New Turkey Fryers

[RukusDM]

Who else has a new Turkey Fryer fired up and making a batch of Beer today?

The wife got me a 30 Quart Turkey Fryer for Christmas and I've assembled the burner and had it fired up and boiled 6.5 Gallons of water to test.

I'm brewing a Honey Ale and a Dry Irish Stout today

Its colder than heck outside. About 15 Deg. Was still able to boil but I couldn't see a thing hahahah.

Fortunately I have a gas stove in the basement to do the Mash with.

 

[earwig]

Today will be the first time boiling everything in 1 pot outside for me as well. Its cold as hell in NJ too but I'm dying to try out my new stuff! I hope the blizzard that we're supposed to get hit with waits a while.

 

[RukusDM]

Today will be the first time boiling everything in 1 pot outside for me as well. Its cold as hell in NJ too but I'm dying to try out my new stuff! I hope the blizzard that we're supposed to get hit with waits a while.

Well I hope everything turns out ok. The temperature is up in the low 20's now. My Daughters Boyfriend is coming over and he's bottling 12 Gallons of beer I made for them.

Once that's done, we're off to start Mashing the Honey Ale. Not sure if we'll get to the Stout though. The temperature is going to start dropping again soon.

We'll be mashing in the basement, but the boil will be outside. Might have to have a couple beers and a Grand Marnier to keep warm.

 

[Dogphish]

if it's an aluminum pot, do should "season" your pot before you use it.

 

[veritas524]

if it's an aluminum pot, do should "season" your pot before you use it.

He just boiled 6.5 gallons as a test.

 

[veritas524]

My roomate just suprised me with a belated christmas gift, i.e. 30 qt bayou classic turkey fryer I was "conditioning" my pot and burning off that damn black paint when I ran out of gas at 205 degrees

 

[bitlumpkin]

My roomate just suprised me with a belated christmas gift, i.e. 30 qt bayou classic turkey fryer :D I was "conditioning" my pot and burning off that damn black paint when I ran out of gas at 205 degrees

Is this a bad one for brewing? I got probably the same one yesterday as a gift. LMK

 

[rustbucket]

no, he means on the burner itself, and it stinks to high hell. but after the first hour of using it, the paint basically disappears where the flames are hitting the frame and turns into a white ash on it.

btw. im in Syracuse NY, and its colder than hell here. today was a high of 15, wish we got all that snow NYC is seeing... call my crazy.. but if i cant do anything about it... more the better!

 

[bitlumpkin]

no, he means on the burner itself, and it stinks to high hell. but after the first hour of using it, the paint basically disappears where the flames are hitting the frame and turns into a white ash on it.

btw. im in Syracuse NY, and its colder than hell here. today was a high of 15, wish we got all that snow NYC is seeing... call my crazy.. but if i cant do anything about it... more the better!

oh ok... i gotcha. so let that new burner burnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

just like when you get a grill, burn the $#!T off. now that i'm out the kitchen, its time to get rowdy

 

[earwig]

Well I wasn't able to brew thanks go the damn blizzard. Hopefully the winds will calm down before tomorrow.afternoon.

 

[RukusDM]

We didn't get started bottling until later on in the day. The Mashing of the Honey Ale went well. The boil went good, with a minor boil over. Very little was lost, but got the new pot baptized on the outside with a coating I need to scrub off when I get home tonight.

We didn't get finished with the boil until after 7 or 7:30pm. Got the wart cooled down, but didn't pitch until 10 pm. Its bubbling slowly this morning. Should be better when I get home tonight. Basement is pretty cool, around 59 or 60 degrees.

Overall a pretty good, but long day.

 

[frailn]

Who else has a new Turkey Fryer fired up and making a batch of Beer today?

I fired up my old turkey fryer that I bought five years ago and only used once. Have been keeping it in storage to use for homebrew "someday". Well someday was yesterday, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day!)...Wife got me starter equipment and a kit of Irish Red Ale from Midwest Supply. My 19 year old son and I brewed up our first batch together. The ale is sitting over in the corner in her fermentation bucket as I type this.

I filled up the airlock with some of my dad's homemade apple brandy. So, I guess you could say this is a three-generation ale. I will let her sit for four weeks in the bucket, then bottle up. Plan on waiting two weeks after that before I even taste it...

Can't wait to start the next batch in a month! Glad to finally step into the world of homebrewing...

