I don't bottle much anymore, but try to keep at least a dozen on hand. If the labels don't come off easy, then they go straight to the recycling bin and replaced with something easier to remove.
What I did for beer today
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Put 2 cases of bottles in dish washer for bottling on Sunday and 2oz of Cluster in fermenter to dry hop my Heritage IPA.
Nuts to the weather! It’s officially dark beer season now.
Here’s a picture of the first runnings of this morning’s dark mild.
Here’s a picture of the first runnings of this morning’s dark mild.
Wrote a recipe for a single hop Moutere session hazy written specifically to trial WHC Sweet Release, a dry yeast that combines mid-60s attenuation with lots of biotransformation potential.
Targeting 5.4% and an FG around 1.019 in the hope that it'll give similar mouth feel to one of my bigger single hop hazies but less chances of a hangover if I sink five pints of it.
Targeting 5.4% and an FG around 1.019 in the hope that it'll give similar mouth feel to one of my bigger single hop hazies but less chances of a hangover if I sink five pints of it.
50 bottles of my Hops Kitchen Heritage IPA. Finished @ 1.011 w/ 6.8% about. Looking forward to checking again in 10-14 days when carbonated.
Added 6 ounces of pulverized Citra pellets to each of a pair of soft-crashed carboys to let the goodness slowly rain down so I can leave the crashed yeast undisturbed...
Four hours later...
Cheers!
Four hours later...
Cheers!
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41vpOQ2OvTL._SL500_.jpg)
My red ale kicked last week so I brewed a new batch to replace it Tuesday. It should be ready to transfer to a keg tomorrow so today I cleaned the keg the last red was in so I can put the new one in it.
That ten gallons of all-Citra hazy (above) is cold-crashing and needs to get kegged tomorrow. But I was short a keg, so I drained my least full keg on tap (Ballantine IPA with just 3 pours remaining) into a uKeg, then fired up the Mark II and cleaned, sanitized, pressure-checked that keg, then did a Star San purge on it. Then I installed a fresh keg of the same batch of Ballantine IPA and gave it a quick taste and carbonation check (two thumbs up!)
After that I staged everything needed for kegging in the morning because as soon as that's done I'm heading up to our place in NH for a few days of fishing...
Cheers!
After that I staged everything needed for kegging in the morning because as soon as that's done I'm heading up to our place in NH for a few days of fishing...
Cheers!
I'm not familiar with pulverizing pellets(?) for post-crash fermenter dry hopping. It looks like you're using the cold and fast method and the pulverization allows the hops to quickly drop while better giving up the goods? Do I have that right? If memory serves, you use a weighted filter bag on your racking cane to protect your poppets, right?
I'm impressed and thinking about how to implement this technique on my rig.
Actually, I'm looking for a really slow drop of the hops 
Yes, at the crux of it all is Scott Janish's work on short and cool dry hopping. I do a "soft crash" to 50°F over two days under light (~0.4 psi) CO2 pressure to avoid any O2 suckage, then add the hops for two days, then cold crash to 36°F (again under CO2) for two days, before kegging. But as I am dealing with carboys there are limitations I'm trying to work around - principally, that I can't drop the yeast after the soft crash as is recommended.
In the past I have noticed pellets dropped into cold beer go straight to the bottom and remain largely intact even after two days - especially the really dense, hard pellets one comes across on occasion. Before doing the short and cool thing I would have swirled the carboys to break those pellets up, but now I don't want to swirl the crashed yeast back into suspension. By pouring in powdered pellets, the mass pretty much sits there atop the beer, and very slowly rains down. It takes a few hours in fact for the last to drop. I think that's maximizing the extract under the circumstances vs the alternative, and there's no need to disturb the yeast cake.
The downside is the potential O2 exposure, so I try to work quickly, and once the pellet powder is in I blow out the carboy headspace with CO2 for awhile to at least bring the O2 content down. When I keg two days later I add some ascorbic acid to each keg and that seems to catch things before they cause problems. I've mentioned often I can keep a super hazy IPA in the keg nice and light for at least five months which is pretty much the worst case duration for anything around here...
Cheers!
Yes, at the crux of it all is Scott Janish's work on short and cool dry hopping. I do a "soft crash" to 50°F over two days under light (~0.4 psi) CO2 pressure to avoid any O2 suckage, then add the hops for two days, then cold crash to 36°F (again under CO2) for two days, before kegging. But as I am dealing with carboys there are limitations I'm trying to work around - principally, that I can't drop the yeast after the soft crash as is recommended.
