What I did for beer today

[seatazzz]

Today being the national celebration of my birth (no, seriously, it's a port holiday, Harry Bridges Day, look it up) I started the day with a nice relaxing bout of nintendo; then got the call from the parental that she had fallen yet again and hit her head, requiring a trip to the ER since she's on blood thinners and they get concerned about that sort of thing. Got that handled after four hours, her settled, then came home to keg the latest WF lager and tap it because I'm that kind of crazy. About 30 minutes ago got into a discussion with myself about how I would build a new gaming PC for the husband; gesturing got a bit expansive (remember beer is involved) and I tipped over said glass of new WF lager. In the race to grab a towel from the kitchen I tripped over older dog who had raced in to help hearing my squeals and bashed the heck out of my left knee. Being of an advanced age now (58 if anyone wants to know) I have years of experience dealing with minor injuries; said knee is now wrapped in wide ace bandage with ice underneath so I can possibly make it to work tomorrow. Not the best birthday but yesterday rocked, three breweries on Whidbey Island visited and a great dinner to finish it. Here is a lovely pic to show what NOT to do when barefoot on slippery concrete with a large dog in the way.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Today being the national celebration of my birth (no, seriously, it's a port holiday, Harry Bridges Day, look it up) I started the day with a nice relaxing bout of nintendo; then got the call from the parental that she had fallen yet again and hit her head, requiring a trip to the ER since she's on blood thinners and they get concerned about that sort of thing. Got that handled after four hours, her settled, then came home to keg the latest WF lager and tap it because I'm that kind of crazy. About 30 minutes ago got into a discussion with myself about how I would build a new gaming PC for the husband; gesturing got a bit expansive (remember beer is involved) and I tipped over said glass of new WF lager. In the race to grab a towel from the kitchen I tripped over older dog who had raced in to help hearing my squeals and bashed the heck out of my left knee. Being of an advanced age now (58 if anyone wants to know) I have years of experience dealing with minor injuries; said knee is now wrapped in wide ace bandage with ice underneath so I can possibly make it to work tomorrow. Not the best birthday but yesterday rocked, three breweries on Whidbey Island visited and a great dinner to finish it. Here is a lovely pic to show what NOT to do when barefoot on slippery concrete with a large dog in the way. View attachment 881039

Ouch! Um, happy birthday and feel better soon!

 

[leedspointbrew]

Performed morning iteration of twice-a-day ritual of watering hop / changing out swamp cooler ice jugs. It's a shame I didn't understand sooner the futility of this - there are definitely solid reasons why hops are grown in Hallertau / lagers brewed in Munich instead of steamy 40 n latitude South Jersey.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Did a double brew yesterday, v.4 of a session ipa and a hefe.

 

[MaxStout]

Today being the national celebration of my birth (no, seriously, it's a port holiday, Harry Bridges Day, look it up) I started the day with a nice relaxing bout of nintendo; then got the call from the parental that she had fallen yet again and hit her head, requiring a trip to the ER since she's on blood thinners and they get concerned about that sort of thing. Got that handled after four hours, her settled, then came home to keg the latest WF lager and tap it because I'm that kind of crazy. About 30 minutes ago got into a discussion with myself about how I would build a new gaming PC for the husband; gesturing got a bit expansive (remember beer is involved) and I tipped over said glass of new WF lager. In the race to grab a towel from the kitchen I tripped over older dog who had raced in to help hearing my squeals and bashed the heck out of my left knee. Being of an advanced age now (58 if anyone wants to know) I have years of experience dealing with minor injuries; said knee is now wrapped in wide ace bandage with ice underneath so I can possibly make it to work tomorrow. Not the best birthday but yesterday rocked, three breweries on Whidbey Island visited and a great dinner to finish it. Here is a lovely pic to show what NOT to do when barefoot on slippery concrete with a large dog in the way. View attachment 881039

The Aristocrats!

Seriously, I hope you have nothing but good luck going forward. You certainly paid all the bad luck in advance.
Happy birthday!

 

[JC Mendyka]

Yesterday was bottling day, and boy, was it efficient. It was a great time with my son helping, and a great system. I loved having the help and time with him. After referring to another post and setting up so I could stand and bottle it, it worked great. Attaching the bottling wand to a short piece of tube and setting the bottling bucket up higher is definitely worth the risk.

