What I did for beer today

[seanjwalker1]

Which place do you go to, Sean?
I ran into much the same disappointment at the place on Chicago Rd and Mound, across the parking lot from Kuhnhenn Brewing. I don't use them anymore. I now use Adventures In Home Brewing (ridiculous name but whatever). They seem to stay on top of things. Considering where you live, they're a little far but they do online ordering and have been competent, in my experience.

Yeah AHB would be about an hour drive. I have ordered some things from them before. I should use them more. I just order most of my big ticket items from Northern Brewer. They are really great at getting you your orders and solving any issues. Just became kind of a loyalty thing but I may start doing more ordering from AHB...home state store and all. Speaking of which tomorrow GO BLUE !!!!

 

[davidabcd]

Cap N Cork on 21 mile

That's the one my nephew goes to.
Looks like your place is sound which is good to know.
Ironically, the one thing Brewingworld (the LHBS) had was LOTS of different grains.
When the dude was sleeping in the back of the brewery across the parking lot from the homebrew store and I had to walk over there to get him up, that's when I said enough.

 

[seanjwalker1]

That's the one my nephew goes to.
Looks like your place is sound which is good to know.
Ironically, the one thing Brewingworld (the LHBS) had was LOTS of different grains.
When the dude was sleeping in the back of the brewery across the parking lot from the homebrew store and I had to walk over there to get him up, that's when I said enough.

A little too much of his own product maybe !!!

 

[davidabcd]

A little too much of his own product maybe

I had the notion that the clerk had gotten hammered.
I could have backed a truck in and taken whatever I wanted. I waited ten minutes before I went over to the bar to go get him.
When I used to go in there, all the employees were mid drinking a pint.

 

[davidabcd]

ust became kind of a loyalty thing

I don't know, but if it ain't broke....
Maybe I'll take a closer look at Northern Brewer.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Its also kind of a plus going there. I'm in Oakland county but my mom lives in Shelby Township on 23 mile which is just 4 miles from Cap N Cork which then puts me 1/2 way to Joint Base Selfridge A.N.G where we shop sometimes. It's like killing 3 birds with 1 stone. Too bad the LHBS on Chicago is not that great, I cross right over Chicago Rd 2x a day dropping my wife off at work in Warran.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Which place do you go to, Sean?
I ran into much the same disappointment at the place on Chicago Rd and Mound, across the parking lot from Kuhnhenn Brewing. I don't use them anymore. I now use Adventures In Home Brewing (ridiculous name but whatever). They seem to stay on top of things. Considering where you live, they're a little far but they do online ordering and have been competent, in my experience.

Side note...have you run across any stores carrying Leinenkugels Chocolate Bock ??? I only see the Toasted Bock. Strange cause Wisconsin is right next door. I mean they have every other Leinenkugels beer here , why not Chocolate Bock ??

 

[davidabcd]

Leinenkugels Chocolate Bock

I'll keep an eye out for it. Between the places I go to, I might get lucky. If I see it, I'll let you know.

 

[ba-brewer]

Today I cleaned up a keg and some bottles to package my best bitter tomorrow.

Yesterday I brewed a WCIPA using galaxy, azacca and cashmere hops. I came in slight over my expected gravity as over boiled, but then I added some spring water and a little sugar and got it close to my expectations.

 

[Falstaff]

Brew and bottle at the same time. Wanted to reuse yeast and not have to clean my fermenter.

 

[aharri1]

Brewed a clone of samichlaus doppelbock with @DrGMG yesterday. We hit our OG of 1.144! It's gonna be a beast!

 

[SteveH aka shetc]

Won a silver for a Mexican Vienna lager called El Loco

 

[Bill9000]

Bottled my Christmas Eve brew!

 

[BrewMan13]

Kegged the imperial stout and set aside to age (def needs it). Dumped the failed version of my wild ale project, and cleaned out an old, dirty keg I was gifted a little while back from a brewery I checked out (also gave me an inkbird).

 

[seanjwalker1]

Cleaned the brew kettle, Avil 4 gal fermenter and the Chapman fermenter to use as a HLT in preparation for tomorrow's brew day of 3gal spiced brown ale. Was gonna do it today but opened my sanitizer bucket to shock. Was a cloudy yellow and the bucket lid had mold . What bad mamba Jamba bugs/mold can survive in a starsan environment ?!? Never had that happen in 17 years. And of course didn't have 5 gallons of distilled water on hand so put off till tomorrow. Did a good soapy chlorine wash of the bucket. I'm still freaked out about mold in a starsan bucket !!! SCARY.....Yeah, SCARY. Solution was about 6 months old. I've gone a year without problems with the same solution. Never turned yellow before.

