I'm right in Medford and a frequent attendee of the Back Alley bottlle shares where I learn more and more every month from enthusiastic homebrewers (plus drink all their beers mwahaha). I recomend that any and every hombrewer in the general area get there on the last tuesday of every month! Also another great place for equipment is Arbor Wine and Beer Making in Islip if you aren't able to make it to Northport
Who is brewing on Long Island?
- Thread starter ilikeguns
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Hey Mun. I've been to Back Alley, but not the bottle shares. I had regularly attended the meetings at Brewtopia/Hop Shop in Port Jeff, but they are closed. We formed a club, registered with AHA, named it Long Island Fermentation Experiment. We meet at other locations now, the first Tuesday of every month. Let me know if you want to meet with us. Anyone else too.
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I'd like to get together with you guys at least once this summer. I'm a NYC teacher so my weekdays aren't generally free until then.
Following is a pic of some Marzen that I brewed recently. It's 5 days into a two week secondary fermentation, and then it will lager until Octoberfest.
Following is a pic of some Marzen that I brewed recently. It's 5 days into a two week secondary fermentation, and then it will lager until Octoberfest.
Pretty cool. Literally, I guess. We'd love to have you at a meeting. I'm open to meeting other brewers at a bar too. Or does that sound too needy? 
I would definitely be interested in meeting with you guys/gals
We plan to meet on Tuesday. I'll message you the details.
papadough
Member
I guess I missed out on the meet-up but would be open to getting together sometime. I might try to hit the bottle share at Back Alley this month. I have never been to a bottle share with my own brew. Is it acceptable to pour from a growler if I keg?
papadough
Member
I recently ordered a Ward Labs Water Report for my water. I have a weird distribution area in that some of my water may be coming from Zone 12 and some from Zone 15. It is a bit confusing but here are the results:
pH: 7.9
Total Dissolved Solids(TDS) Est. ppm: 215
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: 0.36
Cations / Anions, me/L: 3.2 / 3.2
PPM
Sodium, NA 18
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 30
Magnesium, Mg 11
Total Hardness, CaCO3 121
Nitrate, NO3-N 4.5 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 6
Chloride, Cl 34
Carbonate, CO3 <1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 94
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 78
Total Phosphorus, P 0.05
Total Iron, Fe <0.01
I am not sure if this helps any local Long Island Brewers but our water should be somewhat similar. Happy Brewing everyone.
pH: 7.9
Total Dissolved Solids(TDS) Est. ppm: 215
Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm: 0.36
Cations / Anions, me/L: 3.2 / 3.2
PPM
Sodium, NA 18
Potassium, K 1
Calcium, Ca 30
Magnesium, Mg 11
Total Hardness, CaCO3 121
Nitrate, NO3-N 4.5 (SAFE)
Sulfate, SO4-S 6
Chloride, Cl 34
Carbonate, CO3 <1.0
Bicarbonate, HCO3 94
Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 78
Total Phosphorus, P 0.05
Total Iron, Fe <0.01
I am not sure if this helps any local Long Island Brewers but our water should be somewhat similar. Happy Brewing everyone.
Papa, we had a very good meeting last night, but there will be others. PM your email to me if you want updates.
You'll be fine with the growler, or even a bottle filled from the keg. I have yet to attend a meeting at Back Alley, but I want to.
I use LI tapwater straight with good results. I mean to start adding gypsum to enhance the hops, but I haven't yet.
You'll be fine with the growler, or even a bottle filled from the keg. I have yet to attend a meeting at Back Alley, but I want to.
I use LI tapwater straight with good results. I mean to start adding gypsum to enhance the hops, but I haven't yet.
Johnnyhitch1
Well-Known Member
I just moved to Patchogue!
Where you hold the meetings? Been hard for me to get back into brewing with the small apartment space but im sure a meeting or 2 will put some kick in my ass.
Nice! I'm in Patch too, right by blue point, I would be interested in where the meetings are as well.
