Setting up a Homebrew in Israel

[crosamich]

thank you, now we know we are over priming

some more pics

JUST for you we went back to porters & sons to take some pics, the taps are not so highlighted as in "the pirate" but trust me thers 50 of them

kriek is my favorite beer, i konw its not the manliest but i love it

a tasting sesson at the dancing camel brewery

Kriek is becoming the manly beer these days. Nicely done!

 

[lumpher]

kriek is my favorite beer, i konw its not the manliest but i love it

with what you're doing, i don't think you have to worry about acting manly. this project proves it all. very nice. keep the updates coming

 

[opl]

i don't think you have to worry about acting manly

But I do… I have a confession… there are some days that I wear tights

so the beer making Hobby kinda balance that out

 

[crosamich]

Haha, more proof positive that cycling and brewing goes together

 

[opl]

Sure it dose! There is even a group that cycles 70-150 KM a day and even more that
they drink beer during the stops. Check out their shirt :rockin:

 

[NateLTB]

I just stumbled onto this thread today and what a great read it was. How is the brewery build coming along and what have you guys brewed lately? I love seeing all of the fruit beers that you guys are experimenting with. So far we've done a blueberry Hefeweizen and a Wheat ale that we added peaches, apricots and cerrano peppers to. Both turned out well but I'd love to brew with pomegranate.

Keep up the great work. Cheers!

 

[opl]

NateLTB – we haven’t brewed anything since the last post I wrote about the bananas

More updates:
We have running water! And it wasn't easy… we also have sewage pipe
We installed two soap dispensers – one with dish washing soap and the other with bleach mixed with water – we use it to clean dried yeast deposits form the bottom of the bottles prier to sterilizing.

The hardest part of the day was setting up the electrical system – for now it will be a simple light and six sockets. Everything runs throw a short-circuit protector.

 

[Kahler]

Awesome!! And congrats!!

 

[opl]

Something interesting came in the mail – hopes seeds. We know… hopes don’t grow in Israel, but still… stranger things have happened in Israel

 

[Kahler]

Would you be able to get hop rhizomes there? i think they might take to the soil easier than seeds would.

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

Something interesting came in the mail – hopes seeds. We know… hopes don’t grow in Israel, but still… stranger things have happened in Israel

Make sure your soil is fertile enough (enrich it with manure if you can) and keep them watered at the base. My friend in South Carolina grows hops and has done fairly well, even in the very warm climate here.

MC

 

[RTL]

Awesome thread!

Sub'd

 

[NateLTB]

The build looks great so far, I've just got a tiny question/suggestion for you.

If your drain underneath your sink is tying into a sewer or a larger drain you may want to install a p-trap underneath the sink to keep any sewer gases from coming through the drain.

Keep up the great work, can't wait to see more of your progress!

 

[gabejavitt]

hey,

I just finished my first year hops grow in jerusalem. Got 14g of chinook dry, which isn't really enough for a brew, but next year should give loads more. Also will be getting cascade. Make sure to get something that likes the Israeli heat. I started mine from rhizomes though. Seeds are harder to grow and will take longer to produce quantities than rhizomes, and might be male which wouldn't help. Anyway good luck to you guys, with the taxes of beer here I assume craft beer will take off...

gabe

 

[cactus_james]

Hi,

I lived in Israel 11 years and made my own beer there (imported all ingredients), but when I returned to the US in 2008, I left a 50 liter Pyrex glass carboy ($648 in US) with my nephew in Ramat HaSharon. He has never used it and I would like it to go to a fellow brewer or winemaker. Would you know of a good home for it?

Thanks,
James

 

[opl]

Kahler – no… at least none that I know of…

Misplaced_Canuck - I may have not mention it but the brewery is located on the edge of the family plant nursery so… we have everything we need

NateLTB –thank you for the tip

cactus_james – "$648 in US" for a 50 liter carboy? Are you sure? I can post in the Israeli forum http://zion.e-snif.com/forum - how much do you want for it?

 

[opl]

update:

winter has come to Israel and we had our first rainy storm. I'm surprised but there is not a single leak in the roof so far.

