I just ordered 200 pounds of grain. Won't get here for a week or two but I'll not need it till late April at the earliest.
End of the world supply
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Yes that's Germany! Boring beer! I try to tell this to people, but they all want to believe the romantic beer country story. Doesn't matter that I'm actually German myself and know what I'm talking about
If you go to Bavaria, there's slightly more going on, but still it is limited to very few styles and only very few brands per pub.
We do the native German beers from from ok to very very good, but you can count them on one hand and most of them are some type of lager.
I hope your comments are tongue in cheek! I've had a love affair with your homeland and especially it's wonderful beers since I first traveled to Germany in the mid-70s. I really have no idea how many times I've been to Germany in the last 45 years, but it must be at least 1 to 2 times per years, and generally more frequently in many years. From Koln and Dusseldorf in the north to Frankfurt to Stuttgart to Munich in Bavaria I've loved it all as well as the distinctive beers in each region.
For the current 'brewpocolypse' I've stockpiled more than 50# of various Weyermann pilsner base malts, along with carapils, acidulated and several Munich malts. Also numerous Crystals and aromatics. All told more than 75# total.
Hops galore, but most are Nobles: Spalt, Mittlefruh, Tettnang. Plenty of fresh and banked yeasts for alts, ales and lagers. When I run out of ingredients for 'dedicated' recipes there'll be more than enough leftovers to brew a couple American IPAs or Pales, but first things first.
So bring it on! I've got two empty conicals and a new glycol chiller just itching to make lagers. All that's missing is friends and family to share it with. See you on the other side.
Brooo Brother
Robert65
Major Obvious (recently promoted)
I'd happily trade places with you. Those "boring" German beers are what I love, and just can't get here. I don't at all care for 99.99% of American "craft" beer. Maybe that should be craft "beer." One of the main reasons I brew.Yes that's Germany! Boring beer! I try to tell this to people, but they all want to believe the romantic beer country story. Doesn't matter that I'm actually German myself and know what I'm talking about
If you go to Bavaria, there's slightly more going on, but still it is limited to very few styles and only very few brands per pub.
We do the native German beers from from ok to very very good, but you can count them on one hand and most of them are some type of lager.
Everything else......... Mostly not worth a try. Ratsherrn Brauerei from Hamburg for example, great Pilsener, tried to do multiple ales, failed miserably, they are just really bad ales. They don't know how to and that's the end of the story. But best thing is, most Germans never had a good ale, so they just don't know how it can taste and so they still buy the crap....
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Jako
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dam do you brew professionally?
If you saw his loooong tap board and walk-in fridge you'd definitely wonder 
Cheers!
Cheers!
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Jako
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If you saw his loooong tap board and walk-in fridge you'd definitely wonder
Cheers!
Haha I wish! That's very cool funny how the hobby can be simple or a long long rabbit hole of gear.
With luck drywall and paint will be done in my brewery tomorrow. Planning on staying up 24/7 to finish it. I received the last parts today in the mail.
Haha, nope! I've just been accumulating gear for about 15 years now.
I'm also paranoid about running out of anything, so I make sure to keep a good amount on hand, and when I find good deals, I buy as much as I can (this is how I ended up with around 30# of hops). My wife is also a saint for putting up with me (it isn't just brewing that I am into!)
LOL, rub it in if you want.....
the only "walk-in's" i've ever been in are at the grocery store i worked at...
That is one of the best things I enjoy about this hobby, you can approach it however you want, with any inclination, and design it so that it suits you exactly. You can delve deeply into topics that you find interesting, but that others may not ever want to deal with (water chemistry comes to mind for this). Also, right now, there are so many more options for equipment and vendors than there were when I started (there wasn't such a thing as BIAB when I started, and no barrier tubing that we could use at our scale, etc.).
Haha, I've definitely been blessed in many ways! Building the walk-in cooler was a fun project that I did with help from other homebrewers. It has two chambers, one for cold storage and serving, and the other a bit warmer for ale fermentations. The warmer chamber is where I am also keeping my multi-vessel barleywine solera as well as where I hang my charcuterie for air curing (I have two prosciutto's nearly two years old now in there, and often do duck prosciutto as well).
I have about 8 gal in the kegerator split between 3 kegs, 5 gals of Maibock lagering and will brew another 5 gal of Scottish ale this weekend. Along with 5 gal blueberry Cyser and various commercial bottles and wine around.
Should be good until June, even if I don’t brew again in April.
Should be good until June, even if I don’t brew again in April.
