What I did for beer today

[day_trippr]

Kicked a keg of my all-Citra DIPA hazy last night, swapped in a keg of its sessionable little brother, then this afternoon ran the kick through my venerable and verging on dilapidated Mark II Keg Washer. The last of the little plastic latching tabs that retained the plastic stand for kegs (and carboys) to the plastic base went to Homebrew Heaven, so the rig is completely dependent on gravity, inertia, and careful keg positioning to keep the keg vertical.

To my knowledge replacement parts have never really been available for this thing. I could resort to gluing it together, as long as I can still extract the pump assembly for draining prior to putting it away between uses. I'd chuck it and build my own if the pump wasn't still performing so well, so I'll keep using it until it becomes a pita I guess...

Cheers!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Bottled 2.75 gallons of 6.0% chocolatey stout, that was GONNA be dosed with coconut extract, but switched it up, and instead used up the last of my Brewers Best Peanut Butter extract.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I drove back up to Baltimore for a sack of Simpson's Otter. It has been more than a decade since I've used Simpson's, so I'm pretty geeked up about putting it through its paces. The raw malt tastes a shade more toasty than my old sack of Crisp, so I'm chomping at the bit to get it into some kegs. I'm looking forward to mild ale weather setting in.

 

[JC Mendyka]

Bought my 5 gallons of water for my next bat

 

[bike2brew]

Bottled 10 gal (96 bottles) of 2 varieties of IPA w/ Munich or Vienna malt. The darker one (Munich) had Centennial in the boil, while the lighter is all Citra and Mosaic. Closet is at capacity now so likely have a bit of down time before another brew day


.

 

[Rish]

at capacity now

Aw, come on! You can stack a few more cases in there!

 

[bike2brew]

4 high on that back stack worries me a bit

 

[Bramling Cross]

I didn't write this up yesterday because I was zapped after a miserably hot summer brewing session. I have a bit of a mini project going that involves chasing a dragon. I'm trying to brew the most unambiguously UK-ish ale imaginable. The project has it's headwaters in a brief encounter I had with St. Peter's Pale Ale about twenty years ago. I've never seen it since, but it sure left an impression on my. The hops were nice, but that grist! I've never tasted a UK grist that was that unambiguously British. It left an impression on me. I've tried capturing it with Otter+UK amber malt to no avail. I just can't seem to wrap my head around UK amber malt. You can't taste it, so you up the percentage, you still can't taste it, so you up the percentage....whoa!!!! Too much!!!. I'm trying again with brown malt. I tried 5% earlier this spring and while it was a really nice ale, it was off the mark. I tried again yesterday with 2.5%. I think I'm getting closer to that overwhelming Britishness.

Time will tell.

 

[MaxStout]

I took a sample of the Brown Bagger malt liquor that's been in the fermenter for 12 days. SG was 1.008, about where I want it. OG was 1.063, so about 7.3% ABV and 87% AA. Sample tasted good and the pH was 4.02.

I'll leave it in another week or so, cold-crash, hit it with some gelatin, wait a few more days, then bottle.

 

[T Murph]

I transferred my Julio Uno Lago and collected the trub. It's my first time collecting SafLager 34/70 off of a brew. We'll see after it has had a week to settle out to determine which of the 4 jars will actually get used to brew a batch. Next I transferred a pale ale that I call Coach Haus Pale Ale in memory of an old highschool coach to the fermentation fridge to cold crash.

 

[jcav]

Soaked my fermentor the other day with hot PBW. Today I gave it a hot water rinse, followed by a Star San spray and now I am ready for brew day on Friday! Of course I will sanitize it again before filling it from the boil kettle.

John

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Yesterday I cleaned a small corny keg, and today I did a little more work in the hop yard and saw these invasive spotted lantern fly nymphs. Hoping neem oil is effective.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Bottled x21 half litre bottles of Sierra Nevada clone.

 

[Willy]

Retooled a SS table that was 36" high - to a height of 21" with wheels. Going to use it as a brewing platform for a larger AIO electric (100L, 220v, 6600w heater, with recirculation, whirlpool port). One of these easy jobs that worked out without any issues. Yeah. Go Beer!

 

[T Murph]

Retooled a SS table that was 36" high - to a height of 21" with wheels. Going to use it as a brewing platform for a larger AIO electric (100L, 220v, 6600w heater, with recirculation, whirlpool port). One of these easy jobs that worked out without any issues. Yeah. Go Beer!

Posst pictures of your build please.

 

[Willy]

Posst pictures of your build please.

Being built... Shipping soon. Next week I suspect.

 

[HM-2]

Just transitioning from mash to boil on a Japanese Rice Lager with Sorachi Ace and Yuzu peel. On target for my 1.045 OG and shooting for 30 IBU with about 1/3 of that coming from the whirlpool.

