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DeadDoc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2007
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Location
Marietta, GA
Hello all! Name is Scott. I have been home brewing since July.... just made my 3rd batch today. My brother had made 3 batches a few years ago and moved out and left the equipment here to sit. Then I decided to pick it up and he told me enough to get started.

So far I have a SS Turkey Fryer (not sure of size but its decently large... could maybe brew an 8 gallon batch or maybe even a 10)
True Brew beer kit (5 gallon food grade bucket, airlock, bottling bucket... and the tube with the weird release thing)
and a 6 gallon carboy.

  1. English Brown Ale - liquid malt kit. burnt the batch. Almost done drinking it.
  2. Marzen/Oktoberfest - Grains, DME and LME. Forgot to do a yeast starter and forgot to boil the DME for priming... soooooo yeah.. haha. That was started early august. And at the beginning of the month it was still flat. Will let wait till end of sept.
  3. Old Ale - Grains and DME. Currently in Primary Fermentation.

Definitely looking to stay into this for a long while. Another hobby I found and like. And want more toys for this :D
 
Welcome. Make sure and visit "Just Brew It" down here in Fayetteville. Doug has a nice store and is very helpful.

Philip
Fayetteville, Ga.
 
Hi! I just started myself and I live in the midtown area in Atlanta. I have been to Just Brew It and the store is great and the owner very nice.

I am currently working on an Oktoberfest! Good luck with your new hobby. I know I am enjoying it.

Charlie
 
Marietta here to be exact. I have only been to "Brew Depot" used to be "Beer Necessities" but still calling themselves that. Out near North Point. I will look into that place. :( They don't have a working website yet.
 
Northeast suburbs, Lilburn near Stone Mountain. Let me know if you have any questions!
 
Hi, Avondale here. I have visited Beer Necessities in Alpharetta also, highly recommend.

Welcome, :mug:


DeadDoc said:
How are you all doing with fermenting with the current temps and humidity?

It tough. I have a small dorm fridge that will hold one carboy. That's pretty much my limit right now. I have an IPA ready to brew but since I brew outside I just can't get motivated to do it.
 
Chest freezer with temp control..... And welcome, looks like we are getting enough brewers here in the ATL to start our own club. We all need to meet up sometime and have a few..
 
Yeah, pretty impressive list. Back in March when I started I think there were only a couple people from the area on here.

Speaking of clubs, anyone a member of any in there area? I think there are 3 or 4 around.

Also, anyone know a good source of kegs in the area...I need to start kegging and want to get them locally to save shipping costs.
 
Brewiz said:
Chest freezer with temp control..... And welcome, looks like we are getting enough brewers here in the ATL to start our own club. We all need to meet up sometime and have a few..
Sounds like a plan. Im looking for a decent cooling device but am slightly limited on space (basement has 2 fridges and 1 freezer already... can only store bottled beer)

Beerrific said:
Yeah, pretty impressive list. Back in March when I started I think there were only a couple people from the area on here.

Speaking of clubs, anyone a member of any in there area? I think there are 3 or 4 around.

Also, anyone know a good source of kegs in the area...I need to start kegging and want to get them locally to save shipping costs.
I was just in Beer Necessities the other day.... They had a few kegs lined up in the corner... I believe they sell them.. cost unknown.
 
DeadDoc said:
I was just in Beer Necessities the other day.... They had a few kegs lined up in the corner... I believe they sell them.. cost unknown.

Yeah, I saw them too. There website says $37.95 for used. That is a bit more than I wanted to spend. But I will have to ask the next time I am there if that is the correct price.
 
They need a better website... :eek:

I need more brewing equipment and the time to do it. Might try EdWort's "Apfelwein" as an easy to do drink. A friend of mine loves cider like beers.... soo maybe he will like that.
 
Just placed an order for fermenters and other stuff revolving them so I can start fermenting more than one thing at a time. So they should arrive on Thur or Fri and I can start brewin some of that Apfelwein.

With lack of car (mine is in shop) and weird work hours having these shipped for about $11-15 isnt bad. 3 5gal better bottles, caps, bags, stuff like that.
 
mrk305 said:
Northeast suburbs, Lilburn near Stone Mountain. Let me know if you have any questions!

There used to be a brew store where the Lowes sits at 78 & Stone Drive. I used to live on Stone, so it brought new meaning to LOCAL HBS. :(
 
DeadDoc said:
How are you all doing with fermenting with the current temps and humidity?

Homemade icebox in the basement and 2# blue ice packs. Swap 2 every 12 hours. Wort is at 66 now.
 