Started replacing a piece of broken drywall and fixing some cracks and holes

 

[opl]

I'm sad to report that the banana beer has been contaminated…

We have bottled a successful smoked ale

 

[SteveMillerTime]

I'm sad to report that the banana beer has been contaminated…

We have bottled a successful smoked ale

Sorry to hear the banana beer got contaminated ...question though - was it supposed to have a strong banana taste/aroma?

I've been working on a banana bread beer and am having issues getting a strong banana flavor from real bananas.

 

[opl]

Not a strong one but definitely a noticeable one. We tasted it after the first week of fermentation and we argued a bit about adding more bananas to the secondary(I was pro), at the end we decided not to. The banana taste came after you swallowed the beer. It was noticeable but not overwhelming

 

[SteveMillerTime]

Thats what I'm looking to get. Did you use over ripe (brown) bananas? And when did you add them?

 

[opl]

We used ripe and some over-ripe bananas we mashed them with our hands (with gloves of course) and add them to the last 10 min of the boil.
Out of all the batches (there weren't many…) that went south the losing of the banana ale made me a bit sad. It had so much potential and tasted so good after a week…

Israeli moms have a saying "it is not "rotten" its "honey""


best of luck to you.

 

[SteveMillerTime]

We used ripe and some over-ripe bananas we mashed them with our hands (with gloves of course) and add them to the last 10 min of the boil.
Out of all the batches (there weren't many…) that went south the losing of the banana ale made me a bit sad. It had so much potential and tasted so good after a week…

Israeli moms have a saying "it is not "rotten" its "honey""


best of luck to you.

Awesome! Thanks for the tips...maybe we can do a banana beer swap! lol

 

[opl]

It's time to start playing – first off: beer bottle lamp, I'm going to use 4 beer bottles, cut them using the string/alcohol/water method and insert the light bulbs in to them. After the light bulbs are installed I will glue each two half of the bottle together so I will look as the bottle was never opened.

I am going to use either copper tubes (same as in the chiller) or plastic and create brackets for the bottles. It's hard to explain my vision of the finished product…

 

[nman13]

בהצלחה אח שלי!!!

 

[opl]

תודה!

 

[nman13]

??אני בא לארץ בינואר. אתם תהיהו פתוח

 

[opl]

אנחנו לא "פתוחים" כי אנחנו סתם שני חברה שמבשלים לעצמינו.זה לא עסק...

 

[nman13]

אההה. הבנתי. אז נהיה בקשר שאני בא

 

[SteveMillerTime]

did anyone else have the curiosity to use google translate to see what they were saying?

 

[ZackN]

nman13: good luck my brother!

opl: Thank you!

nman13: ?? I cam to Israel in Januray. You will be open

opl: We do not "open" because we are just two guys who cook ourselves. Was not a good ...

nman13: Ahhh. Got it. So I came to be in touch


This is direct translation from google translate. Not quite perfect, but you get the idea of what they were saying.

Good luck guys! That banana beer sounds interesting.

 

[opl]

ha ha

opl: We do not "open" because we are just two guys who cook ourselves. Was not a good ...

Was not a good ... = supposed to have said "we are not a store"

 

[opl]

staying in the same subject:

A short list of breweries you can visit in Israel:

alexander-beer

jems

malka beer

pavo

dancingcamel

ButterFly-brewery

srigim-beer

golan brewery

golan brewery have just won second place in germany for there doubleback beer

 

[crosamich]

Regarding the banana beer, have you thought about running one of the Belgian strains at high temps in order to bring out the banana aromatics from the yeast?
just wanted to say I have enjoyed the thread and to keep your heads down. Looks like it is about to get serious over there.

 

[SteveMillerTime]

all this posting about middle eastern beer is making me want to take a vacation to the middle east!

 

[BaltimoreBrau]

very impressive guys! keep it up, I'll definitely be watching this thread.

 

[opl]

made the "arms" for the lamp

smoked ale and some poyke

 

[Nagorg]

Looks like some great beer there in Israel!

 

[opl]

We wish to express our thanks to everyone how is concern about us due to the situation in Israel at the moment

 

[opl]

well "life is what happens when you make plans"

we where supposed to make cider and work on the brewery but my car went bust.

anyway im building a stir plate