Wotta's HomeBrew Blog

Moving Again....!

2011-09-29T20:50:00.000-04:00

Hi all...!

Hope you read the latest issue of BYO as my brew rig was featured in it. Thank to all the BYO people for making it happen!

On another note.....Just to let everyone know... if you have signed up for my newsletter...I thank you for doing so. I have to let you know that I have not sent out any issues yet as I am waiting until I have a reasonable amount of sign ups before starting. As all of you probably know....I have a very busy life and updates to this blog don't seem to happen often enough. I truly apologize for that. Please note that your email addresses are safe and secure and I don't share them with anyone.

Like I said....we will be moving this Saturday to a way nicer location in the country. I have the go ahead to upgrade the electrical service to suit my needs...and we all know what that means....! yayyyyy!!!! 240/30 amp service is a week or so away....and so is the re-design and upgrade of my brewery! The upgrade will be very easy for me as I already have the required components that's needed. I'll get my licensed stepson to do the wiring and we'll be all set! I'll do the best I can to document the process and get it posted. I hope all of you can be patient as moving is always a big chore.

I visited my friend JD today as he was brewing up one of his delicious Pale Ale's.
Anyways.....getting late....and i'm tired....sorry ....no pics today....wayyyy too busy getting ready for the move..

Keep Brewing...!

(_)3

Maiden Voyage Results

2011-07-16T15:28:00.000-04:00

The maiden voyage brew session was successful but with a couple minor glitches to correct. I had cavitation issues with the pumps but managed to get them primed. Overall the session went real smoothly and my brew buddie JD was on hand to help out. Since then I have changes a couple of things with the brewery's plumbing configuration and installed the Blichmann easy connectors on both pump's suction lines. I also re-installed the drainage plumbing to be on the pumps out going side and added a HLT above the mash tun to hold hot liquor for the sparge. I guess you can say that I now do a modified batch-fly sparge using 3 vessels.

Using the 30 plate heat exchanger instead of an installed coil for the HERMS system was a huge improvement on performance and it serves double duty during the wort chilling process as well.

I have since brewed on the system 5 times and it is performing very well. It is real easy to use and the results have been better that I anticipated! Seems that the quality of the beer has improved quite a bit too! Yayyy!

Below are a few pics of the brewery as it stands now....but I already have a couple minor changes in mind which concerns the control panel and the SSR wiring....more on that later....!


Here's the reconfigured system in full operation performing the mash. The cooler is for storing sparge water when pumped to it from the boil kettle (on left)

Here's the control panel holding temperature at 151 degF

This is a shot of the home made sparge and liquor return arm.

The sparge arm in action returning the wort to the top of the mash.

Running off the wort into the boil kettle.

Wort coming up to a boil using 3 heatsticks.

While the wort is boiling, the mash tun is cleaned of spent grains and filled up with 60 lbs of ice and enough water to prime the pump and start the cooling process.

Here's where I had to change the plumbing for the pumps. The drainage system is very useful to purge hot or cold liquids. It also allows me to capture quite a bit of wort that gets trapped in the system. I can then return this wort to the boil kettle.

This is the output side of the chilling process after the boiling of the wort has been completed. This is a 1 pass operation and cools the wort from 200+ degrees F directly into the fermenter at the desired fermentation temperature. The temperature is controlled by either slowing down or speeding up the flow of the hot wort which is being pumped through the plate heat exchanger. The first time I used it, the wort was cooled too much (48 degF) and I had to wait for it to warm up to be able to pitch the yeast! I just added the thermometer so I can now regulate the exiting temperature of the wort. The entire cooling process takes 15 minutes from the boil kettle to the fermenter in 1 pass.

Well that's it for now as I have to go downstairs and bottle the Imperial Rye IPA and check up on the Belgian White that's now fermenting. My next session will be next week and we'll be doing a Hefeweizen complete with decoction.

I'll be posting more next week.....until then....

Keep Brewing!
(_)3

New Electric Brewery

2011-05-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone....

Sorry for not being around but i've been busy putting together a new brewery...this time an electric one so I can brew indoors during the cold RI winters! It is a 2 vessel brewery that recirculates the wort and mash and sparge water around itself to produce a suitable wort. I finished testing it today and performed a final cleaning of all components, and it is now ready for i'ts maiden brew session. I'll be brewing with it before the week is out.

I'd also like to thank Kal over at theelectricbrewery.com for his inspiration and insights concerning the build. I did implement a few of his ideas for my system but not many!

Below are a few pics of today's testing session and final cleaning.

Hope you enjoy the pics!
I'll be adding more pics during the brewery's maiden voyage soon!

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Coastal Extreme Brewing Co Wort Give Away!

2011-02-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

Hey all...

Last Saturday I went down to Newport to visit Coastal Extreme Brewing Co., home of the Newport Storm beer brand. They were conducting their annual brew session of their 2011 beer for this year and the homebrewers of the area were invited to come and take the tour, sample some great brews in the sampling area, then take home the left over wort to boil and ferment themselves! For the '11 seasonal beer, they only kept the first runnings and gave away the second and third to us homebrewers. This year's specialty beer was a collaboration of Rhode Island's best commercial brewers and it went well! It will be released in Nov 2011 and is a BIG beer! Can't wait to try it!
The collaboration team consisted of the following brewers:
Derek Luke - Coastal Extreme Brewing
Sean Larkin - Trinity Brewhouse
Aaron Crossett - Union Station Brewery
Dave Sniffen - Mohegan Cafe and Brewery
Marshall Righter - Coddington Brewing Company

The brewery tour was a lot of fun and very informative and was a bit of a history lesson not only about the brewery, but also about the history of brewing in Rhode Island, as this state is rich in brewing history!
The tour was conducted by Laura Blackwell, and she was great at answering our questions and was very entertaining too! Great job Laura!

Coastal Extreme also brews and distills their own line of rum by the name of Thomas Tew Rum. You can learn more about the brewery and about Thomas Tew Rum by visiting their website HERE.

The brewery even allowed a few homebrewers to bring their boiling gear and boil their wort at the brewery!

I managed to bring home 10 gallons of wort, one from the second runoff and one from the third.

I brought it all home and with the addittion of some extra specialty grains, I boiled up a Dopplebock using the first runnings, and with the second, I bolied up an Oktoberfest. They are fermenting away as I type.

I also ran in to a couple of fellow RIFTers there and we had a great time discussing our plans for the wort.

I managed to take a couple of pics and they are shown below.

I'd like to thank everyone at Coastal Extreme Brewing for their generosity and hospitality. It was a great day!

Below, members of the South Shore Brewing club boiling their wort.

Running off some wort.

Below: View of the mash tun and boiling kettle.

I need to get a few of these...!

Here's John showing off his damaged finger. Ouch!

And this one's for John: ;D

Well that's it for now...I'll have some new pics of my new electric brewery posted soon and some more informative information about how it all works.

Thanks for stopping by....and....

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

We Moved!

2010-10-26T10:01:00.000-04:00

Hi All,

We have completed our move from Florida to Rhode Island as of last week and am now spending our spare time unpacking and organizing our stuff. The brewery is almost unpacked but some more organization is still needed.

I have hooked up with a local RI club called the Rhode Island Fermentation Technicians ( RIFT), and on last Saturday, I attended one of their group brew sessions and met quite a few of the members. They are a knowledgeable and very friendly group as we hit it off right away! The style for the session was an American Amber Ale, and 55 gallons was brewed. We had 11 carboys filled and it is also part of a yeast experiment, where each one will be fermented with a different yeast so that a comparison will be made later at a future meeting. The grain bill used a total of 106 lbs of grain!

Everyone had a fantastic time and I look forward to their next meeting.

Here are some pics of the event:

Here's John's malt mill with 4" rollers. It gave a fantastac crush!

And here's John's 55 gallon brew rig:

Malt mill again:

Here's John feeding the mill

Here's where John stores his grains. The big 55 lb tubs are all full!

Here's Andy selecting the specialty grain for the day's session


Close up of the mill in action

Mashing in the grains.

Here's the lunch and beer sampling table.

Mashing in

Close up of the mash in process

Here's John hooking up and adjusting the transfer pump

Steam from the boil kettle!


11 Carboys in line to be filled with wort! All were filled!

I sure did have a fantastic time meeting these guy's and taking part in the Big Brew event. I look forward to their next meeting too!

