What I did for beer today

[unionrdr]

Wrote version 4 of my whiskely stout. Going to base it on a sweet stout this time. I upped the chocolate malt, switching from breise to Simpson's for more chocolate/ coffee flavor. I'm hoping the sweetness & lower bittering will bring out the desired flavors more?

 

[DrunkleJon]

Picked 17.75 oz of centennial hops off my first year plant.

 

[55x11]

Picked 17.75 oz of centennial hops off my first year plant.

Pitched the yeast into Arrogant Bastard Clone last night. Hit 1.062, just shy of intended 1.066.
Got new pH meter and 12" whisk for mashing. Copper wire for my immersion cooler.
Cleaned up some.

 

[ChefRex]

Brewed an IPA, bottled a Flanders Red and rebrewed the Flanders which went on the cake.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1440974660.619261.jpg

 

[philipCT]

Gelled an APA that has been cold crashing for a few days. Finished cleaning a couple of carboys.

Gotta plan the next brew now. Maybe i should brew that amber again. It kicked quick last time. Everybody liked it. But I'd also like to get a brandywine in the pipeline. And then there's that Black IPA I've been meaning to brew for ever...

Could be time for a double brew weekend.

 

[Trail]

PBW'd my keg and serving lines - it's been empty except for hardened dregs for a year, but the PBW took care of it no sweat. Magic.

 

[unionrdr]

I've had that same effect with bottles & such. PBW soaks into it & floats it right out. Amazing stuff.

 

[Brizzo]

Checked temp on my sour mash Berliner - 14 hrs in and I can't believe how much it smells like Greek yogurt. Temp hanging out at 100. Have 8 lbs of blueberries i picked from my parents house in the freezer waiting to get added in the secondary

 

[BGBC]

Yesterday, helped a buddy build a barrel rack and fill our shared barrel with stout. We weren't quite sure how big it was and came up a little short, so we also brewed up another 5 gal, to be added in a few days when primary calms down.
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[Invertalon]

Purchased a Monster MM3 Mill and 50lbs of Rahr 2-row today.

 

[Trail]

Sent out a water sample to Ward Labs!

 

[Ski12568]

Bought a Homebrew stand off craigslist yesterday. Just need to get burners or elements... Not sure which way to go yet
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[philipCT]

Yesterday, helped a buddy build a barrel rack and fill our shared barrel with stout. We weren't quite sure how big it was and came up a little short, so we also brewed up another 5 gal, to be added in a few days when primary calms down.
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Holy crap. That looks like at least a 20 gallon barrel. It also looks plenty old. What was in the thing before? Can I also ask you how you prepared the barrel before filling?

I have one that was a rum barrel sitting around that I haven't yet figured out what to do with...

 

[BGBC]

Holy crap. That looks like at least a 20 gallon barrel. It also looks plenty old. What was in the thing before? Can I also ask you how you prepared the barrel before filling?



I have one that was a rum barrel sitting around that I haven't yet figured out what to do with...

It's probably 30 gal (we guessed 25 and undershot). It is plenty old, no idea exactly how old. It was one of my grandfather's old wine barrels. It's been empty for a while (10+ years), so we're rolling the dice here, but it's got sentimental value .

Swelled it with water and gave it a thorough rinse. Then hit it with citric/kmeta holding solution for several weeks. We pulled two barrels out of his basement and gave both the same treatment. This one smelled clean and held tight. The other one smelled pretty funky and kept pissing water, even with wax.

Dumped the solution and rinsed with plenty of hot water. Poured a couple handles of whiskey in for a few days before filling to keep it wet, then dumped that before filling.

I want to eventually turn it into a sour solera, but my buddy wanted to see what it would do with a clean beer. I guess we'll see if there are any resident bugs in there already (I'm giving it a better than 50% chance of that).

 

[Trail]

Bought a Homebrew stand off craigslist yesterday. Just need to get burners or elements... Not sure which way to go yet
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If it gets cold outside in the winter where you live, I strongly suggest elements!

