SYRACUSE NY - ROUND 3 Group Grain Buy

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I spent a good chunk of this past Sunday bottling two batches. One of which was my first Belgian Strong Dark so I corked it in fancy shmancy bottles. Despite the fact that I insisted I would never need to get into kegging and that I like the simplicity of bottling (it is simple, just time consuming), I have the overwhelming urge now to just keep spending money on brewing equipment and eliminate bottling days (except when the occasional fancy shmancy corking is called for).

I done a little reading on it, but I'll need to review. I also remember a couple of people on this thread offering corny kegs in Syracuse. Any of those still available and or any advice for me? I'm not sure how quick I'll jump into it all but I think it's almost inevitable that I will so if I can get the kegs cheap and local, well then that's just one more reason to justify more beer purchases! :rockin:
 
TwoGunz - If you want to chat about it let me know, too bad I didn't show you my set up when you grabbed your grain.

I think the best set up is a dual body regulator (this is what I have) - this allows you two main gas lines in, that allow you to carbonate/serve at two difference pressures at the same time. So in my case my keezer can hold 4 kegs. Right now I have my two main lines split into a 2 manifold and a 3 manifold. This allows my to jack up the pressure on say, 2-3 kegs to carb them up quick, and keep 2-3 other kegs at serving pressure. Or if you have a hefe and want to have a 13-14psi carb and have other beers that you want to have at lower 11-12psi pressures (porters, stouts) - you can do that too.

There is an art to the set up so you can balance your lines (leave at one PSI and serve and carb). Check these out:
http://***********/stories/techniqu...-balancing-your-draft-system-advanced-brewing
http://www.micromatic.com/direct-draw-draft-beer-system-aid-121.html

I would recommend getting a kit from kegconnection or similar, and tweaking it for what you want your setup to be.

Are you planning to go the keezer route? and serve out of taps, party taps or tower taps?

Not sure on the kegs - but I know sunset has some nice ones in stock right now - I was actually thinking of grabbing one, but had to slap myself - ha!

A lot to digest - keep in mind you and keep it simple or go nuts.

one last bit:
Kegging is a great asset/tool. Not only does it allow for you to skip bottling (you can still bottle from your keg), but you can also use the kegs to build a pipe line easier if you use the kegs to store your beer at room temp with o2 purged. Also, it opens opportunities to easily carbonate wines like skeeter pee (to make your own quasi mike's hard lemonade) and ciders. Hell you could even make a giant rum and coke, or fruit punch hooch for a party and serve it out of your draft!

as you can see I am all for kegging ;)
 
kegs was teh best choice i made in the department... when i kegged last time from cleaning to sanitizing and fill, i was done in about 45 minutes. love kegging... would not go back to bottles only... i bottle here and there.. either when i run out of kegs to fill or something that i want to last longer... speaking of that i have to clean bottles this weekend.. i have to bottle SN pale :(...
 
For the record I with with a tower on my bar (lines running up from the basement):

tap 2.JPG
 
Cidah, I'll definitely have to swing by for a chat... I'm just getting the mental wheels going right now. I'm taking a mini-vacation until after Memorial day. Which means I spent the morning guzzling coffee at home looking at all the shiny beer equipment I want to buy instead of working on my bathroom renovation like I'm supposed to be doing.

The next big purchase I was planning on was a chest freezer fermentation chamber. I'm thinking I might want to get 2 chest freezers now and use one for fermentation and the other for a kegerator. I was considering trying to dual purpose one but that seems like it might get to be a pain when I wanted to ferment ales or worse Belgians.

I'll check out kegconnection. I was thinking it might be easy as long as the price wasn't too much different to buy a kit to start with. How much are the kegs at Sunset? I do know that if I get into kegging, I want a handful of kegs.
 
I would love to try that Torpedo recipe you're all drooling over. Where can I find it.
Also, brewed the Arrogant recipe Cidah gave me last weekend. Boy does it look and smell like a monster. Also brewed a nice strong pilsner recipe I found.
Corny kegs migt be available for $30 or less, I'll look into it.
 
BTW Cidah, that's a great looking bar setup. People can complain about our CNY winters, but sitting there with a snowy backdrop like that looks like the perfect place to enjoy a nice roasty beer.
 
TwoGunz said:
Cidah, I'll definitely have to swing by for a chat... I'm just getting the mental wheels going right now. I'm taking a mini-vacation until after Memorial day. Which means I spent the morning guzzling coffee at home looking at all the shiny beer equipment I want to buy instead of working on my bathroom renovation like I'm supposed to be doing.

