bajaedition
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2013
- Messages
- 1,187
- Reaction score
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Hello, I am Jim
Live in the middle of no where in the CA desert
doing a search for some new brew equipment I came across this place and am really enjoying it. Most of the guys are real helpful and I do not see the flaming I see at so many other forums, I am forum shy because of that.
Here is my history of brewing
I started out in my 20s making wine, there were very few mail order places and you found info about them in the back of Mother Earth News and places like that. I used to primary in a cooler and rack into 1 gallon bottles then finally into old wine bottles, Learned a good bit but it was not until the middle 90s I found a place that was really into making beer.
I had Moved to CA and the Home Brewery was about 15 miles from my house.
I soon had a setup to do extract and steeping, bottled mainly and was just getting good when the hobby started to expand nationally.
Soon that guy moved to the Ozarks and 3B moved to town. Wow what a collection and I started my first All Grain. I found a few brewing buddies, we started a club and soon I was half owner in a tower system that had a pump and we could finish a 10 gallon batch cooled though our heat exchanger in about 4 and a 1/2 hours.
As we grew in the hobby so did our mini brewery, we soon had a few full size used True sliding door units, one for a fermenting closet, the other for supplies and kegs waiting to go on tap. He had a 6 tapper and I had a 4.
And soon a 20 gallon system, Herms was purchased.
then my life got Hectic and I sold him my share of it all and moved. I went back to extract brewing, and am glad I did. During the next few years I learned so much about brewing from extract I was blown away. I think coming from the All Grain back ground made me analyze everything and I really started tearing my techniques to pieces and rebuilding them.
So I moved again, into a house once again and now am building my new all grain system.
I do nit do huge batches anymore, just have a 2 tap keezer so I do 5 gallon batches. My new system is almost finished in the first stage. As of now it will be a simi tower with a pump. the HLT will be under the MT with the BK on the side. It will gravity flow from the tun to the kettle and that is high enough to flow into a Speidel.
I like doing 3 or 4 step infusion mashes, will be adding a Herms system to the setup when I get around to it,( that will be stage 2) will want it to be small and efficient so experimenting is in order.
My favorite beer style is an ESB, I also love English Browns, I do a Xmas beer every year and that is usually a strong Porter or a Scotch. Every March I do an Oktoberfest and lager it till fall. I love doing German beers, regular lagers or marzens. AND... because so many of my friends have no taste buds, I do a MGD clone and a Natural Light pilsner. Believe it or not, those 2 are the hardest to brew as you have nothing to hide behind.
Anyway, thanks for reading this and I hope to continue to enjoy this site as much as I have the last few weeks
Live in the middle of no where in the CA desert
doing a search for some new brew equipment I came across this place and am really enjoying it. Most of the guys are real helpful and I do not see the flaming I see at so many other forums, I am forum shy because of that.
Here is my history of brewing
I started out in my 20s making wine, there were very few mail order places and you found info about them in the back of Mother Earth News and places like that. I used to primary in a cooler and rack into 1 gallon bottles then finally into old wine bottles, Learned a good bit but it was not until the middle 90s I found a place that was really into making beer.
I had Moved to CA and the Home Brewery was about 15 miles from my house.
I soon had a setup to do extract and steeping, bottled mainly and was just getting good when the hobby started to expand nationally.
Soon that guy moved to the Ozarks and 3B moved to town. Wow what a collection and I started my first All Grain. I found a few brewing buddies, we started a club and soon I was half owner in a tower system that had a pump and we could finish a 10 gallon batch cooled though our heat exchanger in about 4 and a 1/2 hours.
As we grew in the hobby so did our mini brewery, we soon had a few full size used True sliding door units, one for a fermenting closet, the other for supplies and kegs waiting to go on tap. He had a 6 tapper and I had a 4.
And soon a 20 gallon system, Herms was purchased.
then my life got Hectic and I sold him my share of it all and moved. I went back to extract brewing, and am glad I did. During the next few years I learned so much about brewing from extract I was blown away. I think coming from the All Grain back ground made me analyze everything and I really started tearing my techniques to pieces and rebuilding them.
So I moved again, into a house once again and now am building my new all grain system.
I do nit do huge batches anymore, just have a 2 tap keezer so I do 5 gallon batches. My new system is almost finished in the first stage. As of now it will be a simi tower with a pump. the HLT will be under the MT with the BK on the side. It will gravity flow from the tun to the kettle and that is high enough to flow into a Speidel.
I like doing 3 or 4 step infusion mashes, will be adding a Herms system to the setup when I get around to it,( that will be stage 2) will want it to be small and efficient so experimenting is in order.
My favorite beer style is an ESB, I also love English Browns, I do a Xmas beer every year and that is usually a strong Porter or a Scotch. Every March I do an Oktoberfest and lager it till fall. I love doing German beers, regular lagers or marzens. AND... because so many of my friends have no taste buds, I do a MGD clone and a Natural Light pilsner. Believe it or not, those 2 are the hardest to brew as you have nothing to hide behind.
Anyway, thanks for reading this and I hope to continue to enjoy this site as much as I have the last few weeks
