Brewing on the Party Patio

“Buy a man a beer and he’ll waste an hour, teach him to brew and he’ll waste a lifetime"- Bob Stoddard


I realize in my last blog that while I asked for contributions I failed to mention how much I would actually need. This short blurb is in reply to inquires regarding same.

So I have been asked exactly do I need to commence my brewing journey.

I do not want to be too complicated but I want to be complete.

There are several online sites where one can order what ever he needs to become a home brewer. One of the more popular ones is Austin Homebrew Supply of which I have actually visited and have one of their tee shirts http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php

There are multiple “kits” / mixes that include all of the ingredients needed to make around 5 gallons of beer. (2 cases of 12oz bottles)
Essentially the kits (for IPAs ,Pale Ales, Porters and Hefeweizens) are the same a cake or cookie mix. Most include bottle caps for 50 bottles. These kits usually cost about $ 30-35. As I would learn the essentials of brewing I could venture out and begin to brew from scratch and eventually develop my own beers and ales.

As far as bottles are concerned, they can be recycled bottles that I have collected.

One thing that would be nice is a 45 Bottle Drainer Tree for $ 27.99 and Vinator Bottle Rinser for $ 18.99. Sanitation is essential in brewing and bottling good beer, The tee and rinser makes the process of bottle sanitation easier and much more efficient.

There are several “starter kits” ranging from just under one hundred bucks and going up to about four hundred dollars

They include just about every thing needed. The one I feel would best suit me would be the one called Super Deluxe Beer Making Equipment Kit it sells for $ 196.49 but I would need an additional component called a secondary fermenter. By having this, the end result (beer) will be much clearer. It would cost $ 25.98.

The first thing or first process of brewing beer is boiling water. Therefore I would need pot at least a 32 quart size. These can be purchased just about anywhere. The one I found at Austin Home Brew goes for $ 54.99.
Of course in order to boil water I must have a heat source and although the kitchen stove would work, I am afraid the Mrs. The Third may have a few issues with me invading her sanctuary. I would have much more room on the “party porch” and I could use a propane burner. Austin Home Brew sell one called Bayou Classic Outdoor Propane Burner available for $ 69.99
A pot and burner can be obtained nearly everywhere, including Academy and Wal-Mart
The burner and pot could be used for other purposes as well, including boiling crustaceans.

So the total cost to get me going….. $ 393.43 plus tax


I might suggest that my loyal readers consider banding together to make an investment in my brewing future.


Hoppily Yours

The Third,
Future Home Brewer and future Reality Television Star

6th Street Brewery

Last Friday night the Mrs. The Third had to work from 3:00 PM till 9:00PM. We usually travel up to the local pub and tip a few. I decided I would go alone. I then received a phone call from the Rock Star Mentality that I needed to pick her up at 6:00 PM. It was beginning to look as if my weekly trek to the pub would not happen. But I decided to ask my youngest if she would mind going by O'Brien's. She said it was cool with her so on we went. While there I visited with my friend Byran from Belfast Northern Ireland. He seemed enamored with my daughter. The owner of the pub called me to the bar and introduced me to a young couple. They were interested in forming a local home brewing club* and considered meeting at O'Brien's. We chatted for a while. They were interested in my travels and the beers I have sampled. I told them I had moved into an old house down the street and that I was considering finally starting to home brew. They then invited me to come over to visit them the following Sunday because they were bottling a pumpkin ale. Matt showed me a picture on his cell phone of his harvest this year of hops. Wow I was getting excited.

As things turned out, they were not able to bottle their beer and I have yet to visit them. But it got me to realizing that I really need to focus on thingsbeer again.


One of my son in laws sat out on my back porch. In his deep voice he exclaimed. "Wow! This is a party porch" I must admit the Mrs. The Third and I spend a considerable amount of time setting on our "party porch" If you look close you can see my BBQ pit on the right. The door on the left leads in the kitchen and the window in the middle are from our dining and family room. We can gaze out our window and see the same things we do as we set on the aforementioned porch. As you look at the picture, note the step down on the left side of the picture. It leads to a concrete walkway. It traverses through the yard and leads to a wooden shed. ( where I store my lawn stuff etc.). If you look closely to the left you will see the side of the rose garden
Behind the rose garden is where I plan to plant a vegetable garden where I will plant tomatoes, squash, peppers and cucumbers. As Guy Clark said " There are only two things that money can't buy... true love and home grown tomatoes."

I was thinking. If homegrown tomatoes are so much better than store bought ones, I bet that fresh "homegrown" hops would be awesome as well. Besides Matt had inspired me. So I have decided to grow hops as well.

On the side of the wooden shed I plan to construct a hop trellis. It will be built as follows:
Two 6 foot sections of 2" PVC pipe will be buried 18" into the ground 4 feet apart. These two will be centered and adjacent to the wooden shed (pictured here). I will then place a 2" PVC "tee" on the top of each of the aforementioned 6 foot sections. I will then attached a 4 foot 2" PVC pipe to both of the tees thus attaching the two 6 foot pipes together. I will then attach two more 6 foot sections to each of the sides of the trellis and will attach a similar 4 foot 2" PVC pipe to the top. I will then attach two 16" section of 2" PVC pipe each facing the opposite direction of the 4 foot sections. The trellis will stand 10 1/2 feet high and will be 7 feet wide. (I have been told that hops will actually grow as much as 35 feet high if allowed) I will plant 5 hop rhizomes spaced evenly about 18" away from the base of the trellis. Next to each rhizome I will place a wooden stake in which I will tie a piece of twine leading the the top of the trellis. As the rhizome sprout and grow, vines (actually called bines) will be trained to climb each of the five pieces of twine.
I plan to construct the trellis over the next few months and will be planting my hops at about the same time I will plant the vegetable garden. (in the Spring). View of our vegetable garden should be obstructed by our rose garden but we will be about to see the hops as they grow. I understand that they emit a wonderful fragrance as well. Furthermore they attract butterflies too. That will be cool. The hops will grow through the Summer and should be harvested around mid September. At least that is what I expect.

Now I realize this blog is really strange but give me break....It has been nearly two months since my last one. I promise future blogs will be much better.

Yes, I do want to open a microbrewery but I have to admit that it has been fairly presumptuous on my part to think I could do such a thing without the home brewing experience. For that reason I am hereby announcing the formation of 6th Street Brewery. I will begin to look on the Internet and will be procuring items needed to brew beer. I anticipate spending around $ 300 to $ 400 for such items. You can purchase these from multiple places on the web or you can visit home brewing stores. There is one in Austin called Austin Homebrewing. I actually have one of their tee shirts and on the back it says "Make your own damn beer!"
If any of my loyal readers want to make an investment in the 6th Street Brewery I will gladly accept such. This can be done by purchasing equipment for me for Christmas or birthdays gifts. Money will be accepted as well.


So my brewing process has finally begun if only in the planning phase.


Whoooooo Hooooooo


The Third
Brew Master
6th Street Brewery
Charter Member of *Lone Star Brewers Guild