SYRACUSE NY - ROUND 4 Group Grain Buy

[CidahMastah]

Cool! Mine are getting close too. I think I am going to get the old food dehydrator out if I still have it. I might do the chinook this weekend, and get a latter to check on the cascade, which seem to still be a little green. They both smell great thought and the cascade have some sticky lupulin (haven't checked the chinook).


Kegs - Hey guys, I am coming up dry with sourcing these - if you have any ideas kick them over. Since I only need 2, I don't mind dropping $100 for 2 at some point, but man it would be sweet to get 3 or 4 for the same price!

http://poconos.craigslist.org/for/2488350476.html

I did see these of course... but that is a bit of a drive and have no other reason to head to Cooperstown, PA to check them out. With the most reason grain buy, my wife would kill me if I jumped into my truck and went to PA this weekend haha.

If we were top buy the lot of 25 kegs we would probably get them for 20 a keg or so. However there would be travel costs associated. Say maybe $200 in gas/ tolls would add $8 to each keg beyond what he would sell the lot for. Even at that price they are probably a good deal (maybe $28-$30 a piece). They probably all need new seals and we would need to commit to all 25 before doing it.

Left for grain pick up:


jhenderson27 GP-FLOAT 0.334
jhenderson27 BD-MUNH 0.334
gerglegat CM-2ROW 2 - PICKING UP Jhenderson's Keg
gerglegat CM-SPIL 1
rustbucket FB-PALE 1


Jhenderson - were you still on for pick up sometime Friday afternoon? I work in East Syracuse, so if you were taking the 90 over then it would be easy to jump off and I could meet you somewhere. I take it the hops aren't ready yet?

 

[rustbucket]

cidah is it alright if i head up your way friday evening?

 

[jhenderson27]

The hops are not ready earlier this week but im calling tomorrow. Im not gonna ve able to make it tomoerow afternoon.

 

[TwoGunz]

If you're gonna drop 50 on a keg, I just got some from kegglebrewing.com that are in great condition and polished. The finish is pretty nice, still some minor marking but really pretty good and you don't have to bust your balls cleaning stickers and soot

 

[CidahMastah]

If you're gonna drop 50 on a keg, I just got some from kegglebrewing.com that are in great condition and polished. The finish is pretty nice, still some minor marking but really pretty good and you don't have to bust your balls cleaning stickers and soot

Yeah I saw those bad boys. Truthfully, I will probably hold off as long as I can. Cider is what really makes me need those kegs, and my buddy not picking his stuff up!


jhenderson - no sweat - let me know when you are looking to pick up and we can work it out. No problem for me to hold it for you.


Also - just sewed up a hop stopper last night for the new BK. Looks pretty cool. Any of you guys use these before? Pretty reasonable price wise, about 20$ in parts, and they sell them for $60. http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/boil-kettle?page=3

Of course I just sewed mine up in a square because the material comes in 12*24 inches. I doubt if it the shape will be significant enough to stop the whirl pool benefits.

 

[CidahMastah]

Just a little pic. Of course this isn't the actual copper diptube I will use. I am waiting on the pot (Mon delivery) and then I can install the ball valve. Once I do that I will have the measurements for making my copper diptube.


Mesh screen: 85385T719 ($10.47)
Stainless steel wire: 8860K11 ($8.73)

 

[rustbucket]

cidah you goign to be around tonight where i can grab my sack of grain and the d2?

 

[CidahMastah]

Rust - sure - what time are you thinking. I should be home no later than 5:15pm. Already have the D2 set aside.


Also: I posted the P/N for the mcmaster carr items if anyone is interested. Hopefully the sucker works as good as everyone says!

 

[rustbucket]

prob after dinner hours like 7pm maybe 6ish?? ill give you a txt or call when i head out there.

 

[CidahMastah]

Sounds good. If you can, squeeze for earlier - I am supposed to meet up with family tonight that are cruising into town.

 

[rustbucket]

i will defiantly try too.. then... ill try and get up there before or around 6 then...

and i will be bringing one of my SSA for you to try....

 

[CidahMastah]

i will defiantly try too.. then... ill try and get up there before or around 6 then...

and i will be bringing one of my SSA for you to try....

Cool! Will see you then. Maybe I will use this as an excuse to start looking at how I want to create my fermentation chamber in the garage. Just got my controller all set up so that project is coming along too. The deal on the pot was too good to pass up... but I hadn't intended to get that for a while. Good times!

 

[rustbucket]

yeah, if i had my own home i would be building a fermentation chamber! but right now... my stuff is already pissing my mother off with how much room its taking up.. haha. if i had the money right now i would start looking into a fermentation chamber

my next thing is to build a grain cart... that holds all the specialty grains and what not in mason jars and in bins, plus a housing to mount my crusher so its more stable than just sitting on a bucket. i have some of the drawers built, that have dividers to hold 12 qt size mason jars that hold lb of specialty grain at once.

btw we need to talk about some cider and the process tonight!

 

[CidahMastah]

Haha where would we be without our projects!?

