they die. But like the man said, there's a thread in the food & drink forum...so I'll merge this topic over later tonight.

[punkwax]

Don't get me wrong, certainly not judging. I go through quite a bit of beer & wine myself. And I'm not keen on returning cans/bottles... the size of my returns are usually a little embarrassing when I get around to doing it :lol

[Graeme S]

Culverin and I go to West Coast U-brew:
Beer - West Coast U Brew (http://www.westcoastubrew.com/beer/)

So far we've tried (IIRC):
Mike's IPA - Beer - West Coast U Brew (http://www.westcoastubrew.com/beer/mikes-ipa/)
A decent brew, but not something I'd call a super-hoppy IPA. Not too dissimilar from Tree Brewing's Cutthroat Pale Ale.
Hopzilla - Beer - West Coast U Brew (http://www.westcoastubrew.com/beer/hopzilla/)
I loved this shit (but I love 'em crazy hoppy), it had even more bite than the Tree Brewing Hop Head
Highlands Scottish Ale - Beer - West Coast U Brew (http://www.westcoastubrew.com/beer/Highland-scottish-ale/)
This stuff was fun, smooth and a little hoppy, and it made Darthchilli want to go franchise it and sell it as a proper beer to people.

Next up (on the 6th) is the 20th Anniversary Special Ale...which I got because it was on special, and I was like "fuckit, why not."


I am thinking of talking to a couple of my buddies who do home brew and starting that out, 'cause after you've bought the equipment it brings the price down to around sixty cents a beer. Which is very very shiney.

[sonick]

Anybody try Mr. Bottle Brew? [Fun] Mister Beer Bottle Brew - Page 34 - RedFlagDeals.com Forums (http://forums.redflagdeals.com/mister-beer-bottle-brew-1117718/34/)

[GLOW]

Well it's 2 weeks later for my lazy man's pill 2L homebrew so I figure I'd review if anyone cares. Popped it open, and there was carbonation. Had a little head when pouring it...first taste...had me like :considered:

Tasted like a beer. Little light but it was a cervasa...drinkable...but as others noted, the after taste not so great. And leaves you with bad breath. Tbh I felt like not stopping when drinking so I don't have that aftertaste in my mouth. Because when I drink the aftertaste was not there :lol

I felt like I needed to listerine after to get it out of my mouth. Overall I'd say it did the job but loses points bc of the aftertaste. Maybe not so bad if I was eating food. I'll have to see how the pilsner goes. At 40-50% savings and literally no work or equipment involved its interesting, but it definitely won't/cant replace my favorite beers I enjoy regularly.

[Graeme S]

I think it's time I did my research on homebrew; it's time for me to make some seriously quality cheap beers. Met up with a guy from CAMRA who's done some decent replicas of $8-12 craft beers for a buck a bottle or less.

Looking forward to this.

[subordinate]

I've had some beer from Burnaby U-brew. I was surprised at how good it was. It tasted like a more crisp version of Cariboo. It was very enjoyable.

Recently, had some homemade beer from a friend who used a groupon. URGhhhh...the after taste sucks ass.

[artmotion]

Bottled a batch of Hefeweizen 2 weeks ago and it should be ready to rock this weekend. Really excited to try it out.

Also thought I would mention, I bought 60 bottles from Howe Sound Brewery before I bottled this batch and they were only 50 cents a bottle. Make sure to call ahead if you're going to pick them up though, and buy some beers there while you're there. They offer a few that are exclusive to the brewery.

[Graeme S]

Ew, hef. Not a big fan of the yeastiness.

Where'd you do yours?

[artmotion]

Ew, hef. Not a big fan of the yeastiness.

Where'd you do yours?

Yeah it's not for everyone but I'm personally a big fan. I actually just did it at home with supplies from Barley's Homebrewing Supplies « 101-455 East Columbia St, New Westminster 604.553.1941 (http://barleyshomebrewing.wordpress.com/) The owner is really knowledgeable and super friendly unlike what I heard about some other homebrew suppliers.

[PJ]

Couple questions about the cans and bottles

How much do the u-brew places charge for cans and bottles?

How does bringing your own bottles work? Do you just bring a case of washed empty beer bottles, and they add the caps there?

[Presto]

Couple questions about the cans and bottles

How much do the u-brew places charge for cans and bottles?

How does bringing your own bottles work? Do you just bring a case of washed empty beer bottles, and they add the caps there?

I bring my own washed bottles. The Ubrew provides the caps and the machine to put them on. You can do twist or non-twist bottles. My brother-in-law purchased his bottles. I just re-used old bottles. Cans were $17 for ~66 cans. Cans are good if you have to bring your beer somewhere, but don't want to haul back empties. Bottles are the way to go, in the long run.

You can buy a bottle-tree for drying many bottles at once. I just wash them as I drink them, and dry them on the dish rack, and put it in a box so they're ready for the next batch.