I am in the design process of constructing an electric brewery and will write more on this in future posts.

Thanks for stopping by....and

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Brewing With David!

2010-09-07T11:54:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!

Well look at that...! It's my birthday! LOL!

I went over to David's and Stacey's place yesterday to give him a hand brewing and to enjoy his award winning BBQ chicken n' ribs n' beef brisket! Boy was that BBQ good! Yummmmm!

I arrived there around 11:30 and he was inside measuring out the grain bill. I volunteered to get the water dumped into the HLT and to start heating it up. While it was heating, we crushed the grains using his Barley Crusher and we were ready to dough in the grains. After the strike water reached 170 degF we transfered the allotted 4 1/4 gallons to the mash tun and proceeded to dough in. The temp came in a little warm, so we had to add about 1/2 gallon of cool water to lower the temp to our mash temp of 154 degF. It worked out well. We hit the target temperature then wrapped the tun with a blanket for insulation purposes and set the timer for 60 minutes.

It's BBQ time! David and Stacey announced that the BBQ was ready and we followed him into the house, grabbed our plates and served ourselves to the spread! It was fantastic.

After the hour was up, the timer went off and David, Jeremy and I tested the wort for conversion by performing an iodine test. It was converted to our satisfaction! We then re-heated to sparge water back to 180 degF and started to recirculate the wort to get a clear run off, and then started to run off into the boil kettle. The wort looked nice and clear. After we completed the runoff and got our 7.5 gallons we checked the pre-boil gravity and found that we were about 2 points low, so we decided to boil the work for a little longer just to bring the OG to the desired gravity. We ended up at 1.054, and David was very happy with the result.
This was David's 3rd brew session on his new rig, and he is getting used to the routine and of getting his efficiency locked in. He's been making adjustments with every brew session ans is improving. This was his best session so far.

We completed the boil and chilled the wort using his home counter flow chiller and completed the brew session. Jeremy and Cheryl stopped by with an array of his amazing homebrew and we had a mini-beer tasting with David's friends and family. I brought a 2 liter growler of a Brown Porter that I made 4 weeks back and shared that with everyone too.

David had some Fullers Porter and some Fullers Pale Ale to have in between and everyone had a fantastic time.

Here's a few pics of the day's happenings:

Here's Davids new Brew Rig:

Here's David keeping an eye on things and explaining the operation:

Jeremy and Allen checking out the rig and temperatures:

Running off the wort into the kettle:

Recirculating to clear the wort:

Chilling the wort and filling the primary fermenter!

Time for award winning BBQ!

Everyone had a fantastic day!

Well that's all for now...

Thanks for stopping by....

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Brads Porter Session!

2010-09-04T17:47:00.000-04:00

Well....!

I awoke this morning at 5:45 AM and got up and got dressed and had a cup of coffee before heading out to Brad's place to witness his brew session. The sun was just coming up over the horizon when I completed the 20 minute drive and I pulled into his driveway to see him already sanitizing the brewery's plumbing and getting the equipment ready for the mornings brew session.

Brad greeted me and asked if he was late or if I was early! I stated that I was a bit early and he then chuckled and went back to work getting ready to start today's brew session. He got me a chair and handed me his brew recipe...ahhh....a nice Robust Porter!

Within 15 minutes we started heating up the strike water and when that was at our desired temperature, we started to dough in the grains. It was then that our long time friend and brew pal Bob rolled into the driveway and he assisted with the stirring of the mash while Brad fed the mash tun the grains at an even pace.

The session was highly successful and fun for all. We ended the day with food and drink and we were all satisfied and tired out from the day's events.

Here's just a few pics of the session:

Bob stirring while Brad pours in the grain!

Close up of the grain being doughed in:

Bob finishing up with the mixing:

Here's Brad, Bob and I bringing the wort to a boil:

It was a great session and we had a lot of fun too! Now the hard part....waiting until the final product is finished!

Thanks for stopping by......Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Brewing With Jeremy

2010-09-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

Well, last weekend was very busy! I visited my friend and fellow brewer Jeremy last Friday night to observe him brewing his Pompous Ass ale. We also had plenty of great samples to enjoy.

On Sunday I brewed up an IPA which is I hope an attempt to clone Bells 2 Hearted Ale. My friend Brad was on hand and was of great assistance. We have been trying to brew a close replica of this fantastic brew for a couple of sessions now and we feel we are getting very close. We'll brew a batch...then get together to do a sampling and critique session, then discuss ways to improve the beer and how to get it closer to our desired end result. Brad brewed it first, and now I have brewed it with the changes we made to the first brewing of it. The brew is still fermenting as I type, so it's going to be a while before we get the taste our results.

On Sunday evening I attended our brew club's monthly meeting ( Volusia County Home Brewers Guild ), and that is always fun!

Now...on this Saturday, I'll be over at Brads place assisting him with the brewing of one of his Porters. This guy brews a great Porter by the way. After the morning brew session, we'll be having a cookout and will be enjoying his latest beer....his Danish Lager for the first time! Can't wait to taste that lager.

On Sunday we have a family get together to celebrate my stepson's birthday and also my birthday! Yeyyy! another BBQ!

Then on Monday I travel to Ormond Beach to David's place to assist him with his brew session and to help him get rid of some left over BBQ he's going to have left over from the BBQ contest he's going to over the weekend.

Pheeewww! What a weekend coming up! I'm also planning on racking the Peach Ginger Melomel off the lees and into a clean and sanitized carboy to allow it to sit for a few months. You know I'll be sneaking a little taste of that! I have to wash my wine bottles and get them ready for the White Grapefruit Wine that needs to be bottled. I'm thinking of bottling that over the weekend if I have the time and energy.

Here's a couple of pics of Jeremy's brew session:

Here's Jeremy checking the temperature of the strike water.

Dumping the strike water into the mash tun:

Mashing in the grain:

Here's a couple of shots of my Sunday morning brew session:

Mash Tun doing it's thing!

Boiling the wort and softening the Amber Extract to be added to the boil:

19 hours after pitching the yeast, fermentation is in full bloom:

Well that's it for now....I'll be posting about this weekends events real soon!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend!

(_)3

Busy Summer

2010-08-23T08:34:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

I haven't posted in quite a while as i've been busy with estate matters and such.

I have been brewing though.

I decided to add some light toasted oak to the wine, and i'm glad i did. It smoothed out and added a roundness to the wine which helped it a lot.

The Spiced Holiday Winter Ale has been bottled and is conditioning. 4 months to go until it's ready!

Here's what i have brewed since the last posting:

Brown Porter
Belgian White Ale
American Rye Pale Ale
Oktoberfest
Robust Porter
Peach Ginger Melomel

We'll be brewing up a nice Pumpkin Spice Ale next weekend.

The Oktoberfest is entering it's 2nd week of fermentation and i brewed the Robust Porter yesterday, and it is fermenting as i type!

Well....gotta run....

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Lost a Month...

2010-04-28T09:47:00.000-04:00

Well it looks like I lost a month and am now just catching up on my postings. I had to take some time off due to my mother's death (she was 81) and was out of state for a few weeks. I'm just now getting back to normal.

Anyways....the grapefruit wine I made last January is shaping up and looking nice and clear. I'll have to sample some soon and decide whether to tweak it a bit depending on how it tastes. It's still a bit young yet but it has fallen out very clear!

My Holiday Spiced Ale is still "maturing" and I did add a 1/4 stick of cinnamon to it the last time I racked it (2 months ago). I should probably rack it once again soon. I'll be adding a small amount of medium toast French Oak (spirals) to it soon and will keep adjusting the spice levels to where I think it should be. I also plan to fortify this beer with an ounce or so of Red Stag! This is a Cherry infused Jim Beam Bourbon that I really like a lot! We'll need just a touch of it to give the ale some complexity.

As you should already know, this Saturday is the AHA's BIG Brew Day (National Homebrewers Day), and our club the Volusia County Home Brewers Guild will be meeting up at my place and will be brewing up a 25 gallon batch of 1.055 OG base wort and will be splitting it up among our participants. We'll have the grill going and we'll make sure to take a lot of pics of this club event. Should be fun! I'll be spending the rest of this week getting the brewery ready and the grains measured out and readied as well. We'll be mashing 48 lbs of grain for this one! :D

Well...that's all I have for now....thanks for stopping by too!

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Saison, Kentucky Common, Dusseldorf Alt..Oh My!