 

[rustbucket]

bored to the max! enough to go insane!

 

[zeno27]

Also - just sewed up a hop stopper last night for the new BK. Looks pretty cool. Any of you guys use these before? Pretty reasonable price wise, about 20$ in parts, and they sell them for $60. http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/boil-kettle?page=3

Of course I just sewed mine up in a square because the material comes in 12*24 inches. I doubt if it the shape will be significant enough to stop the whirl pool benefits.

I just made one of those hop screens (although with smaller mesh), and it worked great.

In the past, I had always chilled, then let the break/hops settle, then siphoned. The screen makes it much easier, although I need to work on sealing it around the dip tube, there was a small amount of leakage -- I like your hose clamp.

 

[ScottishPete]

CO2 prices were brought up before ... Just exchanged a 20 and a 5 at Sunset Hydro on Erie for $31.32 ... they wouldn't take my 10lb

 

[CidahMastah]

I just made one of those hop screens (although with smaller mesh), and it worked great.

In the past, I had always chilled, then let the break/hops settle, then siphoned. The screen makes it much easier, although I need to work on sealing it around the dip tube, there was a small amount of leakage -- I like your hose clamp.

very cool. I went with a larger screen because I ahve an IC, so I am hoping the cold break doesn't clog me up. Who knows

 

[CidahMastah]

oh by the way - my neighbor just told me he has an elderberry bush - just grabbed 16lbs of the berries and looks like we are making another wone for the lady!

very cool. Fruit wines are nature's best kept secret

 

[rustbucket]

so... i went out and checked my hops, one of the bines was for the most part done.. so i picked all the hops off the bine pretty much just short of a few.. the others here and there until the mosquito's got to me... i filled two bowls worth.. 1/2 gallon - 1 gallon bowls.

 

[CidahMastah]

Very cool. I think I will be picking some of the hops this week or maybe next... I am watching them closely!

Wanted to tel you, the sam summer you made was very different than mine was. I thought it was me so I let the wife try it too. Some differences we noticed was that it didn't have a strong malt backbone like mine did. It nose was sweet and lemony. I could really taste the lemon in yours on the front end, and then it was sort of sweet in the middle, then spicey from the grains of paradise on the finish. What recipe did you use for this one? I know this was a rebrew for you but I think your hop schedule was might be what was different.

My version seemed to have a better balance with three prominent flavors, wheat malty flavor, lemon and grains of paradise. There was a prominent malty backbone I didn't get from yours, like a nice wheat flavor that would make you think... yup this is a wheat beer haha. Sounds dumb but true. I tasted the malty backbone up front, with a citrus and spicy finish. The nose wasn't sweet, it was wheaty and citrus.

So a couple questions:
1. What was your mash temp?
2. What was your hops schedule? - I think our grain bills were very similar, if not the same.
3. What yeast did you use.
4. did you do a 90 minute boil?

I assume you used fresh lemon peel. I didn't crush my grains of paradise in the boil (they went in whole).

Here is the recipe I created from the stuff I read out there:

11G batch @ 75% efficiency; 1.051 OG

10lbs pils
7 lbs wheat malt
2lbs flaked wheat
1lbs carapils

tett 89g 4.7% aa (60min)
2oz lemon zest (15min)
hallertau hers 40g 3% (5min)
tett 60g 4.7% (5min)
4g grains of paradise (5min)

WLP 051 California V Ale Yeast (wyeast 1272 American Ale YeastII)
152F mash


So many questions jsut because they really do taste quite different. Guess it really shows that the hops, etc. really impact the brew

 

[rustbucket]

ok, i understand what your saying (forgive me right now im kinda buzzed from brew day that i put off since yesterday was crappy)

5.5G batch at 83% efficiency

OG 1.052
FG 1.011

4.71 lb 2row
3.30 lb wheat
0.94 lb flaked wheat
0.48 lb Cara-pils

1.50 oz Tettnang 4.1%aa (60)
0.50 oz Tettnang 4.1%aa (10)
1.00 oz Fresh Lemon zest at (5 or 10) i cant remember if i changed it or not if not at (5)
2.00g grains of paradise (5 or 10) i cant remember if i changed it or not if not at (5)

questions
1. I mashed mine at 154
2. see above
3. Wyeast 1272 american ale II
4. 60 minute boil

my grains of paradise were crushed, almost as if you put them in a coffee grinder with a couple pulses.

i like the way mine tastes as it stands, the only thing i want to do next time is to lower the mash temp, make it more dry. and to just bring the lemon and grains down just a tad.

hmm its intresting to see what you thought of mine, now i would like to compare mine to yours on my aspect haha!

 

[CidahMastah]

So basically the main difference is the hop schedule and the mash. The mash definitely is a big game changer (the sweet up front I was getting). That sweet reminded me of like an IPA almost. Maybe the higher instance of malt I was getting was because I was using the pilsner instead of the 2row. Also I would guess that the pilsner probably help create the notable malty wheat flavor a bit more. It is crazy though how different they taste.

When I carb up the rebrew I will let you try some of it for sure.

