We have ignition

Just fired up the burner for tonight's brew session. Actually, I already have the grains mashing/steeping in the oven on a timer, and I am boiling the balance of the water now, since I do partial boils. I am drinking Murphy's , and I have some of my Mobil-1 Stout chilling as well.

Hey Truble, I just fired up for tonight too. Glad to know I'm not brewin alone. I'm doing an All-Grain Altbier. Drinking Sam Houston Austin Ale I...couldn't wait. It still needs a couple months in the cooler.

I am doing a Pale Ale that will become the base for my Black Rasberry Ale. It is a light bodied/colored ale, and I am doing a partial mash and steep with some 2 row pale and some light crystal. The balance is extract (light and extra light), and the hops bill is 1oz Challenger (pellet) for the whole boil, and then 1 oz Cascade (organic whole) at 40 minutes, and another 1 oz of Cascade whole organic at 10 minutes. This is another one of my "come up with it as you go" recipes, but all my brews have been good so far....


[SIZE=-1]slàinte!! I will be checking in every so often[/SIZE]

I will be brewing vicariously through this thread tonight. Or until I fall asleep watching the Olympics in the next half hour or so. Good luck, men!

Just finished rinsing my grains. I have hydrated my yeast (safale s-04) and Started my 2+gal boil with the wort from the mini mash. Extract in about 10 minutes.

Just missed my strike temp by 7Deg. Forgot to bring my grains in from the car. Without thinking and calculating the 25Deg difference I hit it low. Time for the Steam gizmo to do its thang!

Steam gizmo? Educate me!-

For all you brewkateers out there, I am past hot break, and my bittering hops are in. only a couple minutes now until the second hop addition. My pre-hop post boil wort sample is almost cool, and that will go into the hyrated yeast to get their appetite up and proof the yeast for me. knock on formica, this is a smooth brew night thus far........wait-what's that you say lassie? the garage is on fire?????

Just go to my gallery..got a pic there... I hit it low so I'm allright. Its's just going to take longer. Man, your on your 2nd hop addition and I'm just 30 min into mashing. Good luck. Ah..do you smell something burning?

Ahh, the power of cheese....er....steam.

Nice rig-up...instant heat!

Yeah, with no scortching. I'm sitting on 152Deg . I'm going to take it up to 156Deg over the next 30 min. then mash out. I drain the wort out of my mash tun into my boil keg and heat it to about 185 and then pump it back up through the bottom of the mash tun. I'll stir a bit and then start the sparge.

You should be cooling by now Hey?

Yep- First time using whole hops, so my water absorption factoring needs a little work. I am short 1 G total. I had already boiled a G though, so I am just cooling that now, and then everything goes together. I think my measurement of the fresh hops was off, though. I used a scale, but it seems like it had to be more than 2 oz total. there was enough wet hops to fill a large colinder. Smelled good, though. If it is too hoppy for my original rasberry ale, then it will just become an IPA. Just waiting on my additonal gallon now. Yeast is proofed and active and looking for a party, so I am in the home stretch.

I think your ok with the hops...the little buggers will swell. I don't know how big your colinder is so it's difficult to judge. You won't notice +- 1/4 oz.

I just mashed out and started my sparge. That will go about an hour. Then theres another hour boil ..15 minutes to cool ..another 20 minutes to put in the primaries and oxygenate.

I'm leaving the cleanup for Presi Day.:cross:

Call it a brew-day. Good color, good taste and smell, and 1.050 OG (was shooting for a little higher, around 1.055, but I think that some of the sugar went with the hops, and it was diluted when I added water to make 5G. Still, not bad. I think that it will work nice with the rasberries that I have planned for it.

How are you planning adding the rasberries. How much are you going to add.
They will bump your OG up also.

They are going into the secondary. I have some leftover that were picked last year. I am going to simmer them down and then put them in. The exact amount I have not figured out yet, but not too much. I just want a hint of the flavor, but not overpowering.

I finished out at 1.060 . I hit that Mofugger dead on. Now for the beasties to do their thing. Damn I'm tired. Good luck and let us know how it goes with the rasberries.

Will do. I had steady action this morning at 6am. I have found that normal when using hydrated/proofed dry yeast. I am looking forward to working with the berries.
Glad to hear your brew went well, too!