Will get fermented at ambient temp and 8 PSI with NovaLager and should be in a good state for kegging on my return from holiday.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Kegged a czech lager and an Classic American Pils yesterday. Didn't clean the fermenters as I was thinking of brewing something to dump onto the yeast cake(s). It's a little hot out here in TN, and being an outdoor brewer, I'm also a fair weather brewer. Got several brews on deck, just need to decide, Czech Dark Lager, Baltic Porter, or a session cold ipa/apa.......hmmmm

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

Kicked a keg of my all-Citra DIPA hazy last night, swapped in a keg of its sessionable little brother, then this afternoon ran the kick through my venerable and verging on dilapidated Mark II Keg Washer. The last of the little plastic latching tabs that retained the plastic stand for kegs (and carboys) to the plastic base went to Homebrew Heaven, so the rig is completely dependent on gravity, inertia, and careful keg positioning to keep the keg vertical.

View attachment 879664

To my knowledge replacement parts have never really been available for this thing. I could resort to gluing it together, as long as I can still extract the pump assembly for draining prior to putting it away between uses. I'd chuck it and build my own if the pump wasn't still performing so well, so I'll keep using it until it becomes a pita I guess...

Cheers!

Get a 3D model of that thang and the dude has a connection for printing.

 

[JC Mendyka]

Well, got rejected for a job today; going to brew some Hefeweizen Hell today. Wish me luck.

 

[Willy]

The #2 Louie The Lip Lager kicked and keg#1 of Live at the Apollo has just a few pours left. Why to they always kick 2 or 3 at a time?

So ... I got keg #2 of Live at the Apollo cold crashing (for better head retention) and it should be ready to swap when needed. The Czech Pilsner replaced Louie the Lip Lager. Meanwhile ... The summer hot days batch of Blonde Ale with Kveik (Voss) is on day 8, long past the bubble explosion of days 1-3... But still a good idea to let it "finish up", which in this case means let the yeast die and foculate out of the way.

Waiting to clean the Louie the Lip keg until I have the other one kicked and do a double corny clean day soon.

The "Fat Boy" arrives tomorrow. (A big sized 26+ gal AIO, 220v, 6600 w heating element, 25w pump, modded with a whirlpool port. Pictures soon. Tomorrow afternoon I will do some cleaning and testing (like - what is the boil off rate in gallons per hour at 213°F?)

Put together a 12 gallon recipe for an Irish Red. Go Beer!!!!

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Went to an asian supermarket in St Paul to get more palm sugar, for a re-brew of a tropical stout that turned out so nice, I've got to make it twice.

 

[JC Mendyka]

Listening to fest musik brewing a here Weis bier hell with my favorite brewer’s assistant my son.

 

[MaxStout]

Added gelatin to the malt liquor in my Brew Bucket. One tsp in about 150ml sanitized RO water. First time I've used the syringe and ball lock thing. I need a bigger syringe, as I needed to do a couple "injections" with the 60ml. But this is such an easy process, why didn't I think of it before? No popping the lid.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Today I brewed 19 litres of American Amber Ale
2800g Maris Otter
800g Munich Light
400g Amber malt
200g Special B
16g Magnum at 60m
25g Centennial at 15m
25g Centennial at hop stand 85C for 20m
CML Five yeast.
OG 1049 BHE 72%. I think Munich lowers the BHE.
Expecting an ABV 5.3% which is fine.

 

[Willy]

Taking the Brewzilla Gen 4 100 L (Fat Boy) on its virgin brew day. A modest sized 12 gallon batch with a little over 21 lb of grain and barley flakes.

Couldn't use a bag so I am using the mash pipe on this go round. Gotta order a massive bag - 30 gallon wilser is on the to do list.

Going great so far. I always thought it would make more sense for your mash pipe to be wide, very wide and not that high. And indeed it is easier. Nothing gets too compacted because it doesn't stack high and is spread out wide. (Will add more notes as we progress. )

The post mash OG came in low - need to lower efficiency #s on Brewzilla and decrease boil off amount by 3/4-1 gallon (actual boil off was much less than the 3 gallons + in the software.) shouldnt be too tough... Just a few more brew days and it will be "on the money". Anyway... Did some calculations and added a little less than 2 cups of demerera sugar to get to my expected OG number of 1.044. currently cooling down with a jaded Scylla (should be using a different jaded chiller that fits well - the one for the 35L doesnt sit right for the big dog 100L - I need much wider ... Like a mile wider. Yet it is still working okay. The whirlpool mod is doing great and I really like it. Serious whirlpool now.

Temp down to 91°F now ... Whirlpool off for 10-15 to settle hops and make a big clumpy cake on the HED. Added the chart of the brew day ... Love the speedy ramp up to mash in and boil.

Finishing up, pBW'd already at 140°F - the starsan needs another 15 min. And I am done. Woot. Great brew day.

 

[HM-2]

When I finally build the brewery of my dreams, I'm going to get myself one of those hectolitre systems. They look fantastic.

 

[Willy]

When I finally build the brewery of my dreams, I'm going to get myself one of those hectolitre systems. They look fantastic.

