What I did for beer today

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Learned how to do something new today. Brewing up a Wookie Jack clone, and on a whim decided to try a decoction after 60 minutes in the mash. Ran out 2 gallons, heated the hell out of it, and ran it back in. So easy, dunno why I haven't done this before. I have the means to run a HERMS if I really wanted to set it all up (old IC in the mash tun, hooked up to the pump and the HLT) but it's a PITA. We'll see how this goes.
May have shot myself in the foot on this one; got a stuck mash for the first time in years, once I got that figured out wound up with about 9.5 gallons preboil at 1.051. Since I usually run into the fermenter when it hits 6, I can potentially have about 1.090-something SG. Did NOT intend for this to be rocket fuel. Oh well, it smells absolutely wonderful on the boil, and can always up the late hop additions to combat the higher gravity.
 
May have shot myself in the foot on this one; got a stuck mash for the first time in years, once I got that figured out wound up with about 9.5 gallons preboil at 1.051. Since I usually run into the fermenter when it hits 6, I can potentially have about 1.090-something SG. Did NOT intend for this to be rocket fuel. Oh well, it smells absolutely wonderful on the boil, and can always up the late hop additions to combat the higher gravity.
That is not the correct way to perform a decoction. You pull the thickest part of the mash and boil that leaving the bulk of the enzymes behind in the thin wort. You may have created astringentcy.
 
That is not the correct way to perform a decoction. You pull the thickest part of the mash and boil that leaving the bulk of the enzymes behind in the thin wort. You may have created astringentcy.
Hmm. I think I have read of this method (what I did) somewhere. Maybe I screwed up, maybe I created something great, only time will tell. I MIAB so pulling mash out isn't completely feasible nor easy, nor does my BK have a means to keep the grain bits from hitting the pump, if I went that route. Wort that I added back in was about 180, about the same temperature for sparge water, which isn't *supposed* to add astringency, unless you overdo it. I may be talking out my a** but we shall see.
 
Hmm. I think I have read of this method (what I did) somewhere. Maybe I screwed up, maybe I created something great, only time will tell. I MIAB so pulling mash out isn't completely feasible nor easy, nor does my BK have a means to keep the grain bits from hitting the pump, if I went that route. Wort that I added back in was about 180, about the same temperature for sparge water, which isn't *supposed* to add astringency, unless you overdo it. I may be talking out my a** but we shall see.
I forget about the BIAB systems. I'm old school. I hope it is great.
 
First time posting to this topic, today I smoked some oak cubes in our oven @ 400° for 3 hours. Once finished, after they cooled, I weighed out 3 oz of cubes and put them to soak in some bourbon for an upcoming RIS recipe I'm following from Kal at the electric brewery. Plan to brew in about 3 weeks or so, the cubes should be good and ready for the secondary by then.

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I have quite a bit left over, so in the drawer they go for another brew day.
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Might try a rum based soak for the next brew, and I have tons of wood scraps...cherry, maple, walnut, mahogany. Need to read up on what flavor each wood can impart to a beer.
 
First time posting to this topic, today I smoked some oak cubes in our oven @ 400° for 3 hours. Once finished, after they cooled, I weighed out 3 oz of cubes and put them to soak in some bourbon for an upcoming RIS recipe I'm following from Kal at the electric brewery. Plan to brew in about 3 weeks or so, the cubes should be good and ready for the secondary by then.

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I have quite a bit left over, so in the drawer they go for another brew day.
View attachment 727864

Might try a rum based soak for the next brew, and I have tons of wood scraps...cherry, maple, walnut, mahogany. Need to read up on what flavor each wood can impart to a beer.
Where did you get the oak?
 