 

[ba-brewer]

Cleaned the brew kettle, Avil 4 gal fermenter and the Chapman fermenter to use as a HLT in preparation for tomorrow's brew day of 3gal spiced brown ale. Was gonna do it today but opened my sanitizer bucket to shock. Was a cloudy yellow and the bucket lid had mold . What bad mamba Jamba bugs/mold can survive in a starsan environment ?!? Never had that happen in 17 years. And of course didn't have 5 gallons of distilled water on hand so put off till tomorrow. Did a good soapy chlorine wash of the bucket. I'm still freaked out about mold in a starsan bucket !!! SCARY.....Yeah, SCARY. Solution was about 6 months old. I've gone a year without problems with the same solution. Never turned yellow before.View attachment 751459

I keep a bucket of starsan that I dump and remake every few weeks. I used RO water and it keeps it from turns cloudy so quick. I put a cover over top of it to reduce evaporation and keep gnats out of it. I get mold on the lid from time to time, it looks like the mold is growing where I had touched the lid. If I remember I rinse the lid with starsan before replacing it and that seems to help keeping it from growing. With the lid on, inside of bucket is a pretty ideal place to grow mold. Never had mold grow in the starsan itself just on the lid.

This is a pic of stuff growing on/in an aeration stone that was stored in starsan. So it can happen.
How to clean aeration stone

 

[seanjwalker1]

I keep a bucket of starsan that I dump and remake every few weeks. I used RO water and it keeps it from turns cloudy so quick. I put a cover over top of it to reduce evaporation and keep gnats out of it. I get mold on the lid from time to time, it looks like the mold is growing where I had touched the lid. If I remember I rinse the lid with starsan before replacing it and that seems to help keeping it from growing. With the lid on, inside of bucket is a pretty ideal place to grow mold. Never had mold grow in the starsan itself just on the lid.

This is a pic of stuff growing on/in an aeration stone that was stored in starsan. So it can happen.
How to clean aeration stone

Just never happened before. Kind of a shock. I used to dump my starsan every 2nd or 3rd batch but decided to stop doing that as long as the solution was clear or not full of floaters it was good. Never ever had mold grow on the underside of the lid I squirt the lid too after I'm done. Maybe I'll go back to more frequent changes.

 

[T Murph]

Cleaned the brew kettle, Avil 4 gal fermenter and the Chapman fermenter to use as a HLT in preparation for tomorrow's brew day of 3gal spiced brown ale. Was gonna do it today but opened my sanitizer bucket to shock. Was a cloudy yellow and the bucket lid had mold . What bad mamba Jamba bugs/mold can survive in a starsan environment ?!? Never had that happen in 17 years. And of course didn't have 5 gallons of distilled water on hand so put off till tomorrow. Did a good soapy chlorine wash of the bucket. I'm still freaked out about mold in a starsan bucket !!! SCARY.....Yeah, SCARY. Solution was about 6 months old. I've gone a year without problems with the same solution. Never turned yellow before.View attachment 751459

Cleaned the brew kettle, Avil 4 gal fermenter and the Chapman fermenter to use as a HLT in preparation for tomorrow's brew day of 3gal spiced brown ale. Was gonna do it today but opened my sanitizer bucket to shock. Was a cloudy yellow and the bucket lid had mold . What bad mamba Jamba bugs/mold can survive in a starsan environment ?!? Never had that happen in 17 years. And of course didn't have 5 gallons of distilled water on hand so put off till tomorrow. Did a good soapy chlorine wash of the bucket. I'm still freaked out about mold in a starsan bucket !!! SCARY.....Yeah, SCARY. Solution was about 6 months old. I've gone a year without problems with the same solution. Never turned yellow before.View attachment 751459

Wow, you are lucky that you haven't had an issue keeping starsan in solution for extended periods of time. It is a mild sanitizer and doesn't retain its sanitizing ability for long periods once diluted with water. Your post reminds me it's time to remake my solution in my spray bottle. I try to remake it at least monthly. I rely on it to help keep faucets, beer post etc sanitized regularly.

 

[seanjwalker1]

Wow, you are lucky that you haven't had an issue keeping starsan in solution for extended periods of time. It is a mild sanitizer and doesn't retain its sanitizing ability for long periods once diluted with water. Your post reminds me it's time to remake my solution in my spray bottle. I try to remake it at least monthly. I rely on it to help keep faucets, beer post etc sanitized regularly.

