What I did for beer today

[Schlenkerla]

As for LODO, my hats off to those that are disciplined enough to stick to it, but I will be leaving that to others for the foreseeable future. Using the primary fermentation to purge the keg it’s destined to occupy, is however BRILLIANT, and will be implemented here immediately!! Thanks for sharing!

Yeah somebody turned me on to that saying it's 20 times of keg volume turnover. And free!

 

[seatazzz]

Finally remembered to stop at the store after dinner with Mom tonight to get the gelatine I will use to fine the lager getting kegged tomorrow. I'm tired of having my beers only clear when there's about a gallon left in the keg, I want them clear from the get-go. Why? I dunno. I know it's just an appearance thing and doesn't affect the final taste of the product, but it sure is pretty.

 

[Pkrd]

Dry hopped my IPA tonight

 

[seatazzz]

Kegged up my strong (7.2%!!) Czech lager this morning, and very apprehensively added the gelatine to help it clear out. First time using it; part of me can't wait to see the results, and the other part is concerned I messed it up somehow. This one tastes great coming out of the fermenter, slightly sweet (not underattenuated, got down to 1.010 from 1.068) and the late Saaz addition I did gave it a great aroma. Fingers crossed.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Pitched yeast this AM on the 2 batches I brewed yesterday. One being a small partigyle with spruce tips and Northern discovery hops. Will name it “Wisconsin Woods”.

 

[jiMithing83]

Last night I finally got to do my bourbon county stout vertical. Started trying to plan it when it was a 5 year run, ended up being a 7 year run, 2012-2018. Unfortunately my 2015 was an infected batch, but it was still an awesome night.

 

[devilssoninlaw]

I brewed a 5 gallon batch of Extra Pale Ale, trying to kick the rainy day blues!

 

[HB2 HughBHomeBrew]

Learned a fun fact: my hand and arm are small enough/long enough to reach all the way to the bottom of a Corny keg for cleaning [emoji12]

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Racked Kolsch off the cold break, aerated, then pitched yeast

 

[BrewMan13]

Brewed up a smoked porter over the weekend, got great efficiency. Also kegged a NEIPA - after a couple false starts. First I forgot to depressurize the keg, churning up the carboy something fierce. Waited a day for it to settle, then discovered my CO2 tank was empty. I have a backup, but that was empty too, of course. So finally Sunday evening I finished what I started Saturday morning. Appearance is on point for sure; can't wait for it to be fully carbed!

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Finished deep cleaning the brewery this morning.

 

[Novacor]

Helped my wife keg her schwarzbier, then finally marked my beer lines so I no longer have to guess which line goes to which tap.

 

[deleted]

Finally got my strings ran for my hop trellis.... only 2 out of 8 rhizomes didn’t pop up yet.... sadly something ate the top of one and broke the top of another so I don’t know what I’ll end up with at the end of the year..... first time growing them!!

 

[aharri1]

1st time using omega yeast. Pitch the starter with double IPA 052. Looking good. Did an overbuild and I'm collecting some to keep in my rotation

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Picking up 6 gallons of Cab Sav juice to play with in sours and make a Brut IPA (have no idea what I am doing with wine so we will see).

Taking a gravity on my miller lite and this weekend will be bottling 10 gallons of beer and 2 gallons of mead. And drinking, also drinking.

 

[aharri1]

Bottled my blueberry berliner weisse sour, German altbier, and Czech black lager for the Florida sunshine challenge today.

 

[seatazzz]

During a hellish workday did research on fixing the ferment fridge. Compressor won't run, either it's shot or the starter relay is. Since when did working on refrigerators resemble working on cars??? Tired tonight but will get behind the damn thing tomorrow with the multimeter to see where the problem lies. And OF COURSE it had to futz when the competition lager is in it....highest temp it has hit so far is 78. I'm gonna let it ride until tomorrow when the kegerator gets repurposed as the ferment fridge until I can afford the part to fix it. Darn pissed off right now.

*EDIT* After much research, found a part that will work, and will be here tomorrow for less than $12. If it doesn't work I'm not out much, but went with a 3 in 1 hard start capacitor for the compressor. Should be a quick easy install as long as I don't mess it up.

