What I did for beer today

[seanjwalker1]

My bulkhead fitting for the mash tun didn't show up last night and I'm running out of time for my Xmas brews. Fiddled with it and managed to get it to an extremely slow leak like 1 drop every min or so so went with it ..curses to Amazon ! Brewed 3.5 gallons experimental sugar cookie ale, hoping it comes out ok. Used 2 actual packets of sugar cookie mix in the boil ..I know I know ! Hoping for the best though ! Taste awesome.

 

[South Arm Brew]

My bulkhead fitting for the mash tun didn't show up last night and I'm running out of time for my Xmas brews. Fiddled with it and managed to get it to an extremely slow leak like 1 drop every min or so so went with it ..curses to Amazon ! Brewed 3.5 gallons experimental sugar cookie ale, hoping it comes out ok. Used 2 actual packets of sugar cookie mix in the boil ..I know I know ! Hoping for the best though ! Taste awesome.

Sorry for Amazon experience, but the sugar cookie ale sounds excellent!

 

[seanjwalker1]

Sorry for Amazon experience, but the sugar cookie ale sounds excellent!

It's gonna crash or burn. Learning experience !

 

[seanjwalker1]

Sorry for Amazon experience, but the sugar cookie ale sounds excellent!

It was the weirdest brew I've ever attempted. Mixed up the sugar cookie mix with water. Took more water than I planned on to keep it thin enough and not lump up. About a gallon per package. Then added the concoction to the wort. Added vanilla extract, almond extract and Butter Vanilla emulsion. Just used 1 oz cascade, I wanted this simply Americana tasting. All the grains were American except for a bit of biscuit. I did also go with Saf WB06 instead of O5, since it is technically a wheat beer. Hoping it comes out ok but I may get Scrooged!! . In 10-14 days either it's the fat dude in the red suit smiling or the ghost of Christmas future.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Whoa !!!! Only 4 hours later and the sugar cookie is off and running !!!! First hurdle is down. Was worried if there would be too much preservative in the cookie mix that might inhibit the yeasty beasties from kick starting.

 

[Brewsmith]

Cleaned up after the airlock filled up with yeasty blowoff. I was expecting it to happen with a big IPA and a good pitch of healthy active yeast. I came home with the airlock partially full and some yeasty mess that had squeezed out. Not the biggest mess ever and it looks like the worst is over.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Brewed up 4 gallons of White spiced Xmas ale. Was supposed to be 5 but boiled off more than I should have . I think I got distracted when I was pouring some pre boiled hot water into the sparge pot and forgot to close the spigot ! Gave a whole new meaning to hot foot ! Yikes. Rest went pretty smoothly except for boiling off too much wort. 4 gallons it is.

 

[hout17]

Upgraded to a pixel 6a phone which has android 13. I found out after the change that the tilt app is not supported currently after Android 12 so I couldn't check my Tilt hydrometer in my Irish Red.

So I broke out a Raspberry PI 3 B I had lying around that was installed with a 7 inch lcd. I downloaded the tilt raspberry pi image and we are once again off to the races. Kind of a pain but at least the tilt is not dead in the beer! Pretty much at final gravity at this point so not to big of a deal.

 

[seatazzz]

Received, assembled, and played with new grain mill. Drank a fair bit of homebrew. And sent a resume to a colleague, as we were told yesterday that our location (division of a rather large California-based company) will be closing at the end of the year. I'm not worried, at all; I've got 15 years experience in the freight industry, which is quite saleable. Scuttlebutt around the industry says that container freight on the west coast won't start to pick up again until at least April, mostly due to the lack of a contract with the ill-woo folks, and their reluctance to negotiate because of ONE tiny little terminal in Seattle that is having knicker fits about an outside union handling some of the maintenance. If you're interested, google something that rhymes with Berminal Wive and you'll see what I'm talking about. Change the B & W to T & F. I can't get any more vague than that. If I do get hired on at my colleague's company, I'm going to ask to start after the new year; somebody needs a vacation. Oh darn, all this grain, a new mill, and no work? What WILL I do????

