Syracuse, ny - round 7 group grain buy

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We need to get these hop splits filled! I'm also curious about getting grain splits going again on the next swap? Anyone have any ideas to how we could make that work?
 
We're discussing the possibility of doing some limited organized splits but nothing has been decided yet. I think we would like to do them again but the buys have grown in size so fast that we're trying to make it easier to manage for everyone (delivery point and cider handling payments).
 
We're discussing the possibility of doing some limited organized splits but nothing has been decided yet. I think we would like to do them again but the buys have grown in size so fast that we're trying to make it easier to manage for everyone (delivery point and cider handling payments).

I'm fairly set for splits, but can still offer suggestions. It seems that splits could still be done but limited in a few ways:
1. Limit split to those grains for which it doesn't make any sense for any one person to get a full sack. For example, the crystal malts and carapils. Don't allow splits for what are essentially base grains: 2-row, MO, Vienna, even things like Munich. This will reduce the # of splits.
2 Limit the number of sacks in each buy eligible for splits. For example, "we will only have 6 sacks that can be split per group buy".
3.For most splits, limit the # of splits to a max of 3. I'm personally wishing on some things that I got a 1/4 sack, that I had actually gotten 1/3.
4.As you are doing now, for those fairly local to each other, encourage them to buy a sack and split it among themselves after pickup.

Of course, this is all easy for me to recommend as I'm not the one having to measure and split things up, being so far away (Albany). :)
 
Hey copyright, I keep forgetting to tell you I tried your blue moon clone on my last brew day while I was zesting oranges and brewing my first wit. It was tasty and put me in the right frame of mind! I haven't busted out the SN clone comparison yet- I want to get my brother in law over to enjoy that.

Thanks again :mug:
 
well, i might be in this one too, depending on when it goes through.. (i might be moving back to syracuse at the end of june... so we will see...)

if so all hell will break loose.... i havent brewed in 2 months and going through withdrawal
 
Boom, I just kegged 4 batches and hit the boil on two new ones! I'm going to pitch on the cake I used for my wit and make a rye saison with it -- really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. It should be perfect by the lake this summer. I also used a touch of the aromatic malt from one of our previous buys for a Vienna style ale, haven't used it before either so we'll see!
 
I did have one quick question. Does anyone have an amber malt recommendation? When I was looking through the malts I didn't see one. I'm probably just being blind. I know that amber can go by various names though.
 
jdowling said:
I did have one quick question. Does anyone have an amber malt recommendation? When I was looking through the malts I didn't see one. I'm probably just being blind. I know that amber can go by various names though.

I've been using the Franco-Belges Kiln Amber and like it. I use it in a lot of my beers in a small quantity.
 
I've been using the Franco-Belges Kiln Amber and like it. I use it in a lot of my beers in a small quantity.

Cool. I might order a bag of that also then. I don't see that item number on the spreadsheet though.

Is it okay to just go ahead and add it or is there a reason some items are on the sheet and some aren't?
 
I did have one quick question. Does anyone have an amber malt recommendation? When I was looking through the malts I didn't see one. I'm probably just being blind. I know that amber can go by various names though.

Stay away from the Thomas Fawcett's Amber, the bag we got in the last buy was horrible for sticks and rocks. Havent seen that issue with any other Fawcett's and I've used 15+ bags to date.
 
Cool. I might order a bag of that also then. I don't see that item number on the spreadsheet though.

Is it okay to just go ahead and add it or is there a reason some items are on the sheet and some aren't?

Added FB caramel amber and kiln amber to the sheet for ya.
 
I checked my notes and I actually have the caramel amber and not the kiln one. My opinion of it hasn't changed though :)
 
I think the kiln amber is closer to a traditional amber malt, right? I think amber is generally around 25 L but the sheet says 15-23L for kiln and 30-38 for caramel.

Generally I've used CaraAmber when a recipe calls for amber because that's what my LHBS has. That's 27L so right in the middle between these hah. Decisions decisions ;).
 
If you want a real amber malt, you really need to go with one of the British maltsters. There really is no substitute. CaraAmber and CaraBrown are crystal malts, whereas amber malt is lightly roasted. Totally different flavors.

I've always been really happy with Thomas Fawcett malts, though you will get the occasional few pebbles or sticks in the mix.
 
If you want a real amber malt, you really need to go with one of the British maltsters. There really is no substitute. CaraAmber and CaraBrown are crystal malts, whereas amber malt is lightly roasted. Totally different flavors.

I've always been really happy with Thomas Fawcett malts, though you will get the occasional few pebbles or sticks in the mix.

So what happened with you tasting with the "4th largest" guests?!
 
bierhaus15 said:
I've always been really happy with Thomas Fawcett malts, though you will get the occasional few pebbles or sticks in the mix.

So how bad are we talking with the sticks & pebbles? I wouldn't want to mangle my crusher because I missed a rock or something.

I assume cranking down on a rock couldn't be good for the steel.
 