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Jako
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well i brewed 10G today my first time using my new set up.
uh some bugs to work out but no leaks and the hardware didn't have any issues just some user error kinks to figure out.
but soon i will have 10 gallons of beer 5G of cider and 5 of mead. i am set! also working from home now last week has been insane.
uh some bugs to work out but no leaks and the hardware didn't have any issues just some user error kinks to figure out.
but soon i will have 10 gallons of beer 5G of cider and 5 of mead. i am set! also working from home now last week has been insane.
TheBeerGuy
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I have three beers on deck to brew over the next few weeks. I'm making an Irish Red Ale, Hazy IPA and a Red Lager. I have nothing in kegs right now as I donated my last 10 gallons to a local distiller to help out making hand sanitizer for my brothers and sisters in the pre-hospital fire and medical fields. I have some of my Sweet Stout in bottles I'm drinking though.
Stay safe out there everyone!
Stay safe out there everyone!
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Jako
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What a great way to use the last 10 gallons. If we had something like that going on in Utah I would totally contribute
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LOL i only have about 60 total pounds of grain. im gonna stock up now, thanks for making me feel like a lightweight guys.
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Jako
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My LHBS is shut down for now.
They said customers wouldn't make online orders or call in. It started to be high risk for them. Also SlC is shut down now. But I'm more than okay for now
They said customers wouldn't make online orders or call in. It started to be high risk for them. Also SlC is shut down now. But I'm more than okay for now
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i went to the LHBS and grabbed a 55 of MO and 50 of Briess 2 row, question though, how do you guys store ur grains? The LHBS guys said to store them in the fridge because they have a tendency to hatch weevils and the fridge keeps them from it? Any help is greatly appreciated
I typically don't worry about it much, but in the past when the sacks didn't have the inner plastic layer, I did get an infestation and had to take care of it. I haven't had any problems since then, and I still keep mine stacked in a dry place:
I find that the avangard is sealed well enough for me. The one I had problems with in the past was canada malting, and their closure wasn't sealed very well, especially when they didn't have the inner plastic liner. I also have too much grain on hand to keep in a fridge.
I would also be concerned about moisture if you were to store it in the fridge.
I find that the avangard is sealed well enough for me. The one I had problems with in the past was canada malting, and their closure wasn't sealed very well, especially when they didn't have the inner plastic liner. I also have too much grain on hand to keep in a fridge.
I would also be concerned about moisture if you were to store it in the fridge.
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Gnef, yeah thats my biggest problem too, i dont have enough fridge space, m probably gonna get some of the Vittles Gamma buckets and just purge them with co2 and close the lid, hopefully itll be enough to keep them in check until i use all the grains. Didnt think about this problem until i got the bags, lesson learned.
the vittles vaults are a good option. Once I open a sack of grain, I use 5 gallon buckets with the gamma seal lids for storage. One sack is a bit more than two 5 gallon buckets, but usually I use enough that it is ok.
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Jako
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I have a large cold room, I haven't made use of it but shortly
I use Ziplock's WeatherShield totes for mine. Amazon has them. I use the 60qt for the base grains as they can easily hold a 55lb sack. The smaller 16qt are great for the specialty grains.
Only negatives are they can be a bit pricey if you have a huge grain supply. I've also had one or two I had to send back because the clip broke during shipment. Still worth buying imo though. They seal pretty well with the foam liner on the covers and good at keeping the critters out.
Plus, when gathering grains for brew day, I love that huge whiff of malt aromas I get when I open the containers.
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Yesfan, Thats a great suggestion, they are better priced than the vittles gamma 2 tubes i was gonna buy!
I went to a local food manufacturer and bought 20 used 7 gallon buckets with lids for 50 cents each. Most of them had contained processed cheese but they washed up good and seal great. 8 of them are designated grain storage, 4 of them are fermentors, and 8 misc. Then I usually keep anything under 2lbs in the freezer.
I stocked up in January because I brew a bunch from Jan-May (15-20 times) for NHC and other comps which have all gone to sh** this year, then I focus on my garden and depleting my inventory all summer. I still have 100 lbs of pils, 50 lbs of each of 6row and 2row, tons of hops in the freezer (including homegrown), and a fridge full of slurry from all the batches below. I use Vittles Vaults and buckets for grain storage and so far no issues with bugs. I'm planning to do 5 more batches in April while I'm furloughed from work which will take me up to 12 kegs... plenty for the summer.
Dreaming up a 10 gallon SMASH IPA with Great Western Hi-Color Pale and a pound of Centennial a neighbor gave me when he moved. Not sure if I'm going to progressively hop it every 5 minutes or do something crazy with hop-bursting in the last 10 minutes of the boil.
all summer. I still have 100 lbs of pils, 50 lbs of each of 6row and 2row, tons of hops in the freezer (including homegrown), and a fridge full of slurry from all the batches below. I use Vittles Vaults and buckets for grain storage and so far no issues with bugs. I'm planning to do 5 more batches in April while I'm furloughed from work which will take me up to 12 kegs... plenty for the summer.Dreaming up a 10 gallon SMASH IPA with Great Western Hi-Color Pale and a pound of Centennial a neighbor gave me when he moved. Not sure if I'm going to progressively hop it every 5 minutes or do something crazy with hop-bursting in the last 10 minutes of the boil.
