Life Is Good!

Well, I woke up at 6am yesterday, went downstairs, hooked up both turkey fryers on the patio, and got to mashin'. I must say, the entire process was seamless. Everything went as planned, and, well, I feel great about both of the brews. Here's what my "brewhouse" looks like right now (I also have a Winter Warmer in the Lagerator).



The primary to the left is the Steffiweizen. The one on the right is the Christmas in India Pale Ale.

The Steffiweizen is a German hefe that I pitched directly onto a Wit cake. Lag time? 45 freaking minutes! I've never seen anything like it before. I had krausen before I even had a chance to finish aeration! This is gonna rock faces. 45 minutes! Of course, this is my first time pitching onto another cake...

The IPA is a pretty big one. I got some "house yeast" from South Street Brewery here in town...the brewmaster is really cool about it. The house yeast is White Labs British Ale...pulled directly from his tanks the day before I brewed. Brilliant stuff. Lag time, without starter, was about 90 minutes. I'm loving this. Unless I need specialty stuff, I'm going to use his strains whenever I can. This is just too easy!



And this is my smoked porter, London ESB, and Ephemere Cassis clone, all of which had excellent attenuation. So, yes, life is good. My "brewhouse" (AKA Laundry/Utility Room) smells like hefe and simcoe...very very nice!

Very Cool! Nice countertop. I'm going to have to build a set of those for my brewhut, but a bit higher since I'm kinda tall.

SWMBO has approved the purchase of this Brewhut which should be ready in February. A local company builds them and brings them out on a flatbed truck and sets them up. I'm going finish the inside complete with a cot.



It may come in handy.

Wow, man, everything looks great! And those lagtimes, sheesh. I have yet to discover just how long my lag times are, because I always pitch on Saturday afternoons before I go into work, and when I get home at 3am, they're always going strong. Congrats!

Ed,

That's pretty badass...an actual brewhaus! My wife, she's still thrilled that I bought those turkey fryers and put in a utility sink in the basement. Now I keep the smell out of the house and I keep the kitchen completely clean...what more can she ask for?

Joseph,

Yeah, these are the shortest lag times I've had yet. Kinda makes me wish I never had to deal with yeast paks. I'm still curious how the hefe will turn out, and whether or not any of the spice from the Wit gets transferred via the cake. Not that I'd complain if it did...

You should videotape the fermentation...hehe...

Looking good Evan, really good!

Thanks, Chimone. Not sure if I'll have another chance to brew before xmas...but that's okay, it's not like I'm running low. Pretty cool to have brewed 20 batches in about 5 months...I love this hobby.

Well, still no blowoff. You know, I'm not complaining or anything, but you'd think that, after 20 batches of beer, I would have had at least one blowoff. Given how much people talk about it, I'm starting to feel left out . I thought that the hefe would certainly blow off...the carboy is a little smaller, it was racked onto an existing cake and fermentation started quickly and was vigorous, and I've heard that hefe yeasts are notorious for blowing off. But as of this morning, the krausen, which never got bigger than a couple inches, has started to subside, and airlock activity has slowed considerably. Oh well. That was quick, just like my ESB. The IPA is still swirling, though...

Oh, so, I got together with my friends last night, all wine and beer geeks like me, and did a beer tasting. We tried all those crazy Fantomes (we decided that the BBB Dark White absolutely definitely has marijuana in it), and I broke out my Wheat Doppelbock, Punkin Pie and Imperial Stout. The WD was still uncarb'd...oh well, I'm not opening another bottle for 2 months. The Punkin Pie was freakin' awesome...plenty carb'd, and the spice is really showing well. The Imperial Stout, with chocolate and coffee, was phenomenal. They suggested we enter it into a competition...not so sure about that, after hearing what Dude said about comps, but that was good to hear nonetheless.

I am so stinkin' jealous! I have nowhere in my house that I can claim for brewing. So I just have to put up with my family complaining about the smell (I think they're nuts. Smells great!). Someday...

Jettaman,

Maybe you could build a little place out back for the family to stay in while you brew.

Rubbermaid sheds come to mind.