2010-02-06T20:05:00.000-05:00

Hey there!

I'm back again and trying to catch up with my brewing adventures!

The Saison came out real nice and continues to improve. No bad reports from anyone yet!

Also the Kentucky Common is bottled and I tried one out today and I thought it came out nice.

Not over the top on the sourness but it's there blended in nicely...a nice semi sweet malty taste up front with a light touch of acid (sourness) in the middle giving way to a hint of roast and caramel in the background. It is still young as I bottled it almost 7 days ago. It should improve and be carbonated to where it should be in another week or 2. I'm shooting for a carbonation level of 2.6 - 2.8 vol co2.

I rather enjoyed the young beer as it was very flavorful, and easy drinking.

That's why I used the German Acid malt instead of performing a real sour mash. It's hard to get it right. My friend had the same problem with his....it was drinkable...but could only have 1 at any sitting as the acidity and sourness was a bit over the top for me.

I believe that the beer should be an easy drinking beer with a slightly sour taste..you know...the level that keeps you coming back for more...coupled with the above mentioned traits.

I did ferment mine with Wyeast California Lager Yeast @ 59 degF, and it was in the fermenter for 2 weeks. I brewed it on Jan 17th...and bottled it on Feb 2nd....today was the first one I tried....I ended up having 2..LOL!

I used 3/4 lb of German Acid malt...but next time I'm thinking of using at least a pound or 1.25 lbs. Time will tell tho....not sure yet.

The Strawberry Wedding Sparkling Ale will be bottled this coming week and it is tasting pretty good. I was very surprised how it came out.

I brewed a Dusseldorf Alt today and the session was a pleasant one. After I finished some neighbors stopped by and I gave them the "brewery tour" and we sampled some of my newest Pale Ale, and the Light Lager.

I didn't tell them what style is was and asked them if they had had some before.

They said that it tasted a lot like bud light! Perfect for the wedding crowd! Just what I was shooting for too!

Earlier in the week I helped out a friend of mine that is opening up a brew store, so we had to uncrate pallets of supply's and get them on the shelf's! He is planning on opening in a couple of weeks. I just might get a job out of this! LOL!!

Anyways....I have 2 more brews to do for the wedding...an Apricot Wit and a Raspberry Wit, and then brew some more Pale Ale and a Bohemian Plisner I've been planning for about 6 months. Gotta brew it while it's still cool out.

And in between, I'll be brewing my Grapefruit Wine (white) and maybe a Merlot to go with it. I love Merlot's!

I also have a couple of reviews to write about and some nice pics to post too!

Well....i'm pretty tired out at this point....so have a good one....and remember....

Keep Brewing!

(_)3 :D

It's Saison! (finally...)

2010-01-21T15:37:00.001-05:00

Hi All!

Well this week has been a busy one for me.
I kegged the Light Lager and a Pale Ale, racked the Strawberry Wedding White Sparkling Ale
into the secondary and added some strawberries and 3/4 of a lb of raw honey. Fermentation has picked up again!

And today I managed to bottle the Saison I brewed last November! The raw beer tasted great...see the recipe below (under the pics)

I thought that I would have written about the new brewing resource on this post, but I changed my mind. That review is pending the outcome of my next brew session which will be my Dusseldorf Alt.

Make sure you read the recipe notes if you try this one out. They are most important to insure your success!

Here's some pics of today's bottling of the Saison.......enjoy!

Here's the carboy of Saison about to get racked and bottled:

Here's a shot showing my bottle tree:

Checking the Final Gravity with the Hydrometer:

Looks like 1.006 to me! Fantastic!

After checking the FG, I pour the raw beer into my offical tasting glass.

Here's what it looks like:

Racking the beer into the bottling bucket:

Closeup of the carboy and the bottling bucket.

Note the cork wedge being used to hold the autosiphon in position.

It's just a wine cork cut diagonally to form a simple wedge. You get 2 out of 1 cork!

Here's the recipe: (please pay attention to the notes!)

Recipe: Saison Du Mont #2
Brewer: Ron Short
Brewed: 11/06/2009
Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (40.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 9.18 gal
Estimated OG: 1.060 SG
Estimated Color: 8.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM)             Grain        53.06 %
2 lbs 12.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM)                     Grain        22.45 %
8.0 oz        Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM)              Grain        4.08 %
4.0 oz        Crystal Xtra Dark Simpsons 160L (160.0 SRMGrain        2.04 %
4.0 oz        Golden Naked Oats (10.0 SRM)              Grain        2.04 %
0.25 oz       Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (90 min)    Hops         4.7 IBU
1.00 oz       Styrian Goldings [4.10 %] (90 min)       Hops         15.3 IBU
0.50 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %] (15 min)            Hops         2.4 IBU
0.50 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %] (0 min)             Hops          -
0.25 oz       Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min)        Misc
0.25 oz       Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min)         Misc
0.50 lb       Rice Hulls (Mash 60.0 min)                Misc
1.00 gm       Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 min)          Misc
1.00 items    Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min)          Misc
3.50 gm       Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min)             Misc
16.0 oz       Honey (1.0 SRM)                           Sugar        8.16 %
1 lbs         Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM)          Sugar        8.16 %
2 Pkgs        Belgian Saison (Wyeast Labs #3724) [StarteYeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: 5 Gallon Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.25 lb
----------------------------
5 Gallon Batch Sparge
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp
90 min        Mash In            Add 3.08 gal of water at 164.6 F    150.0 F

Notes:
------
Add the honey at flame out with the flavor hops and spices. Big Brew Day 2009 recipe!

Brewed this today and left out all the spices to see what the yeast does. After researching this style, it has been learned that there are no spice additions and the yeast gives off the peppery spicy phenols. We'll see how it turns out.

Left in Primary for 4 weeks. Taste tested and the gravity was 1.020. Too sweet! Re-racked into a secondary and added 1 pkg of dry champagne yeast. Checked gravity again 4 weeks later and it was 1.010 and tasted much better. Left it in the secondary until today 01.21.2010.
Bottling this beer today and will check the FG and will do a taste test too. Lets hope it dried out some more! looking for a FG of 1.008.
FG came in @ 1.006 and the raw beer tasted great!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well...that's it for now....

feel free to leave any comments or questions...and remember..

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Brewing the Kentucky Common

2010-01-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

Hey there!

I finally brewed the Kentucky Common yesterday and it was fun to do. I used a separate cereal mash incorporating 2 lbs of corn grits and 1 lb of crushed 2-row malt. It added a little bit of time to the session but we'll see if it's worth it or not after we see how the beer comes out.

Ever since learning of this lost American Beer Style, I decided to learn all I could about it and attempt to brew a version of it. The Kentucky Common is also known as a Dark Cream Common Beer and is one of a couple of truly American beer styles.

I'd like to see this style listed in the BJCP beer styles guide (perhaps under catagory 7 - Amber Hybrid Beer.
It is a unique style that leaves room for interpretation. It would be a great addition to the style guidlines!

I have inquired about how to get it listed, and was advised to get more home brewers to brew it and enter it in competitions often under the "specialty" catagory. Also the brewer should include a short write up of the history and style and perhaps include a recipe with their entries. So...If you're a home brewer that is reading this, please consider learning and brewing this almost lost American beer style, and enter it as often as possible in to competitions. (The AHA Nationals are coming up soon, and would be higly recommended that you enter your example!).

Anyways, I have found some useful information about this beer style and suggestions of how you migh go about brewing one. I'm not going to re-hash this information here as it is readelly available on the net.

Here are a couple of websites that I have drawn my information from>

A bit of history of the style can be found here at the Wikipedia.

and probably the best resource is here at the O'Daniel Brewery website.

Anyways, I did brew it yesterday and also managed to take a few pics too. The recipe that I used is posted below the pics.

Here's the pics:

Here's the dry elements of the cereal mash:

And the setup I used:

After doughing in, it looked like this:

We ket it rest at a temp of 155 degF for 30 minutes before bringing it up to a boil.

Here I am bringing it up to a boil. From this point on we'll need to constantly stir the cereal mash to prevent scorching. We need to boil the cereal mash for 60 minutes, adding water as needed to prevent it from drying out too much.

Here's what it looks like after 30 minutes of boiling:

Doughing in the grains for the 30 minutes protein rest:

Holding the mash at 128 degF:

The completed cereal mash right before adding it to the mash to raise the main mash temp to around 152 degF:

After adding to the main mash, it's break time! Time for a pale ale!

