What I did for beer today

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Ran to the LHBS this morning when they opened to get a new thermometer for brew day today. I've finally gotten to the point where they know me by name there. Kind of nice.
 
Just finished Kegging a Ipa i made with chinook centennial and cascade. Already kegged half I made with Hornidal kviek. This one used Voss Kveik. I'm a fan of these Norwegian Yeasts.
 
Came up with a recipe for a Belgian golden strong ale that could be ready-ish for the holidays if I brew it in the next month. I have one free fermenter that needs something bulk aged in it, so this is what was decided upon.
 
Husband went golfing in Bellingham so nothing to do but brew...made what I hope will be a hoppy-ish lager with two row, bittered with Warrior and flavored with Columbus and Amarillo. All cleaned up and put away now, it's naptime.
 
This is a thread intended for anyone that does anything related to home brewing. You can post any thing you want as long as it was what you did today. What I did was make a Stout. If you made a chiller, brew pot, ordered hops, ordered grain, brewed a beer, made your first beer, whatever... what did you do for beer today?

Must learn to filter my New England IPA when filing my keg. Went to tap after 2 days of cold crashing and nothing came out. Poppet was plugged along with dip tube. Did it 3 times and it finally started to work. Tried another glass ant it plugged again. Going to pull dip tube and cut off 3/8”. You live and learn. Any recommendations on a inline filter???
 
Must learn to filter my New England IPA when filing my keg. Went to tap after 2 days of cold crashing and nothing came out. Poppet was plugged along with dip tube. Did it 3 times and it finally started to work. Tried another glass ant it plugged again. Going to pull dip tube and cut off 3/8”. You live and learn. Any recommendations on a inline filter???
I use the brewerhardware with 200 micron. Got a thread around here someone on it

Found it

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/index.php?threads/636379/
 
I starting cold crashing my beers from my busiest brew week 2 weeks ago. I'm entering my first competition and I brewed any time I had extra hours... Including a 10pm-3am brew!

1. 5.5% Cherry Smoked Rye IPA
2. 7% Massively Dry Hopped Red IPA
3. 4.5% Blonde Ale with 2% Honey Malt grist
4. 5% American/Belgium White Pale Ale
 
Club collaboration brew yesterday with a local craft brewery started by three of our club members a couple of years ago.
Used their pilot system to brew 105 g of IPA.
All participants received 5-6g of wort to brew at home. Brewery fermenting the balance for the tap room.
 
sampled the barleywine one week into fermentation, down to 1.041. airlock activity has certainly slowed but still pinging along steadily. mofo is at 8.66% abv right now, should clip in around 12% when it is all said and done...:drunk:
 
Carbonation check of belgium tripel bottled on saturday.

I opened the last bottle i did which was only 2/3 full. Yep making co2 but will need a few weeks as its sitting probably under 18C. Seams to be a nice smooth drink though. Just needs time to carbonate.

I'm trying not to run a heater to minimise my power bill so not as warm as i would like and the modern hot water cylinder is so well insulated my hot water cupboard isnt any warmer than anywhere else so i cant make use of that.
 
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Put the 1st coat of stain on the collar for the fermentation chamber/keezer
 
I'm making a chocolate and banana imperial stout on Memorial Day. I bought 10lbs of bananas yesterday and threw them into the fridge to ripen.

Should I call it Magilla Gorilla Takes a Banana Holiday or Donkey Kong Temple of Infinite Banana.

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+1 for Magilla Gorilla.
I vote Magilla.
Thanks, needed a alternate name that fits.

My last banana beer was called "Donkey Kong" was made with an amped up Fat Tire grist with 8lbs of banana, 2 cans of tart cherries. Then secondary aged on roasted oak chips. Was about 9%.

This will be mashed with coco powder, pale malt, biscuit malt, roasted barley, and black malt. Brewed with Willamette, and a late addition of banana. Pitch S-33. Keg with a little lactose. Then I'll drop a tea ball filled with cacao nibs in the keg for a week. Yank it out then chill and gas it.

It should be really big in banana and chocolate and little boozy at 1.074 or 6.9% before all the fruit. The lactose should help with a little milkshake mouth feel.

All the banana disperses into the wort and the peel turns completely green like jalapeno or cactus.