 

[brewskitom]

I'm using the CO2 generated from active fermentation of my Märzen to purge a keg filled with Starsan. This leaves me with a sanitized keg filled with CO2 that I can fill with the fermented beer via a closed transfer.

Since I will be lagering the beer in the keg, I'm using a keg lid with a 1.5" TC port (awesome product by @Bobby_M) and 14" TC thermowell (something @Bobby_M should consider). That way my lagering chamber (a cheap, used, mini fridge) can maintain the lagering temperature of the beer rather than the airspace in the fridge. I'm collecting the Starsan in a second keg that I'll purge when this is done - just to have a sanitized, CO2 filled, keg on hand for a future brew.

 

[Bramling Cross]

I just fired up the recirculation rig on my MLT. I'm making a helles today. Here's a thrilling action shot of the rig doing its thing. While it's tempting to stare at this gripping spectacle for the entire 20min duration of the process, I managed to tear myself away to share this spectacular image with you.

Edit: Because I’m a simpleton and I find great amusement in the most prosaic of things, here’s the vortex that develops in my MLT when I drain it after its rinse. It’s like briefly having my own little singularity.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Counted the number of hand-cranked revolutions my cereal killer mill needs, to grind up 5.75 lbs of barley. It's 362 revolutions!

Also, re-brewing the peanut butter stout I made earlier this summer cuz it turned out so awesome.

og: 1058, fg: 1012
64% 2-row
4% cara120
4% roast300
4% choc350
3% pale choc
2% midnight wheat
8% flaked oats
3% flaked wheat
8% brown sugar

mash at 151F, target pH of 5.50
Northern Brewer hops @60 and @20, for a total of of 45 ibu.
ferment mid 60'sF on S-04
bottling: 3.25 ounces Brewers Best Peanut Butter Flavoring per 5 gallons of beer, prime for 2.1 vol CO2


edit: Volume was a little low (about 2.75 gallons, not 3.0) and OG a little high (1.065). All out of RO water at the moment, so not gonna try and correct it.

 

[brewskitom]

Counted the number of hand-cranked revolutions my cereal killer mill needs, to grind up 5.75 lbs of barley. It's 362 revolutions!

Also, re-brewing the peanut butter stout I made earlier this summer cuz it turned out so awesome.

og: 1058, fg: 1012
64% 2-row
4% cara120
4% roast300
4% choc350
3% pale choc
2% midnight wheat
8% flaked oats
3% flaked wheat
8% brown sugar

mash at 151F, target pH of 5.50
Northern Brewer hops @60 and @20, for a total of of 45 ibu.
ferment mid 60'sF on S-04
bottling: 3.25 ounces Brewers Best Peanut Butter Flavoring per 5 gallons of beer, prime for 2.1 vol CO2

A cordless drill is your friend...

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

A cordless drill is your friend...

Meh, it's a little extra cardio -- just means I can have an extra beer!

 

[MaxStout]

Counted the number of hand-cranked revolutions my cereal killer mill needs, to grind up 5.75 lbs of barley. It's 362 revolutions!

 

[JohnDBrewer]

I just fired up the recirculation rig on my MLT.
View attachment 881268

What are you using for a mash cap? Thanks.

 

[seatazzz]

After a week of procrastinating, finally got the three entries for the Washington State Fair bottled off this morning. Only had to redo two for low fill, a record for me. Usually I take them directly to the Fairgrounds, but next Saturday (drop-off day) we are heading to the baseball park to watch the Ichiro Number Retirement Ceremony, and husband will want to leave early, so I'm taking them to the LHBS today. Bit disappointed because when I dropped off last year and they saw my name, the two people accepting entries got a little excited and said they had been waiting for me to show up to see what I would do this year. I've entered every year since 2018 (except that little hiccup in 2020) and ribboned every year. Last year I got a First in Mead, the first time I entered it in a competition, quite a heady experience. Still haven't hit that elusive Best in Show, but one of these years....

 

[Wigglebutts Brewery]

Yesterday was club annual picnic and yard sale. Everyone had a great time !! It's also the popular vote for the Iron Brewer competition, Note #24,219. Unbelievably Carl & me (me orange cap & Carl to the left) tied for first!!! Clubs are great fun!