Running off the wort into the kettle:

Bringing the wort up to a boil:

While waiting for the main mash to be completed, I racked off the Pale Lager into a keg. FG was 1.008.

Here's the Kentucky Common fermenting 14 hours after pitching:

Enough with the pics....Here's the recipe I used:

Recipe: HL Kentucky Common
Brewer: wottaguy
Style: Cat 23 Specialty Beer (for now-this style needs a home!)
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.84 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 16.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 25.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)            Grain        62.32 %
2 lbs         Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) (OPTIONAL - SEE NOTES)                   Grain        19.18 %
12.0 oz       Acid Malt (3.0 SRM)                       Grain        7.19 %
4.0 oz        Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)     Grain        2.40 %
4.0 oz        Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)                Grain        2.40 %
1.9 oz        Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)                Grain        1.15 %
1.0 oz        Carafa II (412.0 SRM)                     Grain        0.58 %
0.00 oz       Cluster [7.00 %] (60 min)                Hops          -
0.50 oz       Nugget [11.00 %] (60 min)                Hops         20.5 IBU
0.50 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %] (20 min)            Hops         3.0 IBU
0.50 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %] (3 min)             Hops         1.5 IBU
0.75 lb       Rice Hulls (Mash 60.0 min)                Misc
4.0 oz        Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM)               Sugar        2.40 %
4.0 oz        Molasses (80.0 SRM)                       Sugar        2.40 %
2 Pkgs        California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) [StarYeast-Lager

Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Single
Total Grain Weight: 9.93 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Single
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp

30 min        Protein Rest       Add 2.75 gal of water at 142.4 F    128.0 F
45 min        Saccharification   Decoct 1.12 gal of mash and boil it 152.0 F
10 min        Mash Out           Add 1.25 gal of water at 202.8 F    168.0 F

Notes:
------
**Try performing a separate cereal mash with 1 or 2 lb polenta (corn grits) and a pound of 2-row instead of using the flaked corn.**
** Can also use Northern Brewer Hops**

Brewed on 01/17/2010 - Performed a full cereal mash with 2 lbs of grits and 1 lb milled 2 row malt. Doughed in and held at 155 for 30 minutes, then brought to boiling and boiled for 1 hour.

Dough in the main mash with 30 minutes to go on the cereal mash to get a protein rest temp of 122 - 130 degF. After 30 minute rest, add the boiling hot cereal mash to the main mash, mix well, and rest at 155 degF for 60 minutes or until conversion has completed.
Ferment @ 59 degF for 14 days.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a great day! Later this week I need to flavor, prime and bottle the Strawberry Wedding Sparkling Ale in champagne bottles. I also need to keg another Pale Ale for the wedding, and bottle a Saison. It's going to be a busy week! And I need to brew the Dusseldorf Alt soon too.

My next post is going to be about the new online brewing resource I was pointed to so keep tuned in!

Well...I have to go now.....feel free to post your comments....and...

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Playing Catch up Again...

2010-01-15T16:43:00.001-05:00

Hey there...

Once again I find myself playing catch up with my postings here. Here's what's been going on...

I brewed again last Sunday and brewed 2 batches of beer. The first batch is a low gravity sparkling ale that I formulated called Strawberry Wedding White Sparkling Ale. It had an OG of 1.030 and will come in right at 3.00% ABV. I made this for my daughter's wedding that's coming up in March and we are planning on serving it as the toast in place of the customary champagne that is usually served at these occasions. I'm planning on bottling it using champagne bottles and will use the plastic stoppers and wire cages too. Then the bottle decorations will be adorned on to the bottles complete with a personalized custom made label on the bottle to commemorate the event. Lets hope it comes out good! It's now on the downside of primary fermentation and should be ready to bottle next week. I'll let you all know how it comes out and will post the recipe once it passes my official taste test! I have my fingers crossed on this one.

After that, I decided to brew up an American Pale Ale and went to work on that. I started the brewing at around 11:30 AM that morning and finished with both sessions at around 9:30 PM. That was a nice brew day!

Did I tell you that I'm supplying the beer for the wedding? I need to make enough for around 50 people!
Here's what we're going to have for beer on tap:

American Pale Ale
Pale Blonde Lager
Dusseldorf Alt
Apricot Wit

And the Strawberry Wedding White Sparkling Ale. I'll have enough the sparkling ale to give a few bottles away to the bride and groom, and to whom ever wants one.

Now....guess who's brewing this coming Sunday?? LOL...you got it...me! I'll be brewing up the Dusseldorf Alt (for the wedding), and I'm thinking of brewing the Kentucky Common as well. I'll also be kegging and lagering the Pale Blonde Lager and will be reusing the yeast from that batch to ferment the Kentucky Common as planned. I'll try to get some pics, and will post the recipe sometime early next week after the sessions are completed.

Our brew club, the Volusia County Home Brewers Guild picked up a couple of new members during the week and we're looking forward to meeting them!

I also entered 2 of my homebrews into the Upper Mississippi Mashout Homebrew Competition which will be held at the end of this month. I entered an Irish Red and my newest example of a Weizenbock. Looking forward to getting the results. I really enjoy reading the score sheets as they sometimes provide valuable feedback for me to understand how others perceive my beers. They have a good amount of experienced judges up there too.

A friend of mine recommended a great online brew store and I checked them out and ordered from them 2 times so far. I'll be writing a separate article about these guys and I'll include my thoughts and experiences I've had with them.

Well.....I gotta get outta here for now...but I do have a LOT of stuff to write about of what's been going on around here lately....and I need to go pick my grapefruit as it's that time of year...and you know what I do with the grapefruit....right????

Come back soon...and feel free to leave your comments and questions too.

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Finally Brewed!

2010-01-06T07:20:00.001-05:00

Hello again everyone!

Well I finally got the chance to brew, but not the Kentucky Common recipe that I had planned. Last Saturday I had to drive to the closest Homebrew Store which is an hour away to pick up some yeast. I decided that I would use some Wyeast California Lager Yeast for the Kentucky Common to try out. I asked the attendant at the store for 2 Wyeast Activator pouches of the stuff, and also picked up a new hydrometer tube to replace my old one that broke earlier that day, and some other little things while I was there.

After making the purchase and on my way home I thought I'd look at the yeast packages, and discovered that the attendant gave me 2 Propagator packs instead of the Activator packs. Damn!!! Too late now as I was half way home. Oh well....I got home and made a 2000 ML yeast starter with plans of brewing the following day, which was last Sunday. On Sunday morning I checked out the starter and it was in full bloom and fermenting like crazy! I decided to brew but I realized that this starter with the amount of yeast that was in it would probably not be enough for the Kentucky Common and I would probably end up under pitching. Not good!

I decided that I would brew a low gravity session psudo-like Blond Lager and use that as my "starter". Good Idea! So I ended up brewing a pale Blond Lager, and if it comes out all right, I'll serve it at my daughters wedding! (the BMC crowd will like it). It's now fermenting very nicely at 60 degF and looks like it will be ok! After it's finished and racked out of the primary, I'll brew the Kentucky Common then rack it on top of the yeast cake in the original primary fermenter. I'm actually thinking of trying the Australian "no chill" method for this, so I can get the Kentucky Common brewed soon.

Well anyways, I did manage to take a couple of pics during the brew day before my batteries died in the camera. Oh...and the recipe is posted below too!

Recipe: Wedding Light Blonde Beer
Brewer: wottaguy
Asst Brewer:
Style: Blonde Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.50 gal
Boil Size: 9.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.041 SG
Estimated Color: 4.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 20.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU
5 lbs         MFB Pale Ale Malt (2.1 SRM)               Grain        53.53 %
3 lbs         Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)           Grain        32.12 %
8.0 oz        Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)              Grain        5.35 %
5.3 oz        Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)     Grain        3.53 %
2.1 oz        Honey Malt (25.0 SRM)                     Grain        1.39 %
2.1 oz        Rice, Flaked (1.0 SRM)                    Grain        1.39 %
0.66 oz       Pearle [8.00 %] (60 min)                 Hops         18.2 IBU
0.33 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %] (20 min)            Hops         1.8 IBU
0.33 oz       Hallertauer [4.80 %] (2 min)             Hops         0.9 IBU
4.0 oz        Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM)               Sugar        2.68 %
1 Pkgs        California Lager (Wyeast Labs #2112) [StarYeast-Lager

Mash Schedule: 5 Gallon Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 9.09 lb
----------------------------
5 Gallon Batch Sparge
Step Time     Name               Description                         Step Temp
60 min        Mash In            Add 2.80 gal of water at 169.7 F    152.0 F

Notes:
------
Create an appropriate yeast starter 36 hours before pitching.
Chill wort to 65 degF aerate well with CO2 then pitch.
After fermentation has started lower the temp 2 degrees a day until you reach 60 degrees. Hold at 60 degF until fermentation has completed. Once completed, rack to a sanatized secondary fermenter and crash cool for 72 hours then keg and force carbonate or prime and bottle.