 

[Brewsmith]

I tore apart half of my draft system, disassembled two faucets and lines, and put one of them back together with brand new beer line. I now have my first homebrew in a year on tap. The second faucet and parts are soaking in cleaner and will go back together in time to get put back together with more beer line and get the beer that is in the fermenter on tap in a few days.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Started a starter for my brewday this weekend. WLP838 for a Vienna lager. Can't wait.

 

[Ren06]

Made a 4gallon apple cran cider for my wife naturally carbonating with spunding valve, and made 5.5 gallons of blueberry melomel .

 

[Ren06]

Bottled my banana melomel finally

 

[jwill911]

Fiddled with my Nukatap counter-pressure bottle filler. I think I've got it figured out now, last time I wasted a bunch of beer and made a mess. So I was reluctant to do it again until I thought I knew what I was doing. Bottled 3 six packs, two Hopnosis Cold IPA, one Savion Blanc IPA.

 

[balrog]

Kegged (pseudo closed transfer) my 30th batch of @Yooper 's Haus Pale Ale. Having a Gennee Cream of course, with a nod to her Dad,

 

[grampamark]

Brewed a Scottish Export (Cold Smoke clone). A spur of the moment brewday. I had an empty 5 gallon fermenter and a jar of fresh yeast slurry so I decided “why not”. Did a 4 gallon BIAB batch. It was one of those days when the process seemed to be on automatic pilot. I hit every volume and gravity number predicted by Beersmith. Well, the OG was .01 higher. I can live with that.

 

[WestMichiganSteelheader]

Decided to see how my barley wine is progressing. Needs more time in the fermenter before bottling.

 

[BeerAndTele]

Yesterday I took the day off so I decided to whip up a starter for the mason jar of wlp090 San Diego Super Yeast that had been in the fridge since early April. I wanted to wake it up so I could use it again this winter. It was from an overbuilt starter, so I thought I'd be alright despite the 8 month hibernation. I was wrong. It smelled funky but I pitched it anyway ... what else was I gonna do with the starter I'd just made?

I looked at it today, 24 hours post-pitch, and it is dead as a stone. I'll mourn for an appropriate length of time, then pick up the pieces and move on with my life. So long, old friends.

 

[seatazzz]

Yesterday I learned that the new mill does NOT like conditioned grain, at least not with the drill I have. Next batch I should have a charger for my 19.2v cordless with torque adjustments, I'll try that instead. Grain got milled eventually but I almost burned out my corded drill; a nut vibrated off the hopper and stopped the mill dramatically. Fortunately no bent/broken shaft but it scared the crap out of me. Today I'm brewing up the house Citra/Sabro IPA; the current keg is going down fast, and some new Sabro hops arrived from YVH the other day. Dragged my old IC down from the rafters to use as a heat exchanger, it's cold out here.

 

[seatazzz]

You know how sometimes you're racking your brain for a solution to a problem? Can't find part of a tool you REALLY need? Things like that? And the solution is literally staring you in the face the whole time? Well it happened to me just now. The corded drill I have doesn't work for the new mill; runs way to fast with not enough torque. I have an old Kawasaki cordless 19v but cannot find the charger to save my life. Sitting here cruising Harbor Freight and HD looking for a replacement. HD has a nice Ridgid 18v that would work, and uses the same batteries as the one we already have.....YES, the 18v cordless drill that has been sitting on my tool box forever that the husband uses to drive screws, and I myself have used for the same purpose. He bought it, so I never thought it was anything more than a bit driver. Nope, exact same model I was just looking at on HD website. Just used it set on the low speed/high torque setting to mill a pound of two-row; prettiest crush I've ever produced. Now please excuse me so I can change into my sh*tkicking boots, to aim at my a**.

 

[loganklaas]

Brewed 5 gallons of an Old Rasputin clone. That makes 105 gallons brewed in 2022. In Idaho, it’s 100 gallons per adult in the household with a maximum of 200 gallons. It’s my wife and I, so we’re good to go!

 

[hout17]

Bottled my Raging Irish Red ale today. This was small batch biab for about 24 twelve ounce bottles when it was all set and done. Sampled it and it is quite good and you can't tell it's at a little over 6% abv this one could be dangerous.

Getting ready to try a bomber of my '71 Bodds attempt to see where we are at carbonation wise but it should be close.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Finally bottled a Christmas beer I brewed. Better late than never.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Finally bottled a Christmas beer I brewed. Better late than never.