In the past I have noticed pellets dropped into cold beer go straight to the bottom and remain largely intact even after two days - especially the really dense, hard pellets one comes across on occasion. Before doing the short and cool thing I would have swirled the carboys to break those pellets up, but now I don't want to swirl the crashed yeast back into suspension. By pouring in powdered pellets, the mass pretty much sits there atop the beer, and very slowly rains down. It takes a few hours in fact for the last to drop. I think that's maximizing the extract under the circumstances vs the alternative, and there's no need to disturb the yeast cake.
The downside is the potential O2 exposure, so I try to work quickly, and once the pellet powder is in I blow out the carboy headspace with CO2 for awhile to at least bring the O2 content down. When I keg two days later I add some ascorbic acid to each keg and that seems to catch things before they cause problems. I've mentioned often I can keep a super hazy IPA in the keg nice and light for at least five months which is pretty much the worst case duration for anything around here...
Cheers!
Thanks for taking the time and providing such a clear answer. I appreciate it!Actually, I'm looking for a really slow drop of the hops
Yes, at the crux of it all is Scott Janish's work on short and cool dry hopping. I do a "soft crash" to 50°F over two days under light (~0.4 psi) CO2 pressure to avoid any O2 suckage, then add the hops for two days, then cold crash to 36°F (again under CO2) for two days, before kegging. But as I am dealing with carboys there are limitations I'm trying to work around - principally, that I can't drop the yeast after the soft crash as is recommended.
In the past I have noticed pellets dropped into cold beer go straight to the bottom and remain largely intact even after two days - especially the really dense, hard pellets one comes across on occasion. Before doing the short and cool thing I would have swirled the carboys to break those pellets up, but now I don't want to swirl the crashed yeast back into suspension. By pouring in powdered pellets, the mass pretty much sits there atop the beer, and very slowly rains down. It takes a few hours in fact for the last to drop. I think that's maximizing the extract under the circumstances vs the alternative, and there's no need to disturb the yeast cake.
The downside is the potential O2 exposure, so I try to work quickly, and once the pellet powder is in I blow out the carboy headspace with CO2 for awhile to at least bring the O2 content down. When I keg two days later I add some ascorbic acid to each keg and that seems to catch things before they cause problems. I've mentioned often I can keep a super hazy IPA in the keg nice and light for at least five months which is pretty much the worst case duration for anything around here...
Cheers!
Always my pleasure to share - even if I may be leading us all off a cliff 
Cheers!
Cheers!
I'm going to try the pulverising approach on this Brut IPA which is getting an 8oz dry hop of Luminosa, Strata and Tango at the weekend.
That said I seem to have the opposite issue more frequently at the moment, with my hop pellets sitting on top of the fermenter and not dropping even after ~3 days. Especially if I've been naturally carbonating during fermentation by having a spunding valve set to 10psi.
That said I seem to have the opposite issue more frequently at the moment, with my hop pellets sitting on top of the fermenter and not dropping even after ~3 days. Especially if I've been naturally carbonating during fermentation by having a spunding valve set to 10psi.
Kegging done, getting ready to head north...
Cheers!
Cheers!
Not a lot just transferred 15 litres of my Red IPA from the primary to the secondary fermenter/bottling bucket. Away for the weekend so will cold crash and bottle on Monday.
Bottled my Centennial blonde ale this morning. Yielded 52 12oz long necks. OG was 1.052, FG 1.010.
Today I read six weeks of missed posts in this thread, to pick up some inspiration.
Had a hard time for the last couple of weeks and not much drive to look into the web. At least I had every now and then a little peek into the skyline game thread for a little distraction. But I didn't feel like I could follow the stories.
Within the last weeks I brewed two 5ltr batches of beer, a Juicy Ale dryhopped with Nectaron hops and another batch of traditional Munich Helles. This time I changed the recipe and left out the CaraPils malts.
Last week I visited my dad, and we did the long planned beer tasting: I brewed two variants of a Hacker Pschorr Munich Hell clones (decoction and infusion) in April that needed a comparison, not just by myself. I already posted my thoughts and the recipes in this post of my introduction thread. Also on the table: the original from Hacker.
There is indeed a difference between my versions and the original. But I'm still very happy with the results (so was my dad) and both of them are, what I'd call a typical regional lager and they could definitely compare with the ones of "the big players" around here.
Also, after the apples ripened in our garden, we pressed fresh juice for cider two weeks ago, which is now waiting to be bottled. Now it's just unclear whether I'll get pears tomorrow so I can use the yeast cake straight away, or whether I'll just harvest the yeast.