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KookyBrewsky
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End of the world viruses and nukes are kind of lame since we've seen them before.
Would prefer actual zombies or the Four Horseman appearing and riding around in the sky, etc..
Would prefer actual zombies or the Four Horseman appearing and riding around in the sky, etc..
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Jako
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I stocked up in January because I brew a bunch from Jan-May (15-20 times) for NHC and other comps which have all gone to sh** this year, then I focus on my garden and depleting my inventory
Dreaming up a 10 gallon SMASH IPA with Great Western Hi-Color Pale and a pound of Centennial a neighbor gave me when he moved. Not sure if I'm going to progressively hop it every 5 minutes or do something crazy with hop-bursting in the last 10 minutes of the boil.
sounds awesome! i need to learn how to buy in bulk and plan ahead 50 pounds of 1 base malt gets... boring fast.
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Ive started to buy bulk grains for the beers i plan on making over and over. I wanna stock some German pils and maybe dingemans to make a westy 12 every month to let them age.
Dave Sarber
Unindicted Co-conspirator
The only base grains I buy in bulk are Dingemans pils, Dingemans pale, Crisp Maris Otter, and Briess 2 row. On all the different specialty grains, only 5-10 pounds each.
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Dave, same here, I have a lot of specialty grains that i get 5 pounds at a time, would love to make it 10 pounds but i feel they will sit for longer than normal if i just keep acquire a bunch such as special B. the dingemans I will probably get also because those 2 you have are for westys i presume lol.
Dave Sarber
Unindicted Co-conspirator
The Belgian pils and pale are used in just about every Belgian beer from patersbier on up. They keep the grist pretty simple, the nuances are from the yeast and mash techniques.
I'm down to stems and seeds again too......
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You DO realize that the only things to survive the next Earth-impacting asteroid will be Spam and cockroaches? I hear they package it using LoDO techniques, thus ensuring its extended freshness.
Brooo Brother
Mmmm...SPAM!
Actually not bad if indulged infrequently, The Spousal Unit has a mean salsa-forward recipe that the kids always enjoyed...
Cheers!
Actually not bad if indulged infrequently, The Spousal Unit has a mean salsa-forward recipe that the kids always enjoyed...
Cheers!
Many years ago when my wife and I were first married she didn't want to run to the store so she used what was on hand. She found a can of spam and some canned tuna and made a pot pie. She called it spoona pie. It was not bad but the texture was a bit strange. We still laugh about it now and then. She even signed me up for the spam club, I have a T-shirt.
ScotBrew
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Pics of the tshirt please!
I was late to the pandemic and suddently thought, 2 weeks ago, hey lets start brewing again. It's been over 3 years but I kept all my (extract)brewing gear. I did x2 5 gallon batches recently, 1 NB kit and another with random ingredients that I've done before(Cascade 5min PA). I was worried about old malt & hops, but the only thing I lose is my time. If I brew it and get good beer then happy days, if I brew and its **** then it's a good lesson on the brewing process! All about how you see things!
I was late to the pandemic and suddently thought, 2 weeks ago, hey lets start brewing again. It's been over 3 years but I kept all my (extract)brewing gear. I did x2 5 gallon batches recently, 1 NB kit and another with random ingredients that I've done before(Cascade 5min PA). I was worried about old malt & hops, but the only thing I lose is my time. If I brew it and get good beer then happy days, if I brew and its **** then it's a good lesson on the brewing process! All about how you see things!
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If you guys havent made a musubi roll, ur missing out on premium food.
And Twinkies
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Dave Sarber
Unindicted Co-conspirator
And ants. Ants are forever.
brewswithshoes
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laughing a bit as i read thru this thread as i felt the same way about my dwindling supply when our lockdown was coming. did get a brew session in, as well as bought a few pounds for the next brew day.
On a brighter note, most of the breweries here in Tampa area have either found a way around the stupid distributor laws, or just decided to say "F it" as most are selling kegs straight to consumers now. decided to support 2 of my local breweries and get kegs from them directly. also helps prolong my grain/hop reserves for later days if this drags on into summer.
On a brighter note, most of the breweries here in Tampa area have either found a way around the stupid distributor laws, or just decided to say "F it" as most are selling kegs straight to consumers now. decided to support 2 of my local breweries and get kegs from them directly. also helps prolong my grain/hop reserves for later days if this drags on into summer.