@seatazzz what was you second step temp? and i'm not surprised it's rocket fuel! (about a 10% effec increase? ;)) :mug:


and my brewday today is cumbersome! my malt out of the kiln was still damp, because i was in a hurry and didn't let it dry long enough. wanted to f around with the digital refrac too much!

because the malt was damp took like an hour to mill 20lb's. had to keep jumping the mill with a knife to get it to catch...i over shot my second 162f step, got 170f for a few seconds, dumped cold water in FAST. then had to heat it BACK up. lol, but all's good i think the extra barley grass might have actually worked out to help effec. usually i get ~80% but my preboil says i'm at ~85%.....(

i did add a bunch of roast barley just in case this would have tasted like lawn clipings....
 
I forget about the BIAB systems. I'm old school. I hope it is great.
Went into the fermenter at 1.091, so at least something went right with this screwy brewday! SG per the recipes I kind of glommed together is supposed to be about 1.081, so that was a big overshot. I'm going to try this again next time I brew the House American Strong; I occasionally do a reduction for that, so maybe this method will negate that step.
 
Where did you get the oak?
Well technically NY state...close friend of mine had a property up near Keuka lake (one of the finger lakes) that he cleared a few acres for a house that he was planning to build. He had the oak and cherry milled up into 1 1/4" planks for future cabinets. Few years later he decided to sell the land and he told me if I wanted to truck up there I could have whatever I can grab. So I took my trailer and drove up. Grabbed close to 1000 board feet of oak and probably a few hundred board feet of cherry, maxed out my trailer and headed back to FL.

I have a woodworking shop in my garage along with my brewery, so I always have off cuts stacked here and there. I knew the oak was clean, as in nothing sprayed on it or treated with anything.
 
Well technically NY state...close friend of mine had a property up near Keuka lake (one of the finger lakes) that he cleared a few acres for a house that he was planning to build. He had the oak and cherry milled up into 1 1/4" planks for future cabinets. Few years later he decided to sell the land and he told me if I wanted to truck up there I could have whatever I can grab. So I took my trailer and drove up. Grabbed close to 1000 board feet of oak and probably a few hundred board feet of cherry, maxed out my trailer and headed back to FL.

I have a woodworking shop in my garage along with my brewery, so I always have off cuts stacked here and there. I knew the oak was clean, as in nothing sprayed on it or treated with anything.
It was the chemicals I was concerned about (Home Depot). I have 4 live edge oak slaps I got from a friend near the Oklahoma and Texas boarder. We cut down a damaged tree and his neighbor has a portable sawmill and we cut it in to 11 slabs 11' x 2' x 3". I have them stacked in the garage drying.
 
First time posting to this topic, today I smoked some oak cubes in our oven @ 400° for 3 hours. Once finished, after they cooled, I weighed out 3 oz of cubes and put them to soak in some bourbon for an upcoming RIS recipe I'm following from Kal at the electric brewery. Plan to brew in about 3 weeks or so, the cubes should be good and ready for the secondary by then.

View attachment 727858

View attachment 727859

View attachment 727860

View attachment 727861

View attachment 727862

View attachment 727863

I have quite a bit left over, so in the drawer they go for another brew day.
View attachment 727864

Might try a rum based soak for the next brew, and I have tons of wood scraps...cherry, maple, walnut, mahogany. Need to read up on what flavor each wood can impart to a beer.
Definitely stay away from the walnut. Don't know about cherry or mahogany, the maple will probably give little or no taste.
For experimenting with different woods, whittle a toothpick and suck on it awhile.
 
First time posting to this topic, today I smoked some oak cubes in our oven @ 400° for 3 hours. Once finished, after they cooled, I weighed out 3 oz of cubes and put them to soak in some bourbon for an upcoming RIS recipe I'm following from Kal at the electric brewery. Plan to brew in about 3 weeks or so, the cubes should be good and ready for the secondary by then.

View attachment 727858

View attachment 727859

View attachment 727860

View attachment 727861

View attachment 727862

View attachment 727863

I have quite a bit left over, so in the drawer they go for another brew day.
View attachment 727864

Might try a rum based soak for the next brew, and I have tons of wood scraps...cherry, maple, walnut, mahogany. Need to read up on what flavor each wood can impart to a beer.

NICE bandsaw and I can tell the shop area is equally as nice.
 