 

[Willy]

Busy beer Monday. Just finished calibrating the EasyDens. All dialed in now. Noticed I was getting lower OG readings compared to perceived sweetness. Normally... I taste it and guess the OG... And have gotten very good at the game. Which is why I knew I needed to calibrate it. All set now.

Ordered my fall base grains from Carolina Malt House. It is an hour away but I heard great things about it from a friend who brews at a craft brewery in Charlotte . Pick up is scheduled for Thurs or Fri when the light Munich is ready (they are out of it now). All in all, I ordered about 250 pounds of grain for about $1.25/lb. Wow. Saved a few hundred bucks off of the grain bill. The place looks really cool. Hope I can walk around a bit and check it out. Never been to a malt house. Fun times!

 

[Willy]

Just got back from a trip to the Carolina Malt House. It's about an hour drive but the malt is excellent, fresh and well priced. (About $1.20 a pound, no shipping freight cost too). Picked up 100 lb of pilsner, 100 of Carolina Gold (kinda like golden promise), 15 lb of light and dark Munich, and 25 lb of malted corn. Really cool place way out in the country.
Carolina Malt House https://share.google/BqvDx6U0ACtwvho1L

 

[Bramling Cross]

What are you using for a mash cap? Thanks.

Apologies about the late reply, John. I was in a grouchy mood this week, so I didn't log in.

I caught a case of the clevers while standing in line at ALDI. They had cheap yoga mats at the front of the store made out of closed cell foam, so ideas started swirling. I plunked my seven dollars down for the yoga mat and have spare material for at least 3x more mash caps.

Way better than the Reflectix I was using, I had a roll and it wasn't doing anything.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

What did I do? I drank some.

 

[Bramling Cross]

What did I do? I drank some.

May as well put it to use right?

 

[lumpher]

Brewed 5 gallons of Hop Blonde. Need something going in the fermenter.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

I plunked my seven dollars down for the yoga mat and have spare material for at least 3x more mash caps.

Great, thanks. Been searching for something for my old keggle.

 

[JC Mendyka]

Went to the Brew store, the Flying Barrel, in Frederick, MD. Got another kit. Going to brew some Kolsch this birthday weekend.

 

[Willy]

Weighed, Split the 255 lbs of assorted base Malts into neat 10 lb zip lock bags. All labeled, sorted (FIFO) and put into large storage bins.

Next job - packaging up a 6 gallon batch of Czech pilsner and begin cold crash under pressure. Should be ready next week which is fine since I already have a Czech Pilsner on tap #4. When that's all done in a few days, I will make a German Pilsner - love those too. Go hallertau mittelfru!!!

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Hosted our club's monthly meeting yesterday. Had 8 of 10 taps up and running. Would have had 9 of 10 but couldn't solve a leak issue on my Irish Stout after cleaning my lines earlier in the week.

 

[BrewZer]

Mowed the lawn. This makes me eligible to drink a 22oz TBoF, but I don't want it to interfere with nap time so I'll wait to have it with dinner. It's Monday in the household...

 

[MaxStout]

Brewed 6 gallons of Dunkles Weissbier. Very good efficiency, as I beat my volume by 1/2 gallon and OG by 3 points. Mash pH was within .01 of predicted from Bru'nWater. Pitched rehydrated Munich Classic and the FV is in the ferm chamber. I hooked up my New and Improved Cold Crash Guardian, now with 1/2" tubing for extra blowoff protection!

 

[Halfakneecap]

My 100th batch in my 35L robobrew is a 6.5%ish cascadian ale. I rarely brew over 4%, but this is a bit special, and today i dry hopped it with 140g of Centennial ( 5gal ). Will get 5 days at 15c, and then i'll bottle.

Haven't dry hopped for a bottled beer for years. Threw them in a hop sock. Probably bottle on sunday.

Hoping for a big Centennial punch

 

[jcav]

Made a yeast starter for a German Altbier I am brewing on Saturday.

John

 

[JC Mendyka]

Brewed a Kolsch from a kit for the first time. Wife likes it.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My Erdinger clone yesterday evening. Very refreshing in 32C heat.

