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Evan! · 11-12-2007, 02:16 PM

Nothing better than taking off Friday afternoon to brew some beers and smoke some pork butt. Hell yes. And though the clouds threatened to rain on me, it never got worse than a light sprinkle. I brewed the Tripel Twins...two batches, same recipe, one gets Chimay yeast (WLP500), the other gets Rochefort (Wyeast 1762).

So I left work around 11:15 and went to the Super Reid Market...pretty ghetto, but the best pork in town. Dropped a measly $29 on this massive butt:

Then I raced across town to the UPS distribution center to pick up my new 15 gallon kettle. Here she is, next to one of my old 8 gallon pots. Holy hell, she is pretty!

Got the chimney going for the smoker

Milled my grains and was mashed in by 12:30:

(yes, my patio was a bloody mess, but it's been cleaned up since)

Evan! · 11-12-2007, 02:17 PM

Finally took a minute to pour myself a glass of ohiobrewtus' ordinary bitter. Damn fine stuff!

What a pretty mash. I got distracted by the Chemlawn dude who needed to speak with me, and my strike water got a little too hot, so my first step was 20 mins at 140f, rather than 30 mins at 133f. No worries. Bumped up to the low 150's after that for 70 minutes, up to 158 to complete the conversion, and then 167 for mashout.

draining the sweet stuff...first running from the first batch:

Evan! · 11-12-2007, 02:17 PM

The new kettle, well...it kicks WAY too much ass. Hardly had to worry about boiling over, and was able to get a great rolling boil going. How did I ever brew without it?

And last but not least...

Hit my OG right on the money for both batches. About 78% efficiency, I believe. Pitched each starter in its entirety into each batch. They hadn't done a thing, but I still had faith. 24 hours later, nothing. 48 hours later...the Rochefort had some spots on top. 60 hours later, the Rochefort has a bonafide krausen and some airlock activity...and the Chimay has some small spots on top (it's a little late because the Rochefort was in a smack pack, so it got going a little earlier). Very nice...that yeast had a manuf. date of March! So, I'm confident that these 2 and a half days of the repro stage will really give me some strong Belgian ester qualities that I'm looking for. And what's more, my basement is now a balmy 60f, meaning that I don't have to do ice baths anymore! In fact, I actually had to put the heating pad on them this morning. I love winter!

Then, on Saturday, I went on a grueling mountain bike trip with a friend of mine. 21 miles in all. We drove to the other side of the Blue Ridge, hit a trail on the valley floor, and did that for awhile. Some technical rock gardens that threw me, but really fun. Very difficult ride...then we got to the base of the Blue Ridge. The Gates of Hell, he called it. We rose a few thousand feet in less than a horizontal mile. All switchbacks. All steep and slick (it snowed the night before!!!). I walked half of it...there's simply no way anyone other than the best riders in the world could have pedaled all the way up without walking. But it was a hell of a climb, and when we got to the top...bam, we're on top of Bald Mountain. Rode down a fire road and we hit the Blue Ridge Parkway. Took that a couple miles to an overlook, and then hit some awesome downhills to get back to the car. A hell of a time, but I'm still feeling it. Finished the night with some excellent barbecue and yard bocce (I finally won!)

So, anyway...here's to brewing, biking, barbecue and bocce.

And here's to my 49th and 50th batches!!!

FatDuc · 11-12-2007, 02:22 PM

Sounds like an awesome weekend. No kids I take it?

Evan! · 11-12-2007, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ma2brew

Sounds like an awesome weekend. No kids I take it?

You bet your ass not.

Ó Flannagáin · 11-12-2007, 02:41 PM

I haven't been to bald mountain in a while. I love & miss the blue ridge.

Dude, the beers look awesome. You are gonna love the WLP500. I used it on a specialty ale, but man, it is goooood. Gotta love the belgians.

ohiobrewtus · 11-12-2007, 03:33 PM

Sounds like a good session. I wish I would have taken some pics Saturday. It was certainly an experience doing my first 2 ten gallon batches.

A keggle full of wort about 3 inches from the top is a beautiful thing, but boy did I underestimate the amount of time that it would take to hit my temps with that much liquid.

Evan! · 11-12-2007, 05:35 PM

Yep, I usually take pics just to have them.

Anyway, I went home for lunch and checked on the carboys while I was there.

...and the little spots on the Chimay batch have become a nice white ring around the surface. The definite beginnings of fermentation. This is excellent! Both of them ended up working out...

eviljafar · 11-12-2007, 06:04 PM

What a festival of life. If I did all that, plus maybe had sex and smoked a Cuban, then if my number came up that day I would have died a happy man.

PseudoChef · 11-12-2007, 09:07 PM

What a cock tease with no final picks of the pork butt....