I can taste it now. [emoji12]
 
Finally got my lines up for my Chinook & Centennial hops. Third year for both & they are growing fast. I hope this year I get a good yield from the Centennials.
 
Kegged up my current Arrogant Bastard clone yesterday, and brewed an APA that is currently happily bubbling away in my newly repurposed chest freezer a' la fermentation chamber. I have no idea why I didn't do that sooner. Fermometer steady at 66, airlock gently bubbling away, and it should be fantastic when done. My last two brews (in swamp coolers) both had krausen explosions due to unseasonal temperatures, and only judicious swirling to get the yeasts back in suspension forestalled nasty acetaldehyde happening. Sipping on some truly delicious Bastard right now, and getting up every five minutes or so to gloat and giggle maniacally over the APA. Damn this is fun.
 
took apart the impeller housings on my pumps, first time ever (after 32 brews). one thrust washer was on its last legs but the others looked good. decent amount of gunk inside the housings, sort of surprised by that. gave everything a nice pbw soak and put it all back together.
 
Mixed in cocoa into the grist and chopped up 20 bananas (10.5lbs) for late fruit addition.

Making this;

Magilla Gorilla Takes A Banana Holiday. - A Chocolate and Banana Milkshake Stout.
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A pretty busy beer day!

Made a 5 gallon batch of Vienna lager (nothing major happened...just a series of little annoying things one after another after another...!).

Cleaned 5 kegs that I’ve been putting off, plus all my tap lines.

Reorganized my beer gear closet including sorting and organizing all my bottles. I have them in cases by type - the standard home beer store bottle and Kona bottles; everything else is getting donated to a local home brewer.

Fixed my 24v pump that I use to recirc while chilling. The wire was coming lose so it just pulsed).

Cleaned up my beer fridge.

Not beer related but I moved my wine into secondary.

And I’m working like hell to finish this keg of Pilsner so I can clean another keg. [emoji1]
 
Kegged 10 gallons of the Belgian Patersbier I made earlier this month. So light with flavor and completely quaffable. Gonna be a pounder around the pool...

John
 
Kegged 10 gallons of the Belgian Patersbier I made earlier this month. So light with flavor and completely quaffable. Gonna be a pounder around the pool...

John
You gonna post that 10 gallons in the How Many Gallons of Homebrew in 2018 thread? ;)
 
Bottled my steam beer that was brewed on Cinco de Mayo and fermented warm (58°-60°). Ended with 59 12oz servings. This should end up a very good effort I believe.
 
Brutus is taking shape. Burners ordered - now to shop for casters. Anyone have good luck with Harbor Freight?
 

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Brutus is taking shape. Burners ordered - now to shop for casters. Anyone have good luck with Harbor Freight?
As with everything else at HF, some's good and some ain't. Look them over carefully. If clearances are sloppy or bearings rough, pass 'em by. Cheap casters will just feel cheap. Buy double the weight rating you think you need and you should be OK. Proper (American made) industrial casters are crazy expensive. Good luck!

Edit: I've often seen casters that were too small for the application. I've never heard anyone say "Oh darn, these wheels are to big, they roll too smoothly."
 
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Came home early from work today to 1) take the APA out of the fermentation fridge to start warming up, and 2) meet with the landlords and the ridiculously expensive plumber to find out where the damn water leak is that's making our meter spin like a top. Current assessment has it under the driveway coming in to the garage on the right side, since nothing in the house is leaking and no wet spots. House is on a concrete slab so no crawlspace to explore for leaks. So tomorrow the Leak Detection Squad (sounds like they should be in a horrible feminine hygiene commercial) come out tomorrow to do their magic and find the exact location of the leak, then MONDAY (yes 4 days from now) the plumber comes back with his jackhammer to fix the leak.

So to recap; NO water for 4 days unless we schlep out to the meter and turn it on and off; NO brewing this weekend, and I had grand plans for a real lager in the new fermentation freezer; and the old adage, if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown....go across to the cool neighbor's house and ask to use the facilities. Or hold it and blow up the bathroom at work. Dammit sucky day. But on the bright side, plenty of bottled water in the fridge, and there's this deliciously yummy beer....
 
Drank a lot of Fat Dog Porter, because I need to free up a keg for Pineapple Cider.
 
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