Enjoy!

(_)3

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And the Pics:

The well insulated mash tun:

The Hot Liquor Kettle (HLT):

I use my pool water to chill the wort after boiling and it works great!

Here my Sub-Pump which I pump through the immersion chiller and back into the pool:

Boil Kettle with the wort boiling away:

Weighing the flavor hops for the next addition:

Well...that's all I have for now. All of my primary fermenters are full and fermenting away and I still have 3 more brews to brew for the wedding, a Dusseldorf ALT and an APA, and a Sparkling Ale called "Strawberry Wedding White Sparkling Ale" and I'll have to brew the Kentucky Common soon too!

Talk to ya soon!

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Darn Weather!

2010-01-02T21:29:00.000-05:00

Hey there!

Well...I didn't get a chance to brew as planned because of all the rain we had. I was going to brew today, but my yeast starter didn't work out and I had to go to the brew store which is an hour away (1 way) to get the required yeast. I made it back and assisted a fellow VCHBG member with kegging his latest batch, an ESB. I let him use one of my kegs to get the task done.

I'm now waiting for my yeast starter wort to cool off enough so I can get it aerated and pitched.

The temps here have dropped off quite a bit and at night it is getting down to around 45 degF or so. Because of the cooler temps, I have decided to use Wyeasts Califorina Lager Yeast...you know..the one that is of Steam Beer fame and the one that ferments at slightly higher temps than normal lager yeasts. I'm looking forward to using this strain for this Kentucky Common.

I'll be brewing tomorrow, and I'll be getting a few pics of the session when I can. Maybe my wife can be my photographer for a bit.

I'll be posting the recipe for it after I get it brewed...probably sometime after the brew session on my next post.

Well...gonna go watch tv for a while and wait for the starter wort to cool off....shouldn't take too long as it is darn right chilly out there! (I have it cooling outside now).

See ya soon!

Keep Brewing.

(_)3

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T21:44:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everybody! I hope you have a designated driver on hand tonight.

I'm just sitting here enjoying a Pale Ale reflecting on the past year's happenings.

Well here are some of the year's homebrew related highlights that I was involved in or at or....well you know..LOL! :

Last Jan 25th saw the official 1st ever meeting of the Volusia County Home Brewers Guild which was a great success!

I did a lot of work with others getting organized and recruiting new members. We attended 3 beer festivals during the year and had a great club group brew of which we made 25 gallons of Saison! It came out great and I did enjoy the last bottle of it last weekend! This Jan we turn 1 yr old! Happy B-Day VCHBG!

I managed to brew 36 times last year (3 times the past week alone)! Here's the list of brews I brewed and (how many times) I brewed it:

Alaskan Smoked Porter Clone - (1)
Apricot Wheat - (3)
Aventinus Wheat Doppelbock Clone - (2)
HL American Special Bitter (ASB) (1)
HL Dry Stout - (2)
HL Dusseldorf ALT - (2)
HL Middle of the Road Porter - (2)
HL Pale Ale - (4)
HL Winter Holiday Ale - (1)
Indian Summer Pale Ale - (1)
Irish Red - (3)
King and Barnes Sussex Bitter Clone - (2)
Magic Hat #9 Clone - (2)
Ruination IPA Clone - (1)
Saison Du Mont - (2)
Strawberry Wedding White Sparkling Ale - (1)
T Fosters Special Bitters - (2)
T Fosters Best Bitters - (1)
HL Vienna Lager - (1)
White Flag Pale Ale - (2)

Whewww!! What a year! :D

To start the new year off right, I'll be brewing first thing in the morning too! I'll be brewing up my first Kentucky Common, and I'll be posting some more information on this almost lost American Beer style.

Also, coming up for 2010 and following tomorrow's session, we have planned a
Christoffel Blonde Clone
Dream Bitter (1880)
The Czar RIS Clone
Graf/Vienna Lager

and a host of other great styles too numerous to list here. I promise to post as I go this year and this is actually my new year's resolution too! Keep this blog thing updated and post often!

I've met a lot of great homebrewers this year and have learned a lot from them. That's what I love about this hobby...you will always learn of new techniques and ideas, and of new gadgets and books that help us become a well rounded brewer!

I'd like to thank everyone that I have encountered during the past year, and I wish all of you a very healthy, prosperous and happy New Year!

Now get outta here and enjoy the New Year Celebration and drink Better Beer!

Talk to ya soon!

Keep Brewing!

(_)3

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T15:51:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Very busy time of year for everybody. I just want to wish everyone out there a very happy, healthy and merry holiday season.

I will be posting some highlights of the past year's brewing highlights sometime before New Years Day, so stay tuned!

Peace be with you all!

(_)3

New Club and Big Brew Day!

2009-05-06T08:04:00.008-04:00

Well everyone,

It's been quite some time since I posted but I've been real busy lately. We have recently formed and registered a new brew club called the Volusia County Home Brewers Guild to represent the local brewers of beer, wines and meads. We are going on our 4th monthly meeting this month and our membership keeps growing with each one! We started with 3 members, and now we have 12!
Not too bad.

We recently celebrated the AHA's Home Brewer's Holiday called BIG Brew Day at my place last Saturday. We had a total of 5 brewers attend. We brewed up a big batch of this year's recipe called Saison Du Mont. We mashed over 50 lbs of grain for this one, ran off 25 gallons of wort in to my large kettle, then split the contents between each brewer, so that they could boil and add their hops and spices on their own. The session was a great success as we hit all of our projected numbers and gravities without making any adjustments! Each brewer brought home their 5.25 gallon batch in their own primary fermenters to ferment on their own. We had 2 different yeasts to choose from. Those being Wyeast 3724 or the White Labs WLP550. Once these beers are done and ready, we plan to compare the differences between these yeasts and beers! It should be interesting.

We are also getting ready to participate in this year's Daytona Cubs Annual Beerfest, and will have out portable bar set up and pouring our club members samples for all to enjoy. That will be held on June 6th at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, FL. C'mon down if you can!

Here's some pics of our BIG Brew Day, enjoy:

Hope you had a great BIG Brew Day as well!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T13:12:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone,

Well...Santa was real good to me this year as I was given a new portable bar! It's made of solid wood and stained a real nice cherry too. I also got 3 bar stools to go with it and a double pull English Beer engine! I had my New Year's Eve party was was the cook and the bartender. Everyone had a great time and we didn't close the party until 2 AM or so. Here's what we had on tap:

American Pale Ale; American IPA; Dusseldorf ALT; Blond Ale; American Amber Ale; Scottish Ale; Irish Red Ale; English Ordinary Bitter. We also had 3 different porters and a couple more amber ales which were bottles. Plenty of beer for the 50+ people that attended.

Below are pics of the bar setup before the party started. I retrofitted the taps to be mounted directly on to the bar, and it worked out great! The beer engine was a great addition as well.

Well...that's it for now....

Have a great New Year!

(_)3

Teaching Friends How to Brew Day!

2008-11-03T20:22:00.006-05:00

Hey there,

Its been a while and I've been real busy with the brewery and other things too. Last Saturday was the AHA's annual "Teach a friend to brew" day so I had to get my brew buddies over to celebrate the event and to brew up some beer! We brewed up a 20 gallon batch of our favorite APA and took 8 hours to complete the session. We didn't brew too much last summer due to the real hot days. Now that the weather has finally cooled off, its full speed ahead with the brewing!Bob and Brad were with me assisting when needed and we were treated to a free lunch delivered by my wife's friend Bobbie. Thanks! it was great! The session went better than I expected and Bob got to take 5 gallons home with him to ferment. I ended up keeping 15 gallons, 11 of which was racked into the conical, and the remainder racked into my 6 gallon carboy. It is now fermenting nicely at 67 degF and everyone is anxious to try some! Easy boys an girls...we need to wait a few more weeks until it is done! LOL! The week before, Bob and I brewed up 5 gallons of Porter which was gleaned from a recipe that is supposed to be from 1850. I'll be bottling that real soon in a day or 2. Can't wait to have one!
Anyways, Here's some pics of Saturdays session.

