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What I did for beer today

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Ran my second batch of single malt wash last night. Left the copper mesh out this time, thinking it was the cause of my last, horribly scorched-tasting batch. Then my neighbor popped over to help. As a chemist he quickly observed that my whole rig was running waaaay too hot. The insulating jacket on my kettle was preventing a proper gradient from forming, resulting in it pulling over way more than I intended, including smoked cardboard flavors. I'm adding some height to my column and I'll be at it again in a week or so. Thank god for outside opinions, I was ready quit after wasting 15 gallons of single malt wash.
 
Some people pretty disillusioned by the fee to advance to the final round. The other alternative would have been to arbitrarily raise the entry fee for everyone and or the convention fee. A difficult decision for the organizers. I’ll be happy to pay to advance, because it will mean I have won first prize in the first round.
Same. Fees are skyrocketing.
 
Some people pretty disillusioned by the fee to advance to the final round. The other alternative would have been to arbitrarily raise the entry fee for everyone and or the convention fee. A difficult decision for the organizers. I’ll be happy to pay to advance, because it will mean I have won first prize in the first round.

I think first round fees went up too. 16 bucks a pop.
 
I think first round fees went up too. 16 bucks a pop.
That’s what is was last year, fellow brewers, felt it was justified because it covered both rounds, of course only a small number of entries from each location go to the final round. I guess we all have the choice of not competing if we feel the fees are too darn high. (I pay lower fees for professional educational conferences but they are not nearly as fun)
 
That’s what is was last year, fellow brewers, felt it was justified because it covered both rounds, of course only a small number of entries from each location go to the final round. I guess we all have the choice of not competing if we feel the fees are too darn high. (I pay lower fees for professional educational conferences but they are not nearly as fun)

Oh. I am paying it. I just feel I would want to go 7 entries if it was cheaper. The price makes me cautious, which then makes me sadish.
 
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Cleaned fermenters and a keg
 
Care to share your recipe?

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I have a culture of yeast from a 6er of Bells amber that is over 5 years old. I just keep propping and splitting, this went on washed yeast from an oatmeal stout. Water is my tap water I had tested with ward and used Brun water for calcs
 
Used my Xmas grain mill for the first time and worked out all of the bugs (4 passes and 3 hours later). Thankfully I BIAB, so stuck sparge is a non-issue, it has a whole lotta flour at this point, and some stainless steel bits for good measure.

Brewing another Imperial Stout. 3 gallon batch. When it hits high krausen, I will dump in 1 3/4 gallons of last year’s batch which never finished fermenting. I tried 4 different yeasts last year, but no dice. I am hoping this year’s batch will eat itself stoopid and finish them both off. Otherwise, I may Brett the imperial stout and see what happens.

This is one of the reasons why I love being a home brewer-we get to play with our beer in ways that the #barrel brewer cannot.

Edit: I had to leave the parti-gyle soaking overnight, so tomorrow I will brew the 2nd runnings into something.
 
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Prepped for brewing tomorrow, since it's supposed to get up to 37F. Much better prepared than the last (first) try at my new house. Also cutting the water with distilled to reduce the Na.
Also went to my LHBS and got ingredients for the next 3 brews + stocking up on essentials since I had $100 worth of gift certificates (thanks mom!)
 
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Dry hopped the Georgetown Bodhizafa clone I brewed last weekend. Upped the ante by .5oz each of Citra and Mosaic, and the Chinook to 1oz. Gonna be a good one in a week or so. Tapped the lager I brewed a few weeks ago, good so far but has a strange bitter aftertaste (not hops) that's a bit quinine-ish. I've had it once before in a lager last year, it did eventually fade but I'd like to figure out what caused it.
 
I missed one of my grads catching a pass in the Chiefs-Titans game, but I had to brew the parti-gyle from yesterday's imperial stout before the wort caught a cold. It tastes like a nice British Amber, so I have 0 complaints.

The neighbors are starting to ask me for beer. I am giving most of them a session-weight West Coast IPA, as it is the closest thing to BMC that I make. I have one neighbor that wanted the full Brett year-on-oak sours I make (Red and Gold), so I guess there is joy all the way around.
 
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