MattHollingsworth
Well-Known Member
So, finally got back to it. After all these months of finding supplies, doing mail order, driving to neighboring countries and all the hassle, the brewery is fully setup, operational and the first one's under that belt.
Did 90 batches before from 97 to 2002 in Portland, Oregon as part of the Oregon Brew Crew from 99 or so on. Today's was batch 91, then.
I'm an AG guy. Brewed a basic West Coast Pale Ale with a touch of munich, couple of crystals and Castle Pale Malt, with a small amount of Magnum on bittering, then Amarillo and Crystal hops all the way through. Wyeast 1056.
The yeast was 5 months old and I was fairly worried about it because the 2 activator packs I brought back from the states in April were dated March 31, and they were about half to a third puffed up already even though I hadn't popped them. I packed them in my checked bag in LA with ice packs and they arrived to my refrigerator in Croatia some 14 hours later or something. But still, that puffing worried me, so I made a starter using BOTH packs. Popped them , which was tough since they were already puffed up enough to make it very hard to even find the inner pouch, let alone pop it. Anyway, managed that and both of them were pretty swollen within 3 hours or so. The next morning, they were completely puffed up. I popped them around 9PM the previous day. So, they seemed to be healthy afterall.
Made a 1.8 L starter. Erlenmeyer (spelling?) flask, stirplate, all that. Healthy, did well, kept it around 74. Stepped it up to 3.6 L in a 5L wine bottle, no stirplate. Held at 74, finished up nicely. Put in the fridge 3 days before brew day, then decanted today and pitched at 76. After around 5 hours in the fermenter it was highly active and obviously doing well. At 69 F. Now, 6 odd hours later, it's doing great. No worries there.
I'll be rinsing that yeast and reusing it assuming no troubles.
Anyway, all set up, all systems go. Lots of people on here helped me with various info over the last few months, so thanks. Back in the fold, as it were.
Did 90 batches before from 97 to 2002 in Portland, Oregon as part of the Oregon Brew Crew from 99 or so on. Today's was batch 91, then.
I'm an AG guy. Brewed a basic West Coast Pale Ale with a touch of munich, couple of crystals and Castle Pale Malt, with a small amount of Magnum on bittering, then Amarillo and Crystal hops all the way through. Wyeast 1056.
The yeast was 5 months old and I was fairly worried about it because the 2 activator packs I brought back from the states in April were dated March 31, and they were about half to a third puffed up already even though I hadn't popped them. I packed them in my checked bag in LA with ice packs and they arrived to my refrigerator in Croatia some 14 hours later or something. But still, that puffing worried me, so I made a starter using BOTH packs. Popped them , which was tough since they were already puffed up enough to make it very hard to even find the inner pouch, let alone pop it. Anyway, managed that and both of them were pretty swollen within 3 hours or so. The next morning, they were completely puffed up. I popped them around 9PM the previous day. So, they seemed to be healthy afterall.
Made a 1.8 L starter. Erlenmeyer (spelling?) flask, stirplate, all that. Healthy, did well, kept it around 74. Stepped it up to 3.6 L in a 5L wine bottle, no stirplate. Held at 74, finished up nicely. Put in the fridge 3 days before brew day, then decanted today and pitched at 76. After around 5 hours in the fermenter it was highly active and obviously doing well. At 69 F. Now, 6 odd hours later, it's doing great. No worries there.
I'll be rinsing that yeast and reusing it assuming no troubles.
Anyway, all set up, all systems go. Lots of people on here helped me with various info over the last few months, so thanks. Back in the fold, as it were.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