Here's the 50' copper wort chiller being pulled from a bucket of starsan.

Here's Bob and the fox that lives across the street.

Here she is again. Boy does she like beer...!! ;)

Here we are adding the secret ingrediant to the boiling wort

Here's the spent grain in the mash tun. We used 46 lbs of grain for this batch.

Below is the boil kettle full of the just run off wort. Flame on!

Below is a shot of the wort being run off into the mash tun. The run off was crystal clear!

Here's a nice shot ofthe boil kettle and the custom top I made for it.

Inside the boil kettle showing the 1/2" 50' stainless steel coil used as a heat exchanger and a chiller. I didn't use this as a chiller as I am still working out the processes.

Here's the plumbing..!! I know it looks like speghetti, but I do know what it does. See the sketch from my previous posts.

Boil kettle in the foreground.

Here's Bob checking for thermal loss. The insulated mash tum worked better than expected.

Another shot of the HERMS and plumbing.

Here's Brad and me mashing in the grains. (I'm the guy doing all the stirring)

Bob and I discussing the days events so far.

Here I am taking a peek under the hood.

Bob in the background and the 3-5 gallon buckets of milled grain.

Yours truley and a full shot of the brewery.

Thanks for stopping by..!

Have questions....feel free to ask.

Cheers...

(_)3

Wine, Hops, and Cabinets

2008-03-10T11:47:00.002-04:00

Well.....

I am trying to post photos here today, but it seems that the blogger folks are having problems as the photo posting thingy is not working.

I spent last Saturday (the 8th) picking and squeezing grapfruits, and started my white house wine. It took a few hours to sqeeze a wheelbarrow full of grapefruits, and I ended up with 4.5 gallons of grapefruit juice! (and a case of sore hands too)!!

It has been fermenting the past week and is now in the secondary where it will stay for around 4 to 6 weeks or so, then we'll have to rack it again. This particular wine will be ready in about 1.5 years from this week. I still have several bottles that are 2.5 years old and the wine is wonderful! Came out like a chablis andyou would never know that it was made of grapefruit. Everyone that has tried it loved it!

I also finished the kitchen cabinet project and that came out real nice too. I was going to post some pics of that today...but i guess it will have to wait till they fix this blogger thing.

I did get a chance to break up measure and repackage the pound of Amarillo Leaf Hops that I bought. I made 8 2oz vacume sealed packages and are now in the freezer. Ihave more to package, but I'll have to go out to Target and buy some more bags. The new vacume packager worked great and was real easy to use. (was going to post pics of that too..!)

I still need to work on getting the brewery ready for the 21 gallon batch of Amarillo Pale Ale that
I have planned to brew, but I caught the flu and havebeen down and out for the last 4 days. Today I feel somewhat better, but am still slightly feverish and a little queezy...not all that good.

Well...I hope that the perveyors of this bloggie thing can fix the photo posting problem soon, as I have quite a few of them to post.

Thanks for visiting and please sign up for my newsletter too!

(_)3

Wine Time and DIY...

2008-03-09T21:57:00.008-04:00

Hi again!

Looks like we have Pics!

Below are the pics that were supposed to go with the above post.

Enjoy!

Here's a close up of the grapefruit on my tree. It's time to make wine!

And here Iam picking away!

Almost full! It takes a full load to make a 5 gallon batch of grapefruit wine.

And the fun begins! I spent around 3 hours cutting and squeezing.

The tree really puts out some nice fruit!

This is NOT what you think!! Here's my FoodSaver Vacume sealer sealing up some Amarillo hops! I repackaged 1 LB into 8 2oz packages then froze them for later use.

Getting ready to vacume seal. That's 2 oz there.

And here's how they came out. Notice the nice air tight sealed bags!

Here's our kitchen cabinets that my wife and I reworked. She created the glass panels, while I made the frames for the doors. She's really good at stained glass!

Below is a close up to show the glass work.

Below is a full shot of all of the cabinet doors.

Well....that's it for now....glad they fixed the pic upload tool...all seems well now.

Have a good week!

(_)3

Phat Tire Update

2008-02-20T07:04:00.003-05:00

Well...!

Bob gave us this update to his Phat Tire Clone that he brewed last week, and he says the fermentation went a little slower than expected. It was probably due to the type of yeast that was used. Anyway's, he decided to harvest and wash the yeast for more brewing sessions to experiment with, (I hope that he saved me some) and sent me these pics to share! Looks like he did a great job wth his yeast collection effort!

Mean while...I got around to kegging the 10 gallons of German Pilsner and also racked my 3 gallon of Red Table Wine into another carboy, and added some Bentonite fining to help it get cleared out. The wine has to sit about 10 to 14 days until I rack it again, then I'll have to run it thru a filter and add some Potassium Sorbate to inhibit any further fermentation, then bulk age it for a month or so before bottling. The wine tasted really nice and my neighbor who lives across the street liked it a LOT too! I promised to save him 2 bottles of the stuff! It won't be ready until August or so, but the wait will be worth it!

The German Pilsner is now lagering at 33 degF and will be ready to carbonate and bottle in about 6 weeks! Sorry, but I was too busy to take pics of the kegging and all....maybe next time!

I am once again reconfiguring the brewery to accomodate the new boil kettle and mash tun set-up, and am fabricating new covers out of plastic that I had ordered. I'm in the process of making a circle cutting jig for my router, and i'll be taking some pics of that soon. I'll have them for the next post.

Below are the pics of Bob's yeast harvest.

Enjoy,

(_)3

Brad's Session...and an Offer I Couldn't Refuse!

2008-02-11T14:07:00.000-05:00

Well...

it's another Monday and the weekend is over. Why do they make weekends so short?

Anyway's, on Saturday, Bob and I went over to Brad's house at the start time of 8am to observe him brewing a batch of Porter! (Brad does make a killer porter). Well, when we got there, Brad was already mashing out! Geeze Brad...did ya start at 4AM?? LOL!! Talk about a quick visit...! We did manage to witness the boil routine and the highly technical way he clears wort from the HERMS coil, then the transfer of the wort into his primary fermenter. The session was all over at 11:30AM...then we lit the grill and had a few brews and cooked some sausage and relaxed while Bob slaved over the grill! (Way to go Bob!!)

Before I knew it, it was time to leave...and that was about the end of the brew day.

On Sunday morning, I got up kind of early, and started to mess around on the Internet. During my travels, I went to CraigsList to nose around, and I found a for sale ad for a stainless steel restaurant grade stainless steel kettle for 50 bucks! I couldn't believe my eyes! I picked up the phone and called the number....but no answer. I then brought the ad up again and sent an email to the gentleman with the kettle asking if the item was still available.

Then I went into the garage to mess around with the brewery (I do my best thinking out there), and my cell phone rang! I answered it and it was the guy that was selling the kettle. What luck!Well...he gave me directions to his place and I rushed out and drove over to see him and the kettle. The kettle was a bit grimy due to being outdoors and ignored for a while, but was in sound shape. We talked for a while then I made him an offer to purchase it. After counter offering then another offer, we agreed on a price of $48.00!!!!! I was originally going to offer him 40 but the man was really sincere and all, so I let my offer stand. This kettle is a commercial grade .120 thousandth's thick 30 gallon kettle, which probably has a replacement value of around $400 to $600 dollars!!! Man...talk about a lucky find! I asked him if the ad had been running long, and he stated that he had been trying to sell this thing for about 2 months or so, and only received 2 or 3 replies. (I was meant to have this kettle!!)

Well, I bought the darn thing and tossed it into my car and went over to Bob's house, which was on the way home. Bob was shocked at the deal that I had just completed, and I told him of my plan of how I was going to use this nice piece of equipment! I'm going to use it as a boil kettle, and turn my existing 28 gallon Italian kettle into a Mash Tun! Ahhh...i'll finally be able to do full boil 20 gallon batches!! I'm really excited about this!

Well...I cleaned up the new kettle this morning and it looks a LOT better now..(still needs a little more elbow grease).

