jwitt
Well-Known Member
I don't post a lot on HBT, but I spend a ton of time reading every single thing that catches my attention. But this news was too good not to share!
I've been working at the LHBS part time for almost 2 months now- the first few weeks were a sort of trial run to make sure the store was a good fit for me and I was a good fit for the store. Suffice it to say, the job is way more fun than my other gig at a law office!
It's really fun to work with experienced beer and wine makers, pick their brains, and learn a lot of their tips and tricks. Since I've been there for a little while now, a few of the new brewers that made their first batch with stuff I sold them during my first week on the job are coming back in with big grins and tales of tasty beer, getting ready for the next brew. Even with my limited experience, brewers that have made a few kits are reporting better results thanks to the knowledge I got from HBT and passed on to them- whirlpooling, longer primary fermentation, proper pitching temps and aeration, dip tubes, saving excess wort for future starters, proper mixing of priming sugar with green beer...this place is a treasure trove, and it's really great to help advance the overall knowledge level of our customers.
There are things I'd like to see improve that will take a great deal of time to implement (small stuff, mostly IT related, coming from my decade of office experience), but guess what's first on the list for us? A remedy to the bane of LHBS customers the world over...
A new grain mill!
We've been talking about it for a couple weeks, and we are narrowing down our choices over the next few days. Then it's off to the drawing board for a milling station!
The current mill yields about 58% mash efficiency with a 180º water two-volume batch sparge, and two runs through the mill gets me up to 65%. No amount of stirring, pH adjustment, or voodoo spells can push me past that point. The crush looks like a good one for steeping grains- minimal flour etc., but the mill is hard to adjust for an all grain recipe. It sure would be nice to hit 72-75%...
:rockin:
Another idea in the pipe is an HBT sponsorship, of course
I've been working at the LHBS part time for almost 2 months now- the first few weeks were a sort of trial run to make sure the store was a good fit for me and I was a good fit for the store. Suffice it to say, the job is way more fun than my other gig at a law office!
It's really fun to work with experienced beer and wine makers, pick their brains, and learn a lot of their tips and tricks. Since I've been there for a little while now, a few of the new brewers that made their first batch with stuff I sold them during my first week on the job are coming back in with big grins and tales of tasty beer, getting ready for the next brew. Even with my limited experience, brewers that have made a few kits are reporting better results thanks to the knowledge I got from HBT and passed on to them- whirlpooling, longer primary fermentation, proper pitching temps and aeration, dip tubes, saving excess wort for future starters, proper mixing of priming sugar with green beer...this place is a treasure trove, and it's really great to help advance the overall knowledge level of our customers.
There are things I'd like to see improve that will take a great deal of time to implement (small stuff, mostly IT related, coming from my decade of office experience), but guess what's first on the list for us? A remedy to the bane of LHBS customers the world over...
A new grain mill!
We've been talking about it for a couple weeks, and we are narrowing down our choices over the next few days. Then it's off to the drawing board for a milling station!
The current mill yields about 58% mash efficiency with a 180º water two-volume batch sparge, and two runs through the mill gets me up to 65%. No amount of stirring, pH adjustment, or voodoo spells can push me past that point. The crush looks like a good one for steeping grains- minimal flour etc., but the mill is hard to adjust for an all grain recipe. It sure would be nice to hit 72-75%...
:rockin:
Another idea in the pipe is an HBT sponsorship, of course