 

[seatazzz]

Yesterday kegged a cream ale that was quite tasty at testing just the day before; was in the fermzilla so only needed a few pulls of the PRV to get it ready to tap. Ugh, acetaldehyde! Still not quite sure what caused it; the usual good sanitation practices, fresh yeast, plenty of oxygen at pitching, good temperatures and was as done as it could get. Pulled the keg out this morning and let it offgas with a spunding valve all day, then when I got home did the co2 bubbling trick through the Out post for about 7 minutes. I've had good luck with that in the past. Chilling now, will test it again tomorrow. It wasn't horrible, just not what I wanted. I'll drink it no matter what since it's all I've got on tap except for a very little bit of aged porter. Arrrgh.

 

[Snuffy]

I'm trying to get my porter keg to kick so I can swap in the Uley's Old Spot clone. The porter is good but I'm over it at this point.
How's that knee?

 

[seatazzz]

I'm trying to get my porter keg to kick so I can swap in the Uley's Old Spot clone. The porter is good but I'm over it at this point.
How's that knee?

Not bad unless I forget and kneel on it, then it's OUCH. Probably bruised the kneecap worse than I thought.

 

[Willy]

Off to the mountains near Asheville - no HB styles for 3-4 days. Thankfully, lots of good commercial options, but the craft beer industry is exceptionally weak at providing an awesome English Brown Ale. How can this be? This is crazy to me. Nothing better than an English Brown Ale, EKG/Fuggles.

Thankfully, I can suffer in the sauna at the ridiculously nice place we are staying at.

 

[hopfenstopfen]

Off to the mountains near Asheville - no HB styles for 3-4 days. Thankfully, lots of good commercial options, but the craft beer industry is exceptionally weak at providing an awesome English Brown Ale. How can this be? This is crazy to me. Nothing better than an English Brown Ale, EKG/Fuggles.

Thankfully, I can suffer in the sauna at the ridiculously nice place we are staying at.

Recommendation?

 

[Willy]

Recommendation?

The area around Black Mountain has been the spot for immediate family vacations for several years now. It's about 20 minutes to Asheville which in my mind is the epicenter of craft brewing - for the country perhaps and certainly for the East Coast. Lots of awesome breweries are everywhere, and you can get a Sierra Nevada or New Belgium variety that is so fresh it is very pleasing. Just had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at My Father's Pizza (awesome pizza, stellar!) and I was always a fan of their Pale Ale but this draft was spectacular. Too many local beers to name - hard to go wrong with any of them. It is a beer town and the weaker breweries have been weeded out over the last few years. Hard to go wrong - they know how to make beer.

For places to stay - I have always used Greybeard Rentals, which offers a wide selection of places depending on the size of your party and what you want. Currently at Peak Perfection, which is a huge place, but not too bad when 4 families are splitting the tab. Yeah... I would recommend it. Really nice place.
https://www.greybeardrentals.com/asheville-vacation-rentals/peak-perfection

 

[Snuffy]

Off to the mountains near Asheville - no HB styles for 3-4 days. Thankfully, lots of good commercial options, but the craft beer industry is exceptionally weak at providing an awesome English Brown Ale. How can this be? This is crazy to me. Nothing better than an English Brown Ale, EKG/Fuggles.

Thankfully, I can suffer in the sauna at the ridiculously nice place we are staying at.

Green Man Brewery. Not a brown, but passable.
https://www.greenmanbrewery.com/esb

 

[day_trippr]

Had a stout keg kick last night, swapped in a freshie today and ran the kick through the venerable Mark II. No big whoop...

Cheers!

 

[Snuffy]

The area around Black Mountain has been the spot for immediate family vacations for several years now. It's about 20 minutes to Asheville which in my mind is the epicenter of craft brewing - for the country perhaps and certainly for the East Coast. Lots of awesome breweries are everywhere, and you can get a Sierra Nevada or New Belgium variety that is so fresh it is very pleasing. Just had a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at My Father's Pizza (awesome pizza, stellar!) and I was always a fan of their Pale Ale but this draft was spectacular. Too many local beers to name - hard to go wrong with any of them. It is a beer town and the weaker breweries have been weeded out over the last few years. Hard to go wrong - they know how to make beer.

For places to stay - I have always used Greybeard Rentals, which offers a wide selection of places depending on the size of your party and what you want. Currently at Peak Perfection, which is a huge place, but not too bad when 4 families are splitting the tab. Yeah... I would recommend it. Really nice place.
https://www.greybeardrentals.com/asheville-vacation-rentals/peak-perfection

Suhweeeet!