What I did for beer today

DrunkleJon said:

Have you met my friend https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/chest-freezer-specs-layouts-377518/ ?

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<George Takei> Ohhhh myyyyy. </George Takei>

SO MUCH awesome information in one place. Thanks for the link, bookmarked that sucka before it finished loading!

Back on topic:

Today (last night actually) I took the time to check gravity and taste my latest batch, an extract/specialty grain Scottish Ale.

Good news: SG is at target.

Bad news: it tastes like I threw a burned shoe into the brew kettle.


I'm seven batches into this new obsession, and am finding it harder and harder to avoid realization that making beer is easy, but making PALATABLE beer is a lot harder.

Tested gravity on three fermenting beers. The Amber and Brown ales are done.

Trying to decide if I should cold crash and keg them now and let them cold age in the keezer, or if I should hold-off and let them age for another week or two at room temp in the fermenters...

Opinions?

What I did for beer today: Panhandled in the park. Made enough for an Old English 24-ounce, too.

Thinking about going to the LHBS for ingredients for my birthday stout because the weather's about to turn again. For the 4th time in 2 weeks. Shortest, worst winter ever.

Cleaned my BK & HLT w/ a soak in B-Brite then a final cleaning & rinse w/ BKF.

I FINALLY cleaned up my grain storage area. I just had a bunch of bags and sacks of grain lying around on my shelves. I bought some tupperware containers and got it all organized. This is what 200 lbs. of grain looks like neatly put away. I wish I had taken a before picture...







The large containers can hold about 80 lbs of grain each, which allows me to add another sack to the container before I've completely emptied the old one.

DrunkleJon said:

Have you met my friend https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/chest-freezer-specs-layouts-377518/ ?

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Indeed! It is a great thread but the challenge I ran into initially was that the models I was looking at were no longer manufactured. While several companies have freezers that resemble the ones studied in the matrix linked above, most of the model numbers have changed. With a change in model number, I am not sure that the matrix is accurate for the newer models. Consequently, I am hesitant to buy sight unseen and I live an hour and 20 minutes from the nearest 'City.' I'm thinking I'm gonna order the Igloo 7.2 cu from Walmart.com, have it delivered to the store, and then simply return it if I can't fit 4 ball lock kegs on the deck of the freezer (not on the shelf.) I do want 4 kegs in this thing, but not for the cost of 8+ cu ft.

As it pertains directly to THIS thread, I checked the freshly bottled Blackberry Red to see if we have beer bottles or grenades. Thankfully I confirmed the former.

max384 said:

I FINALLY cleaned up my grain storage area. I just had a bunch of bags and sacks of grain lying around on my shelves. I bought some tupperware containers and got it all organized. This is what 200 lbs. of grain looks like neatly put away. I wish I had taken a before picture...

The large containers can hold about 80 lbs of grain each, which allows me to add another sack to the container before I've completely emptied the old one.

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I have one of those wire racks in shiny steel myself from Lowe's. About $50, I also got a couple dunnage containers to store my grains in one, with dry fermentables in the other. I put'em on the bottom shelf for easy to get to storage. Got it warm enough the last couple days to get the honey
& molasses added to primary of my kottbusser to ferment out. Those wire shelves are very sturdy when assembled & help keep things dry.

Added a simple syrup of 1 lb table sugar and 1qt boiled water to both of my saisons in primary. I can't wait to taste them.

max384 said:

I FINALLY cleaned up my grain storage area. I just had a bunch of bags and sacks of grain lying around on my shelves. I bought some tupperware containers and got it all organized. This is what 200 lbs. of grain looks like neatly put away. I wish I had taken a before picture...

The large containers can hold about 80 lbs of grain each, which allows me to add another sack to the container before I've completely emptied the old one.

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That steel target is awesome.

That is all.

Psylocide said:

That steel target is awesome.

That is all.

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Hahaha. Thanks!

The target is from MGM Targets. It's taken hits from 22 lr all the way up to .500 magnum and 30-06. The 30-06 leave very small dents, so I quit shooting rifles at it. Because it's angled downward, you can shoot at the steel from VERY close distances safely, since the spray all goes downward. I've shot at it from as close as 15 feet with absolutely no sprayback whatsoever. That target has probably taken 5000 rounds at least, maybe more. And other than a few minor surface dents, it's as good now as when I bought it.

/off topic

Racked my Gumball Head clone to secondary, added Amarillo & some Citra in the dry hop for good measure.



Gotta love the big mouths.

Scored a 5gal waterbottle from the local orange big box store with recycling code "1", PET! All the others were "7", but this one looked just a bit different, so I checked it and... jackpot.

How do the thicknesses of these compare to Better Bottles?

Dry hopped an ipa with some cascade and simcoe.

skydiver30960 said:

Scored a 5gal waterbottle from the local orange big box store with recycling code "1", PET! All the others were "7", but this one looked just a bit different, so I checked it and... jackpot.



How do the thicknesses of these compare to Better Bottles?

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They are the exact same. I have 6 of em.

I brewed my 50th batch of beer today!

This is the 3rd time I've brewed this Russian Imperial Stout since moving to AG and I feel like I've got the process ironed out now. It went really well! I've been toying with the idea of building a gravity brew stand so I have been playing around with this set up for the last couple of brew days. I really like it! Only time I have to lift anything heavy is when moving the kettle up on to the burner. For this RIS I drained a bit more than 4gal into a kettle then I get it boiling while the 2nd runnings are draining. I hit my total pre boil volume exactly where I wanted at 8gal. A couple hours later I had a little over 6gal of 1.097 wort ( ;

The goats REALLY like the spent grains from this batch... probably cuz it is a wee bit sweeter than most grains I give them ( ;

Threw my american amber into the fridge for cold crashing. Sucked some good yeast out the dump port and then dry hopped an American IPA. Finalized recipe, water chemistry for Sunday's American Wheat Ale.