I'm going to be way late . Only been a week in the fermenter. I usually won't even look at the fermenter for min 21 days but I'm gonna have to push this one. 2 batches ! I'm usually spot on by the 24th but not this year. What I keg will be ok but the bottles won't be ready. So looks like Xmas beer is gonna be New Years beer.

 

[seatazzz]

Coming down to the wire at soon-to-be-previous job; big boss is coming on Wednesday to chat with us all and 'smooth over' the transition to the California folks taking over our jobs. Not that there's anything to do. All of the furniture in our office was left by the previous tenant, so it's ours if we want it; there was a small end table in my office that I snagged. A shelf across the bottom, a few blocks made from 2x4s to raise it up, a hole for the mill and some grooves for it to sit in, a chute made from an old grain bag, and four wheels will make it my new mill stand. Husband won't be happy; his non-brewing self had a plan in mind for what I should build from scratch.

 

[seatazzz]

ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!! Rant on! Checked the co2 tank this morning and it was, well, tanking. Disconnected and took to work with me to exchange at LHBS down the street. Got it home, checked the kegerator, kegs, manifold, connections, everything with my 5lb tank. All good, so hooked up the new 20lb tank. Still wanted to do some tests on the regulator, so tried to turn off the main valve. Nope. Won't close. Fiddled with the nut on the valve, nothing. Made sure it wasn't backflow from the kegs too. So tomorrow I have to take the tank, with regulator attached, to our local welding shop so they can do something in a controlled environment, and spend another $30 on an exchange. Going to take the receipt to my LHBS when the owner gets back from vacation (very good friend of mine) and I'm sure he'll make it good. Not his fault but his supplier. Still.....ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

 

[seanjwalker1]

ARRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!! Rant on! Checked the co2 tank this morning and it was, well, tanking. Disconnected and took to work with me to exchange at LHBS down the street. Got it home, checked the kegerator, kegs, manifold, connections, everything with my 5lb tank. All good, so hooked up the new 20lb tank. Still wanted to do some tests on the regulator, so tried to turn off the main valve. Nope. Won't close. Fiddled with the nut on the valve, nothing. Made sure it wasn't backflow from the kegs too. So tomorrow I have to take the tank, with regulator attached, to our local welding shop so they can do something in a controlled environment, and spend another $30 on an exchange. Going to take the receipt to my LHBS when the owner gets back from vacation (very good friend of mine) and I'm sure he'll make it good. Not his fault but his supplier. Still.....ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

That's a real bummer. Been there done that 2x in my 3 years of kegging.

 

[seatazzz]

A few weeks ago I ordered a big roll of stocking bandage (the kind used under plaster casts for broken bones) from Allmymoneyzgone, with the idea it would make nice hop socks. Seems a bit thick for that purpose, so it's been sitting on the shelf. Yesterday I kegged an Orange Coriander Wit, and decided to make a bag from that bandage for the orange peel/crushed coriander seed to go in the keg. Long story short, this beer has a HUGE orange nose/flavor, and slight spiciness from the Coriander; so yes the beer gets through the fabric, with little to no particles coming out of it. Then I got to thinking; I have a nice hop spider that I got a couple of years ago, but have never found the right kind of bag that will work with pellet hops, without getting all clogged up. A big o-ring from a keg, a quick seam on one end with the serger, and that stocking bandage fits perfectly on the spider. I use my BIAB false bottom in my BK so the hop bags (currently I use my BIAB hoist to suspend them in the BK) won't hit the bottom and scorch. Going to give it a try on Sunday with the house WF lager, thinking it will work great. Would work as well with a knot tied in the end for anyone else thinking of this route.

 

[leedspointbrew]

Bottled my AOH - Absegami Original Hibernian. Too much chocolate malt - turned out more like a brown ale or dark mild than an Irish Amber. Tastes good though; Fuggles and EKG are like peanut butter and jelly.
Now I have a fairly large backlog of bottles for the holidays. Cheers!

