Home Brew Supplies question

[Detroitpete]

Hey rabble, I have a couple of questions for some of the home brewers here:

I received a home brewing kit for the holidays and I'm looking for a place that has interesting (but able to be personalized) labels and 12 oz. bottles with EZ caps. Any ideas of where I should look?

Thanks for any suggestions.

[NewEnglander]

While not being able to answer your question, I would recommend Northern Brewer and Beer, Beer and More Beer as great online homebrew suppliers.

What sort of homebrew kit did you receive? I reuse 12 oz. brown glass bottles to bottle my homebrew. You just need to invest in some caps, a capper and enjoy a a few cases of beer while you're waiting for your batch to ferment!

[Detroitpete]

While not being able to answer your question, I would recommend Northern Brewer and Beer, Beer and More Beer as great online homebrew suppliers.

What sort of homebrew kit did you receive? I reuse 12 oz. brown glass bottles to bottle my homebrew. You just need to invest in some caps, a capper and enjoy a a few cases of beer while you're waiting for your batch to ferment!

This is going to sound a bit 'funny' but I got a Mr. Beer home kit. The funny part is I used to work for a major brewery and later had my own draft/tap service and supply business. I NEVER brewed my own beer but always wanted to. I tend to get a bit nutty about my hobbies and they can easily become obsessions--so I'm looking to do this in a very understated and simple manner.

Instead of getting caps and cappers, I thought an easier way to start off would be to use 12 or 16oz EZ cap bottles.

I like the idea of re-using bottles, but I don't go through that many and mostly drink out of refilled growlers from my favorite pub ;)

Thanks for the sites!

[NewEnglander]

I hear you about hobbies becoming obsessions...last year it was homebrewing and now it's kilts, for me!
I'm a big fan of podcasts and just heard one about making the most of Mr. Beer kits.
Check out THIS site and scroll down to find the December 3rd episode, which mentions THIS forum.

[NCMC]

I would also recommend to stick with the growlers and the EZ cap bottles. They are alot faster to fill and bottle if you don't have to use the regular caps and a capper.
BTW, I get my kits/supplies from Midwest Brewers and they usually have litre bottles for $1 when you buy a kit from them. Now I am bottling in 2L bottles since they are great for parties and I only have to bottle a few of them and the batch is done. Good luck.

[NewEnglander]

I suppose if you're doing a smaller batch (ie the 2 gallons or so that are in a Mr. Beer) a half gallon growler makes more sense. I do 5 gallon batches and couldn't drink it fast enough out of growlers for it to stay properly carbonated.
Best of luck!

[haxtonhouse]

I always made my own label on the computer and just bought the blank labels. I like the regular bottles myself, but I do have a couple of cappers. good luck!

[Detroitpete]

Thanks Guys!

Hmmm, let's take a quick look at my CURRENT addictions...umm hobbies:

Kilts
Highland Games--ya' gotta love tossin' a caber
Flyfishing
Genealogy
Symbology--explains my current facination with heraldry
History
Philosophy etc etc etc...and now

Home Brewed Beer! Always LOVED drinking the stuff so I guess it is time to start trying my hand at some.

Here are a few of the labels I'm working on:

This has the tartan I designed and Matt Newsome made into a kilt for me.

[Bob C]

I spent the money to get foil labels printed. A friend of mine is a graphic artist who designed them for me. I get my bottles by saving the bottles from other beers I drink (no screw caps, obviously), but I have also purchased cases of empties from bars for the deposit price.

[Detroitpete]

I hear you about hobbies becoming obsessions...last year it was homebrewing and now it's kilts, for me!
I'm a big fan of podcasts and just heard one about making the most of Mr. Beer kits.
Check out THIS site and scroll down to find the December 3rd episode, which mentions THIS forum.

THANKS! I was wondering about how I was going to get this thing to make half-way decent beer. The comments on using the UME seems to be the first thing I'll try.