I thought I knew how to brew

[Lefou]

Oh don't worry, I wasn't. That would be one of the items on the list of reasons I lost all interest in playing Halo against other humans.

Speaking as a gamer myself (at age 53) that sort of immature behavior used to infuriate me ... then I figured turnabout was fair play. My rule was always "no first use, but revenge is fair game".
In extended games like Battlefield I would intentionally track and target the person who thought the act was funny. It was funny for them - until they suffered the same fate multiple times in succession from getting nailed halfway across a playing field by some dancing fool in the Kill Cam. Sometimes it would provoke challenges that were peripheral contests to the greater game, other times it would provoke an exit from the lobby in anger after being the last kill in the feed, just before the game ended.
Some people deserve the medicine they deal fed back tenfold ... then I remind myself many of them are too young to have a beer and laugh.

 

[Tbagger]

Video games are made to have fun. Give some, take some, have some fun, and drink some beer. People get too worked up over video games.

 

[Tbagger]

Mead is made and happily bubbling away in the fermenter. Came out a little low @1.096 (was shooting for 1.110 but I ran out of honey) but it should be fine. 5gal is going to be a traditional and 5gal is going to be a raspberry melomel.

Next week is the cider then it’s on to working on perfecting a few beer recipes over the next year.

 

[Tbagger]

If you get a chance, post some more photos of that grain mill.

I finally got around to taking some pics of the grain mill. It’s run by my kitchen aid that sits on the shelf and coupled to the drive. I still need to take it apart to clean everything though.

 

[Tbagger]

I also just picked this fermentation chamber today off of OfferUp for $40! It is super solidly built, heavy, has 5” of foam insulation all around, and holds 4 carboys. I kind of freaked out when I saw it. It’s way too nice to be $40. I’ve seen way crappier chambers going for $500+. It’s lager time!!!!

 

[Tbagger]

 

[doug293cz]

That's an incredible find and an insane deal.

Brew on

 

[Tbagger]

That's an incredible find and an insane deal.

Brew on

I know right? At first I was worried it was going to be stolen since the tweekers around here rob garages and steal anything that's not bolted down. But it was just a nice guy in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. He doesn't brew anymore and wanted to make some room in his garage.

 

[LittleRiver]

I finally got around to taking some pics of the grain mill...

Thanks! I love how he used the steel angle and wood panels, it's a neat mill for sure!

 

[Tbagger]

Cider is now in the fermenter and bubbling away. Now that long aging drinks are done, it’s time to start working on some good beers to brew for the wedding. And to top it off, my dad is coming up from Oregon for the inaugural brew day at my house!

 

[Tbagger]

First brew day at my house on the old brewery was a success. My efficiency is a little low at 71% so I’m going to work on trying to raise it over the summer. But other than that, everything went smoothly. Went with a kolsch recipe I came up with. Hope it turns out good since I’ll need it for the hot summer months ahead. It was really fun brewing with the old man again!

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[brewgar]

Glad you got to brew with your Dad. Also, hurray for K9 brewing assistants! My two Cocker Spaniels know its brew day the second I touch a propane tank. Arr!

 

[Tbagger]

My pups waited patiently for the spent grains. They love it so much I decided to make some grain bar treats for them. Sadly, they have spent the last two days stinking up my house with dog beer farts. Lol

 

[NGD]

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That thing is bad ass! Nice score bud.

 

[Tbagger]

That thing is bad ass! Nice score bud.

Yeah, I was ecstatic when I saw it on offerup and even more so when I got it and realized how nice it actually is. I just got a 60W car battery heat pad, an inkbird308, and a computer fan to give it better temp control than just cooling. It now holding 10 gal of cider and 10 gal of mead in long term storage at 55 degrees.

 

[Tbagger]

40 gallons down and 60 to go. So far I have 20 gallons of pilsner and 20 gallons of imperial vanilla milk stout aging in my neighbors walk in cooler. Next week is a brown ale, then a blonde and finally an IPA. I have spent the last year getting the recipes dialed in and they are all really good. I think I might actually pull this off.

