What I did for beer today

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day_trippr said:
That's one of two I built years ago, though it's been revised since I took the pictures below, when I replaced the power supplies with a model that had a higher max voltage (and also has a voltmeter)...

View attachment 725026

Cheers!
Click to expand...
Is there any way to get a parts list, this is probably the only one I would actually try and build. I love the case too.
 
Did a little experiment and transferred the freshly boiled wort into the fermenter and let the glycol chiller cool it to pitching temp(65F). Dont know if ill do it again but it really didnt take much more time than using a my CFC with summer water to cool it. Chiller did run a tad longer trying to cool it but I dont really run it hard most of the time.
 
Lutra Kveik pilsner, 80F ferment trial #00001
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In another round of the "You ordered such and such from AMZN, I'm gonna order THIS" game, ordered a full pound bag of Whirlfloc and another yarn-related purchase. LHBS hasn't had Whirlfloc in quite a while, and price finally came down online. Also ran slap out of irish moss. Half the time I forget to add the moss, but for some reason I never forget Whirlfloc when I have it on hand. A whole pound will last a long time.
 
Finally tasted/tested the prison hooch/hard root beer base I made 2 weeks ago. Not happy. Only came down to 1.023 from the high 50's, and tastes....tangy. Instead of dumping the $10 bottle of extract into it and hoping for the best, dumped the first one and starting another. Have yeast nutrient now, and a fresh packet of notty, and sugar is super cheap. Waiting on the boil now, and thanking Ninkasi that tonight is one of the husband's bowling nights...so I don't get the inevitable "what the hell are you brewing now???". I do complain about him, but he's been my rock for over 20 years now and really loves what I do. Even if he doesn't always understand it.
 
It was either cut the grass or clean up and rearrange the storage bins in the garage to claim just a bit more space for my brew gear. Since it never got dry enough to mow, I managed to shuffle my junk enough to find another half-bin of square footage. Now all my bottles are in one place and up off the floor where they were just inches from disaster every time I parked the van... and all my flasks are basking together, the beerware is grouped, my bottling stuff is corralled, and my main burner and BIAB brewpot are stacked together, just waiting for me to take a trip to the LHBS for grains, yeasties and hops.
 
Earlier this week I made a wlp005 starter for a strong bitter brew this weekend, and after that a lighter, hopefully nutty northern brown will be brewed. Then I will have 2 varieties of bitter and a Brown ale as my summer ale supply.
Today I did a science! Well not really but I like to tell myself that,I measured exacly what 1L in my brew kettle translates to in cm and vice versa, so I can hopefully determine what my actual grain absorption rate is and get a somewhat reliable amount of sparge water in Beersmith without having to guesstimate how much to subtract to get where I want.
 
Put a 3 week old sour on 8lb of peaches and 2lb of dried apricots. Also added 0.5oz of Hallertau Blanc for a bit of fruit nose and to stop the souring. The sample out of primary tasted...different from the last 3 sours I’ve made and NOT in a good way. 😒 Though I can’t always trust my post-COVID nose and taste with tart things...damn!

Dan
 
fwiw....

This is an excel spreadsheet with the parts and links to smile.amazon.com, just because. If one is more patient most of this stuff can probably be obtained from eBay for lower costs - especially the case (I guarantee I did not pay $20 for mine!)

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the guts...

stirplate_01.jpg



stirplate_02.jpg


I did not include the LED assembly in the parts list as it's redundant given the power supply has an LED screen. My original build used a chopper module that had no display. And note a wall wart is plugged into this thing - I use scavenged 19VDC laptop bricks, but anything that can put out at least 12VDC at around an amp will work - though, preferentially, go with a higher voltage as the adjustable supply will drop around a half volt minimum.

Cheers!
 
danimal92sport said:
Put a 3 week old sour on 8lb of peaches and 2lb of dried apricots. Also added 0.5oz of Hallertau Blanc for a bit of fruit nose and to stop the souring. The sample out of primary tasted...different from the last 3 sours I’ve made and NOT in a good way. 😒 Though I can’t always trust my post-COVID nose and taste with tart things...damn!

Dan
Click to expand...

Hallertau Blanc are on my list to try in sour beer. But first they're going into a saison next week hopefully. Hope things get better with the taste/smell
 
Brewer dad said:
Hallertau Blanc are on my list to try in sour beer. But first they're going into a saison next week hopefully. Hope things get better with the taste/smell
Click to expand...

HB hops are quite tropical, I think they’ll help highlight the fruit, but we’ll see. I’ve not tried them in a saison but I’m sure they’d be great.

The taste/smell issue was my own fault; I pulled the hydrometer sample from the dregs and yeast/trub may have been to blame. I let the sample chill last night and as things settled the sour tasted as expected :bigmug:
 
day_trippr said:
fwiw....

This is an excel spreadsheet with the parts and links to smile.amazon.com, just because. If one is more patient most of this stuff can probably be obtained from eBay for lower costs - especially the case (I guarantee I did not pay $20 for mine!)

Anyway, here are a couple of pics of the guts...

View attachment 725822


View attachment 725823

I did not include the LED assembly in the parts list as it's redundant given the power supply has an LED screen. My original build used a chopper module that had no display. And note a wall wart is plugged into this thing - I use scavenged 19VDC laptop bricks, but anything that can put out at least 12VDC at around an amp will work - though, preferentially, go with a higher voltage as the adjustable supply will drop around a half volt minimum.

