What I did for beer today

[BrewZer]

I Still no idea why the hot break was purple, though.

Any chance some iodine might have sneaked into the mash?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I cut the grass (the connection will be clear in a second) and grilled off some baby back ribs to go into the oven to tenderize (ditto).

I used the mowing as an excuse and the grilling as an opportunity to sample bottle 2 of the Summer 48 American Amber Ale. It's carbing up nicely now, and almost an hour after I popped it, there's still a thin layer of head across the top. Taste is less bready but still kind of grainy in the front, fairly neutral in the middle, and the hops shine through in the finish. What I thought was sour seems to be more carbonic bite and hops florality.

I'll be mowing and grilling more often now that this beer is just about ready for the fridge!

 

[Bramling Cross]

Any chance some iodine might have sneaked into the mash?

Ah, hadn't thought of that! That's a great idea and the most plausible explanation so far. With that said, although I do use iodine-based sanitizers, their use takes place in a separate room. Neither they, nor the tools they touch, see the hot side of my brewery, but your explanation makes the most sense.

Appreciate that! Frankly, I'm too close to my processes to have thought about that.

 

[HM-2]

I'd just started heating strike water for my yuzu dry hopped imperial rice lager (try saying that with a mouthful of mashed potatoes) only to find that I've run out of ChemSan.

Which, for those stateside, is our domestic version of StarSan (which doesn't meet EU REACH regulations and is therefore very difficult to acquire in most of Europe).

My local HBS closed down about 2 months ago so I can't swing out to grab any.

And then it started raining (I exclusively brew outside). Hard.



Soooo looks like that's postponed.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I'd just started heating strike water for my yuzu dry hopped imperial rice lager (try saying that with a mouthful of mashed potatoes) only to find that I've run out of ChemSan.

Which, for those stateside, is our domestic version of StarSan (which doesn't meet EU REACH regulations and is therefore very difficult to acquire in most of Europe).

My local HBS closed down about 2 months ago so I can't swing out to grab any.

And then it started raining (I exclusively brew outside). Hard.



Soooo looks like that's postponed.

That seriously sucks! Know that you're not alone, though. Most of us have been there...or eventually will be.

As a guy that has been brewing for a long time, here's my advice. I eventually get two of everything. Not immediately, I'm a homebrewer--and I'll be damned if you pry a single dollar from my wallet. I'm not made of money! But once I learn that something is critical to the working of my brewery, I eventually wait for a sale and get a spare. For example, I have a spare pump and a spare regulator sitting in their boxes on my brewing rack because I cannot brew or drink beer without either of those components and experience has taught me that they do fail.

Likewise, I like to keep a working bottle of iodophor and a spare at hand. I only keep a small bottle of Star-San because I use very little of it, given that my brewery is pump-based (foam is a big problem in a pump-based brewery) and iodine is the next best thing to bleach when you absolutely, positively want to nuke something from orbit.

Writing from the US, I'm not sure if iodophor is as cheap and easily available as it is in the States, but it might be worth looking into if ChemSan is giving you grief.

For whatever the reason, homebrewers will happily horde hops and malt that will eventually diminish and fade while they buy even more malt and hops that will eventually diminish and fade while forgetting to backup the fundamental components that actually keep their brewery running.

Identify the stuff that you really need, then make certain that you have enough of it available to brew beer whenever you have the time. It's a lot better to have beer you can drink that doesn't have that 4oz of honey malt than no beer at all because you don't have a vital component of your brewery ready to go.

That's my advice, for what it's worth.

 

[HM-2]

I'm usually pretty good at keeping duplicates. I've got two or three of almost everything- regulators, filter setups, tubs of cleaner, kettle false bottoms, common hose runs I need. I've got three tubs of VWP and one of ChemClean (both of which are PBW alternatives). I thought I had a second bottle of ChemSan, but unfortunately not.

Iodophor is very cheap in bulk. Seems to be similarly priced to ChemClean in quantities 1L or below.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I’m on holiday in Amantea Calabria Italy with my family, wife, 2 daughters and three grandchildren so mainly drinking Peroni. But I discovered a craft ale bar serving beer brewed locally. I’ve tried the American IPA with Citra, Amarillo and Simcoe ( I spotted the Citra, the owner told me the rest). It is very good, the owner is also a homebrewer and we discussed our respective favourite beers in English.