I had a homebrewing FIRST today! I'm working on a batch of Raspberry Requiem and after starting berries on their soak in the campden wash I tested the gravity on the base ale. FG is right at 1.015, and tasting the test sample was HEAVEN!

This is the FIRST thing I've made that tasted like something I would want to drink before bottling and conditioning. I've had a few batches that were passable after conditioning, but nothing tasting this awesome.

...and after the gravity check and taste test on a scottish ale I also have brewing at the same time (BURNED SHOE, I swear to you there's a burned shoe hiding under the trub!) I really needed one for the win column. I'm holding out for a miracle during conditioning on that one...

I may be one of the first to have recorded a True Blood Ale. Was cleaning out the mash tun and didn't notice exactly how sharp the edges of the false bottom are. Didn't notice how deep it was until shortly after a hop addition saw some blood on the edge of the kettle and dripping down the edge into the boiling wort. Was the 30 minute addition so it did boil long after the "addition."

Zepth said:

I may be one of the first to have recorded a True Blood Ale. Was cleaning out the mash tun and didn't notice exactly how sharp the edges of the false bottom are. Didn't notice how deep it was until shortly after a hop addition saw some blood on the edge of the kettle and dripping down the edge into the boiling wort. Was the 30 minute addition so it did boil long after the "addition."

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It's the little additions that count!


Last year when I transferred a beer from primary to secondary, I found this little guy stuck to the wall of my fermentation bucket:



I named that beer Mosquito Ale. It turned out great!

Cleaning and sanitizing bottles to put my saison in this evening. Also making a starter for my dark Cascadian ale I'm brewing tomorrow. Using BRY-97 for style. This will be my first brew session in almost a month! Holy crap, I have to step my game up... Lol

will be bottling with my brother, catdaddy, a blonde ale. tomorrow he/we are brewing a cascadian dark ale or black ipa...

catdaddy66 said:

Cleaning and sanitizing bottles to put my saison in this evening. Also making a starter for my dark Cascadian ale I'm brewing tomorrow. Using BRY-97 for style. This will be my first brew session in almost a month! Holy crap, I have to step my game up... Lol

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When I notice I'm drinking more store bought beer than homebrew I get freaked out and start brewing more. Boiling a Maris otter cascade smash right now while watch the gamecocks on the way to a second win against Miami (Ohio)!

Moved my fermenter full of black ipa up from the basement while sanitizing my bucket, bottles, and necessary gear. It'll be bottled soon.

pulled forward keg tap
will be brewing in an hour soon as wife goes to her bible group.

got everything ready for Brew Day tomorrow... my friend is coming over to get his first lesson in beer making. There should be 5 more gallons of a nice Nut Brown Ale tomorrow afternoon...

Disassembled my brew stand and cleaned it. Passived & calibrated my new HLT.
Took apart my BK & cleaned as well

Bought an English Pale Ale kit from the Brew and Grow store!!

Today I was able to print up the labels for my Coffee Stout and bottled 5 gallons of Irish Ale. It won't be ready by St. Patrick's day but home brewing has taught me that things can't be rushed.

1. Brewed a Brett Saison.
2. Racked Hi Nelson to secondary with hops and hibiscus tea.

- Bottled my Scottish Ale (wait, let me check, yep: STILL tastes like a burned shoe. Here's hoping for a miracle from bottle conditioning...)

- Moved the Requiem Raspberry from primary into secondary with the raspberries. The color isn't what I'd hoped for because I accidentally used 80L instead of 40L, but the base ale tastes amazing and if the finished product tastes half as good as it smelled as the seconday was filling, it's gonna be a winner!

- Got the options for the next batch in line pared down to two. It'll either be a batch of the base brown ale from the Requiem Raspberry (it's that good all by itself), or the Centennial Blonde.

campbelldm1 said:

When I notice I'm drinking more store bought beer than homebrew I get freaked out and start brewing more. Boiling a Maris otter cascade smash right now while watch the gamecocks on the way to a second win against Miami (Ohio)!

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Hellz yeah!! Brewing with the Yardcocks... Drinking Garnet Amber ale and Cocky pale ale. Transferring a blonde to secondary and brewing my first CDA. Full weekend!

Bottled heady topper clone v.1 and it was delicious at bottling going to be hard to keep my hands off this one

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1 lb test batch of candi syrup. I think I took it a little too far.

EDIT: I take it back. It's pretty darn good. A little tart, but good flavor. Should be good for a quad. No just need 2 more pounds.
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Gotta clean another wagonload of bottles when the sink gets cleared. Then I can get another batch of my son's bottles delabeled.

Helped a friend brew his first batch! Everything went very well... he already wants to brew another batch later in the week...

After hanging out with my son last night and trying an Alaskan Hopothermia I ran around all over town to find some more of it. I really enjoyed it and now I want to brew it. Can't find a recipe though.

Picked up this little gem for 550.00

Brewed a 6 gal batch of AG Amarillo PA based on the Stone PA Recipe.
Of course I had to repair leaks in the sight tube of my new HLT first. So, all cleaned up and in the chamber in 5 vs 4 hours.

Today I did little things I like to put off.
1- put the labels on that I printed yesterday for the stout I bottled 3 weeks ago.
2- designed the labels for the Irish Ale I bottled yesterday. Can't print them out till I get more printer ink though.
3- made the spreadsheet for my steeping grains and other stuff so I can keep track of what i have.
4-updated my brew log with the last 2 batches I brewed.
5- came up with the next 2 batches I want to brew. I'm thinking a nice raspberry wheat for the summer and a dark American ale as it will help me to burn through a lot of the steeping grains I have left over before they go bad.

All in all it was a good beer day.