If there are no pears tomorrow, I'll make another batch of a juicy ale this time with Kolibri hops, I just ran the recipe through the calculator.
And of course there were some occasions to have a beer while hiking:
Hiking along the Alz river ("Bräu im Moos" Helles)
Hiking up Mount Hochgründeck ("Stiegl Bräu" Helles)
Hiking up Mount Spitzstein (self made California Common)
cider making:
Had a hard time for the last couple of weeks and not much drive to look into the web. At least I had every now and then a little peek into the skyline game thread for a little distraction. But I didn't feel like I could follow the stories.
Within the last weeks I brewed two 5ltr batches of beer, a Juicy Ale dryhopped with Nectaron hops and another batch of traditional Munich Helles. This time I changed the recipe and left out the CaraPils malts.
Last week I visited my dad, and we did the long planned beer tasting: I brewed two variants of a Hacker Pschorr Munich Hell clones (decoction and infusion) in April that needed a comparison, not just by myself. I already posted my thoughts and the recipes in this post of my introduction thread. Also on the table: the original from Hacker.
There is indeed a difference between my versions and the original. But I'm still very happy with the results (so was my dad) and both of them are, what I'd call a typical regional lager and they could definitely compare with the ones of "the big players" around here.
Also, after the apples ripened in our garden, we pressed fresh juice for cider two weeks ago, which is now waiting to be bottled. Now it's just unclear whether I'll get pears tomorrow so I can use the yeast cake straight away, or whether I'll just harvest the yeast.
If there are no pears tomorrow, I'll make another batch of a juicy ale this time with Kolibri hops, I just ran the recipe through the calculator.
And of course there were some occasions to have a beer while hiking:
cider making:
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Let me know, how this turns out. Still looking for the perfect Summer Ale Clone and had an experiment with Orange peel, but that was definitely way to much of it (3g/l).
Don't you get a water analysis protocol from your waterworks on request? We just have one water supply ... so I'm actually brewing with toilet water (just definitely out of the tap, not out of the bowl...)
Not even during the Oktoberfest season? I mean, I wouldn't buy them here from Aldi, but I know they do sell them and that aren't bad at all.
Last evening I finally got around to transferring my new Red Ale to a keg that was brewed 11 days earlier. This one is also a recipe that I originally brewed over 30 yrs ago. This beer taste great I do not know why it took me so long to brew it again. The reds I have been brewing are good but this one is better IMO. today's task is to collect the yeast and clean that fermenter. And my Sixtel of Idyll Hounds Yellow Fly IPA kicked so I'll be cleaning that keg for use until I return it to the brewery.
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Brewed my first SMASH ale this morning. I wanted to make an inexpensive batch and use some hops I had in the freezer. I went with Briess brewers malt and El Dorado. Pretty hoppy at an estimated 60 IBU.
I pitched a 1L starter of WLP-521 Hornindal that I made from a frozen vial.
Another first for me was using the natural CO2 to purge the keg it will be packaged in.
It has been pretty mind blowing.
I pitched at about 1:30pm. I used the airlock until I saw activity at around 4 pm. I then replaced the airlock with a gas post and used a gas to gas jumper to a keg full of Starsan solution and used a liquid to liquid jumper to an empty keg with my spunding valve turned all the way down.
By 6:30 pm, the first keg was empty!
That Hornindal is a hungry beast!
I pitched a 1L starter of WLP-521 Hornindal that I made from a frozen vial.
Another first for me was using the natural CO2 to purge the keg it will be packaged in.
It has been pretty mind blowing.
I pitched at about 1:30pm. I used the airlock until I saw activity at around 4 pm. I then replaced the airlock with a gas post and used a gas to gas jumper to a keg full of Starsan solution and used a liquid to liquid jumper to an empty keg with my spunding valve turned all the way down.
By 6:30 pm, the first keg was empty!
That Hornindal is a hungry beast!
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Once I've got my little one down for her nap I'll be pulling a gravity sample of my 6 day old Brut IPA to see if it's time to dry hop yet.
Fermented with WHC Old English which I consistently get 80% attenuation and a hint of orange marmalade out of. Double dosed Amyloglucosidase 300, 30 minute enzyme rest at 60°C before mash out and another dose in the fermenter just to make sure. Triple dose of yeast nutrients.
Hopped with Luminosa, Strata and Tango for tonnes of passion fruit, pineapple and tangerine and hopefully a little touch of resin/pine to finish. 4oz in the whirlpool and 7oz in the dry hop.