 

[day_trippr]

Kegged my 6th batch of Fantastic Haze clone...

Cheers!

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Did the dry hop thang for the American Strong this morning.

 

[grampamark]

Went to the LHBS and got the ingredients for a Mosaic SMaSH. Brewing tomorrow.

 

[BrewZer]

Prestaged the fermenter to decant to the bottling bucket; bottles in the utility sink in bleach solution to sanitize, caps and capper prestaged to start bottling Frankenweizen's Monster after my Assistent Braumeister gets up and going...
And it looks like a monster, I must say...

ETA: Oh, but the flavor! It's very authentic to the style. For the first time in my brewing career, I used Cooper's carb drops -- can't wait to see how it all turns out!

 

[BrewMan13]

Finally kicked a beer (keptinis) so that I could put the oatmeal stout on. Also it has been a bit since I actually brewed due to not really needing to, and dealing with the weather. But final prep was made to brew a koyt beer tomorrow.

 

[BrewZer]

Inverted and shook Frankenweizen's Monster to evenly disperse the sugar from the carb drops we used. Put a Summer 48 in the 'fridge to test a 22-oz bottle when I grill a bit later today.

Grilling is the perfect excuse to test a new brew... Brewing is the perfect excuse to put something on the grill.

 

[jcav]

Today I kegged my Vienna Lager for my upcoming Oktoberfest party. Gonna give it a 7 week lager. Also cleaned 4 kegs today on my keg washer.

John

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

I kegged up ten gallons of Saison.
Now to cleaning the fermenter.

 

[day_trippr]

Brewing my raspberry hibiscus wheat beer, the base beer had fully fermented out by Friday night, and then was soft-crashed for two days, to be fruited today (Monday). I had to prep the berries and hibiscus yesterday morning, so I gathered together 9 pounds of frozen berries, a bag of dried hibiscus flower, some corn sugar and maltodextrin, and some pectin enzyme.

I use 6 ounces of hibiscus for a 10 gallon batch.

6 cups of tap water brought to a boil, flowers added, then lidded and taken off the heat. They steeped for 30 minutes.

While the flowers were steeping I blasted the berries in the Cuisinart using a plastic blade to leave the seeds intact. I sanitized all implements to start as the berry/'biscus mixture will sit at a vulnerable temperature for awhile...

With the berries all pureed I strained the hot hibiscus tea on top...

I bring the mix up to 85°F and stir in 5 ounces of corn sugar, 8 ounces of maltodextrin, and two teaspoons of pectin enzyme to break down the berries.

I lidded the pot and swaddled it in a heavy bath towel and let it sit from noon until 11 pm Sunday. At that time I put the pot back on the stove and slowly brought the temperature up to 145°F while sitting constantly. At that point I turned off the heat and re-swaddled the pot, leaving it until this morning (Monday).

This morning I set the pot in cold water to bring the temperature down to 70°F - the same temperature as a fresh pair of sanitized and CO2-flushed carboys - then poured half of the berry mix into each carboy.

Racked the base beer on top.

Stuffed the carboys back in the chamber set to fermentation temperature (68°F) for a few days before cold-crashing and kegging...

I brewed this for the third time in April of 2023 and have been nursing the last of it until I could get around to another brew. My tap list says I have 98 ounces left to get through the next week or so until this batch is ready. It's obviously not a fast mover so it takes second place to pretty much everything else I brew...

Cheers!

 

[tdf]

brewing a wet hop pale ale with my homegrown Chinook and Comet hops. The first harvest gave me enough hops for a 10L batch. The hopstand is smelling phenomenal.

 

[HM-2]

Brew day take #2 for my imperial rice lager. Just finishing up a conference call before I dough in!

 

[HM-2]

...and it's hit the fermenter.

20% flaked torrified rice made for a very sticky mash that lightly stuck a couple of times but hit my numbers with minimal effort. Very easy overall.