Brewiz said:
Chest freezer with temp control..... And welcome, looks like we are getting enough brewers here in the ATL to start our own club. We all need to meet up sometime and have a few..

Welcome Brewiz! Fayetteville (to your west) checking in.
 
pldoolittle said:
Homemade icebox in the basement and 2# blue ice packs. Swap 2 every 12 hours. Wort is at 66 now.

I was looking at doing son of the fermenter thing...
 
Being that is the home of Coca-Cola one of us should be able to find somewhere to get old cornies that aren't in service anymore and share that info with the locals HBT'ers..
 
DeadDoc said:
I was looking at doing son of the fermenter thing...

That's very similar to what I did except:

- The foam is inside wooden box to protect it and raise it off the floor.
- The front foam "door" is glued to a hinged wooden door for easy opening.
- The top also flips up and the ice packs go on a shelf in the top (like an old fashioned icebox)
- No power, no electronics req'd.

Pro's:
- Cheap. I had all the materials except the ice packs.
- Rugged. The top doubles as a stand for the carbuoy when racking down into secondary, kegs, etc.
- With ample attention, you can lager in this chest.

Cons:
- Easy to overchill a wort. 4 ice packs will stunt an ale unless it's really putting off heat.
- 2 ice packs only last 12ish hours during fermentation. It'll hold 4, but see prev item about over chilling.


Next time, I'll just buy a used fridge/freezer for $75 and be done with it. If I had to do a non-electric again, this is what I would do/change:

- Wooden box.
- Blue ice packs. Vertical slots for 16 blue ice packs inside cold column.
- Son of fermenter style cold columns, with the carbuoy on one side and ice on the other like a side-by side fridge.
- Both areas would be accessible by the front door. (only because the SOF design cold column design. Top access has been a good thing in several cases)
- Insulated damper flaps so cold only escapes into fermenter area when fan is on.
 
Beerrific said:
Also, anyone know a good source of kegs in the area...I need to start kegging and want to get them locally to save shipping costs.


I've done business with these folks and was happy with the price and product:

http://www.ebrew.com/cornelius_kegging_system_ball_lock/cornelius_ball_lock_kegs.htm

They are not local ( Charlotte, NC) but the prices and shipping charges are better than anything I've seen locally. Approx. $100 for 4 kegs and shipping was reasonable.

To answer DeadDoc's question: South of the ATL airport I ferment in the basement the temp stays at 70* F in the summer.

The last time I talked to Doug at Just Brew It in Fayetteville, his shop was For Sale.
 
abracadabra said:
The last time I talked to Doug at Just Brew It in Fayetteville, his shop was For Sale.

Was that recently?!? I was just in there last Thursday, no mention of a sale.

If it's been awhile, the old owner (Sandy?) sold it to Doug in mid 2005. The easy way to tell is dog or no dog. If there was a big yellow lab ("Duncan") laying around waiting to be petted, it was pre-Doug.

FWIW, I found this on the net while searching for the old owners name. It pretty well sums up Just Brew It. http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=4466
 
pldoolittle said:
There used to be a brew store where the Lowes sits at 78 & Stone Drive. I used to live on Stone, so it brought new meaning to LOCAL HBS. :(

They moved to Indian Trail Rd near 29 in the same little shopping center as the NAPA.
 
DeadDoc said:
How are you all doing with fermenting with the current temps and humidity?

my primary shows 74 degrees tonight... I just put them in front of the a/c duct and have been brewing beers that don't require low temps
 
mrk305 said:
my primary shows 74 degrees tonight... I just put them in front of the a/c duct and have been brewing beers that don't require low temps

1st 2 batches were hitting 76-78 then got a big bucket and filled it with about 4-5 gallons of water.... put in 2 ice packs and swap out every so often... hitting 68-72. GOnna check it now actually.

YEAH tomorrow I'm doing some diving at my local dive shop helping my dive buddy finish so she can get certified! BUt first gotta get through work... grrr! Where the hell is my phone? haha.
 
Beerrific said:
Gonna buy it? :D

I'd like to, but am not convinced it's a good location or business investment. Althought with a better location, hours more condusive to a working class clientele, and an internet presence it might could be.
 
pldoolittle said:
Was that recently?!? I was just in there last Thursday, no mention of a sale.

It was around the first of June. I'm usually in the store when it's slow and he has some time to talk.

Maybe he's changed his mind.
 
abracadabra said:
I'd like to, but am not convinced it's a good location or business investment. Althought with a better location, hours more condusive to a working class clientele, and an internet presence it might could be.