 

[RukusDM]

I fired up my old turkey fryer that I bought five years ago and only used once. Have been keeping it in storage to use for homebrew "someday". Well someday was yesterday, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day!)...Wife got me starter equipment and a kit of Irish Red Ale from Midwest Supply. My 19 year old son and I brewed up our first batch together. The ale is sitting over in the corner in her fermentation bucket as I type this.

I filled up the airlock with some of my dad's homemade apple brandy. So, I guess you could say this is a three-generation ale. I will let her sit for four weeks in the bucket, then bottle up. Plan on waiting two weeks after that before I even taste it...

Can't wait to start the next batch in a month! Glad to finally step into the world of homebrewing...

Its great to be able to do those things with your son. I don't have a son, however my Daughters boyfriend came over lastnight. He bottled 12 Gallons, then did a all grain with me. That was his first experience with home brewing.

We had a good time. He followed the requirements of drinking a home brew while brewing one. Several in fact. I had a pilsner on tap.

This is a new taste for him. My Daughter and him like Coors light. I told him that he could just pee in one of my buckets and we could put some priming sugar in and bottle that. Tastes the same

He had some of my other home brews before. He's just getting used to the hop levels that are more typical of home brews. Once he starts drinking home brew regularly, I told him he wouldn't be able to drink the coors light anymore and he'd have to start brewing

 

[frailn]

Once he starts drinking home brew regularly, I told him he wouldn't be able to drink the coors light anymore and he'd have to start brewing

This is exactly what happened to me! Back in the early nineties, I would only drink the major domestics. Then, my college buddy started homebrewing. And the local bar started serving microbrew at the same time. I was hooked and have never gone back to bud or coors since. Now, I'm ready to start coming up with my own recipes.

I did have a couple of Winterhooks while brewing yesterday, but couldn't give any to my son, since he had to go to work later. But, I did promise him that he could have some of the Irish Red we brewed up when it's ready!

Now that I have brewed with my son, I couldn't imagine brewing alone in the future. It's nice to have a buddy while brewing...

 

[BMan1029]

+1 on having a brewing partner. My son is only 11, so he is a few years out from having any interest. I do brew with a buddy, and it makes everything a lot easier. Plus we split the costs and the bounty. Not a bad set up.

 

[RukusDM]

+1 on having a brewing buddy. I found that having him over to brew and bottle did a couple of things. I had a couple of tables setup in the basement with all of the bottles already washed and sanitized arranged on the table.

I had all of the bottling items setup before he got there. I was allot more organized this time than previously as I wanted it to be a good experience for him. I'll be organizing in this fashion all the time now. It went very fast.

I was also very careful to hit the proper times and temperatures for the mash steps. We discussed why we were doing each of the steps.

The boil went really well even though it was cold as hell outside. The time went faster than sitting by yourself stareing at the pot for a hour or so.

He also got the chance to get a good wiff of boiling grains. They certainly do smell good and he stood there in the steam breathing it in and commenting.

We added the 2 seperate additions of hopps, and he began smelling something that is lacking in Store bought beers he likes. I told him that was the hop aromas coming out of the Hop Plugs and the pellets. He had never really smelled hopps before.

The Daughter called later and said he spent a fair amount of time explaining to her, what we did while brewing. She said he was pretty excited about the cases of brew I sent home with him to bottle condition. I'm sure he'll have one chilled down and open within a week that won't be fully conditioned and not at its peak like we all did when we got started.

He definatly wants to do one of his own now. I'm staying on the lighter side recipe wise until he gets used to the hopps and real grain tastes. I'm brewing a Dry Irish Stout either tonight or tomorrow. Not sure he's ready for that yet, but I'll send a few home with him.

 

[BaldManBrew]

I fired up my old turkey fryer that I bought five years ago and only used once. Have been keeping it in storage to use for homebrew "someday". Well someday was yesterday, the day after Christmas (Boxing Day!)...Wife got me starter equipment and a kit of Irish Red Ale from Midwest Supply. My 19 year old son and I brewed up our first batch together. The ale is sitting over in the corner in her fermentation bucket as I type this.

I filled up the airlock with some of my dad's homemade apple brandy. So, I guess you could say this is a three-generation ale. I will let her sit for four weeks in the bucket, then bottle up. Plan on waiting two weeks after that before I even taste it...

Can't wait to start the next batch in a month! Glad to finally step into the world of homebrewing...

