I just brewed 5 gallons of Old Rasputin, and I'm willing to share.
Let's talk about what you're brewing, how you're brewing it, and what you want to exchange.



My setup is pretty simple as you can see. I'll be aging this batch in a carboy for a few weeks before bottling.
I'll make a full tutorial on this recipe on the next batch.

 

Not that I am against this idea but isn't there a set of laws regulating the shipment of beer across state lines by unlicensed private individuals.

 

I know UPS will ship bottles of wine from vineyard and wine clubs. I have no clue on the legalities of shipping it from one guy to the next.

 

USPS doesnt allow it. Fedex/UPS have 'rules' about it.

Can't stop Online retailers . Tightly pack it and send away!

Just call it more 'party supplies' with MLP stickers all over it

Edit* I showed my buddy @ work the bucket you have there and he was like, "Ask if he can send us 2 bottles.."

 

Paging Mobius.

We both have kegerators. He has a few homebrew kegs hanging on his garage ceiling.

 

I admit that I did not even consider it, but it appears that Mike has it right. I envisioned this as more of an exchange for bragging rights/ recipe sampling rather than supply your frat party with kegs of homebrew.
If anyone wants to exchange "party supplies" with me, they will come in individually wrapped 22oz containers.

 

I really want to see someones keg brewing system. That is my next step.

 

Just picked up a 15gal keggle, plan to use it as a mash tun for the time being until it gets warm enough to brew outside. Then start brewing 10gal batches and splitting them in half for different fermentation.

 

This thread makes me want to homebrew. I'm way to busy with school at the moment.

I've been a beer lover since I turned 21, and the thought of one day actually producing good beer sounds amazing.

 

I tend to dump the majority of our homebrew. 5 gallons is a lot across 2 people, I get tired of it fast. Plus it's a pain in the *** to connect/disconnect/clean the picnic tap that I use. I bought a few 5gal kegs because cleaning/sanitiz/bottling 50 bottles was a pain.

So I tend to just buy beers instead.

I got most of my extended family into it so we have big brew parties a few times a year and competitions at holiday parties. It's fun.

 

I brew all grain 12 gallons at a shot, fill 2 5gallon soda kegs, the rest goes in bottles.
I want to scale it down to 5 gallons at a time though. i dont drink it all, and it gets annoying having my buddies stop over all the time to drink my beer.
I don't try to exactly replicate beers I've had. I'll find a beer I like and use different hops/ yeast and see what happens.
I'm also going to grow my own hops this year. I want to have it that my fresh hops will in time be the only hops I use.
I only use water from a near by spring.
I only use liquid yeast.

I'm at work so that's all I can type for now. Maybe later I'll post a pic of the setup.

 

I used to brew mead. Specifically, Barkshack Ginger mead. I sent several bottles through the US Mail to people around the country. 22 oz.

Last time I did it, I got a very official letter from the postmaster telling me to knock it off. Every bottle got to it's destination, but I never tried again.

 

Just bottled 3 gallons of "apple pie" mead. I imagine it's a hell of a lot easier bottling 750ml bottles of wine than it is bottling 12oz bottles of beer. 3 Gallons = 15 bottles, and our more normal 5 gallon brew = 25 bottles. I would say we have somewhere around 25 gallons of bottled mead in the basement now, aging and getting delicious. Blackberry was definitely the favorite so far - did 2 gallons when we first started and it went quick. Now we've got the berries for a 5 gallon batch, just gotta wait for the spring honey production to kick up.

 

I sent my brother a bottle of woodford reserve through the post office. "Anything liquid, perishable, fragile"?
Nope.
I never heard a thing. I don't think I'd do it on a regular basis though.

 

I've sent my friends in the sandbox special care packages to their APO's. Never an issue.

 

I used to get those kinds of packages in the sandbox all the time. Usually, party supplies were stored inside Pringles cans in case the postmaster inspected the box.

 

The viking woman at my local brew supply store is a freaking wizard at recreating recipes. In the case of Old Rasputin, the brewery actually published the recipe online.
I try to replicate beers I really like, but I stick with the really expensive stuff to keep it cost effective.
A 5 gallon batch of Old Rasputin saves me around $200 over retail, and it keeps forever.

 

Old Rasputin is an imperial stout, no? I never brewed a stout.
I stick to IPA's and brown ales. If I brewed 5 gallons of stout, it would sit around for a while.

 

Yes, it is a Russian imperial stout. It won the gold at the Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival. I'm an IPA drinker myself, but my rule is; when the weather gets colder the beer gets darker. Plus stouts are very easy to brew.
While mine is basically a direct copy, I somehow end up with an alcohol content around 12%.

 

How in the world did I miss this thread before now? I'm in for whatever. I just need to come up with something worth making.

I scaled my system up to do 10g batches and I made something like 40 gallons of all grain beer for my wedding. I agree with Tim, even 5g split between 2 people is A LOT of beer. I've got so much surplus equipment now its insane.