Definitely stay away from the walnut. Don't know about cherry or mahogany, the maple will probably give little or no taste.
For experimenting with different woods, whittle a toothpick and suck on it awhile.
Here's an interesting page I found, it talks about different types of wood and the flavors they can offer.

https://www.homebrewfinds.com/2015/...g-your-own-wood-chips-by-matt-del-fiacco.html
And here's a screen shot which talks about different wood types...
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you might want to cook a high temp wok dish sometime!
That's one idea. I am in the process of converting to all electric also. Trying to figure out what I'm gonna do with burners and tanks as well. The wok idea is a good one. I think I'll give my 205,000 BTU burner a go under my crab boil pot. That will speed that up.
 
Forgot to post this yesterday, but I brewed 5.5 gallons of a pilsner
Nailed the mash in temperature, but fudged up the sparge... got stuck about 20minutes in, so i opened the valve on the mash tun more and milled grain poured into my kettle
Also broke the airlock at then end of it all and had to speed over to the brew shop before they closed. It was a day
 
That's one idea. I am in the process of converting to all electric also. Trying to figure out what I'm gonna do with burners and tanks as well. The wok idea is a good one. I think I'll give my 205,000 BTU burner a go under my crab boil pot. That will speed that up.


don't thank me, thank Alton Brown, he did a show on how to get proper what i guess is called "Wok-a"
 
So, I have been checking the airlock on the New Zealand Pale Ale I brewed on Saturday and I have not seen any activity or smelled any good smells, so I open the fermenter this afternoon and no krausen, no krausen ring, still smells like raw wort. So much for my pack of White Labs 007, Dry English Ale, admittedly my favorite yeast culture. Dropped the back-up plan into the wort and am hoping to see changes by tomorrow. Always have a pack of SafAle-05 in the freezer!
 
Tapped the Lemondrop Blonde that I brewed a few weeks ago; it's an okay ale, just not exactly what I wanted it to be. Just your garden variety blonde. Oh well it will be drunk. Next time I will delete the bittering hops (in this case .5oz Cascade) and do only late additions.
 
Tapped the Lemondrop Blonde that I brewed a few weeks ago; it's an okay ale, just not exactly what I wanted it to be. Just your garden variety blonde. Oh well it will be drunk. Next time I will delete the bittering hops (in this case .5oz Cascade) and do only late additions.

Maybe give it the Corona treatment? A slice of lemon/lime to add acidity?
 
Transferred my piwo grodziskie to the keg for lagering and slow carb. Hit 3.3% abv and enjoyed the taste in my sample. It's my first time making one. I have high hopes! I even went traditional and used some white willow bark and all lubelski hops!
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After an absolutely sh*tty day at work, sitting here enjoying some of my own homebrew and pondering on the work ethic of people today. We've grown enough that I need an assistant; I've gone through three temps and one solid hire that can't handle what I have to teach. What I do can't be learned in a classroom environment (container dispatching from very very very busy Seattle/Tacoma ports) and can only be learned through experience, which I have 14 very successful years of. Last one, that lasted three weeks, walked out this morning without a word to anyone after seeing me deal with a driver who got an overweight ticket. And, trying not to be too much of a b*tch, this woman was a Karen to the nth degree that none of my co-workers could stand listening to. Fortunately the big bosses have my back, and know they would be screwed without me.

One of the many reasons I'm really glad I homebrew; after a day like today I would be running to the corner store for replacements in a nanosecond, if I didn't have the well-filled kegerator in my garage. Carry on, I'll just be sitting here in the corner sipping on something tasty and trying not to think about the next few days.
 
I think I'll give my 205,000 BTU burner a go under my crab boil pot. That will speed that up.
Be careful walking away from that. Stepped away for a second to grab something during a boil on a jet burner, came back to smoke instead of steam after all the liquid was gone. Crabs were fine since I was close to time but the stainless pot was scorched to hell and warped slightly on the bottom. Granted, I had an excuse to buy an even bigger pot for beer and now have a dedicated crabber, but it still sucked
 
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