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Got this picture from my ex Army buddy who is now a Lt. on Seattle PD. Things are rough up there. Said he asked for a sign from above. Well if this ain't a blessing from on high to drink beer I don't know what is! View attachment 698857 🍻😂😁🍻
As someone else from the great PNW, that blue sky (not to mention the cloud bottle) is something we've been hoping for the last few weeks. Finally got some rain the last couple days to finally wash all the smoke out of the air from the wildfires in OR & WA that's been plaguing us. Where I live (about 30 miles south of Seattle, in the beginning of the Cascade foothills) we've had random fires in the trees and nothing but smoke for 2 weeks. Today was the first day I could actually breathe without sneezing. Ran into a monster rainstorm coming home from the LHBS and laughed like a loon. Good day.
 
Shopping! Ran slap out of grain on the last brew, and since we refinanced the house and have a couple of free paychecks, I restocked the grain bins, bought some yeast, exchanged TWO propane tanks, and bought a new out-hose for the plate chiller; old one is a cheapie from wallyworld that has more kinks than an Amsterdam cathouse. Planning a dryer version of the House lager tomorrow; adding a pound of table sugar to take it down below 1.010. Still deeply enamored with Sterling for bittering, and Hallertau Blanc and Mittelfruh late; makes for a nice refreshing lager with some floral flavor/aroma notes. LHBS is having one hell of a time getting yeast, so going with S-189 for this one. I usually do my lagers warm, this one will ferment at 60 since (according to google) this yeast seems to do fairly well there.
 
Brewed a czech premium pilsner for the first time! I'm surprised how many hops were in those! 5oz of saaz!
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If you look at page 7043 of the What Are You Drinking Now thread, you'll see a more detailed post outlining my struggles with Diamond. Bear in mind that my lager recipes are established and have a reliable track record with 34/70. Working on the assumption that Diamond is just a more reasonably priced version of 34/70, I treated it as such. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to perform that way on the series of beers that I brewed with Diamond.

In short: 1) At identical pitching rates, Diamond was very sluggish below 55F. In fact, it didn't do much of anything until I raised it to 55F. 2) It posted noticeably and consistently lower attenuation rates than 34/70, even when I strongly encouraged it to consume the last few points by raising it into the mid-60s, then left it for an extended D-rest at 70F. On the plus side, when it's done, it's done and it flocs hard. 3) The beers produced by Diamond aren't terribly crisp and they drink more like a mock lager (Pacman strain at 55F sorta thing). Diamond produces a beautiful roundness and softness that I think would be exceptional in a cream ale or American wheat, but that's not what I want in a lager--and that's not what 34/70 does.

My experience with Diamond seems to be way, way outside the norm. So much so, in fact, that I'm starting to wonder if my packages may have been mis-labeled, or perhaps one of the sachets that I pitched was mis-picked, I was too stupid to notice the error, and I inadvertently pitched a hybrid strain of Diamond and a packet of something else. My results are so far outside the norm that something bizarre like that must've happened.
Odd I just seen this. I brewed a Dunkel with 34/70 last night so we’ll see. I’m keeping temp between 50-55 that sound good? The Helles I had last night was from the Diamond and I quite enjoy it BUT it is only the second lager ive brewed and both were from a packet of Diamond this Helles a slurry from a dunkel
 
Odd I just seen this. I brewed a Dunkel with 34/70 last night so we’ll see. I’m keeping temp between 50-55 that sound good? The Helles I had last night was from the Diamond and I quite enjoy it BUT it is only the second lager ive brewed and both were from a packet of Diamond this Helles a slurry from a dunkel

It's going to be great, sir!

You can't do wrong with 34/70 at 50-55F. I pitched last Saturday's Helles at 45F and ran it at 50F for the rest of the week, tonight it's at 1.011 from an OG of 1.049. I suppose I could keg it tomorrow and let it D-rest and finish up in the keg, but I tend to let lagers sit on the yeast for three weeks.

I'm encouraged by your remarks about Diamond as it lends credence to my notion that something bizarre happened to my packets. I didn't just try Diamond, I bought a dozen packets, so I'll be running another series of beers with Diamond some time next year. Hopefully, my results will converge with your own. :)
 
Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Today is the latter. So help from the community is appreciated.

In making my wet hop saison, I had a giant bag of whole cones in the wort, so that they wouldn't plug the wort chiller, which I used for the very first time. I thought I would be smart and I put my immersion chiller in ice water, the water at about 40F then heading to the plate chiller. However, in running the wort out through the plate chiller into the fermenter, it came out at about 140F. And all of the break material ran out with the wort. I have subsequently chilled the wort to 80F, aerated with O2, and pitched the saison yeast starter.

When I have chilled with the immersion chiller in the wort, I have been able to run it into the fermenter at 80F or less, and the break material goes through a fine-screen chinois which catches the material and hops, and then also aerates the wort at the same time.

So, what should I have done differently with the plate chiller in order to get similar results?
 
bwahaahahaha. Not sure what the other folks here will suggest, but my two cents is start out with buying a 4-pack of used kegs. One isn't enough. Four might seem like a lot but I've gone from bottling to 2 5-gallon kegs and a 2.5 gallon keg. I had toyed with getting the 4 pack and not regret that life choice. Trust me, you'll figure out what to do with 4 kegs if you have them.

