What I did for beer today

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
WARNING!! Wow, that first picture on Post #17,869, with the carboy handle on that full glass carboy. Hope you don't lift it when full. It could potentially break at the neck under all that stress. Possible injury and a loss of inventory may result. I lifted my carboy once when full, but fortunately it did not break. I was so very lucky and would never try that ever again.
 
Wow! Not to be forward, I mean we don't really know each other, but you may want a blow-off tube on that one. It's a little tight, in the headspace department.
IMG_2703.JPG


Hmmm. 2 days later and it is getting tight. I didn't siphon off the trub because I realized the yeast was there too. Every time I look at it it's gotten a little higher. I'll put a blow off tube on it before I go to sleep just in case. It's been a very steady fermentation so far, at 64℉.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2699.JPG
    IMG_2699.JPG
    1.5 MB · Views: 12
WARNING!! Wow, that first picture on Post #17,869, with the carboy handle on that full glass carboy. Hope you don't lift it when full. It could potentially break at the neck under all that stress. Possible injury and a loss of inventory may result. I lifted my carboy once when full, but fortunately it did not break. I was so very lucky and would never try that ever again.
No, I slid it on the floor on a piece of cork that you see in the picture, and in the post just above this.

But just to be clear, I've been doing this for a very long time without any problems like that. Maybe that's just luck. I joined this forum in 2008 but I've been home brewing since 1995, after my son was born. I needed a hobby to keep me from going crazy. That carboy was one of the original purchases I made.
 
Kegged 5 gallons of Oatmeal Stout (Brew No. 70), which was my first partial-mash full-volume boil. The uncarbonated room temperature sample, from the last few ounces at the very bottom of the fermenter looked super clear after 19 days. Gravity readings OG 1.053, FG 1.020, so ABV ~4.3%. The taste was exceptionally good. Should be even better chilled and carbonated (set-and-forget 12 psi @ 42F) after 2 weeks in the kegerator.
 
Kegged 5 gallons of Oatmeal Stout (Brew No. 70), which was my first partial-mash full-volume boil. The uncarbonated room temperature sample, from the last few ounces at the very bottom of the fermenter looked super clear after 19 days. Gravity readings OG 1.053, FG 1.020, so ABV ~4.3%. The taste was exceptionally good. Should be even better chilled and carbonated (set-and-forget 12 psi @ 42F) after 2 weeks in the kegerator.
If you can do full boil and partial mash you should give BIAB a try. It is only a small step up from what you are already doing. My beer was significantly better once I went all-grain, and I never went back after I did BIAB the first time. My entire setup for it is in the post 17869 just a few posts above.
 
Gave my latest WF lager a test and taste after I got home from my 14th consecutive 11+ hour workday (reason why I haven't posted much lately). Pleasantly surprised to see after the rather cooler than usual fermentation this one got, it came down to 1.006 (lowest gravity in 5+ years) and tastes fantastic. Now I have to see if I can duplicate it this weekend after I keg it, going to brew the same recipe and just rack on to the yeast cake.
 
Went to my LHBS and got some crisp medium crystal, wlp edinburgh ale and dry london ale, the edinburgh is for an 80 shilling and the dry London ale for a brittish strong/old ale I plan on doing, using some homemade invert #2, made on light muscovado sugar, a little carabohemian and brown malt and a dash of mandarina bavaria in the flavor addition(couldn't find any first gold)
 
Took the second sample on my Munich In Tents, and it's steady at 1.015, ready to bottle. Of course, I drank most of the sample tube and it's pretty spot on for a marzen-style ale... malty, just a hint of sweetness and a clean finish. I'll bottle it this weekend and let it carb for a couple of weeks.
 
Hmmm. 2 days later and it is getting tight. I didn't siphon off the trub because I realized the yeast was there too. Every time I look at it it's gotten a little higher. I'll put a blow off tube on it before I go to sleep just in case. It's been a very steady fermentation so far, at 64℉.

Good thing I put the blow off in. I'd have probably blown the airlock right out of the carboy overnight. @JAReeves, thanks for the warning!
 
Good thing I put the blow off in. I'd have probably blown the airlock right out of the carboy overnight. @JAReeves, thanks for the warning!

It wasn't so much of a warning for you as an opportunity for me to be highly inappropriate in a moderately anonymous online collective. It's what happens as an adult when your family thinks that anything on PBS (especially with a British accent) is educational for children, and you end up watching Monty Python.

...And Now For Something Completely Different.

-Reevesie
 
Found out today I'm expected to work on Saturday, so brewday gets postponed to Sunday. Nothing beer-related today except drinking a few pints; had to go pack up my dad's clothes and things this afternoon with my mother in preparation for his move tomorrow to a new memory-care facility (he has Alzheimer's). Current location is run by some flakey individuals, seemed a great place when we first moved him there but he needs more than they can provide. New place is specifically geared towards residents with stage 2 & above dementia/alzheimers so we're hoping for something better.
 
Small tweak to the kegerator today.

I added a lagering rack above my serving kegs a few days ago to make better use of the space above my kegs. It's great, but when I close the door the lagering kegs interfere with the beer lines near the shanks. Didn't want side pressure on the duotights which can make them leak.

before
IMG_0250.JPG

So I used 30 seconds of boiling water to soften the tubing so I could put a 90 degree bend at the shanks. Much better now!

after
IMG_0253.JPG
 
Kegged my Idaho pilsner golden ale thing, a few sips from the hydro sample tasted good. A few extra days over my normal procedure, looked pretty clear, now some waiting for a few more week to see if stays that way.