I really think that a shop in the Decatur area could do well. Real estate is less pricey than most anywhere in Atlanta and would be close to a huge population. I think internet is key, nothing big like AHS or B3, but enough business to keep busy during the day.
 
Beerrific said:
I really think that a shop in the Decatur area could do well. Real estate is less pricey than most anywhere in Atlanta and would be close to a huge population. I think internet is key, nothing big like AHS or B3, but enough business to keep busy during the day.

You may be right. And starting a new business might be just as good or better than buying an existing one.
 
abracadabra said:
You may be right. And starting a new business might be just as good or better than buying an existing one.

Buying a business you take all the previous reputation (good and bad) with you. Which can be a gamble in a business that has to compete with online sellers that can most likely sell for less. If I had the money it something I might look into.
 
Beerrific said:
Buying a business you take all the previous reputation (good and bad) with you. Which can be a gamble in a business that has to compete with online sellers that can most likely sell for less. If I had the money it something I might look into.

The biggest problem with that is getting product to sell, about the only people you can by from are Crosby & Baker and they are very picky about who they will sell to. I look into one for my area and found it to be to much hassle.
 
Brewiz said:
The biggest problem with that is getting product to sell, about the only people you can by from are Crosby & Baker and they are very picky about who they will sell to. I look into one for my area and found it to be to much hassle.

That's interesting, why so picky? Are they trying to control competition in the area?
 
grrr gave mother simple directions to swap out the bottles of what was frozen water with bottles that are frozen.... 3 bottles..... she filled up the container full of them..... and i come home from work and my fermenter was at 62-64 when its been staying around 68-72. Just hoping that didnt hurt my batch!!!!
 
DeadDoc said:
grrr gave mother simple directions to swap out the bottles of what was frozen water with bottles that are frozen.... 3 bottles..... she filled up the container full of them..... and i come home from work and my fermenter was at 62-64 when its been staying around 68-72. Just hoping that didnt hurt my batch!!!!

well probably not like that makes much difference..... heh the ingredients I used probably make more of a difference. Molasses instead of treacle and cane sugar instead of damatara (sp?) sugar.

And with the apfelwein I used Malto Dextrine instead of the Dextrose. Wow how many batches can I do something to really change them...... I guess work has really been overworking my mind.
 
:mug: Hello Everyone.

I too am a new brewer from Atlanta (Buckhead). I went to Wine Craft up in Sandy Springs and the guy there was really helpful and nice to this newbie.

I brewed my first batch this past Sunday (an American Pale Ale) and it's currently in primary fermentation. It was bubbling like crazy yesterday, but seems to have stopped now, so I'm not sure if I messed something up or not. Is that normal?

[I know I messed up the cold break and didn't get the wort all the way down to 70 degrees, but I got it down to 80 before I pitched the yeast. The temp in the room is a constant 74 degrees.]

Anyway, I think after I put this batch into a secondary fermenter, I'm going to start another beer because I really have the bug now. Any recommendations for a new brewer as to a good second beer?

Cheers,
-Sean-
 
Sean,

First thing to remember:

* Relax
* Don't Worry
* Have a Home Brew.

Or RDWHAHB for short.

* I don't think you missed the break, but worst case you get chill haze. Beer tastes the same either way.

* If you pitched and it bubbled for a day, you didn't scald the yeast.

* One day is a little fast, but depending on the yeast it may not be. Unless it's gotten to about 60 at some point, the yeast didn't go cold dormant. And unless you added bleach, they didn't just die.

* Check for air leaks. Air leaking elsewhere will not come through the airlock.

* Finally, agitate the crap out of it to resuspend the yeast.

My bet is they are still working away, just more quietly.

Finally, don't forget RDWHAHB. Or in your case, a good microbrew.
 
pldoolittle said:
* One day is a little fast, but depending on the yeast it may not be. Unless it's gotten to about 60 at some point, the yeast didn't go cold dormant. And unless you added bleach, they didn't just die.


MMM I love a bottle of bleach in the morning! :cross: Heh i burnt my first batch.... didnt strain any of the burnt chuncks out either..... added a harsh bitter flavor at the beginning of the drink but after that you could tell it was an English Brown Ale. Or if u drank some kind of other beer first the u couldnt tell the bitterness of the beer.

Might brew a holiday beer or brew a Belgian Strong Golden Ale soon and let it sit in the secondary till nov/dec , along with a new batch of Apfelwein to fix my mistake.... heh really want this for the holidays!
 
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