cheesecake
Well-Known Member
I think I'm going to build a 2 gallon mash tun. And say forget the 2.5 gallon batch setup all together. I'm really enjoying the 1 gallon batches and the ease of brewing and cleanup involved.
I think I'm going to build a 2 gallon mash tun. And say forget the 2.5 gallon batch setup all together. I'm really enjoying the 1 gallon batches and the ease of brewing and cleanup involved.
cheesecake said:There seem to be a lot of us from the Chicago area here
Apparently, we have the best pale ale in the country according to GABF!
cheesecake said:I purchased some carbonation tabs but im not sure if im going to use them. i may just use dextrose. im building up my recipes in beer smith and planning on making a decent order of specialty grains and some base grains and some hops.
i have 25 lbs of 2 row coming and i have no idea what im going to do with it. trying to brew some larger beers but its still not using enough grain
I think, the biggest tip for going to 1 or 2 gallons is convert everything to grams. My little $5 kitchen scale has a gram function, its making setting aside and sealing up grain bills a breeze.
Now I have my next 5 irish red brews ready to open and drop in on there brew days.
I think one im going to do straight just to get a contol on the recipie.
1 im going to bump up th og with dme
1 might get some lactose
1 honey
1 blue berry or strawberry
My new fermenters are 2 gallon buckets [not like the ones from northern brewer or small batch home brew, these mave stout metal bails and feel alot more durable than my northern brewer ones]. It should leave me plenty of room for playing with fuits or juice or whatever tickles my fancy at that moment.
I also found out from a buddy of mine today that the A&W root beer bottles are made from the same plastic and even in the same factory as alot of the comercail 16oz pet bottles. He is bringing me a case of em at thanks giving that was dropped and damaged. Might add more if they are on sale at the store.
I to am looking for a 3 gallon cooler maybe I'll luck out and can pick on up from one of the fam over the holidays. I have seen mesh strainers that go up in ich increments, so maybe one will fit inside, would be a cheap solution to a false bottom. If I have to build a braid I already have a BNIB 14in piece of braid, would just need the valve and various other fittings.
i'm finally at the stage where i can drink my own home brew while i make the next batch.
Reading this thread over this morning inspired me...I was going to wait a couple weeks, do some more research/procrastination, and then, perhaps, attempt my first all-grain one-gallon brew. Instead, I have mash converting right now!!!
This'll be my first ever all-grain without a more experienced brewer looking over my shoulder. I'm also pretty proud that all the grain in this mash was malted in my kitchen, and the hops grown in the backyard.
Thanks everyone!
Thanks Cheesecake. I owe most of my malting success to guys on this forum who've given advice and technical help!!!
I have a tiny yard, but manage to eke out space for goldings hops, and a family heirloom that tastes kinda cascade-ish. Part of my interest in small batches was to stretch the hops I grow and grain I'm malting.
Gotta go check my mash!
Thanks, HuntingOhio!
I'm not going to get rid of my five-gallon stuff...just use it for brews I know family and friends will drink, and do the small-batch stuff to keep me happy with new, exotic, and experimental stuff.
Do you ever do a 2-2 1/2 gallon batch and divide it between two 1 gallon secondaries?
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The only thing that limitss my drinking is my kids lol I get a weekend or 2 a month that I can really drink.
But yeah I have split a 2.5gallon all grain in different frermenters, I tried us04 in one and us05 in another... I like us-05.
I second keeping the 5 gallon gear as you could use it to make wine or something to give as part of a gift, or make a big batch for a party.
I can't switch over to grams...I tried and it drives me nuts. If.I'm copying a recipe its in oz so I have to keep changing settings in beersmith
I dont convert to grams until brewday. because my lhbs sells in sae units. Its a bit of a pain but it saves me from adding to much hops, which from experence I can tell you in these small batches makes a HUGE difference.
I have to say that today I finally got to a real homebrew store [not just a place that sells homebrew gear]. It's called the grape and granery. I am glad I went there instead of ordering online again.I gave them my grain bill, the picked out and milled the grains while I shopped around. Picked up a bunch of goodies hops yeast and even gear. Theses guys get an A+ in my book. They even had hop flavored candy [cascade], it was damn tasty.
Today was truly amazing.
MTate37 said:I tried my BBS Cranberry Wheat tonight after a week in the bottle. I know...I just haven't developed a lot of patience when it comes to sampling. I haven't made a wheat yet, and it's not a style I usually drink, but I would say this is the best of my the brewing attempts so far. BUT, the cranberry doesn't come through at all. I'm thinking it would have been a good idea to either mash the fruit up a little more than I did, or secondary with some fruit.
Will be brewing the BBS Apple Crisp tomorrow and bottling the New Year Beer next weekend. If time allows I might even do a gallon SMaSH tomorrow with one of the odd amounts of hops I have left from these BBS recipes.
One the first craft brews I ever tried was a raspberry wheat when I visited Park City, UT. I really like it so I tried to copy it but was never happy with the results. I pretty much given up brewing with fruit, I can never get enough of the fruit flavor to come through. I think for my last try i'm going to try extract bottling time.
I wonder what the flavor would be like if you used puree of cranberries?
JollyIsTheRoger said:You will get more flavor from a puree than from fresh fruit. You will get a lot more flavor from the extracts, but they can taste kind of funny. More like a fruit flavored candy than the real flavor of the fruit. So its all up to your taste.
You will get more flavor from a puree than from fresh fruit. You will get a lot more flavor from the extracts, but they can taste kind of funny. More like a fruit flavored candy than the real flavor of the fruit. So its all up to your taste.
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