What I did for beer today

[jerrodm]

Had a minor heart attack when I reviewed my HB stocks and realized that I only have a case and a half of drinkables right now--one batch in the primary, one just bottled a week or so ago. Boy, I really need to brew a few more batches...

 

[Nightshade]

Harvested yeast from Hefe
Kegged up 6 full kegs of Hefe
Cleaned fermentation vessel
Harvested yeast from Pumpkin Ale
Kegged up Pumpkin Ale
Re-configured the walk in cooler...again
Ordered more Hefe yeast (current batch is ending lifecycle)
Ordered two more 50lb CO2 tanks


Still have a few more hours in my day so who knows what else is to come
Took inventory of grain in preparation for brewing a CDA tomorrow

 

[Qhrumphf]

Added a half gallon of some strong DME wort, along with some gueuze dregs, to hopefully breathe some life into my barely-sour Berliner Weisse

 

[rtb178]

I was so frightened that I had to dilute it. It still looks like it's going to be a hoppy monster. Not sure I could handle a triple Ipa.

Btw, glad I did so. It's extremely bitter right now, so I'm happy it wasn't even more so.

 

[wSelwyn]

I end up cleaning and organizing more than anything else lately. Mostly cause I'm poor.

Also read up on some styles I want to brew before the bitter cold hits. This year I don't think i'm going to brew much in the winter. Big hassle on getting water to the garage. That and i'm not too keen on having my keggle chill in the snow. Still would take too long.

 

[Nightshade]

Brewing a 3bbl batch of a new CDA recipe

Listening to my music loud enough I can comfortably ignore the boss

 

[jperry]

Ordered a # of each, Bravo and Columbus.

 

[bobeer]

Not today but last night I bottled a Honey Pumpkin Porter and ordered a new hydrometer test tube. $5 shipped from amazon!

Going to plan out a new brew today! Gotta keep the pipeline going

 

[JordanThomas]

Ordered a # of each, Bravo and Columbus.

Love Bravo!

I bought some blowoff tubing, another 8oz Star San, took a hydro reading of my Harvest IPA with wet Michigan Cascades, and had a homebrew. Not a bad night.

 

[Guden]

Toured the Heineken experience and later drank a La Trappe. Heading from Amsterdam to Belgium tomorrow.

 

[Hulud]

Toured the Heineken experience and later drank a La Trappe. Heading from Amsterdam to Belgium tomorrow.

I did the Heineken experience two years ago when I was in Amsterdam, good times

 

[jperry]

Tried to decide weather or not to bottle because of loose dry hopping pellets, still in suspension.

 

[jerryteague]

Bottled my Cascade Pale Ale. Got stuff ready to brew High Gravity's 71 strasse Hefeweizen tomorrow. now I'm having a SN Torpedo, and relaxing while watching Warrior on the big screen.

 

[Pratzie]

Pieced together a recipe for a stout since ive been dying to brew one since I got my kit. Also realized just how much cheaper all grain is then extract. From Northern Brewer, the extract recipe pieced together would hit me for$54.93, the all grain is $30.82.

 

[mpride1911]

I'm still in Afghanistan and all of my brew equipment is still at a friend's house in Washington in boxes. Though I did buy a .5 micron aeration stone.

 

[Mrkeller]

I drank a beer I didn't like just to have the bottle for my homebrew.

 

[JonM]

Bottled my cider. It's a really nice blend of apples from an "antique apple" orchard that specializes in rare apple varieties. Got one blend in September and I'm planning to go back in November when they're harvesting and pressing entirely different varieties. Anyway, it was at 1.012 and I'm planning to do Pappers' stove top pasteurization, so I'll start checking the carb levels on Friday.

 

[Nightshade]

Doing another grain inventory
Beer inventory
Check gravity on CDA (tastes awesome so far)
Meeting with the boss to discuss brew forecast

 

[jerryteague]

Did a general cleaning of 3 of my fermenters, put a case of bottles in Oxyclean to de-label, drew water for a batch of Hefe, and started cleaning 2 kegs + lines for some batches that I have fermenting now. Also looking at recipes for a pilsner that will be brewed soon (Bitburger).

 

[brewtus_]

Preordered 5 pounds of Citra and 5 pounds of Simcoe.

 

[jperry]

Made a huge mess bottling my ddh ipa... still trying to figure out how to get this hop reside/sticky oily spots of my better bottle.

 

[thisoneguy]

Pre-ordered 7 pounds of hops. :rockin:

 

[tuckferrorists]

Pre-ordered 7 pounds of hops. :rockin:

Wtf?!? What are you brewing?

 

[thisoneguy]

Wtf?!? What are you brewing?

I'm just trying to make sure I have Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, and Citra for my IPAs and IIPAs in 2013... I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on them before they sold out, so I ordered a bunch.

 

[JonM]

I pasteurized my cider using Pappers' method. Glad I started checking the carbonation levels right away - the bottles were fully carbed in 24 hours!

 

[kombat]

I'm just trying to make sure I have Simcoe, Amarillo, Centennial, and Citra for my IPAs and IIPAs in 2013... I wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on them before they sold out, so I ordered a bunch.

Won't hops "go bad" in a matter of weeks/months, even if refrigerated and vaccuum-packed? I've been under the belief that I shouldn't order anything (grains/hops/yeast) more than a month before I'm ready to brew with it. Am I being unnecessarily paranoid?

 

[thisoneguy]

Won't hops "go bad" in a matter of weeks/months, even if refrigerated and vaccuum-packed? I've been under the belief that I shouldn't order anything (grains/hops/yeast) more than a month before I'm ready to brew with it. Am I being unnecessarily paranoid?

I think you are being unnecessarily paranoid. I keep mine in the freezer, vacuum-sealed by food-saver and then put into brown paper bags. Everything I've read says that hops stored under vacuum in a freezer should keep for a pretty long time, since heat and oxygen are what cause hops to go bad. I wouldn't keep them around for too long, but a year isn't a problem. I still have hops from the 2011 crop that haven't noticeably degraded since I got them (at least as far as my senses can detect).

Also, if you store uncrushed grains in a cool, dry place in an airtight (or close to it) container, it will keep for at least a few months. That's an argument for getting a mill... you can buy base malt in bulk and just store it until you need it (within reason).

Last, dry yeast will stay viable for quite some time (1-2 years, I believe) if kept in its original packaging in the refrigerator. Liquid yeast degrades much faster, but I've heard stories of people using liquid yeast that is well beyond its "expiration date" with no ill effect after making a 2 or 3 step starter. My LHBS sells discounted vials/smack packs of "expired" yeast; I've never used one, but I've seen people buy them with that in mind.

 

[Whattawort]

Got my hands on 8lb of Canadian 2 row, 2lb of biscuit, 2lb of vienna, 2lbs of munich, and 2lbs of crystal 40L. Also got 3 bags of miscellaneous hops (about 3-5 pouches in each bag) and some new keg posts. FOR FREE!!!

 

[TedsExcellentAdventure]

bottling up an IPA and stepping up my starter of WLP001 California Ale Yeast for either a Dead Guy clone or a DFH 60 minute clone cant decide yet, anythoughts?

 

[brewtus_]

Pre-ordered 7 pounds of hops. :rockin:

I'm with you. I pre-ordered 5 pounds of Citra and Simcoe the other day. Today I added 5 pounds each of Centennial and Amarillo. It sucks running out of good sources of these hops mid year only to wait until fall to get them again. Plus, I've read that the 2012 hop harvest looks somewhat hit and miss, so you have to figure that prices will be up and supply will be down in 2013 for all these varietals. I don't plan on buying hops at $3-4 per ounce next summer.