Fermented with WHC Old English which I consistently get 80% attenuation and a hint of orange marmalade out of. Double dosed Amyloglucosidase 300, 30 minute enzyme rest at 60°C before mash out and another dose in the fermenter just to make sure. Triple dose of yeast nutrients.
Hopped with Luminosa, Strata and Tango for tonnes of passion fruit, pineapple and tangerine and hopefully a little touch of resin/pine to finish. 4oz in the whirlpool and 7oz in the dry hop.
stamandster
undefined member
All Comet American Pale called "Comet Down Now" -- Recipe
https://brewgr.com/recipe/116255/comet-down-now-american-pale-ale-recipe
https://brewgr.com/recipe/116255/comet-down-now-american-pale-ale-recipe
Cameronl
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I rebuilt my brewing table. The original was over-built, too tall, and had a plywood top that was getting gross. I've been wanting to replace the top with a laminate surface. A barely used studio benchtop at work was finally being disposed of (after being left in the hallway for about 5 years!) and I grabbed it. I wasn't going to just slap it on the old table, so I took the opportunity to completely rebuild it. I used smaller brackets, ripped the 2x4s in half, made it 6" shorter, and took a couple inches off the width and depth so there's a bit of a lip. Can't wait to take it out for a test brew.
Here's the before:
I also plan on removing the pump and plate chiller from the separate stand and mount them to the table.
I originally put them on the stand so I could easily move them to the basement during the winter, because I worry about any water in them freezing and causing damage. But I've replace the Chugger in the picture with a Riptide, and I can easily remove the head that's held on with a tri-clamp and bring that part in. The plate chiller I plan to rig up with some sort of quick release so I don't have to unbolt it. That also means I can move the controller to the side instead of having it in the way in front of everything.
Here's the before:
I also plan on removing the pump and plate chiller from the separate stand and mount them to the table.
I originally put them on the stand so I could easily move them to the basement during the winter, because I worry about any water in them freezing and causing damage. But I've replace the Chugger in the picture with a Riptide, and I can easily remove the head that's held on with a tri-clamp and bring that part in. The plate chiller I plan to rig up with some sort of quick release so I don't have to unbolt it. That also means I can move the controller to the side instead of having it in the way in front of everything.
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BrewMan13
Whole Nother Level Brewing
Kegged my porter, and sampled 1 part of the marzen split. Also helped out bartending at a local brewery since they were short staffed for their Oktoberfest. And I got a decent score in a recent competition, but no medal.
Today I bottled 26 x 50cl of Red X IPA. ABV a bit low at 5.6% but that’s ok.
Got a starter going for Brewsday Tuesday tomorrow. Brewing a Modelo clone sort of.
6 lbs bohemian Pilsner malt
2 lbs flaked corn
1/2 oz home grown Nugget leaf Hops and
4th generation 34/70 yeast repitch.
I know it strays from most clone recipes for Modelo but the Nuggets are a substitute for Galena which is a substitute for Northern Brewer and 34/70 is a good lager yeast that lends itself well in pilsners also. So I'm hoping it turns out close.
6 lbs bohemian Pilsner malt
2 lbs flaked corn
1/2 oz home grown Nugget leaf Hops and
4th generation 34/70 yeast repitch.
I know it strays from most clone recipes for Modelo but the Nuggets are a substitute for Galena which is a substitute for Northern Brewer and 34/70 is a good lager yeast that lends itself well in pilsners also. So I'm hoping it turns out close.
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Not technically for beer, but stopped at the store after work and bought 4.5lbs of raspberries; they're thawing out now. Once thawed, half of them will go in the mead I made last week, and racked to secondary yesterday. Yes I know some may say too soon, but it was plenty done and tasted great. The berries will stay there for a week or so. The other half will get made into raspberry syrup, for further flavoring/backsweetening said mead that will be my first melomel. It's only 2 gallons so I hope it's enough berries. Not looking for huge raspberry flavor, just enough to taste good. The honey was raspberry honey from our local apiary.
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This has been more multiday but Saturday I picked up these items, 10 lb CO2, modified mini fridge, Italian and Torpedo half kegs, Taprite CO2 regulator, Perlick flow control faucet, and the two valve manifold-$75. He mentioned having some bottles, got my interest when he said flip-tops. Another $20 and I had 18 one liter bottles, a couple 16s, and the clear tote. Soaked the kegs, manifold, and faucet Saturday night. Cleaned the kegs Sunday, reassembled them yesterday. Tried reassembling the Perlick but I'm not sure about all the gaskets, I may have lost one. (I have Intertaps and now two Nukataps.) The exploded view wasn't quite enough I think I need to watch a video. I had this stuff bookmarked because of the great price. I didn't need any of it particularly but one of my regulators has been acting up so I drove the hour and a half. Previous owner punched through the side on the fridge and was using it as a two 2.5 gallon kegerator.