The next big purchase I was planning on was a chest freezer fermentation chamber. I'm thinking I might want to get 2 chest freezers now and use one for fermentation and the other for a kegerator. I was considering trying to dual purpose one but that seems like it might get to be a pain when I wanted to ferment ales or worse Belgians.

I'll check out kegconnection. I was thinking it might be easy as long as the price wasn't too much different to buy a kit to start with. How much are the kegs at Sunset? I do know that if I get into kegging, I want a handful of kegs.
Click to expand...

Haha - nice - you have the sickness! Strike while the iron is hot I say :)

It might be hard to do a fermenter/kegerator combo in one unit - but necessity is the mother of invention :)

The kegs at sunset are $39.99 - not a bad price because they look to be pretty solid. You can probably get a better price on them if you get a ball lock keg kit from keg connection or midwest kegcowboy or whomever.

I know I first just grabbed 4 kegs with my kit thinking... I will never need more than that. Well then my buddy started splitting batches with me so I ended up grabbing 4 more. Then with cider I need 5 kegs for doing 1 demijohn into draft ciders... you see where this is going. Anyway, for a normal user probably 4-6 kegs is all you would ever need if you are doing single batches.

Enjoy the holiday - and plan out what you are looking for in your keezer with growth in mind. Seems like, within reason, you can never go too big.
 
TwoGunz:

I live in Watertown but can probably get a few used kegs for around $30. If you were going to be up north let me know I could try and help you out.
 
BWN said:
TwoGunz:

I live in Watertown but can probably get a few used kegs for around $30. If you were going to be up north let me know I could try and help you out.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer. I'm working on the whole master scheme right now and I'll keep that in mind.
 
TwoGunz said:
This doesn't look like a bad deal to dive in, although it doesn't have the dual regulator

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/brew-logic-quadruple-tap-draft-system-with-4-way-gas-manifold.html
Click to expand...

Not bad at all. Couple things to keep in mind (my opinion so take it for what it is).

1. usually they will let you upgrade the regulator for a price increase - so jsut a call in (make sure it is dual BODY not GAUGE if you decide two pressures is what you are looking for) - you already noted that.

2. The hoses on that set up aren't as high a quality as the ones from kegconnection (if that matters to you).

3. Remove the co2 tank for a credit if possible. You will have to trade it in anyway to charge it at haun or similar (they ship empty so no advantage to buying one online). i.e. your new shiny toy will be gone.

4. For your first kegs I would personally get them in your kit from a store (midwest, KC, sunset, etc.). The quality will be better than the backyard deals posted on HBT. Since they are your first kegs, you don't want to have to trouble shoot. And if they leak and don't work - you can return them.

Nothing wrong with starting on party taps. Cheap and they work! I have two in the keezer and the other two kegs get run up to the bar.


This would be the comparison with KC:

http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=328
better hose material (IMO), kegs come with extra seals. That said the cost is more - (not sure what midwest's shipping cost is though)

KC comes out to ~317.95 with shipping less the co2 tank
midwest comes out to ~278.87 with shipping less the tank

~$40 for better hose material and seals... eh not sure about that.
 
Great info! I think the two pressure system makes a lot of sense and I rather get it from the onset. Same thing with any relatively inexpensive upgrades, be it hoses or whatever.

As for the party taps, I figured I'd buy whatever kit I get with them and then purchase permanent mounts when I build come up with my keggerator/bar plan. Once I'm done with my bathroom renovations, my basement is waiting to be transformed into a beer and pool room.
 
TwoGunz said:
Great info! I think the two pressure system makes a lot of sense and I rather get it from the onset. Same thing with any relatively inexpensive upgrades, be it hoses or whatever.

As for the party taps, I figured I'd buy whatever kit I get with them and then purchase permanent mounts when I build come up with my keggerator/bar plan. Once I'm done with my bathroom renovations, my basement is waiting to be transformed into a beer and pool room.
Click to expand...

the delta in price from the 2 body vs. the 2 gauge is totally worth it IMO.

As for the taps - you may want to check if there is any price savings to buy them with your kit vs. after - not sure about that (probably like 10%). That would be a phone call in (probably like 10% off i would guess).

Until you know your design, you might want to hold off, but it is tough to do that!