 

[HB2 HughBHomeBrew]

Put the lager I brewed yesterday and pitched last night in the fridge for primary fermenting (in Corny Keg). Getting crowded in there!

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Bottled sour pineapple shake.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Back in December I adopted LOB and do closed transfers. That poses problems for making NEIPA or dry hopped pale ales.

Then had an epiphany, i decided to use my French Coffee Press.

I read about this long ago but never did it before and before going LOB.

https://beerandbrewing.com/use...o-enhance-flavors-in-your-beer

This is what I did yesterday.

1) Measured out a 1-liter trifecta using Sodium Metabisulfate, Asorbic Acid and Brewtan-B.
2) Dropped 20mg, 20mg, 40mg into a liter of post boiled water
3) Then poured it on an oz of Citra cryo in my coffee press.
4) Gently stirred and let it steep 10 minutes.
5) Then slowly pressed the hops to separate the particulate hop tea.
6) Poured it in a sanitized 2-liter (2L) bottle.
7) Using my carbonating cap and put 10psi on it.
8) Next, I inverted it to use the CO2 pressure to force it into my closed and purged keg. Using a gray gas connect on the 2L bottle and a black disconnect on liquid out. Both connected with a 3ft 3/16" transfer line. Popping off the black disconnect just before the 2L ran empty.
9) I had to vent my keg afterwards.
10) Then did my closed transfer for my pale ale and spunded.

The 2L was very clean, no particles got into the keg from what I could tell.

Don't know how it's gonna taste. It smelled damn good.

FWIW - I use my fermenter to purge my keg. Fermenter gas discharges to the keg's liquid out. My keg vents to a growler out the gas disconnect.

At filling time I swap keg lines using the 1/4" female flare swivels. Keg gas in to fermenter gas out. Keg liquid out to a fermenter ball valve fitted with a 1/4" male flare.

It's the easiest transfer yet. This was the first time I had the male flare on the ball valve.

Pictures of the flare fitting and my El Cheapo Menards Spund valve. It vents anything over 20psi right now. Then rechecks as you would expect a regulator to do. It's easy to adjust too. View attachment 627323View attachment 627325View attachment 627327

Mad Fermentationalist!!! Nice

 

[govner1]

Brewed 20+gallons of aWookey Jack clone with two brew buddies. We’ll age in a fresh 15g whiskey barrel from ASW for 4-6 months after fermentation is complete

 

[seatazzz]

Still waiting on the ferment fridge part to arrive, so decided to give the really WARM fermented lager in it a test; came down to 1.010 from 1.045, right at 4.6%ABV where I wanted it; and much to my amazement has NO off flavors. Just a nice, very light, crisp refreshing lager, or will be once it's cold and carbed. I brewed this one with two competitions in mind for it, but now that I know it turned out great might just leave this one for home consumption and brew it up again next weekend. First competition entry isn't due until August 10 so there's lots of time.

 

[helterscelter]

That is a serious investment for some nitro coffee! Would love to hear how your infuser works for you. I’ve charged cold brew in the past (direct in keg) with verifying levels of success, but was always too cheap to pick up an infuser. Your setup looks great!

Finally got my cold Brew and new faucets all hooked up. Took a while to track down all the gas leaks..

The infuser works well. Sorta. It does what you'd think it does, but the nitro bubbles seem to dissipate faster than I'd expect. It is adjustable but increasing the nitrogen flow just seems to make bigger bubbles. Once I kick this keg of cold Brew I'm going to add an areation stone on the inlet of the keg to see if that helps with the dissipation rate. I figure it can't hurt.

Tomorrow I'm brewing a stout so Ill be able to use my other stout faucet with beer gas.

 

[nh_homebrew]

I cleaned a carboy I put off cleaning a month

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Finally got my cold Brew and new faucets all hooked up. Took a while to track down all the gas leaks..

The infuser works well. Sorta. It does what you'd think it does, but the nitro bubbles seem to dissipate faster than I'd expect. It is adjustable but increasing the nitrogen flow just seems to make bigger bubbles. Once I kick this keg of cold Brew I'm going to add an areation stone on the inlet of the keg to see if that helps with the dissipation rate. I figure it can't hurt.