The hectolitre size is wonderful. Like loose sweatpants after a massive meal. Lots of room to relax. Loving it so far. I will need to dial in my software but that shouldn't be too hard.

 

[govner1]

Replaced the tubing and gaskets on one of my CBDS keg systems.
checked the carb level on my latest batch of Saison. Perfect1

 

[leedspointbrew]

Placed my first order at Brewhardware.com, since I've heard nothing but good things about the site. Crossing my fingers that I did everything right.

 

[T Murph]

I transferred an APA, that I call Coach Haus Pale Ale, to a sixtel and put it in the kegerator. I then made up a BLC solution in a 1.6 gal Torpedo keg and flushed and cleaned two vacant taps and lines. After getting everything rearranged in the kegerator and the new brews hooked up, (my Julio Uno Lago has been lagering a few weeks) I simply sat around sampling beers.

 

[MaxStout]

I bottled my malt liquor. What a mess. The fermentation went crazy on about day 2, and I had lots of krausen--in the blowoff jar, over the side of the blowoff jar, in the blowoff tube. Some foam even made it into the Cold Crash Guardian bag. The narrow tubing plugged up and luckily I caught it before the lid of my Brew Bucket blew off. But the inside of the ferm chamber was a mess. After I lifted out the FV, there was about 1/4" of nasty, moldy water in the bottom. I had to mop it up with an old towel. It's a converted chest freezer, so it's not easy reaching down in there. I got it cleaned up, rinsed, then bleach-bombed it with a spray bottle of diluted chlorox, and wiped dry.

The bottling itself went great. I filled 46 12oz long necks. OG was 1.063 and FG 1.007, for 7.4% ABV. Hydro sample tasted great.

I retooled the tubing for the blowoff and Cold Crash Guardian. Used 1/2" ID Bevlex and SS fittings. I'll see how it goes next time.

 

[Bramling Cross]

Funny you should mention that, Max. I just finished slopping this thing together.

While shooting the bull with MaxStout about his balloon style anti-suck back rig, it occurred to me that a modification that he was making could be repurposed to create a gas in valve for my jar based anti-suck back rig. As serendipity would have it, Max posted his rebuilt rig just a couple minutes before I posted my variation of his rig. It appears to work and it will eliminate any opportunity for oxygen ingress during pressure transfers by allowing me to purge the lines prior to pressurizing the fermenter. It'll also provide a means by which I can slowly bleed off CO2 pressure after the transfer.

While I could've simply installed a gas in ball lock post on the top of the fermenter then placed a ball valve inline in my blow off tube, this contraption is cheaper, reversible, more easy to purge, and doesn't require fermenter-grade sanitation. It's a bit less elegant, but it'll be less work and less bother over the coming decades. This contraption is for my lager fermenter, so I built it in 3/8ths. Once I'm satisfied that this thing works properly, I'll build a second contraption for my ale fermenter in 1/2." I'll place the 1/2" ale contraption between the two jars so that I don't risk getting blowoff into the valves. That would be bad and require bother.

Here's the entire thing assembled. It sits in front of the anti-suck back rig and downstream of the fermenter.

 

[BrewZer]

Did the bottling math on the Twin Blades of Fury for tomorrow's bottling session. Going with 32 22oz and 5 12oz (for sampling carbonation). Definitely not using the carb drops this batch -- I want predictable bubbling with this brew.

 

[ClaudiusB]

I had to relabel six pipes throughout the brewery after many years of abuse.

 

[BrewZer]

I had to relabel six pipes throughout the brewery after many years of abuse.
View attachment 880578

Meanwhile, back at the utility sink, I've got my bottles and transfer tubing soaking in an unhealthy bleach solution to kill off all the little ugly organisms that like to drink beer...

So that the big ugly organisms can enjoy the beer after it carbonates in the bottles.

And an update: the beer survived the lo-bottling operation and is resting comfortably in a quiet place. I expect, based on the way the dregs from the bottling bucket tasted, it will be a very bready, heady, slightly bitter in the finish, lawnmower beer. FG came out to 1.008, putting my ABV at 5.12%. Right in the target zone!

 

[seatazzz]

Cranked up the temperature on the latest pressure fermented lager to 73, pressure at 20psi. Should be done in about 4-5 days.

 

[jwill911]

Added gelatin to the malt liquor in my Brew Bucket. One tsp in about 150ml sanitized RO water. First time I've used the syringe and ball lock thing. I need a bigger syringe, as I needed to do a couple "injections" with the 60ml. But this is such an easy process, why didn't I think of it before? No popping the lid.

View attachment 880339

I use a .5 liter smart water bottle, add gelatin / biofine, have a carb cap /w Evabarrier tube to bottom, purge with co2 then pressurize it. Transfer with purged jumper. Works really well. YMMV

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Made another 3 gallon batch of a delicious cascade/citra pale ale recipe that I've been hooked on all summer.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Got some entries packed and shipped.