My cali cream ale still slowly bubbling so a few more day before I keg that too.
 
Just kegged the breakfast stout I brewed two weeks ago; expected FG was 1.018, came down to 1.010 for reasons I don't know but it tasted great going into the keg. Yeast slurry jarred up, fermonster clean, now nothing more to do tonight but kill a keg so I have room to keg the WF lager tomorrow. And brewing another one, that will rack directly onto the previous one's yeast cake. Oh, and weighing out and milling grain, here come the sneezes.
 
Kegged the Weissbier I brewed a couple of weeks ago. Put together a “kit” for a 2.5 gal batch of my Bullwinkle Brown to take to the city house tomorrow. We have to be in Billings for a few days for medical appointments so I decided to take the ingredients for a brew day on one of the days that nothing is scheduled.
9F19FE9D-DD71-49CA-9A38-E5790D3D89B3.jpeg
 
Reconfigured my keezer with the new 4 way manifold, looped in the old two as well so I can have individual shutoffs for each of my four taps plus a fifth available for any other carbing needs I may have. Also started cold crashing the imperial stout and pale ale I brewed last weekend. Will give them a few days to drop and then keg them up.
BE8F9251-606A-4897-A45E-022286D99F95.jpeg
A9293576-B288-4434-9D37-675A0EEF77CD.jpeg
 
brewing a Boddingtons 1939 XX Mild even as I type this. Will use Nottingham since it attenuates approximately the same as whatever yeast Boddy uses (and we know it ain't London III). Chose this to test out the Becker's Brewing Invert #3 I actually purchased instead of making my own approximation.

Ron Pattinson has often said that Milds in the US look right, but don't taste right because they use adjust grains instead of invert #3. So, I saved a tiny bit of the invert #3 as a taste and color master.

Some jerk on this board posited that one can use all sorts of Mexican, S. American, Palm, Chinese and other sugars instead of the basic white cane sugar to make invert. Bastard. I don't know how many experiments and tests this will compel me to do. :eek: Oh well, another brick in the obsession.
 
Dropped the hammer on a new magnetic high-temp pump from Amazon; not a Chugger or a March, but had decent reviews and should do what I need it to do. Arriving tomorrow, so tomorrow night get to build a new base for it and configure it to the brewstand....and of course test it. Have to go buy a new ball valve for the outlet too. Never happier than when I am either brewing or tinkering with things in the brewery.
 
Found out today I'm expected to work on Saturday, so brewday gets postponed to Sunday. Nothing beer-related today except drinking a few pints; had to go pack up my dad's clothes and things this afternoon with my mother in preparation for his move tomorrow to a new memory-care facility (he has Alzheimer's). Current location is run by some flakey individuals, seemed a great place when we first moved him there but he needs more than they can provide. New place is specifically geared towards residents with stage 2 & above dementia/alzheimers so we're hoping for something better.
Well bless your soul. Hard thing sometimes to deal with. Sending 🙏 your way.
 
Yesterday called around until I found a replacement probe for my ink bird. It was too late to brew by the time I found one, so I just shared out some beer with the neighbors and sampled what is aging in the fermenters. The port has a solid vanilla flavor from the oak, and the sours are amazing. The apricot saison is funky but not tart, so I may need to add some sour culture to that one soon. The blackberry cider is amazing, the pear cider needs more pear, and the lager may have been infected, so I am on the wait-and-see with it. Tasted fine tho, the El Dorado hops are real nice, smooth mild bitterness, very dry and crisp.
 
Laid off this week so it might be a brew heavy stretch of days before I go back in next Monday.
Today, I brewed a small batch red IPA. Been sitting on some viking red active malt for awhile now and finally able to use some of it up. Color seems to have a nice red tone (I cut it with some 2-row) to it, so Im excited to see it when its fermented and drops clear. Overshot my OG by a healthy six points though. Whoops...
 
Took a reading on my Hoppy Winter Ale and it was at 1.012, down from 1.055 and it is still going. It really went crazy in the fermenter and it was on the cool side at 64. I stuck the sample in my beer fridge and I'll taste it when the yeast drops out a bit. I'll give it 2-3 days more to take the next reading. I plan on dry hopping in a secondary for a week, or maybe go straight to keg and put the hops in a bag and drop them in.

I just did the taste and it is really nice, bittter with a nice hoppy taste. A little dry hopping will add a nice aroma too. It dropped pretty clear after only an hour or two in the fridge.
 
Last edited:
Checked on my BGS today as it has been taking a carbonation nap(Day 14 yesterday). I'll be moving it to the cool garage to false lager for the rest of the month so that way I don't have anything weird happen and to let my parents have their spare tub back. The baby is due the 18th and the Wife is ready for her now. lol
 
Just tapped the WF Crystal Lager I kegged yesterday; helped the carbing by doing a bit of shake n roll last night. VERY impressed with this one; it's been 2.5 years since I've done a lager with Crystal, and now I remember why I like it so much. Delicious lager flavor, slight floral on the nose and flavor, just an all-around good beer. This one will go fast. Good thing I brewed another one yesterday....and waiting anxiously for the Amazon guy to deliver my new pump, want to play with it tonight.
 
Back
Top