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Brewed my second stout since switching over to all RO/distilled water... The first one had a bit of a sour tang to it, so for today's brew, after adding baking soda to get my mash pH up to 5.5, then, once the boil was complete, added more baking soda, so that the HCO3 of the finished wort should be around 240 ppm (as estimated by brewersfriend). It was only an extra 3 grams into a 3 gallon batch. Can't say I could taste any difference in the before/after taste. 
Cleaned 8 kegs, then sanitized and purged with CO2. Now I just need to fill them!
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Here's something I did with my Therminator, a shelf made out of a cutting board and drawer slides. The bracket was from Lowes, over near the joist hangers. I didn't need a nut on the posts it stayed put. I've since switched to using a CFC. I flipped the sliding shelf over and attached it to the underside of the table top. The CFC hangs down from shelf. Unfortunately I have a slight bow in the SS tabletop plus the floor slopes a small amount. This causes the shelf to slide from the hanging weight of the CFC. Just an idea for you.
My controller I have on a computer screen mounting arm that clamps to the table. A little hard to see with the stuff on the table but it clamps near the corner. I like your table cart though. What are the dimensions on the new tabletop? And then what year is the bug?
Today I brewed 21 litres of Calabria IPA ( it’s American IPA but got the recipe from a brew pub in Calabria).
4700g Pilsner malt
300g Carapils
12g ea of Amarillo & Simcoe at 60 minutes
12g of Amarillo & Simcoe at 15 minutes
28g Citra at 80C for 15 minutes
Yeast a US05 clone
I will dry hop with 25g ea of the 3 hops after 4 days in the primary and leave for 3 or 4 days.
4700g Pilsner malt
300g Carapils
12g ea of Amarillo & Simcoe at 60 minutes
12g of Amarillo & Simcoe at 15 minutes
28g Citra at 80C for 15 minutes
Yeast a US05 clone
I will dry hop with 25g ea of the 3 hops after 4 days in the primary and leave for 3 or 4 days.
I'll be kegging up my Brut IPA today if I get some chance between meetings, if not tomorrow. Fermented down to 1.002 so exactly where I wanted it to be. Will carb it up to 3.5 volumes.
I'd quite like to pull a little sample of my "all the Brett's" solera keg to see how it's getting on. Aroma wise I've got some pretty aggressive cherry, tropical fruit and a bit of barnyard funk.
I'd quite like to pull a little sample of my "all the Brett's" solera keg to see how it's getting on. Aroma wise I've got some pretty aggressive cherry, tropical fruit and a bit of barnyard funk.
Cameronl
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very cool. I like the plate chiller slide. I'm going to think about that.
As for my top, it's 19" deep and about 56" long IIRC. Definitely 50-somthing inches.
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I went too wide and my SS table is 72". I would like to drop it to 60"at some point as I could use the extra foot, my garage is small. I used to have three keggles but switched out the MT to an Infussion, still about the same size though.
Cameronl
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I wanted it as short as possible, as I have to wheel it in and out of the garage every time because the VW is in the way. It doesn't run. It's a '62, BTW.
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A six volt then? Most of mine didn't run well either, predominately vans but my first VW was a '72 bug. Bad luck mostly and then problems too expensive to fix.
I've recommended five foot before and thought four would be too short if considering whole feet increments so I figured I'd ask since you customized yours. Unfortunately I can't saw mine shorter but may sell it and go shorter. I used to wheel mine outside too but squeezed out a spot for my rig once I built a hood. My garage is so small I question it was built to park a vehicle in! A motorcycle maybe...
Haven`t been brewing almost anythinh all summer as my time/attention/workspace has be otherwise occupied (namely motorbike building), the coming weekend neither boy will be home so got some time to myself so thought why not whip up a batch. Started searching for ingredients and discovered a microbrewery two towns over is going **** up and is having an everything-must-go type sale so figured I`d go in to see what they got. Miiiight have gone a wee bit overboard as I came home with 48x 0.33L bottles, 32kg malts and Centennial, Fuggles and Goldings hop pellets totaling nearly 5 kilograms XD. Just borrowed a vacuum sealer from my neighbor and gonna start bagging the hops into 100g bags. That`ll last me til the end of days LOL.
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