My 10 gallon batch of German Lager is coming along very nicely and is now being cold crashed and held at 42 deF. I'll be kegging it this weekend, and then will lager the stuff for I figure 5 weeks...then we'll see how it turns out! The last tasting I did was very good...so I am pretty sure that this brew will be one to remember.

I also have to rack some red wine that I have going too. It's a 3 gallon batch and is going on it's 3rd racking. I'll get some pics of that too.

Below are some pics over at Brad's place and of my new boil kettle.

Enjoy!
(_)3

Here's Brad keeping an eye on things.

(C'mon Brad...put some grain in that tun, will ya??)

Here's Brad demonstrating how he clears

the wort out of the HERMS coil!

(Brad...did you ever play trombone??)

Below you can see the start of the runoff.

(Wott da hell?? It didn't look like that when I took the picture??)

Another shot of the runoff. (I cannot take photo's and drink) LOL!!

Here's the new kettle I got for $48. Think it was worth it?

A look inside of the new kettle after a minor scrubbing.

Another shot of the new kettle.

A shot of my brewery.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to comment!

Cheers!

(_)3

Bob and his Phat Tire!

2008-02-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

Hi again!

I had a good weekend and went over to my brew friend Bob's house yesterday to assist in his brewing of a 5 gallon batch of a Phat Tire Clone that he got as a kit from an online brewing source. Bob has upgraded his system and has added a pump, 2 heat-sticks and a temp controller to keep an eye on his temps. (I guess that my ideas are rubbing off on him..LOL). Sorry Bob!!
Anyways, we had a great session and it went real smoothly too. The session lasted 6 hrs from start to finish including clean up! We started at 8 AM and I was home by 2:45. (I live about 30 minutes from him or so).

Also, I have decided to provide a monthly newsletter featuring homebrewing news from around the planet, tips and techniques, product reviews, interesting brewing related websites and other helpful types of information for homebrewers of all experience levels. Please consider to sign up for the newsletter and feel to ask questions! I will not share anybody's email information with anyone or any company and you can opt out at any time. I will start delivering the newsletter when I get at least 15 people signed up. I just started it this week. If you have any questions about the newsletter and or suggestions for some of the content, please feel free to ask.

In the meantime, here's a few pics of yesterday's brew session at Bob's place!

A side shot at Bob's updated home brewery.

Here's another angle of it. Note the new plumbing and other upgrades!

Here's a shot at my malt mill that was used to crack the grains.

Below you can see the HLT full of water being heated to the desired temperature by 2 homemade Heat Sticks make by Bob. They work very well!

Here's Bob displaying one of his his homemade Heat Sticks!

A peek under the hood of the mash tun reveils the sparging in progress.

Here's the wort coming up to a boil.

Chilling the wort. The cooler has a bunch of ice and water and the cold water is circulated

by a small aquarium pump inside the cooler, through the wort chiller then back to the cooler.

Racking the cooled wort into the fermenter.

Notice how clear the wort is!

Well that's all for now...please consider signing up for the new newsletter..and as always, if you have any questions....please ask! I'd love to hear from you!

Cheers...

(_)3

Updated Brewery Pics!

2008-01-27T18:55:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

I had a great brew session yesterday and brewed up a 10 gallon batch of German Pilsner which was the 1st beer brewed on the newly plumbed out system. The session went pretty good and Brad and Bob stopped by to witness the event and to check out the new setup. The new changes sure did make my brew day a LOT easier as I did not have to wrestle with changing hoses and getting my hands burnt by hot liquids. And I did manage to achieve an 82% efficiency with my mash. That made me real happy!

Below is a pic of the plumbing schematic.

The line that is Blue is for the wort chiller loop. I use a 15 gallon cooler that doubles as a hot liquor tank, and also as a place to dump ice into for the wort chiller.
The Red Lines are for the hot liquor Sparge.
The Brown Line is for the HERMS Recirculating loop and for the wort runoff into the kettle. Notice that a portion of this loop is being shared by the wort chilling loop. The loops function is directed by the valves located on the back of the mash tun. and from the valve outlet on the pump.
The Green Lines denote the delivery of hot water to the HLT when ready to sparge, and performs the whirpool in the kettle when cooling, and also delivers the cooled wort to the fermenter.
Also I am using 3 stainless 3/8 racking canes for wort and liquid distribution. It worked really well! (click on the image to see a larger version...if you have to right click and save it then open it)

And here is what the real deal looks like. Looks like a mess, but it is actually very easy to operate!

Below is my new Burner setup with an ASCO valve which is plugged into a temp controller and is used to regulate the water temps for the HERMS. It works like a dream. Do notice the tin foil wrapped around the outside of the burner. I use this to look and make sure that the pilot flame is always burning (beats getting on my hands and knees!!). Also pictured is the HERMS Stainless Steel coil that is attached to the boil kettle cover. That's 50 feet of 1/2 inch stainless there and was a real B!*#h to bend! The kettle is a 28 gallon Italian kettle. The coil also doubles as an immersion wort chiller. No worries about copper changing the color of my beers! It works great and cools as fast as a copper coil.

And a view of it without the kettle on it.

I also replaced the copper coil that I installed in the conical fermenter with a new 30 ft 3/8 inch SS coil. That stuff was real easy to work with compared to the 1/2 inch coil. Here's a pic of it. I had to stage it this way as I didn't have anyone to hold it up right at the time.

And here's the batch of German Pils boiling in the kettle.

And for cleaning the mash tun, you can't beat my home made "tippy dumper!" This is one improvement that saves me a LOT of end of brew session work! The spent grains are dumped into the wheel barrow and then is used to fertilize my fruit trees. Very handy indeed!

And here's the recipe that I used. It was based on a recipe that I found on Beertools.com and was formulated by a member there. Thank's James!

Bitburger Clone
2-A German Pilsner (Pils)
Size: 14.5 gal
Efficiency: 82.0%
Attenuation: 81.0%
Calories: 150.13 kcal per 12.0 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.046 (1.044 - 1.050)
Terminal Gravity: 1.009 (1.008 - 1.013)
Color: 3.02 (2.0 - 5.0)
Alcohol: 4.84% (4.4% - 5.2%)
Bitterness: 36.0 (25.0 - 45.0)

Ingredients:
18.29 lb Durst Pils
3.66 lb 2-Row Brewers Malt
0.91 lb Carapils®/Carafoam®
2.43 oz Perle (7.1%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.75 oz Hallertau (4.1%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
0.25 oz Liberty (4.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.0 oz Liberty (4.0%) - added during boil, boiled 1.0 min
2.0 tsp Wyeast Nutrient - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
4.0 ea Fermentis S-23 Saflager S-23

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:15:00 Dough In - Liquor: 7.15 gal; Strike: 136.9 °F; Target: 128.0 °F
00:30:00 Protein Rest - Rest: 15.0 min; Final: 128.0 °F
00:31:43 Ramp up to 147 - Heat: 1.7 min; Target: 147.0 °F
01:31:43 Sacc Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 147.0 °F
01:33:31 Ramp up to Mash Out - Heat: 1.8 min; Target: 168.0 °F
01:43:31 Mash Out Rest - Rest: 10.0 min; Final: 168.0 °F
02:28:31 Fly Sparge -

Notes:
01/26/2008 - Brewed recipe as is. Got 82% efficiency and had to dilute with 4 gallons H2o to bring SG with in starting range of recipe. Durst pills malt mashed real nice and converted easily. Adjust recipe efficiency next time before brewing again. Pitched yeast @ 48 degF.

01/27/2008 - Adjusted efficiency from 75% to 82% to adjust malt bill and to match brewery numbers.

Results generated by BeerTools Pro!

Well...that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the pics too. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!!

Cheers!!

(_)3

I'm Back!! (08)

2008-01-17T18:45:00.000-05:00

Hi all...

Sorry once again for not keeping up with this thing, but I had a heck of a busy year! But now...I'm back!!!

An awful lot has been going on with the home brewery lately and a lot of great beers have been made. During my blogger absence, we have brewed IPA's US and English, ESB's, a real nice Southern English Brown Ale and with the 2nd runnings an award winning Dark Mild, (won 2 gold 1st place medals in 2 different competitions), APA's, Porter's, Wit's, Amber Ale and more!

I'll be kegging and bottling an American Brown tomorrow (10 gallon batch) and am in the middle of conditioning another one of my American Pale Ale's.