I mentioned before they have occasional meetings at back alley brew shop, which is in the alley between Ginos and Hofbrau.
also Saturday is big brew day at blue point, I won't be able to make it (surprise wedding shower for the fiance courtesy her mom) but it sounds like a cool time. As far as i can tell its open to everyone, you just have to bring your own equipment. And if you dont want to brew, the tap room is open at 12
I mentioned before they have occasional meetings at back alley brew shop, which is in the alley between Ginos and Hofbrau.
also Saturday is big brew day at blue point, I won't be able to make it (surprise wedding shower for the fiance courtesy her mom) but it sounds like a cool time. As far as i can tell its open to everyone, you just have to bring your own equipment. And if you dont want to brew, the tap room is open at 12
Hey Johnny, BeerFst. I think the Back Alley meetings are toward the end of each month. They have a facebook page. Our next meeting (Long Island Fermentation Experiment) looks like it will be next Wednesday, 5/6, in Sound Beach. Our last meeting was a hit. Message me if you want details. I hope to make the next Back Alley meeting.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Im in Farmingville. Brewing at this very moment!! Johnny,If your in a small apartment I highly recommend EBIAB.My ENTIRE setup (less chiller) fits in The box the pot came in.Cant beat it
petey_c
Senior Member
This weekend Long Islanders...
http://www.northforkcraftbeerfestival.com/
http://www.northforkcraftbeerfestival.com/
sch21c
Well-Known Member
Great event. Nice outside venue but well shaded. And all three major Long Island homebrew clubs will be pouring their homebrew there.
petey_c
Senior Member
I wish this event would post their date a little earlier, like Jan. Summer is prime vacation time and it can be a ***** to get a weekend (I like to have the following Sunday off. Just in case I have too much fun.) off after that.
LastChair
Well-Known Member
Quiet in this group
There are plenty of us out here brewing, judging by responses in "For Sale". My little club has not had a formal meeting since a couple of guys moved away. But I know that members are still brewing, I ran into one in a beer store, and shared homebrew with another at his house.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Alive and kickin!!
sch21c
Well-Known Member
As others have said, there's plenty going on. The quiet here may be a reflection of how active the homebrew clubs are.
I visited a new LHBS today, Brew and Beyond in Calverton. Nice proprietor, he's a homebrewer. There are sacks of grain, a variety of dry and liquid yeast, wine and beer kits, etc. He'd like to get a feel for what local brewers want, and will order supplies.
It's good to have a store in easy driving distance.
It's good to have a store in easy driving distance.
NSMikeD
Well-Known Member
John, I would be interested if this group is still meeting. New forum member here: I used to do extract with specialty grains in the 90's and recently go back into home-brew with all gain mini BIAB. Loving the explosion of really good brewers on Long Island. What a difference from when I first could legally order beer.
Mike
NSMikeD
Well-Known Member
Not sure about Nassau, SCWA posts their test results online http://www.scwa.com/about/wq_reports/
I used it to get an idea of my zone, good but slightly alkaline, no big deal, but I do toss in a tiny dash of calcium chloride to help the mash bring down the PH - but I really should be taking a PH reading during mash to be sure.
Hi Mike, Welcome!
We have not met for a while, a couple of members moved away. Eric in Port Jeff was just suggesting to a couple of other brewers on LI that we meet soon. We should work on it.
American Water Company services my area in Nassau. They have water quality reports available online for the areas they service.
Water Quality Reports
NSMikeD
Well-Known Member
who is going to Hops and Props on the 11th?
I'm busy then. What is it?
NSMikeD
Well-Known Member
event at the Cradle of Aviation. Local breweries along with some larger craft breweries proving samples of their brews (sampling cup in the price admission except for the disunite driver tickets).
I noticed that Crooked Ladder (riverhead ) and DuClaw (maryland) are listed- both breweries I recently discovered via my local growler station.
the web page lists 50 breweries registered
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
I just came across this. I think I have the same water district, are you near Farmingville? This would Save me a Ward report. Is this a 2016 report. If not I wonder how much they change from year to year
NSMikeD
Well-Known Member
fwiw, I finally got around to plugging in the average numbers from the 2016 SCWA report for my zone into EZ Water Calculator 3.0.2 I downloaded from a link posted on this site and BeerSmith's water tool. They both use John Palmer's recommended range to help the user compare to a base number.
The key numbers are (Palmer's range in parenthesis) below. I used the posted averages, but note there are some big swings between the high and low readings throughout the year (and I presume different wells) but nothing that would cause a swing from below to above Palmers range.
Calcium 18.7 (50-150)
Magnesium 3.97 (10-40)
Sodium 9.4 (0-150)
Chloride 16.9 (0-250)
Sulfate 9.1 (50-250)
Bicarbonate 57* (50-250)
My mash PH strips consistently read the lowest reading 5.0. I believe these strips are not accurate and have been contemplating returning them to the LHBS. EZ Water Calculator and BeerSmith predict a recent brew recipe to have a mash PH of 5.66, which I was right about adding CaCl2 to bring down the PH, but the low sulfate explains the string maltiness in my brews.