Also, highly recommend that you learn to spund. And if you don't care about the first pours being over carbonated, you don't even need a spunding valve (word of experience says just buy the spunding value and don't try to DIY it). It will save you a ton in CO2 costs. And I like to think tastes better.
 
well, it's said in the ol' bracc brewery....it started like another great brewday, dropped the hydro in for a pre-boil gravity, got 1.040 at 138f....i'm like yeah, brewing master again! all gleeful laid down for a nap during the boil, anxiously awaiting confirmation i'm awesome....but it finally boiled down to 10 gallons, and dropped the hydro in again, it was floating at 1.066 at 80f....so i cryed a little tear into the brew...

but the way of life and love....

 
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I haven’t used my 20 gallon SS Brewtech kettle in almost two years. I cleaned the kettle really well and flushed out the ball valve but didn’t take it apart. Well I plan to brew a 10 gallon batch of an IPA this weekend so I figured it would be good to take it apart and let it soak in some PBW for a few hours today. Ugh this looks nasty and I’m happy I’m doing this!!! I would hate to have off flavors because of this!!!

PSA - Take apart your ball valves, soak them and clean them!
 
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Kegged the British Golden, not as English bready as I wanted but really decent, final ABV 4.7. Transferred the Hefe into secondary just to settle the biggest chunks of yeast. OMG the clove profile is spot on! Mild hardly noticeable bannana. Final ABV 5.2. Best hefe I've made yet! Used WB-06 for the first time vs Danstar and I love it ! . Will keg it tomorrow.
 
The supply chain gods have been messing with me the last week. The Formica top that was suppose to arrive today now won't show 'til next Monday, and meanwhile a package of 20 Tiny XLR connectors has been sitting 15 miles from me in a USPS sorting center since Thursday. Has not moved since. Combined they don't leave me much of a path to progress.

I did get the lid inside all painted, and had fun coating the shop with foam debris while cutting all the insulation board pieces to fit.

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I installed a riser for my gas beam...

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Started fabricating the inside connector panel that all of the flow meters and temperature sensors will plug into. I like using FR4 for such things though it is a bear on tools...

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I have two other, smaller panels to fab, then I'll be waiting for the mail. Might have to go fishing or something :)

Cheers!
 
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Eyed the secondary that I put my English brown into and wondered if I should have just left it in primary and avoided oxygen. Promised it I'd carbonate it and keep it cold soon. Wondered if Odo from DS9 was going to appear out of the settled krausen on my witbier. Reminded myself that fermentation is messy business and to chill out. Talked myself out of another 6.5 gal glass fermenter in lieu of a CO2 bottling attachment. Paid my kid hard-earned treasure to wash dirty brewing equipment from the last batch... cause I'm old and lazy.
 
Eyed the secondary that I put my English brown into and wondered if I should have just left it in primary and avoided oxygen. Promised it I'd carbonate it and keep it cold soon. Wondered if Odo from DS9 was going to appear out of the settled krausen on my witbier. Reminded myself that fermentation is messy business and to chill out. Talked myself out of another 6.5 gal glass fermenter in lieu of a CO2 bottling attachment. Paid my kid hard-earned treasure to wash dirty brewing equipment from the last batch... cause I'm old and lazy.
Thought I was the only one still watching DS9!
 
Cut the two small panels today, lots of drill press and some over-arm router time.
This is the IR sensor that will be mounted in the front. Left some room for who-knows-what.

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And this is the lid interface panel that goes in the back and is cabled to the controller in the dolly.

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Still don't have the Tiny XLRs to populate their panel positions so I can start wiring. Between that and the delay on the laminate for the top I'm pretty much at a hard stop until something gives. I may have to brew something...

Cheers!
 
Bottled a gallon of idaho 7 smash-ish ale.
Chucked 8 bottles of a MO/EKG ale into the fridge. Organized aforementioned fridge. I have less beer than I thought.
Stared at my fermenter of Calista pils wondering when I’ll have times to bottle it.
 
Moved my 1st ever mixed fermentation brew to the bathtub, and pulled the curtain shut. I'll see it in 3 months (actually weekly to make sure the air lock is not dry).
I noticed the cover on the top of your airlock. I have been using the S-type airlocks (what I had) but was recently gifted three of the type you are using. Should I be using the covers that came with mine? If so, why?
 
I bagged up my hops (see photo at left) and put them in the freezer. I have 5 gallons of nut brown ale in the fermenter. I'm thinking about using my hops to dry hop the ale when I rack it to the secondary in about a week. This will be my first experience with dry-hopping and with my home grown hops, which are in their third year.
Any suggestions, warnings, advice? Oh, I believe they are Centennial, but the reason for "I believe" is a story in itself.
 
I noticed the cover on the top of your airlock. I have been using the S-type airlocks (what I had) but was recently gifted three of the type you are using. Should I be using the covers that came with mine? If so, why?

I assume for the same reason you would you the cover on the S-type locks. Probably slows down evaporation. The cover is perforated.
 
Transferred my brand barrel aged wee heavy 10.2% abv into the keg. Wanted to bottle condition it, but ran out of bottles. Plus, any longer in the barrel would be overpowering. Came out great!
 
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