 

[rustbucket]

sounds good... well i am thinking my thermometer has been off too a tad...

yesterday i broke my digital so i have to go buy a new one today... Off to target i go later...

plus im bottling the arrogant bastard today and oaking 2.5 gallons of that.

so i guess next time ill switch out the 2row for pilz, and lower the mash temp to 152 or even 150

 

[CidahMastah]

sounds good... well i am thinking my thermometer has been off too a tad...

yesterday i broke my digital so i have to go buy a new one today... Off to target i go later...

plus im bottling the arrogant bastard today and oaking 2.5 gallons of that.

so i guess next time ill switch out the 2row for pilz, and lower the mash temp to 152 or even 150

Well try mine first and see of you agree

btw I love this thermometer. Very fast to get to temp... VERY accurate. Not bad on the price

 

[CidahMastah]

Hey all, a heads up on that bayou pot for any who were considering it. I cannot recommend this pot

I received my pot which seemed to be ok, just rather larger in diameter. Sure enough I measured it and bam, 19 1/8 inches wide vs. the 18 1/4 inches wide (inner diameter) as listed by the manufacturer. That is nearly an inch larger than spec. I know I am possibly splitting hairs here, but I am debating returning it. Machining steel is usually done with pretty darn fair precision.

I called the seller (great guy, really doing the right thing and he said bayou classic measured a bunch of pots I.D. and they ranged from 18.75''- 19.5''. So none of the pots meet the spec posted.. ON THE MANUFACTURER'S WEBSITE.

I called to double check myself and they are getting back to me.

Point is, If they can't be bothered to turn out a solid product within spec, how can I trust that the rest of the pot is made well? Is it really 304 stainless and an even 18g steel? If all the pot heights are the same and the diameters vary, does the pot actually hold 102qts?!

I know, I know... I am a pain in the ___ with this. Just thought I would let you guys know.


All that said my megapot WAS to a precise measure. I think I might go back to the megapot instead.

 

[rustbucket]

put a magnet on it.. if it sticks (not SS)

I would say to measure out 102 qts put it in there and see if it really is

lastly if it does not have a rolled lip measure the thickness of the material with calipers..

if it was me and all that did not pass, then the damn thing would be going back otherwise i would keep it.


I had the SS issue with my drip pan.. It was the one from lowes for a mud pan. the freakin thing was said to be SS, but went to weld it, would not flow like SS, after a while of thinking why we stuck a magnet on it and the damn thing stuck.. either its the cheapest SS in the world or its plated/galvanized.

 

[CidahMastah]

Yeah I decided that I am going to return it. I think I just am a pain in the arse and want something as high quality as the megapot I have. You can see a couple tack weld marks where they joined the sheet, the handles are hard to get my mits on, maybe because I have a bit bigger hands. The rivets in the handles that hold it on are tiny and they aren't reinforced by a plate like my megapot is. I am wondering if they would work themselves out if you lifted in up frequently with any liquid in it. All that plus the dimensions are grossly over what they report, which makes me annoyed because that was the main reason I broke down and bought it, seemed great on paper. I will return it and get a megapot instead. $239 free shipping from Austin Home Brew for a pot that is grade A... well worth the extra $30. At least now I will have two shields in the event of an apocalypse (lids for the megapots could really brain somebody!)

The people selling it actually have it drop shipped from the manufacturer, so they are good people, just a bad product (or let's say an inferior product to the megapots IMO). Oh well!

So rust you can weld stainless?!! that is pretty cool

You sure about the magnetic thing? I have read 304 stainless can have magnetic properties

 

[rustbucket]

yeah, my buddy has a tig, so if i need to use it he lets me.. SS is pretty easy to weld comparable to aluminum...

here is a little factoid i found

Many cold drawn and/or polished bars have a noticeable amount of magnetism as a result of the previous cold work. This is particularly the case with grades 304 and 303, and much less so for the higher nickel grades such as 310 and 316. Even within the chemical limitations of a single standard analysis range there can be a pronounced variation in the rate of inducement of magnetic response from cold work.

rolling or even centreless grinding, shot blasting or heavy polishing. After substantial cold working Grade 304 may exhibit quite strong response to a magnet, whereas Grades 310 and 316 will in most instances still be almost totally non-responsive.

btw, midwest supplies sucks as shipping stuff out.. (ordered the stuff on monday.. thinking i would get it by friday) the stuff still has not shipped... (apparently shipping today) so now my brew weekend is f'ed if it does not get delivered friday or saturday( fedex) and my yeast will be sitting over the long weekend. Just had to get that one off my chest haha...

 

[CidahMastah]

btw, midwest supplies sucks as shipping stuff out.. (ordered the stuff on monday.. thinking i would get it by friday) the stuff still has not shipped... (apparently shipping today)

They used to ship it out super fast but I noticed a huge lag lately (several months).

I concur on this, be prepared to hear me complain when i don't get the megapot until late next week or earlier the week after that. I don't know why Austin Home Brew supply takes so long to ship, but they do...