You know you're a home brewer when?

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TWO posts here today....you know you're a homebrewer when, after having called out sick, you figure out how to turn your ferment fridge (nice working fridge) into the kegerator, with minimal outlay ($10 for a hole saw bit) and a bit of macgyvering....dead kegerator can serve as the ferment fridge until late spring when we'll get a new one. Sitting here now listening to the "new" kegerator working to chill my kegs back to serving temperature, and giggling uncontrollably. Former ferment fridge is a french door Samsung with separate controls for freezer and fridge; if need be the freezer side can be the lager chamber. Yes I DO have my priorities in order!
 
when the living room of your small apartment is filled with kegs, buckets, two large chest freezers, various tubing, and hand drawn beer labels stuck all over the walls

I guess that makes me more of an "apartment brewer" though
 
when the living room of your small apartment is filled with kegs, buckets, two large chest freezers, various tubing, and hand drawn beer labels stuck all over the walls

I guess that makes me more of an "apartment brewer" though

at least you know what's important.....:thumbsup: (haven't seen that emoji before, lol)
 
When you buy a bottle of Guinness for the first time since you started brewing and think... well I guess I was wrong for so many years, and realizing I should stick with my kegs and local breweries. $3 down the drain....
 
When you buy a bottle of Guinness for the first time since you started brewing and think... well I guess I was wrong for so many years, and realizing I should stick with my kegs and local breweries. $3 down the drain....


Well, when the pipeline is full, but the fridge is empty, Guinness Foreign Extra is a fine beer!

In fact, when I get an open fermenter, might have to clone some. (with maybe a wee octane adjustment)!
 
You're in the kitchen cooking, stirring a stew to serve, and just for a second you get worried about cold side oxidation.
 
...When you’re thankful for your BIL sending you a beer kit of your favorite style... but a bit irritated about not knowing what the steeping grains are, what the OG is suppose to be, not to mention the FG... type of yeast? When I brew this beginner kit I’m going to feel blind!



7BEB1277-B465-4B58-9430-66B931F1D602.jpeg
 
...When you’re thankful for your BIL sending you a beer kit of your favorite style... but a bit irritated about not knowing what the steeping grains are, what the OG is suppose to be, not to mention the FG... type of yeast? When I brew this beginner kit I’m going to feel blind!



View attachment 658675

You will be good to go, the picture says it’s easy!
Merry Christmas
 
When the club meeting is tonight and don’t feel like going because of a really hard day at work, but you’re on the board and know what’s going down.
 
When you are more concerned with when the courier will deliver the hops you ordered, as that might affect brewday, than you are with the fact that the power will be off for scheduled maintenince.
 
When you call your last LHBS to “tag and hold” a vial of yeast for your next brew day.
 
When you decide it’s safer to sleep on the couch when you’ve had ten different home brew samples with ten different yeast strains and you seem to breathe in one end and exhale out the other. Everytime when someone brings some of the club sour!!!!
 
When you buy a bottle of Guinness for the first time since you started brewing and think... well I guess I was wrong for so many years, and realizing I should stick with my kegs and local breweries. $3 down the drain....

Guinness is a bit of an anomaly in that the casual drinker thinks it holds up to age when, in fact, it is the opposite. Most homebrewers would understand when you tell them a beer low in ABV and hop content is meant to be drunk fresh - Guinness is no different. I'd recommend trying it again in an establishment (on tap) that rotates it relatively frequently and give it a fair shake.
 
You know you’re a homebrewer when all three selves on the kitchen fridge freezer door are full of hops (accept for the space of a bottle of Jaegermeister) and there’s also a half large shelf full of homegrown and overflow.

Ah, I just get comments from SWMBO about how I can't want any salad because there's yeast and hops filling both salad crisper things....
 