I don't think you really need to wait 4 weeks in primary. I've read on here that too long in the primary can cause off flavors for some beers/styles. This is from Midwests instructions for the Irish Red: "After 5-7 days of fermentation, transfer into a glass carboy. If you are using a single stage fermenting system, then leave the beer in the fermenter for two weeks total"

"You can be sure that the yeast is done by taking a hydrometer reading three days in a row and getting the same reading, a gradual lowering of the reading will indicate a slower or unfinished fermentation. If your reading finishes high (i.e. the beer tastes too sweet) then check out our FAQ for tips on increasing your attenuation. Be patient. A good rule of thumb is to allow 2 weeks for
fermentation and every thing will be fine. Dry yeast has been known to ferment very fast while some liquid strains can take longer than expected. Use your hydrometer to tell you where your beer is at, it is your window into what is going on in the fermenter"

 

[frailn]

I don't think you really need to wait 4 weeks in primary.

Thanks for the advice! However, I'm going to try what I have absorbed from reading Revvy's and Papper's posts on primary-only fermentation. Seems like the more I read Revvy's posts, the more I'm convinced to just let the yeast do their thing for four weeks and leave it alone despite the instructions in the kit.

A lot of us pitch, walk away from the fermentor and return in a month to bottle trusting that all is well....because 99% of the time it is.

I bottle after a month.

FYI Last week I finally bottled the chocolate mole porter that I brewed on 5-27-10. I had car issues and then health issues and other things that prevented me from getting around to it til last night.

SO it is nearly 5 months old. And it tastes amazing, and is crystal clear (at least as clear as a jet black beer can be) and tastes perfect. No off flavors or aromas whatsoever.

I don't think I've ever had a beer that was so clear...and the yeast cake was so tight that it was like concrete in the bottom, and I racked off what appeared to be the entire 5 gallons of liquid, and almost no sediment or hops.

I'll know more in a month when it's carbed and conditioned, but I think it is going to be perfect when it is done.

I usually will not bottle beer until it's at least 4-6 weeks after brew day.

 

[stratslinger]

Here's a question for the folks in this thread:

I'm planning out my own first brew at home - I've brewed a bunch with a friend (yep, I've been the brewing buddy on quite a few batches so far!) who uses NG burners. Thus far, everything's been done outside or in his garage.

My setup involves the ubiquitous propane-fired turkey frier. Are these things kosher to use indoors - in the basement specifically - or should I plan to brew out in my detached garage? It's damn cold out there right now, and I don't relish the thought of an outdoor boil...

 

[BaldManBrew]

Revvy and Pappers and deserve much respect on here. I'm definitely not disagreeing w/them. They are very knowledgeable.

 

[veritas524]

Here's a question for the folks in this thread:

I'm planning out my own first brew at home - I've brewed a bunch with a friend (yep, I've been the brewing buddy on quite a few batches so far!) who uses NG burners. Thus far, everything's been done outside or in his garage.

My setup involves the ubiquitous propane-fired turkey frier. Are these things kosher to use indoors - in the basement specifically - or should I plan to brew out in my detached garage? It's damn cold out there right now, and I don't relish the thought of an outdoor boil...

Outdoors preferably with nothing over your head.

 

[frailn]

Here's a question for the folks in this thread:

I'm planning out my own first brew at home - I've brewed a bunch with a friend (yep, I've been the brewing buddy on quite a few batches so far!) who uses NG burners. Thus far, everything's been done outside or in his garage.

My setup involves the ubiquitous propane-fired turkey frier. Are these things kosher to use indoors - in the basement specifically - or should I plan to brew out in my detached garage? It's damn cold out there right now, and I don't relish the thought of an outdoor boil...

The only time I have ever seen anyone use a propane burner in the basement was on a Youtube video. The guy had every window in the house and basement open and he had the biggest installed fan I have ever seen. It basically sucked all the air out of the entire house and through the roof. I would not recommend it. Outside only due to carbon monoxide issues.

 

[Rowdy]

oh ok... i gotcha. so let that new burner burnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

just like when you get a grill, burn the $#!T off. now that i'm out the kitchen, its time to get rowdy

 

[Patirck]

The only time I have ever seen anyone use a propane burner in the basement was on a Youtube video. The guy had every window in the house and basement open and he had the biggest installed fan I have ever seen. It basically sucked all the air out of the entire house and through the roof. I would not recommend it. Outside only due to carbon monoxide issues.

Not only carbon monoxide issues but also unburned propane is heavier than air so it will settle in your basement until a spark comes along.

 

[stratslinger]

Got it - Propane burner will be run outdoors. Thanks!