I'm going back to changing it every 2 or 3 batches. I only brew about 4-5 batches a year so maybe that's why it lasted. Nope no more. 1 mold scare was quite enough thank you !!!

 

[seanjwalker1]

Finally brewed my Christmas Spiced Brown Ale. I was getting nervous time was running out. Seemed like fate was trying to make me miss brewing my annual Xmas beer. I'm a 3 week primary ferment type but may have to cut it back to 10-14 days. Gonna split 1/2 between bottles and half in my new 1.75gal keg. Bottles probably won't be ready till New Year but at least I'll be able to force keg half of it for Xmas evening. Sweet orange peel, sweet tangerine peel, Cinnamon, Ginger , Clove (just a few) and Allspice...YUM

 

[davidabcd]

I only see the Toasted Bock.

That's what I saw today at the new Kroger on 9 MILE and Harper. They had a lot of it. I'll keep looking.

 

[seanjwalker1]

That's what I saw today at the new Kroger on 9 MILE and Harper. They had a lot of it. I'll keep looking.

I actually wrote Leinenkugels and heard back from them today. They said like everyone else they are feeling the pandemic crunch, short workers, short packaging supplies and transport so they have not been able to get all their brands to all the markets they normally do. They are doing their best and will try to get Chocolate Dunkel and Snowdrift Vanilla Porter to SE Michigan but no promises...so that was probably their politically correct way of telling me to bugger off

 

[hout17]

I actually wrote Leinenkugels and heard back from them today. They said like everyone else they are feeling the pandemic crunch, short workers, short packaging supplies and transport so they have not been able to get all their brands to all the markets they normally do. They are doing their best and will try to get Chocolate Dunkel and Snowdrift Vanilla Porter to SE Michigan but no promises...so that was probably their politically correct way of telling me to bugger off

Maybe your inquiry for SE Michigan got the shipment bumped up the list. You never know I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[seanjwalker1]

That's what I saw today at the new Kroger on 9 MILE and Harper. They had a lot of it. I'll keep looking.

Wow I wasn't too far from there today. 13 mile and Groesbeck. Been awhile since I been down Groesbeck, I forgot it's same road as North Avenue. When I was in High School in Romeo, I did my Army Reserve drills on Groesbeck.

 

[davidabcd]

How about that? Wa

I actually wrote Leinenkugels and heard back from them today. They said like everyone else they are feeling the pandemic crunch, short workers, short packaging supplies and transport so they have not been able to get all their brands to all the markets they normally do. They are doing their best and will try to get Chocolate Dunkel and Snowdrift Vanilla Porter to SE Michigan but no promises...so that was probably their politically correct way of telling me to bugger off

I'm never happy with communicating to a large company. They're terrified of negative publicity and so give a wishy-washy response no matter what. 99% of us wouldn't consider suing them but that's how they behave. It's utterly frustrating trying to have an actual conversation.
Who knows? They could be on the up and up with why they aren't distributing.

 

[kmarkstevens]

The supply chain is really messed up. I do China sourcing work. Most suppliers are not even quoting lead times any more, you have to place a PO for 52 weeks and then they try to pull it in. I think we are still 2 years out from a new equilibrium. Amazon has thrown a monkey wrench into drivers and the lower end wage structure. You can do crappy restaurant work or go drive for Amazon. And there are shortages of everything that crops up.

 

[vtmikko]

I brewed some stout

 

[seanjwalker1]

Sniffed the airlock of the Brown spiced Ale...WONDERFUL !!! Bubbling away ! Delightful

smell of chocolate candy covered spiced oranges. I thought I was being slick when I snuck into the basement storage room to get my sniff fix. The fermenter is on the floor of the storage room where it's about 67°. I had to get down on my knees to sniff it. Turned around and the wife was standing there sadly shaking her head at her airlock sniffing addict husband . She went back upstairs and abandoned me to my nefarious activity.

 

[seatazzz]

Made a list of everything I need to bring for the group brewday this Saturday. The venue is less than 10 minutes from my house, but I really hate forgetting something and either going myself to get it or sending the husband who might not know exactly what I need.

 

[bracconiere]

Just a routine work up, for what i hope to be brew day tomorrow. dried barley sprouts are in the oven at 195f.

(and damn, wondering just how long i can put off a co2 swap with only gas in the tank, down to 600psi on the HP gauge. room temp is 70 )