 

[seanjwalker1]

A few weeks ago I ordered a big roll of stocking bandage (the kind used under plaster casts for broken bones) from Allmymoneyzgone, with the idea it would make nice hop socks. Seems a bit thick for that purpose, so it's been sitting on the shelf. Yesterday I kegged an Orange Coriander Wit, and decided to make a bag from that bandage for the orange peel/crushed coriander seed to go in the keg. Long story short, this beer has a HUGE orange nose/flavor, and slight spiciness from the Coriander; so yes the beer gets through the fabric, with little to no particles coming out of it. Then I got to thinking; I have a nice hop spider that I got a couple of years ago, but have never found the right kind of bag that will work with pellet hops, without getting all clogged up. A big o-ring from a keg, a quick seam on one end with the serger, and that stocking bandage fits perfectly on the spider. I use my BIAB false bottom in my BK so the hop bags (currently I use my BIAB hoist to suspend them in the BK) won't hit the bottom and scorch. Going to give it a try on Sunday with the house WF lager, thinking it will work great. Would work as well with a knot tied in the end for anyone else thinking of this route.



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A few weeks ago I ordered a big roll of stocking bandage (the kind used under plaster casts for broken bones) from Allmymoneyzgone, with the idea it would make nice hop socks. Seems a bit thick for that purpose, so it's been sitting on the shelf. Yesterday I kegged an Orange Coriander Wit, and decided to make a bag from that bandage for the orange peel/crushed coriander seed to go in the keg. Long story short, this beer has a HUGE orange nose/flavor, and slight spiciness from the Coriander; so yes the beer gets through the fabric, with little to no particles coming out of it. Then I got to thinking; I have a nice hop spider that I got a couple of years ago, but have never found the right kind of bag that will work with pellet hops, without getting all clogged up. A big o-ring from a keg, a quick seam on one end with the serger, and that stocking bandage fits perfectly on the spider. I use my BIAB false bottom in my BK so the hop bags (currently I use my BIAB hoist to suspend them in the BK) won't hit the bottom and scorch. Going to give it a try on Sunday with the house WF lager, thinking it will work great. Would work as well with a knot tied in the end for anyone else thinking of this route.



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One of my qualifications in the army was cast tech. It's called a stockinette. If I remember...40 years ago !... stockinette, webro, plaster of Paris. Little hop sacks are pretty much same thing, lighter material.

 

[seatazzz]

Because I am super excited at the moment, need to report that the stockinette bandage (thanks @seanjwalker1 for correcting my terminology!) hack on the hop spider is working VERY well! The few times I've used the spider before, the pellet hops clogged the bag up to the point of overflowing; this thing is keeping the hops down in the wort where they belong (with the help of 10 marbles), no green gunk on the sides of the BK as with my other bags, and I can smell those lovely Hallertau Blanc bittering hops doing their thang. Already planning to make some reuseable dry hop bags to use with sous vide magnets. Fabulous brewday goin on here!!

 

[seanjwalker1]

Because I am super excited at the moment, need to report that the stockinette bandage (thanks @seanjwalker1 for correcting my terminology!) hack on the hop spider is working VERY well! The few times I've used the spider before, the pellet hops clogged the bag up to the point of overflowing; this thing is keeping the hops down in the wort where they belong (with the help of 10 marbles), no green gunk on the sides of the BK as with my other bags, and I can smell those lovely Hallertau Blanc bittering hops doing their thang. Already planning to make some reuseable dry hop bags to use with sous vide magnets. Fabulous brewday goin on here!!

I would never presume to correct you ! You are light-years ahead of me in brewing knowledge ! It just triggered a long lost memory. It was 1984..ahem ahem, cough and blush...when I 1st became cast qualified at Wurzburg Army hospital in Germany , and I didn't even utilize those skills much as a medic and then eventual nurse. Just a triggered memory.

 

[seatazzz]

I would never presume to correct you ! You are light-years ahead of me in brewing knowledge ! It just triggered a long lost memory. It was 1984..ahem ahem, cough and blush...when I 1st became cast qualified at Wurzburg Army hospital in Germany , and I didn't even utilize those skills much as a medic and then eventual nurse. Just a triggered memory.

It's not often anymore that I come across something that really changes my brewing process, but this one is a serious game changer. I tend to make a lot of IPAs with late additions, that contribute a lot of green gunk (I only use pellet hops, never leaf) to not only the BK but the fermenter; if this can give me cleaner beers, AND cleaner yeast slurry to use across multiple styles, I will be VERY happy. This is one of those days when I'm so giddy with excitement I have to tell the entire world (at least the HBT world).