 

[finsfan]

My brother in laws dad grows hops in CO and brought a bunch down for me last weekend that he had just harvested. Last night I vacuum sealed them all up. Got 18oz of free centennial in the freezer now.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, being retiree pay day, We all went shoppin'! But not before I ordered some $150 worth of brewing supplies. That hellfire IIPA is going to happen soon, as is the Cooper's bitter, the 6th gallon of which is going to be made into malt vinegar. Gotta hit up Giant Eagle for some 2 gallon buckets at the bakery section. Also got some different beers at Aldi's. They carry lesser known craft beers now. They don't have the Wernesgruner pils anymore, but I did get an IPA from NY. And a German lager beer. Wallyworld had a nice black leather mid-back chair to replace the old totally broken one at the comp. boy, the thigh pad is nice to elevate the forward rear thigh to allow the lumbar curve some extra freedom. It has that same sorta firm padding as the seats In a Merkur XR4TI, or Scorpio. Nice! Also got Sriracha in a 1/3 bigger bottle at aldi's for 85c versus a couple bucks for 1/3 less at Walmart. Got some huge roaster chicken legs for the pit too. Dang, this new chair feels so much better...

 

[brewbama]

Checked the fermenter - the (M)Oktoberfest is nearly there.

 

[Brizzo]

Boiling my sour mashed Berliner. Checked the mash when I got home from work and it was the perfect level of acidity and tartness. But I was less than motivated to start boiling this At 9pm tonight.

 

[GrainToGlass]

Just kegged a Raspberry Berliner Weisse with a Peach Hefeweizen. Should be berry interesting.

 

[Alpotun]

Ordered a Chugger pump along with hoses and Camlocks, ect from BobbyM to start moving in the direction of a HERMS.

 

[philipCT]

It's probably 30 gal (we guessed 25 and undershot). It is plenty old, no idea exactly how old. It was one of my grandfather's old wine barrels. It's been empty for a while (10+ years), so we're rolling the dice here, but it's got sentimental value .

Swelled it with water and gave it a thorough rinse. Then hit it with citric/kmeta holding solution for several weeks. We pulled two barrels out of his basement and gave both the same treatment. This one smelled clean and held tight. The other one smelled pretty funky and kept pissing water, even with wax.

Dumped the solution and rinsed with plenty of hot water. Poured a couple handles of whiskey in for a few days before filling to keep it wet, then dumped that before filling.

I want to eventually turn it into a sour solera, but my buddy wanted to see what it would do with a clean beer. I guess we'll see if there are any resident bugs in there already (I'm giving it a better than 50% chance of that).

Amazing project. You should totally start a thread on this. I want to keep in touch with how things develop, and I have more questions - like - what kind of recipe did you fill it with initially?

 

[Invertalon]

A welder at the place I work is crafting me a 304 stainless stir rod that I can use to whirlpool with using a drill... Has a solid 1/4" rod and the paddles at the end will be staggered and curved to maximize the whirlpooling. Should be great when I heavily hop at flame out. As I thank you I am giving him some homebrew!

Later today I have to go shopping for a storage tote to store my grains that are being delivered today... Got my monster mill mm3 coming and a 50lb bag of rahr 2-row.

 

[BGBC]

Amazing project. You should totally start a thread on this. I want to keep in touch with how things develop, and I have more questions - like - what kind of recipe did you fill it with initially?

I might start one when I have some time, will let you know. I have some more good pics of the process so far.

We used a stout recipe that came from Southern Tier apparently, taken from an issue of Craft Beer & Brewing magazine. I think the average ABV of all the samples is somewhere around 7%. They all tasted good going into the barrel. Interesting to taste them side by side as some were a little thinner, or a little roastier, some thicker, etc. Hopefully they all blend together nicely with time.

 

[erick0619]

Called the coca cola bottling plant up the street from my house in hopes of getting some old corny kegs. The receptionist took my name and number and said she would find out for me and call me back tomorrow. Wish me luck fellas.

 

[govner1]

Cleaned two kegs that kicked & the lines & taps for them in my kegerator.
Picked up the ingredients for an AG batch of my Grapefruit Hop Wheat IPA.

 

[erick0619]

Finally got around to cleaning and organizing where i store all of my brewing gear.

 

[Ski12568]

If it gets cold outside in the winter where you live, I strongly suggest elements!

I really would like to go electric. My biggest problem is power, there is only 1 plug in the garage... I live in AZ so the cold doesn't get below 32F-ish too often in the winter. The summer is brutal.

Do you have a link to somewhere I can learn about electric brewing some more?

 

[Trail]

We've got a whole forum dedicated to it here, man. Go have a look.

 

[brewbama]

Just took a quick trip to the LHBS for Regal Pale Ale ingredients. They were out of Nelson Sauvin so I grabbed some Citra.