On this recipe, both concluded I should add 1.5g CaCl2, 2g Epsom and 1ml of lactic acid to create a balance profile (neither malt nor bitter) and a PH of 5.4. The Epsom helping to bring down the PH while bringing up the Sulfate and thus a balanced profile.
Best practices would dictate me getting a water report for my tap for specific numbers (not averages) and a reliable PH meter (to determine the acid addition specific to the mash PH).
Next step, make these small adjustments and see if my beer is any better lol
Edit Note: SCWA adds hydrate lime to it's water . It's naturally acidic, 4.5 - 6.8 PH country wide and they bring it up to protect the pipes. My PH average is 7.1, so nothing unusual with the starting PH.
* converted from 47.3 Alkalinity
The key numbers are (Palmer's range in parenthesis) below. I used the posted averages, but note there are some big swings between the high and low readings throughout the year (and I presume different wells) but nothing that would cause a swing from below to above Palmers range.
Calcium 18.7 (50-150)
Magnesium 3.97 (10-40)
Sodium 9.4 (0-150)
Chloride 16.9 (0-250)
Sulfate 9.1 (50-250)
Bicarbonate 57* (50-250)
My mash PH strips consistently read the lowest reading 5.0. I believe these strips are not accurate and have been contemplating returning them to the LHBS. EZ Water Calculator and BeerSmith predict a recent brew recipe to have a mash PH of 5.66, which I was right about adding CaCl2 to bring down the PH, but the low sulfate explains the string maltiness in my brews.
On this recipe, both concluded I should add 1.5g CaCl2, 2g Epsom and 1ml of lactic acid to create a balance profile (neither malt nor bitter) and a PH of 5.4. The Epsom helping to bring down the PH while bringing up the Sulfate and thus a balanced profile.
Best practices would dictate me getting a water report for my tap for specific numbers (not averages) and a reliable PH meter (to determine the acid addition specific to the mash PH).
Next step, make these small adjustments and see if my beer is any better lol
Edit Note: SCWA adds hydrate lime to it's water . It's naturally acidic, 4.5 - 6.8 PH country wide and they bring it up to protect the pipes. My PH average is 7.1, so nothing unusual with the starting PH.
* converted from 47.3 Alkalinity
bigmike99
Well-Known Member
Hey all. Anyone get co2 fills or swaps in the Port Jeff area? The hours at my old go to (LISS in Pactchogue) plus a little more of a trip now make that tough to get to so often. Usually have 2 tanks on hand with one for carbing and the other for serving.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Air weld on Waverly is where I get mine filled. They swap them out. With 2 tanks you should only be filling them twice a year. Not a big deal making the trip.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Why are you using separate tanks for carbing and serving?
Seems like it would be easier just using one tank and when its gone you know you have a full one instead of wondering if there both going to run out.
Seems like it would be easier just using one tank and when its gone you know you have a full one instead of wondering if there both going to run out.
bigmike99
Well-Known Member
Keg-orator dispensing the beer on one side of the room, fermenting fridge opposite. I've done it all on the same rig in the past but it's not ideal for me.
I use two bottles also, one to carb in the basement, one to serve in the kegerator.
I remember seeing a post or ad by a soda company in the middle of the Island, but I can't recall where.
Mike, are you in PJ? I thought you were out east.
I remember seeing a post or ad by a soda company in the middle of the Island, but I can't recall where.
Mike, are you in PJ? I thought you were out east.
bigmike99
Well-Known Member
I've got to do a little googling and make a few calls. I was in Middle Island but in Port Jeff Sta now. If I find anywhere that works I'll post it up.
Cheers
Cheers
Thanks.
Mike I'm in Port Jeff. The most convenient place to fill is Port Diver on Hallock. $20 for a 5lb bottle and he is open weekends.
#JohnSand we need to get a homebrew taste organized soon.
#JohnSand we need to get a homebrew taste organized soon.
JONNYROTTEN
Well-Known Member
Pretty sure Air weld was $23 for 10#...Seems way cheaper but I could see the convenience of a 2 minute ride being worth it.
bigmike99
Well-Known Member
Eric that's awesome. Would you know if they have tanks there too for cheap or a deposit? I tried Air Weld in Ridge when I lived near there and the old guy in there made it seem like it was a pain in the ass to him to do it so I never returned.