Tomorrow I'm brewing a stout so Ill be able to use my other stout faucet with beer gas.View attachment 628438View attachment 628439

The picture looks good to me!
I have spent most of the morning cleaning... I dropped a fermenter while pouring out PBW solution, lost 2.5 gallons all over the floor. Which is clean enough to eat off right now. Probably won’t get another brew in today. Will transfer a finished batch of dark saison to keg then pitch onto that yeast cake the saison de Noel. Just pitched a small dubbel.

 

[aharri1]

Brewing my milkshake IPA

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Transferred 10 gal of Wee Heavy from primary to secondary. From OG 1.091 to 1.024. on the fridge now to finish up.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Brewed A Kolsch today.

Here's my keg purging set-up. The fermenter purges the keg and vents out the growler.

 

[seatazzz]

After a couple of false starts, ferment fridge is back in business! Controller temperature has come down 3 degrees in just 30 minutes, and nice cold air is blowing around in there now. I'm not a big fan of cheap 'n easy fixes, would rather do things right; but $11.50 for a three-in-one capacitor instead of $60 for a new start relay (for a 13 year old fridge! really???) works for me. Initial installation only took about 10 minutes, then an additional hour while I futzed with it. You might be a homebrewer if...your Saturday night consists of sitting next to your ferment fridge listening to the compressor doing what it is supposed to do; keep my beer happy.

 

[deleted]

Stopped by my brew store and purchased grains for my 10 gallon batch.... picked up water and propane exchange so I’m ready to brew tomorrow!

 

[aharri1]

Got my co2 tank refilled and put my IPL on gas. Took a small sample. Gonna be super smooth

 

[seatazzz]

Went ahead and kegged up my light lager this morning. It was only in primary a week, but is essentially done with the super-warm temperatures it got, thanks to the ferment fridge futzing out, and wanted to get it off the yeast. Lightest beer I've ever brewed, in both color and ABV; came out at 4.6%. Should be ready for tapping on Wednesday.

 

[BrewMan13]

LHBS did a bulk grain buy, so I picked up my haul over the weekend (standard 2-row & dark munich), along with some odds & ends, and specialty grains/yeast for the next 3 batches.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Got my pump and transfer kit. Taped the fittings and cut the hoses and assembled it all. Then ran a leak test. No leaks!

Works nice. Also connects to my BK.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Removed Home Smoked Mesquite Rauchmalt from the oven today.

Ready to age a bit. Smells good.

 

[SirHC_]

Removed Home Smoked Mesquite Rauchmalt from the oven today.

Ready to age a bit. Smells good.

Likewise removed my trial 1 lb of heavily apple smoked malt.
How long do you age yours for? Mesquite being much stronger smoke, I think...

Also drank my last bottle of bourbon oak aged mild for "Mild May" while bottling my wee heavy scotch ale and setting aside a gallon to age on bourbon oak.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Likewise removed my trial 1 lb of heavily apple smoked malt.
How long do you age yours for? Mesquite being much stronger smoke, I think...

Also drank my last bottle of bourbon oak aged mild for "Mild May" while bottling my wee heavy scotch ale and setting aside a gallon to age on bourbon oak.

I age it a minimum of 7 days. Then package it in large Utz Sourdough Pretzel Jars. They each hold five pounds.

This photo is pistachio smoked malt. I used the shells. The smoke is mild. Kinda nutty taste wise. This batch is from last July. I used two lbs of it. I should use it all soon before that smoke flavor fades. It still smells pretty good. It would be really mellow now.. Would be nice in a mild or an Altbier.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Likewise removed my trial 1 lb of heavily apple smoked malt.
How long do you age yours for? Mesquite being much stronger smoke, I think...

Also drank my last bottle of bourbon oak aged mild for "Mild May" while bottling my wee heavy scotch ale and setting aside a gallon to age on bourbon oak.

FYI - I put a lot info on making smoke malt here.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?threads/637254/

 

[seatazzz]

Got home late from work with all intentions of getting just a tiny taste of new light lager before hitting the sack...on the second glass now, and really enjoying it. Perfect color, nice light crisp flavor, and palest beer I have brewed to date. Good thing I will brew it again this weekend, because this one will go fast.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

After work starting up a 2L start of Mad Fermentationist Saison from BL for the 2019 dark saison w/ cherries I am brewing Saturday. First brett experience and I'm sure it will be awesome.