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Evan!

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 9, 2006
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Location
Charlottesville, VA
This brewing thing, it's that easy. Or, at least, it can be. Take yesterday, for example. I came into work with no plans to brew whatsoever. I took care of a bunch of stuff, and realized I had nothing to do for the rest of the day. So I could waste it here at the office, or go home and brew. So I amended my Sweet Baby Jesus Pale Ale recipe a little bit, printed it out, and balled out around 12:10. Got home at 12:15. Filled up 3 gallon jugs with filtered water and got the strike water heating. Meanwhile, I weighed and crushed the grain, weighed the hop additions, and got out some miscellaneous equipment. Mashed in by 12:45. Rather than my typical stepped mash, I went straight to 151ºf and held for about 70 minutes before stepping up to 158º for the last 20 or so. Iodine test was negative at 70 mins, but I hadn't heated the sparge water to temp just yet.

Drained, sparged, boiled, chilled, strained, pitched. With this 60-qt kettle I got not long ago, I don't have to watch the boil like I used to. I have so much headspace, I can pretty much leave it alone after the hot break, and just come back when I get to the hop additions. So I used that time to clean up. Efficient!

I overestimated my evap rate because it was like 70º outside in January. Ack! But it worked out well because I had underestimated my mash efficiency (ended up around 85%!!), so even though I probably have 6 gallons of wort, I hit my expected OG (1.052) dead-on. I also had my IBU's a little higher than I wanted, so that worked out perfectly as well.

I was pitched and all cleaned up by 4:17pm. 4 hours from start to finish---hot damn. So I grabbed the dog and we went trail running. When I got back, the wife was home and had no idea that I'd brewed. :p

Here we are. The SBJPA is on the far left, and was just starting to show signs this morning.

4914-lineup1-9.jpg


I even somehow found the energy to bottle my 888 RIS and rack my Weizenbock to secondary last night. Oddly enough, though, both the Weizenbock and the Destroyer of Worlds IIPA (which I racked to tertiary several days ago) now have little bubbles of CO2 rising to the surface again. I guess the yeast just needed to be woken up, as they weren't entirely done. Slackers.

Here's to efficient, easy brewing...and without any of those fancy-pants tiered sculptures or pumps...;):mug:
 
I've been drinking like a fish trying to recover more empties. No, not 40 cases, though I probably would be if I bottled all 30 gallons that are in carboys right now.
 
That is killer. I thought I could smell the wort yesterday, wasn't sure where it was coming from though!

Nahhh...I keed, cuz I brewed yesterday too. First time I've had the chance to brew in more than 4 months. It was like riding a bike too. It went so smoothly.
 
Evan! said:
I've been drinking like a fish trying to recover more empties. No, not 40 cases, though I probably would be if I bottled all 30 gallons that are in carboys right now.

30 gallons in carboys nice. I thought I was doing well with 13 gallons of apfelwein and 15 gallons between primary and carboys. Happy drinking :mug:
 
Dude said:
That is killer. I thought I could smell the wort yesterday, wasn't sure where it was coming from though!

Nahhh...I keed, cuz I brewed yesterday too. First time I've had the chance to brew in more than 4 months. It was like riding a bike too. It went so smoothly.

Awesome, Dude. Glad to hear it. What did you brew?
 
bigjohnmilford said:
30 gallons in carboys nice. I thought I was doing well with 13 gallons of apfelwein and 15 gallons between primary and carboys. Happy drinking :mug:

That's almost 30 gallons! :ban:
 
Evan-

I gotta wonder...who's helping you drink all this beer? You've got quite the stash. As much as I love the act of brewing beer, I try to keep a steady turnover unless I'm aging something...like a tripel, etc.
 
Evan! said:
Awesome, Dude. Glad to hear it. What did you brew?

Lake Walk! 10.5 gallons of it.

I am seriously getting the brewing bug again....I have a few on the docket for soon. Before "winter" ends here, I want to get a lager going for this summer's quaffing.

Yesterday was such a perfect day to brew, wasn't it?
 
nice...i'm all about making things easier lately (and still keeping quality.) noone should stress over brewing. once i have my house ale perfected then it's time to get the kegerator finished, and i'll have a nice light beer on tap all the time!

at least temperatures have been nice...nothing like keeping the new house ale 68F without the use of my chiller!

:mug:
 
You live in Charlottesville, Evan!?

I'm applying to UVA for grad school. How's the brew scene there?
 
Dude said:
Lake Walk! 10.5 gallons of it.

I am seriously getting the brewing bug again....I have a few on the docket for soon. Before "winter" ends here, I want to get a lager going for this summer's quaffing.

Yesterday was such a perfect day to brew, wasn't it?

Gawd, it was beeeeutiful. 70f, no humidity, sun shining. And since the ground is still cold, the chiller water wasn't warm.

ScubaSteve said:
I gotta wonder...who's helping you drink all this beer? You've got quite the stash. As much as I love the act of brewing beer, I try to keep a steady turnover unless I'm aging something...like a tripel, etc.

I make a lot of stuff that can age, but between the wife, myself, and our friends, we keep a pretty good turnover rate.

chase said:
You live in Charlottesville, Evan!?

I'm applying to UVA for grad school. How's the brew scene there?

The beer scene or the homebrew scene? As for homebrew, there's a few of us around town that I know of. As for beer, there are several good bars and a couple awesome microbrewpubs in or around town. Lemme know if you end up here!
 
Evan said:
The beer scene or the homebrew scene? As for homebrew, there's a few of us around town that I know of. As for beer, there are several good bars and a couple awesome microbrewpubs in or around town. Lemme know if you end up here!

Ever been to Capital Ale House in Richmond (I think)? They have quite a selection!
 
Evan! said:
The beer scene or the homebrew scene? As for homebrew, there's a few of us around town that I know of. As for beer, there are several good bars and a couple awesome microbrewpubs in or around town. Lemme know if you end up here!

Awesome. It's good to hear that I'm potentially moving to a town that isn't awful. Those sound like a few more things I can add to the "Charlottesville is Awesome" list.

I just found out that I'll be there in two weeks for interviews! Huzzah! :ban:
 
Special Ed said:
Ever been to Capital Ale House in Richmond (I think)? They have quite a selection!

Just about the best beer bar i've ever set foot in...I can't drive by Richmond without demanding that the wife get off on the broad street exit and make a pit stop. :ban:
 
chase said:
Awesome. It's good to hear that I'm potentially moving to a town that isn't awful. Those sound like a few more things I can add to the "Charlottesville is Awesome" list.

I just found out that I'll be there in two weeks for interviews! Huzzah! :ban:

Good luck!
 
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