So how bad are we talking with the sticks & pebbles? I wouldn't want to mangle my crusher because I missed a rock or something.

I assume cranking down on a rock couldn't be good for the steel.

Personally I was shocked at how much sticks an other stuff was in our bag of amber from TF. Looked like a tuft of hay, etc.

Jeff actually had a rock jam in his malt mill (I have yet to use the amber but saw the sticks during the split, it was a lot).

To me the fact that bierhaus has seen this too, makes me believe the quality control isn't what it should be. That I personally will skip TF for some of these malts. My buddy just bought the 3 roller malt mill for about $400 and I don't need to ding it ahead of schedule.
 
Personally I was shocked at how much sticks an other stuff was in our bag of amber from TF. Looked like a tuft of hay, etc.

Jeff actually had a rock jam in his malt mill (I have yet to use the amber but saw the sticks during the split, it was a lot).

To me the fact that bierhaus has seen this too, makes me believe the quality control isn't what it should be. That I personally will skip TF for some of these malts. My buddy just bought the 3 roller malt mill for about $400 and I don't need to ding it ahead of schedule.

I bought 18 lbs TF Amber during the round 5 buy. Have used about 8 lbs or so and did not notice any foreign objects yet reading this definitely got my attention. Still have an unopened sack of TF Marris Otter. Sure do not want to ding up my mill. Has anyone else noticed sticks and pebbles in TF Malts?
 
I bought 18 lbs TF Amber during the round 5 buy. Have used about 8 lbs or so and did not notice any foreign objects yet reading this definitely got my attention. Still have an unopened sack of TF Marris Otter. Sure do not want to ding up my mill. Has anyone else noticed sticks and pebbles in TF Malts?

I didn't see any in my MO just in the amber split to date.
 
All group buy participants have been emailed an optional survey about this group buy. Just trying to gain some information on some ideas we are thinking about.

Current thoughts:
- We want to have 1 date that we have people come pick up their grain. This would be a defined Saturday from 10am - noon. We would be able to give everyone a 1-2 week heads up on this day, maybe more. But this date will slide with when ever we 1) get all deposits from everyone (which we hope we can get within 1 week from closing the order),2) actually place the order. We "might" be able to handle special cases if someone cant make it, but we would strongly suggest making arrangements with another buyer if you can. We just want to get the grain out of our delivery location fast, with minor impact to their operations.
- Add limited splits back in for this buy. 1/2 splits mainly with a limited number of splits. Possible 1/3 splits for certain grain types and limited in number. We would also add cost of stronger bags to split participants.
 
just filled out the survey. I havent been on the board in a while so I felt compelled to add another bag and a few lbs of hops. Mainly stocked up on Columbus and mt hood since i just tapped another keg of Denny's Wry smile IPA (second batch of it ive made) and the stuff is ridiculously good
 
All group buy participants have been emailed an optional survey about this group buy. Just trying to gain some information on some ideas we are thinking about.

Current thoughts:
- We want to have 1 date that we have people come pick up their grain. This would be a defined Saturday from 10am - noon. We would be able to give everyone a 1-2 week heads up on this day, maybe more. But this date will slide with when ever we 1) get all deposits from everyone (which we hope we can get within 1 week from closing the order),2) actually place the order. We "might" be able to handle special cases if someone cant make it, but we would strongly suggest making arrangements with another buyer if you can.
- Add limited splits back in for this buy. 1/2 splits mainly with a limited number of splits. Possible 1/3 splits for certain grain types and limited in number. We would also add cost of stronger bags to split participants.

That is some serious organization on your part.

Thank you for your effort in this.

If i made decent beer i would bring you some when i come pick up my stuff, but i don't so i won't bother. :(
 
That is some serious organization on your part.

Thank you for your effort in this.

If i made decent beer i would bring you some when i come pick up my stuff, but i don't so i won't bother. :(

Haha no problem. We're just trying to make it easier on those who help put on the buy. It's alot of work on Cidah and any way we can make it easier surely will ensure the buy goes on for a long time.
 
That is some serious organization on your part.

Thank you for your effort in this.

If i made decent beer i would bring you some when i come pick up my stuff, but i don't so i won't bother. :(

Sounds like we need to get you into an eherms haha!

Seriously though, what kind of issues are you having? All styles? Do you control ferment temp?


Keep those hop orders coming!! :D


Meh I don't mind the work as long as we get the buys a little less frequent, which it looks like we are doing. But hey, best to set it up as best we can so the operation runs itself :D Thanks for the hard work Jeff

Strecker - I hear you on that IPA, I have a keg on gas that should be ready this or next week.... good stuff!
 
Hey guys, got the ok from SWMBO to use some of our tax refund to purchase a kegerator (finally going to start kegging)! Anyway, do any of you have suggestions of decent dual tap kegerators? I have two kegs I got from a buddy at work for free, which in turn prompted me to decide to start kegging. At first I thought about building my own but just don't want to have to deal with it. Any suggestions would help. Also, for those who keg, are there any local places to go to get CO2 refills? I've heard lots of people complain about not being able find places that will do it.
 