Cool about the play room plans as well
 
Ditto on canceling the Co2 tank. I did the kegconnection black Friday deal with the 2keg setup and dual body regulator and now I have this sweet looking new tank I'm gonna have to swap
 
well right now cidah im trying your amarillo IPA, followed up by the Amarillo with citra

the amarillo, like you said is a bit under carbed, but tasty as hell... lots of hop flavor which i love, and has just alittle bit of bite at the end.. very tasty.. i like how mouthfeel is too!

the other one is quite good too, but.. im not smelling any of the citra... both are very good and refreshing on this hot night!
 
rustbucket said:
well right now cidah im trying your amarillo IPA, followed up by the Amarillo with citra

the amarillo, like you said is a bit under carbed, but tasty as hell... lots of hop flavor which i love, and has just alittle bit of bite at the end.. very tasty.. i like how mouthfeel is too!

the other one is quite good too, but.. im not smelling any of the citra... both are very good and refreshing on this hot night!
Click to expand...

surprised no citra aroma in the pale - it would be the only aroma in there. But, if you had the amarillo IPA first - your senses might be smacked :)

That amarillo is a tasty brew man - so simple - just wish I had a bale of amarillo so I could brew more!

The pale to me almost has this like, tannic tea flavor I like for a not too strong regular beer. But when I have all the IPAs around... I am reaching for those!

Thanks for the notes ;)
 
for some reason i did not get any.. aroma from the citra, i even let the beer warm up a bit...

reason i went from the reg to the citra i wanted to see if i could smell the difference between the two...

regardless they were both tasty.... then i went to the fridge to grab a 90 min :p
 
i wish i had a bale of them right now.. could always sneak onto the farm and "borrow" a few rhizomes so that we can grow a lot of them.. :p

but anyways i only have a few oz's left. my hops are diminishing really fast brewing every weekend.. lucky i have enough till august when the new crop should be starting to show up.
 
rustbucket said:
i wish i had a bale of them right now.. could always sneak onto the farm and "borrow" a few rhizomes so that we can grow a lot of them.. :p

but anyways i only have a few oz's left. my hops are diminishing really fast brewing every weekend.. lucky i have enough till august when the new crop should be starting to show up.
Click to expand...

I only put in what i had for the citra .30 oz or something - it might have tapered off, though it was pretty noticeable in the beginning.

I would love a rhizome of amarillo!!

My chinook and cascade plants are growing up my trellis though - which is cool!

I keep saying I have enough - then I find a new recipe I want to try, new hops I don't have!
 
jhenderson27 said:
Follow the recipe exactly and its damn good. Have you tried my torpedo yet? That is what i want feedback on most
Click to expand...

forgot to ask - did you do the 90 minute boil on that? or did you just do a 60 min?

I think i did 90, but will have to check my notes.
 
Hey Gents - enjoy the weekend!

Brews let me know if you are planning on swinging in for your grain.
 
CidahMastah said:
Hey Gents - enjoy the weekend!

Brews let me know if you are planning on swinging in for your grain.
Click to expand...

Looking like I'll actually be in town.I'll give you a call on saturday. Have anything on tap to swap growlers of?
 
cidah i might be out tomorrow, to get my bottles.. my reg driver i cant drive (broken windsheild) so ill either have to borrow someones car.. or take the camaro out..

i washed and stripped and cleaned like 75 bottles today.. that was not fun! haha
 
so just for cidah and jhenderson... my smoked rye ipa, i opened a tester bottle... this is what i noticed on this... a good amount of smoke aroma and flavor... but you get the spice of the rye after the initial taste. i think im on the right track for something there...

What i was lookign for was smoke flavor with the spiciness of rye and the hit of hops in an ipa. on the aroma there isnt much of hops(next time dry hop) with less smoke just so its not over powering the rye.(im really digging this briess cherry smoked malt) once i fine tune this, it might be a good summer time beer imho. im really like it as is now.. right now its its alittle under carbed, but it really has a creamy mouth feel if you want to try it now.

(its not quite carbed yet.. need another week or two)
 
two gunz, i saw that you play volleyball in another thread, i just wanted to see where you play? if you read this lol
 
rustbucket said:
two gunz, i saw that you play volleyball in another thread, i just wanted to see where you play? if you read this lol
Click to expand...

I play at Trappers on Monday nights. I've played there for a few years on different nights. We've been more successful at drinking beer than winning though :) where do you play?
 
rustbucket said:
I as well play at trappers, Trapper 1 on Tuesday nights...., and trappers II in minoa Wed, an Thursdays
Click to expand...

Ha, small world, I've probably played against you before
 

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