 

[JohnSand]

Sounds great! Thanks for the update.

 

[Calaeb]

what a awesome thread to read

 

[Tbagger]

Update:

So 80 gallons has been brewed and 70 kegged. I have the last of my blonde ale sitting in the fermenter. The next two weeks I’ll be brewing the 20 gallons of DIPA and a bonus batch of gluten free blonde because there are a few people who pretend to have celiacs lol. I’m in the home stretch!!!

 

[Tbagger]

Just kegged the last 10 gallons making a total of 105. The wedding is in 3 weeks so I just barely made it in time. Upon packaging everything tasted great. Now I just have to convert my fermentation freezer into a temporary keezer. Can’t wait for this to be over so I can start brewing for myself again! I’ll post an update after the wedding to let you guys know how it went.

 

[Jmspears]

Just read the whole thread. Can’t believe you got the fermentation chamber so cheap! Congrats on getting married... and making your brewing deadline!

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Kudos to you! Wish I was close enough to at least sample some.

 

[Tbagger]

Just read the whole thread. Can’t believe you got the fermentation chamber so cheap! Congrats on getting married... and making your brewing deadline!

Yeah, it was a crazy deal! I still can't believe I got it so cheap.

 

[Nate R]

Great read! Love the story!
It's these types of threads that keep me up past my bedtime reading!
Congrats on the wedding. Hoping to see pics etc. And hear back on the beer, and especially excited about the mead!

 

[Tbagger]

The wedding is in a week and we are leaving for our pregame camping trip tomorrow so I made a couple of temporary keezers. Six recipes totaling 105 gallons of homebrew is finished, carbed, and ready to serve. I also have some extra connections for my home brewing friends to hook up their kegs and 2 sankey couplers for the 1/2bbl kegs that we ordered. The wife to be also made me some cool labels! Only downside is that I went with picnic taps (except the nitro stout faucet) so that drunken idiots don’t break my nice faucets. But overall I think they turned out decent and will serve their purpose. Pretty damn excited!

 

[Jmspears]

How did it go? Surely you’re back from your honeymoon by now [emoji6]

 

[NickTheGreat]

I missed this thread until today, but I'm glad I got to see the whole journey!

How did everything go?

 

[cmac62]

Congrats on the wedding, I'm following to see how everything goes

 

[Tbagger]

Went great! Got back yesterday. People loved the beer, especially the stout, but the mead was the biggest hit. No major problems with the keezers. All in all it was a major success. And as a bonus, I have quite a bit of left over beer. I didn't get to take pics as I was a little busy lol, but I'll post some when the photographer is finished touching up the ones he took.

 

[Tbagger]

So apparently the photographer didn’t get any shots of my brew station. But I’m in the process of tracking down all the guests pictures in hopes of getting some. But here are a few pic of the wedding.

 

[Tbagger]

And someone took a pics of my keg cooling system for the camping week leading up to wedding lmao. That water was 38F glacier run off.

 

[NickTheGreat]

That keg cooling picture is awesome!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Congrats, on the wedding and it looks like you did a great job planning and executing the brewing of adult beverages.

 

[bleme]

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It's been 3 days and this picture, with the one keg starting to tilt out, still gives me the shivers!

 

[pvpeacock]

That's awesome. I used to live in Alaska and our Rotary Club sponsored a beer garden for a summer fair ever year. We used to put all of our kegs in a glacier fed stream to keep them cold. We built a corral out of chicken wire and metal posts to keep the kegs from getting away. Every time we finished a keg, I would put the hip waders on and go get another one. Truly great memories.

 

[Tbagger]

It's been 3 days and this picture, with the one keg starting to tilt out, still gives me the shivers!

I checked on them daily and they were super tight. I think there was a rock between two of them that kind of pushed that one out a bit. But they weren't going anywhere.

 

[Nate R]

I checked on them daily and they were super tight. I think there was a rock between two of them that kind of pushed that one out a bit. But they weren't going anywhere.

I bet there were plenty of willing volunteers that would have swam after any strays!

 

[NGD]

Hell, I wasn’t even there and I would have.