Hello from South Central PA

[PetenNewburg]

Hello fellow brewers! I have been brewing for several years. I started with a Mr. Beer kit and a few Mead kits. Several years later I have been brewing 5 gallon All Grain batches. I am now in process of building a dedicated brew stand with keggles.

I have been fairly busy this year brewing 5 All Grain batches as well as 3 Meads. My goal this year is to nail down consistency with my process, cut down brew prep time, finish building a brew stand and converting a chest freezer for laagering.

I am semi-retired, so I have a good amount of time for brewing!

Cheers!
Pete

 

[PetenNewburg]

I had a bit of a bump in my brewing schedule when I fried the main front burner on the kitchen stove last week. So I've been brewing a bunch of old LME & HME kits & extra malts. I did order parts to repair the stove, but it's obvious the stove has issues with 8 gallon boils.

Seems like a good time to start a brew stand build!

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the group, time for an outdoor burner!

 

[PetenNewburg]

Welcome to the group, time for an outdoor burner!

Yes, I have two new burners just about ready to go. I have been collecting 1 1/2" angle steel & box tubing, a bunch of 1/2" SS valves and a pair of Keggles in process of modifying.

I don't mind working outside if it's in the high 30's - 40's, but 15 degrees is another matter altogether! I set my chiller on the back porch yesterday after a partial mash brew, it was out there about an hour when I noticed one of the hoses had popped off and ice was coming out of the tubing.

 

[PetenNewburg]

Today I brewed another batch of Starters, this time with Extra Light DME, for a Hefeweizen I am going to brew tomorrow.

My Bock yeast from yesterday's Black Lager brew has not started yet, the White Labs web site says it may take 72 hours...... I'll give the 72 hours, If no activity I'll then give it some Saflager Yeast. My garage is pretty cold, but I heated it up to 60 yesterday and 55 today.

The Hefeweizen is a German Wheat beer that ferments at Ale temps. I'm using an old Brewferm Wit kit and a 3.3 lb. LME container of Bries Sparkling Amber and two tiny hop additions of Crystal.

Tomorrow it is to be 25 degrees again, but without the 45 mph gusts, so I'll try out the big burner!

 

[AllGrain32389]

Here Pete!

Just got into the hobby and we're located in Pittsburgh.
Great to see you still have the passion after so many years.

Cheers!

Rob & Chris


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[PetenNewburg]

Hi Rob & Chris! Pittsburgh is a wonderful city! I lived in Mt. Lebo for a few years, we used to hop the trollies to get into the city to go to ball games.

On topic, I tried the big burner yesterday on a extract brew, 8 gallons went from 120 to 210 in a little more than 15 minutes and that was @ half "throttle"! I had no problems with scorching although I noticed the kettle valve seal start to melt.
Where I did have a problem was , I think, the propane tank freezing with 5 minutes left in the boil. Since it was an extract boil/ Burner test, I put my chiller in early to sterilize, so it was no big deal. But this weekends All Grain will get re-scheduled until I sort things out. Should I put a heating pad or brew belt on the tank?

 

[PetenNewburg]

No sense in bottling the Porter, it would be a waste of bottle caps. Tapped it today, we've already drawn a few pitchers! I also tapped the Spiced Mead, My wife thinks it tastes like Champagne! Tomorrow will be bottling / racking day, I'm running out of fermenters!

 

[PetenNewburg]

Today I cooked up the last of the old LME, DME & HME I had sitting around! I'm using an American Wheat yeast & Safbrew US-33 combo yeast. The Safbrew US-33 has a high attenuation rate and has a good Ale profile. The Wyeast American yeast also ferments crisp and clean, but is supposed to leave a chill haze and some malt flavors. I used 25 ounces of Mr. Beer booster (rice syrup solids) which should kick up the ABV a couple points. The (2)Mr. Beer Vienna Lager kits have aged, so the liquid malt/ beer is dark brown. I did a 30 minute boil with four hop additions with Amarillo and Crystal hops. Could be interesting!!

Today I also racked my other last two brews to secondary's, filtered and kegged an IPA & Pale Ale. Sunday will be bottling day, I have five 5 gallon kegs to bottle! Anything in kegs will get bottled until I finish the Keggerator (next week I hope). I ordered some plumbing parts from CHI CO. Prices are good, shipping is fast and I am very pleased with this transaction!

http://www.chicompany.net/

 

[PetenNewburg]

The stove is repaired, But I have decided to end my 7 - 8 gallon kitchen stove brews. I have since brewed ALL of my old extracts! A total of five all extract brews. #4 extract brew I tested the Bayou Classic 210K Banjo burner, it's a brewing beast! I had issues with a loss of gas ...i.e... tank freeze up, close to the end of the boil. After a fair amount of research, I will try to correct the problem with; a. a larger propane tank. b. higher outdoor temperature. c. I will keep a brew belt handy in case I need to heat up the tank. Tank heating blankets are $250 and up, Brew Belt, less than $20. I may connect it through my Johnson Keezer controller just to have some extra control.

My plan is to brew a Robust Porter all grain on Sunday. I plan to do this outside beside the deck, using a 40lb propane tank with the big Banjo burner, and a 20lb tank with the small (turkey fryer) burner (also a Bayou Classic burner). I will also have a small Brinkman camp stove heating extra water and a hot PBW sanitizer pot. I am going to set the burners/ kettles on my rolling steel work bench, 24"W x 60"L x 32"H. If all goes well, I'll do a Irish Stout and my favorite, a Imperial IPA/ 90 Minute Dogfish clone next week!

I am considering doing a conversion on the work bench to make it my brew stand. If not, my work bench will be out where I can start welding up a dedicated brew stand. I may even try out a Keggle! I have my Igloo 10 gallon tun, an 18 gallon "Cube" cooler and an 100 quart (25 gallon) Marine cooler, the latter two need manifolds, to be mash tuns. Pumps, hose and chiller here I come!

 

[PetenNewburg]

Today I bottled thirty six x 22 oz. bottles of Mead, sixteen 12 oz. bottles of Mead and seventy two bottles of IPA. This does not include a few start/ stop/ mix bottles (8) I filled until I re-acquired the knack of bottling! I use a Blichman Beer Gun, it wasn't cheap, about $120 including the accessory kit, but it makes bottling sooooo easy! I managed to consume everything that did not fit into cleaned bottles,

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Hello from Halifax Pa. Also from centrural Pennsylvania. I trade hops for homebrew!

 

[PetenNewburg]

Hello Halifax!!

I just recently started brewing again after a two year break. I don't have anything that is a clone of this or that, but I do have some good IPA, my Porter will likely be gone before you can reply. I have 3 lagers getting ready to hatch as well as a few intoxicating Meads.

I am looking for fresh hops! If you have a brew type your looking for, maybe we can have a meeting of brew mind!

Cheers!
Pete

 

[PetenNewburg]

It's been a few weeks since I brewed, but I have been piecing together the start to my electric brewery! I have 6 batches measured and waiting. I'll have to do another propane brew or two, I'm down to the last 12 gallons of IPA!

 

[MollyHatchet]

Welcome, I think we may be with in an hour of each other, but I a about 8 years from retirement so work does get in the way of my brew days sometimes.


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[PetenNewburg]

Yes, Harrisburg is not a bad drive. I am 3 miles off the Blue Mtn. Interchange on the PA Turnpike. I am originally from New Cumberland.