Cheers!
Click to expand...
YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Odering parts from work now!!!1 lol Thanks a million
 
Got the fixings at the LHBS for a Doppelbock, before this covid surge here in Michigan shuts their doors again. On a side note, was shopping for shampoo and conditioner at Sally World. I usually buy the Head and Shoulders...a different brand caught my eye. I was pulled to this bottle, almost mesmerized. Don't know why? I just had to buy it. Got home, showered and decided maybe I should look at the ingredients. It's got hop oil flower extract in it! 😂. I'm sure this is 70shat unconsciously drew me to it! Now either this was a Rod Serling moment and any day he is going to pull up in a Twilight Zone Brewing truck or it was a sign from The Brew God's in BrewVana that I've ascended to the next level. I'm hoping for a bright light to shine down rather than a knock on the door from ol' Rod 😳
20210415_140055-1.jpg
20210415_115519.jpg
 
After over a year working pretty much non-stop in a building where, at last count, nine people have gone down with the 'rona (we only have about 40 or so in our building), it finally caught me. I had my first vaccine shot 2 weeks ago, apparently a bit too much stress and being tired all the time let my guard down. I don't feel too terribly horrible, just a fever, body aches, and my head feels like two drunk scorpions had a barroom brawl in my sinuses. Also some pretty nasty lethargy. I know I'll beat it, I'm just scared of losing taste/smell; because I've got a pretty heftily-hopped IPA in the kegerator that's ready to keg; which may have to wait until the husband gets home to heft up on the table so I can keg it, due to aforesaid lethargy. Got plenty of snacks, healthy stuff to eat, and, well, beer.
 
seatazzz said:
After over a year working pretty much non-stop in a building where, at last count, nine people have gone down with the 'rona (we only have about 40 or so in our building), it finally caught me. I had my first vaccine shot 2 weeks ago, apparently a bit too much stress and being tired all the time let my guard down. I don't feel too terribly horrible, just a fever, body aches, and my head feels like two drunk scorpions had a barroom brawl in my sinuses. Also some pretty nasty lethargy. I know I'll beat it, I'm just scared of losing taste/smell; because I've got a pretty heftily-hopped IPA in the kegerator that's ready to keg; which may have to wait until the husband gets home to heft up on the table so I can keg it, due to aforesaid lethargy. Got plenty of snacks, healthy stuff to eat, and, well, beer.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that truely 😦. So many people I know thought it couldn't or wouldn't happen to them. My family has had many get togethers minus me and my wife. Just to dangerous here in Michigan. Going through another covid surge again. Folks don't want to use precautions but are the 1st ones pounding down the hospital doors. Praying everything is ok for you 🙏
 
Kegged the Lutra Pilsner. Wish I'd taken a pic. Hella-clear, and this was at 80F ferment, and it still flocced PERFECTLY clear on day #4

Made another Voss Kviek Pale with a bunch of leftover hops from an "iFruity Wheat" (el dorado, Jarrylo, azacca) and it tasted....like brown sugar water. Not sure what to think. But I did it as a mash-then-raise-only-170f-steep-20m-hop-add-ice-to-chill-to-100F-voss Viking Pale Ale. We'll see.
 
seatazzz said:
After over a year working pretty much non-stop in a building where, at last count, nine people have gone down with the 'rona (we only have about 40 or so in our building), it finally caught me. I had my first vaccine shot 2 weeks ago, apparently a bit too much stress and being tired all the time let my guard down. I don't feel too terribly horrible, just a fever, body aches, and my head feels like two drunk scorpions had a barroom brawl in my sinuses. Also some pretty nasty lethargy. I know I'll beat it, I'm just scared of losing taste/smell; because I've got a pretty heftily-hopped IPA in the kegerator that's ready to keg; which may have to wait until the husband gets home to heft up on the table so I can keg it, due to aforesaid lethargy. Got plenty of snacks, healthy stuff to eat, and, well, beer.
Click to expand...

So sorry to hear that, take care. I had it in Nov and did loose taste smell for quite a while. Though some things still smell AWFUL and I can’t eat some foods to this day, beer came right back and eventually hop aromas came back. You’ll beat it! Rest up! The fatigue messed with me for 3 full weeks, so be aware of that and rest up.

Dan
 
seatazzz said:
After over a year working pretty much non-stop in a building where, at last count, nine people have gone down with the 'rona (we only have about 40 or so in our building), it finally caught me. I had my first vaccine shot 2 weeks ago, apparently a bit too much stress and being tired all the time let my guard down. I don't feel too terribly horrible, just a fever, body aches, and my head feels like two drunk scorpions had a barroom brawl in my sinuses. Also some pretty nasty lethargy. I know I'll beat it, I'm just scared of losing taste/smell; because I've got a pretty heftily-hopped IPA in the kegerator that's ready to keg; which may have to wait until the husband gets home to heft up on the table so I can keg it, due to aforesaid lethargy. Got plenty of snacks, healthy stuff to eat, and, well, beer.
Click to expand...

Praying for your speedy recovery! Based upon what we know now, since we weren't testing for it a year ago, it would appear to have ripped through our SoCal high school about 14 months ago. Took out half the school and the faculty anywhere from 3 days wiped out and sick to a week or more in bed. We even had a few hospitalizations for an "unknown infection." Stay safe!
 
@seatazzz, take care of yourself and hang in there. We’re pretty lucky as where we live, most of the time, we’re pretty much quarantined by default. Our nearest neighbor, in any direction, is over 2 miles away. Just repeat the mantra “beer will get me through, beer will get me through...” 👍
 

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