Could only get it down to 20°C but pitched in two packs of NovaLager and pressurised up to 8 PSI. Happy days.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I brewed 20 litres of Mosaic IPA
4700g Maris Otter
200g Naked Golden Oats
100g Biscuit malt
Mosaic
20g 60 minutes
20g 15 minutes
30g 20 minutes whirlpool @ 75C
To come 30g DH in 2FV for 4 days
Yeast was Clipper
OG 1058 BHE 75%
Expecting an ABV of 6.2%

 

[day_trippr]

Yet another hazy brew in the immediate future so I'm spinning up a 1318 overbuild again...

 

[ClaudiusB]

It's brew day. I am watching the grain processing system doing its thing.
After receiving the grain bill the system makes sure all required silos are available. Should a silo be missing the system lets the operator know and decide how to proceed.
Attached are a few pics from the grain processing system's animation. The sensors' feedback controls the animation.

 

[BrewZer]

It's brew day. I am watching the grain processing system doing its thing.
After receiving the grain bill the system makes sure all required silos are available. Should a silo be missing the system lets the operator know and decide how to proceed.
Attached are a few pics from the grain processing system's animation. The sensors' feedback controls the animation.
View attachment 855432
View attachment 855449

You know this is just a hobby, right?

 

[T Murph]

Yesterday I transferred the two porters that I made to do a yeast test. Each fermenter had 4 gallons which was half of an eight gallon batch. One fermenter was given US 05 and the other Chico 1056. The test went well with very little differences between the two fermenters sitting side by side. Initially the 1056 took off much quicker, about 3 hours after pitch it was producing krausen and pressure. It was a ninth generation repitch. The US 05 took approximately 18 hours to show krausen but no pressure. By 36 hours after pitch the 1056 was bubbling away holding 5 psi. Still no pressure building in the US 05 fermenter. Additionally I was not getting bubbles into the blow off bottle.

I gave until the next day but still no bubbles from the US 05. It had a nice krausen on top basically equal to the krausen on the 1056. Why is there no pressure or bubbles? I started checking for air leaks and finally found the prv on the lid of the US 05 Fermzilla to be leaking. Can't change it at this point so that adds another consideration to the final taste test.

Both were transferred into Sanke kegs to cold crash and carbonate. Sample taste test indicated no detectable difference between the two at this point. I will follow up next week with the final taste results.

 

[ClaudiusB]

You know this is just a hobby, right?

Homebrewing requires a lot of dedication and equipment and is not an easy hobby for me.
I would love to hear your opinion on what I should change to improve this hobby.
Cheers

 

[BrewZer]

Homebrewing requires a lot of dedication and equipment and is not an easy hobby for me.
I would love to hear your opinion on what I should change to improve this hobby.
Cheers

Have you considered a canning line and distribution warehouse?

 

[ba-brewer]

Homebrewing requires a lot of dedication and equipment and is not an easy hobby for me.
I would love to hear your opinion on what I should change to improve this hobby.
Cheers

Just make sure it is still fun.

Your setup is very impressive, always wondered if you were a commercial brewer or home brewer.

Brewing is such a nice hobby in that you can have a sophisticated setup like yours or a pot and a bucket and still end up with something drinkable.

 

[Bramling Cross]

To acquire the last of the cheap Wyeast at myLHBS, I risked life, limb, and the very purity of my soul on an excursion into the hellscape of N. Virginia. I have arrived home safe in body but tarnished and diminished in spirit.

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

brewing a wet hop pale ale with my homegrown Chinook and Comet hops. The first harvest gave me enough hops for a 10L batch. The hopstand is smelling phenomenal.

View attachment 855378

Those are some beautiful looking hops!

 

[OakIslandBrewery]

To acquire the last of the cheap Wyeast at myLHBS, I risked life, limb, and the very purity of my soul on an excursion into the hellscape of N. Virginia. I have arrived home safe in body but tarnished and diminished in spirit.

My heart goes out to you! To risk so much for the pursuit of your hobby, I applaud you!!

 

[ClaudiusB]

Have you considered a canning line and distribution warehouse?

I may have a canning line if this setup qualifies. My bottling line can fill cans or bottles at the same time.
A sensor distinguishes between glass and metal cans to change the filling process. The system is useless and lacks the seamer. It's only used for Grand Kids beer camps.