Hey guys, got the ok from SWMBO to use some of our tax refund to purchase a kegerator (finally going to start kegging)! Anyway, do any of you have suggestions of decent dual tap kegerators? I have two kegs I got from a buddy at work for free, which in turn prompted me to decide to start kegging. At first I thought about building my own but just don't want to have to deal with it. Any suggestions would help. Also, for those who keg, are there any local places to go to get CO2 refills? I've heard lots of people complain about not being able find places that will do it.

airgas in east syracuse will do it, so will haun gas. Get a 20lb tank and then even if you have to make a drive it won't be a pain because it will last a long time. I would just buy it from airgas or haun or whomever and avoid shipping it.

Honestly my best advice is build your own keezer. You will get a unit that can hold way more kegs for way less $$. It should last longer than a refridge too because the load you are putting on it is lower than it would get as a freezer. Building one is really easy even if your DIYer skill are at a low level.

You may think, all I really need is two beers on tap. I will let you live your lie :D Reality is you will want more. But let's say thats true. Having extra space allows you to lager your beers, and also have kegs carbed up and ready to replace the kegs you already have in your keezer.

I have a 4 keg keezer and man I wish I could buy a larger checst freezer so I could keep the lagers coming. Right now though that ain't happening because SWMBO has been very lenient with all the rest, including my most recent ebuild and eherms I will wrap up this week.
 
Sounds like we need to get you into an eherms haha!

Seriously though, what kind of issues are you having? All styles? Do you control ferment temp?

I was just kidding, my stuff isnt that bad.

I had just got back from Buffalo Wild Wings in Cicero after having a few tall Empire IPAs and got home to my brown ale which I think needs another week on the gas before it is ready to drink so my perception was a little skewed.
 
Honestly my best advice is build your own keezer. You will get a unit that can hold way more kegs for way less $$. It should last longer than a refridge too because the load you are putting on it is lower than it would get as a freezer. Building one is really easy even if your DIYer skill are at a low level.

And my advice is when you buid your collar for the keezer, do not use Pine.

I bought my chest freezer last year when I started kegging and have been using picnic taps since. Well i finally broke down and bought my taps. I built my collar out of pine this past weekend and when i went to stain it one of the peices come out all blotchy.
It looks horrible.
I am waiting on the stain to fully dry out so i can primer it and paint it glossy white to match the fridge.

I wish I would have just used a hardwood in the first place and saved myself all this aggrivation.

Plus i have four Perlick 525SS just sitting on a shelf waiting for me to finish this thing. Their shininess is taunting me.
 
Hi guys- is anyone involved in the group buy coming from Buffalo? If anyone is I would like to get in on a group pick up, I can even drive if need be. Let me know.
 
Hi guys- is anyone involved in the group buy coming from Buffalo? If anyone is I would like to get in on a group pick up, I can even drive if need be. Let me know.

I put you under the Buffalo, NY location on Jeff's sheet, right now you are listed as the driver, but we can update as well.

I also put myself as the driver for Elmira area pick up (which right now is for Mparsons, dbennett78 (please confirm)) Mparsons will pick up the grain from me and take the rest down for dbennett78 as I understand it.

I would suggest everyone putting their name on the sheet, even if you are picking up for yourself alone. This will let us know how many pick ups we should expect. Jeff you think that is a good way to do it? Or maybe put in a place indicating "single pick up" and destination. This may also promote people in similar areas to join up and save on gas for transport.


I am also assuming that CBK, rustbucket, erikrocks, westo2 and jbsengineer are not in on this buy as of this moment? I don't see them signed up for anything. I know rust said that he might be in, but isn't sure yet. If you guys are for sure in on the buy let Jeff know. Thanks!


lastly:

And my advice is when you buid your collar for the keezer, do not use Pine.
I used pine on mine just because of cost. Anyway, you can do a couple things to make it look much nicer. You can use a treatment (minwax sells it) that is water based and basically helps clog up the pores of the wood and make pine stain in a more uniform fashion.

An easier way to do it IMO, is to buy some of the minwax prestain colored poly (polyshades). The stuff works great even on pine, just follow the surface prep application (light uniform sanding) and in between coats gently scuff up the surface with 000 steel wool (clean off by dipping a rag in mineral spirits and wiping the filings off) so the second and third coat adhere to the preceding coat. I used it for my home bar (tongue and groove) and my keezer. Unfortunately I don't have great pics of either in my gallery, but it is uniform in coating. In my gallery you will see a couple decent shots of the inside of the keezer, however i just slopped it on in there so it was water tight, so you won't see craftsmanship on that coat application :D

I hate painting and putting coatings on of anything, but this stuff at least comes out good pretty consistently IME.


I was just kidding, my stuff isnt that bad.
WELL THEN BREW US SOME haha ;D
 
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