Guinness is a bit of an anomaly in that the casual drinker thinks it holds up to age when, in fact, it is the opposite. Most homebrewers would understand when you tell them a beer low in ABV and hop content is meant to be drunk fresh - Guinness is no different. I'd recommend trying it again in an establishment (on tap) that rotates it relatively frequently and give it a fair shake.
I overall agree, if it were draught, with its low ABV, but it does have surprisingly high IBUs even though it doesn’t taste bitter. My club had a rep from Guinness come talk and I remember that most of us were surprised to hear the number, but a quick look on the web I can’t find it. Of course, the other stouts, export to Antwerp were much higher.
 
My theory is that keeping yeast in the crisper protects it a bit from mouldy cheese and the like (not that cheese gets the opportunity to get mouldy with SWMBO about....).

It may be good politics to consolidate down to one crisper box in the fridge given the way that hops are also taking over the freezer. :)
 
I generally follow along these lines. One crisper for slants and plates, one for jalapenos. Freezer is full of hops. Bottom shelf has a shoebox full of various liquid yeast packs, and a smaller box of dried yeast packs. And a case of beer. Door shelves are full of various beers. The bottom door shelf holds a gallon of milk, a gallon of drinking water, and a six-pack. The upper shelves are various bottled fruit and veggie juices, and sodas.
I use another fridge for food items.
 
Lol, same here. Crisper drawer full of vials of yeast and agar plates/slants and wife complaining about hops and occupying freezer space. At least I no longer have mason jars of yeast taking up half a shelf!
 
I have 4 refrigerators and 5 freezers.
Mini fridge that was in a fermentation chamber. - not plugged in Actually this has a small freezer section in it also but I won't count it.
Kitchen side by side.
Side by side in the garage - mostly empty at the moment
Fridge with top freezer, Fridge portion is kegerator. - Need to get it filled up.
5 cu. ft. freezer for food
7 cu. ft. freezer for fermentation

I have plenty of storage space.
 
I have 4 refrigerators and 5 freezers.
Mini fridge that was in a fermentation chamber. - not plugged in Actually this has a small freezer section in it also but I won't count it.
Kitchen side by side.
Side by side in the garage - mostly empty at the moment
Fridge with top freezer, Fridge portion is kegerator. - Need to get it filled up.
5 cu. ft. freezer for food
7 cu. ft. freezer for fermentation

I have plenty of storage space.

I have a 7.5 cu ft freezer that I use for a fermentation chamber, but it's presently filled with cases of beer at cellar temp. I've been kicking around the idea of getting another, but running out of space in the batcave.
 
Ahh... falling into the abyss... have just been given an old half chest freezer and am wondering which shall be food and which shall be hops and foraged produce. There is no longer room for both in mine, and my fathers freezer has a whole basket of our foraged hops. There is no cure I fear.
 
My Risk-like attempt at refrigerator domination was thwarted when I started making kombucha for the wife. The scoby hotel grossed her out too much. She ended up going halves on a smallish, simple fridge for the basement. Now I have plenty of room for yeast, hops, assorted other projects, and all of my beer stays cold, instead of rotating 3-4 bottles in every few days. Just have to leave room for the thanksgiving turkey and a few lasagnas each year, and we are square.

Did I say thwarted? Oh, right, I meant accomplished.
 
My Risk-like attempt at refrigerator domination was thwarted when I started making kombucha for the wife. The scoby hotel grossed her out too much. She ended up going halves on a smallish, simple fridge for the basement. Now I have plenty of room for yeast, hops, assorted other projects, and all of my beer stays cold, instead of rotating 3-4 bottles in every few days. Just have to leave room for the thanksgiving turkey and a few lasagnas each year, and we are square.

Did I say thwarted? Oh, right, I meant accomplished.
Make sure you wrap that turkey up tight! I jumped at the chance to show how useful my new keezer was this past thanksgiving and man I don't think I will ever get the turkey and sage odor out of it. I'm seriously wondering whether my kegged beers will pick it up.
 
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