And don't disparage what you do! You experiment with a lot of different styles that I haven't gotten to yet (and maybe never will since I'm kinda set in my ways, and sometimes scared of trying new recipes) and I always enjoy your posts!

 

[seanjwalker1]

So..checked the FG on the experiment Sugar Cookie, 1.010 and the spiced Xmas beer, 1.010. The Sugar cookie was...well ..NOT Sugar Cookie ! Really weird tasting, a bit of funk in the beginning, slight taste of stale sugar cookies in the back of the mouth. Not happy ! Never use cookie mix in the recipe again lesson learned !! So down the drain 3 gallons went !! Good day Sir ! Xmas beer is ok. I could have used a bit more ginger and cinnamon. So gonna do a tea of cinnamon and ginger and add a touch of pecan flavor and add that or maybe just cinnamon and pecan. Last year I added pecan and peach and it was really good but no peach to this one. Then ill let it settle and keg 1.75G and bottle the rest. Fermenter is on the back balcony in 27° cold weather for last hour crashing down the yeast.

 

[grampamark]

Got back from the city this afternoon and checked the gravity of the Fizzy Yellow Lager I brewed a couple of weeks ago. Down to .004 so I moved it to the cold storage room which is down to 36°F. Outside temp right now is -15°F. Now I have room in the ferm fridge for one more batch before the end of the year.

 

[Pkrd]

Kegged my Taiheke pale ale.
Tidied up the kegerator somewhat.

Filled a keg with grapes and blueberries for christmas fizzy fruit.

 

[South Arm Brew]

So..checked the FG on the experiment Sugar Cookie, 1.010 and the spiced Xmas beer, 1.010. The Sugar cookie was...well ..NOT Sugar Cookie ! Really weird tasting, a bit of funk in the beginning, slight taste of stale sugar cookies in the back of the mouth. Not happy ! Never use cookie mix in the recipe again lesson learned !! So down the drain 3 gallons went !! Good day Sir ! Xmas beer is ok. I could have used a bit more ginger and cinnamon. So gonna do a tea of cinnamon and ginger and add a touch of pecan flavor and add that or maybe just cinnamon and pecan. Last year I added pecan and peach and it was really good but no peach to this one. Then ill let it settle and keg 1.75G and bottle the rest. Fermenter is on the back balcony in 27° cold weather for last hour crashing down the yeast.

Sorry to hear about your Sugar Cookie XMas beer! I brewed one as you know, and it’s ok, but others think it’s outstanding. If it’s your thing, sweet beer and all. I could drink 1 at a time but not more. Gave it away at our annual brew club beer exchange and received many positive replies over the last couple of days. Maybe someone else likes it…. I usually don’t think I brew my beer that great when I over try, but people respond positively to it. Just saying! Merry Christmas!

 

[BrewMan13]

Over the weekend I kegged the wee heavy. Got great attenuation. Not sure how "to style" it will be as I tried to use mostly stuff I already had on hand, though it does meet all the specs (except technically the FG is low due to the aforementioned attenuation). Also cold crashed the Baltic porter after a kind of stuttered d-rest (heat lamp died and waited a couple days to get a new one). Should keg that this coming weekend, and that's all the homebrew related activity until the spring (save for periodically sampling the imperial stout in the barrel)

 

[seanjwalker1]

Sorry to hear about your Sugar Cookie XMas beer! I brewed one as you know, and it’s ok, but others think it’s outstanding. If it’s your thing, sweet beer and all. I could drink 1 at a time but not more. Gave it away at our annual brew club beer exchange and received many positive replies over the last couple of days. Maybe someone else likes it…. I usually don’t think I brew my beer that great when I over try, but people respond positively to it. Just saying! Merry Christmas!

Honestly I didn't have high hopes for it. I knew better than to use cookie mix with all the crappy ingredients in it. But that's why it was a brewsperiment. Learned what doesn't work !!

 

[seatazzz]

So here's the dry hop sock I made; tested in the fermonster, it's a bit awkward but should work. Phallic resemblance not intended, I swear. The little side pockets on the bottom have magnets sewn inside, the top will get stitched shut after adding dry hops. Hoping this works, it was fun to make.