I'm also in the middle of re-configuring the plumbing for the brewery and have recently added some simple automation to the brew kettle by attaching an ASCO solinoid valve with a pilot to control water temps of the HERMS. I have done away with all of my copper coils and have replaced them with Stainless Steel coils both in the Conical Fermenter and in the Boil Kettle. I have also gone to all stainless steel fittings and I only have 2 brass fittings left on the entire system!

In postings to come I'll post new photo's of the brewery, including the plumbing schematic, and more information about my processes and how I put this rig together.

I have also met many new homebrewing friends, and have had the pleasure to brew with them at my place and at theirs too!

I'll be taking some pictures real soon once the plumbing has been completed, (still waiting for parts), complete with explainations.

So...until then.....Brew On!!

Wotta (_)3

BIG Brew Day!

2007-05-07T19:26:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

As every homebrewer should have known, last Saturday (the 5th) was the AHA's National Homebrew Day...or commonly known as BIG Brew!

We celebrated over here at the house by brewing up 2 different brews and by having friends over to try what we have already brewed too! We had 2 grills going and a mountain of food and 7 different styles of homebrew to sample!

At 1PM EST, we conducted our Homemade Peach Champagne Toast to coincide with the world wide toast which was held at 12 noon Central time.

We had a great time and both Brad and I brewed a total of 20 gallons of beer! It's now fermenting nicely and I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Brad brewed an Amber Ale...and I brewed a North German Alt! We had quite a few people stop by during the day, and Bob, Paul, Russ and Jacquie stayed through the entire day to help out and to ask questions, and of course...to sample our brews. I also had on tap a batch of home made root beer which everyone liked a lot!

Our turn out was a bit small...but we will be doing it again next year.
Below are some pics which were taken early during our day!

Enjoy!
(_)3

Kegging Day!

2007-04-22T07:51:00.000-04:00

Hi there and Happy Earth Day!

Finally, the long wait is over and it's time to keg the beer! Yes...at this point we can refer to that sweet liquid as BEER! It's seems like I have been waiting forever for this happy day to arrive.

The day started at around 7AM. I gathered all the needed equipment and made up a bucket of sanitizing agent. I then proceded to sanitize the transfer pump and all of the hoses and racking canes and whatever would be in contact with the beer. While the hoses and other stuff were soaking, I rounded up the kegs and started to heat up some water. When the water was hot enough, (about 150 degF), I added and mixed in the PBW (powdered brewery wash). Once mixed in, I added some of this mixture to each keg and with my brush proceded to scrub out each keg. When I was done the liquid was emptied, the kegs were rinsed and then sanitized.

Now we're ready to keg the beer!

I had to dismantle the cooling system from the fermenters and remove it from the Big Blue Box (fermentation chamber), and then hook the pump and hoses to the conical fermenter. Once the pump was primed, the transfer began, and the kegs were filled to the top, sealed, then purged with co2 and delivered to the temperature controlled dispensing and conditioning freezer to get carbonated and conditioned. The freezer's temperature is at 38 degF, and I wanted to get this beer (APA) carbonated asap, so I applied the co2 at about 30 PSI and will hold it there for a couple of days. Every once in a while i'll open the freezer up and give each keg a good shaking to expedite the carbonation process. It should be ready within the week.

After all that was done, I also had to rack the "Brew in the Park IPA" into a keg. The IPA was fermented in a 6 gallon carboy so I had to siphon the beer out of it and into the waiting and sanitized keg. Again once the keg was filled, it was purged with co2 and delivered to the freezer to condition and carbonate. The same PSI was used for this one too.
I am planning to serve all of this homebrew during my AHA National Homebrew Day (BIG Brew) celebration that I am hosting here at my home. If you're in the Daytona Beach, FL area and want to stop by, just leave a comment here on this post and I'll get back to you with further information.

Below are some pics of my kegging day....enjoy!
Have questions?? Just ask!

Thanks for stopping by....Cheers! (_)3

Here's the setup I use for controlling the fermentation
temperature of the primary (carboy).
The carboy is placed into the insulated food bag and
the copper coil is places around it.The bag is then
zipped up and the 3/8 hoses are installed from the pump
in the el cheapo cooler. One for the in side and one for the return.
The ice water is returned back into the cooler. The temperature
is monitored by a stopper thermowell installed on the carboy,
and is connected to a digital temperature controller. The temp probe
goes in the thermowell to monitor the wort temperature, and the controller
is mounted on the outside of the fermentation chamber.

The ice water is circulated by an aquarium pump.
Cost for the pump? $9.95!

Below is a shot of my banjo burner setup. I had my
neighbor weld the brackets on the burner
as a safety precaution. The metal dolly
was from an old file cabinet that we tossed out
a while back, and I had to drill the holes thru
the cast iron legs of the burner (not easy with a hand drill),
and then transfer the hole pattern one at a time to the metal dolly,
then drilled the holes for mounting the burner to it.
It works great and is very easy to move around...even when the kettle is full!

Here's our trusty beer guard Jubilee hard at work!

Another angle..

Below you can see the fermenter inside the
Big Blue Box, with the transfer hose connected to the
racking valve. It is primed and ready to go!

another shot...

This shot shows the transfer in action on the
receiving end. You can see the pump, the keg and the beer
going thru the clear line into the keg. Notice how clear the beer
is already! Also pictured is a bucket of sanitizer.

Below is the carboy of the "Brew in the Park IPA"
getting ready to be racked into a keg and a shot of my
Temp controlled freezer setup.

Another view of my carboy primary fermentation
temperature controlled setup disassembled and out of the
Big Blue Box.

Have Questions?? Just Ask!!

(_)3

Brewing with Bob!

2007-04-08T17:44:00.000-04:00

Well Bob and I have been trying to get together to brew since last Nov. when we started to correspond via the beertools.com forum. Seems that we just couldn't coordinate our schedules so that we were free at the same time. Well, we did finally meet and we did finally brew up a batch at my house. Then yesterday I went to Bob's house and we brewed on his system!
His got a nice 5 gallon 3 tier gravity system that uses a round rubbermaid 5 gallon cooler for a mash tun. He installed a stainless steel faucet hose braid on the bottom and filters the wort out of it very nicely! The wort came out nice and clear on this session as the pictures below show.
We cooked some burgers and had a great time. Bob brewed a nice recipe that has 100% amarillo hops. It's going to be a great brew, and I'll let all of you know how it is on upcoming taste test reports. The session went smooth as silk and I'm sure that it is fermenting away as I write this posting.

My other friend Brad also brewed on this day, and he whipped up another batch of his Vanilla Porter. He say's that the session went good too! Way to go Brad!

I have 1 more week to go until I can keg the 15 gallons of beer that I have going in the fermenters currently. Then I'll be brewing up a 15 gallon batch of my "Hawks Landing Great Imposter" beer, which is probably my favorite recipe! After that session, I'll be planning my yearly brewing party to be held when all this brew is ready to drink! I should have a total of about 45 gallons of homebrew to have for the party.

After that, I'll be getting ready for Octoberfest, and will be brewing 1 or 2 batches of Marzen in preparation of that wonderful time of year. In between, I do have a Belgium Wit and a Negra Modelo clone that I want to make. It's going to be a busy year! And a tasty one too!!

Here's the pics of yesterday's brew session with my friend Bob!
Enjoy

Cheers! (_)3

Brewing Madness..!!

2007-04-02T18:56:00.000-04:00

Hello out there!

Well I sure did have a great weekend. On Saturday Bob Pierce and I brewed up a 10 gallon batch of an American Pale Ale that I have been working on for a while, and the session went pretty good. I ran into Bob a few months ago on the beertools.com forum and he lives fairly close to me! I invited him over to join me to brew and he finally had the time to come over. I was surprised when he rolled into my driveway at around 7:30 AM! It was great to meet him in person and we hit it off right away! The brew session went real nicely too. We both had a very pleasent day hanging out and talking about brewing and methods and recipies. Speaking of recipies, I thought that I'd post the APA that we brewed. It is shown below. I currently have a 5 gallon batch of IPA and a 10 gallon batch of APA fermenting right now, so it will be at least 3 weeks until I can brew again. I guess we can talk about the brewery some more next week and I'll try to post a couple of pics of what's fermenting in the Big Blue Box. The next brew coming up will be my favorite, Hawks Landing Pale Imposter. It's an imatation Pillsner that I worked up and it is a lot of fun to make. We'll be doing a 15 gallon batch this time and it will be served at my annual Brew Day Brewery Tour Brewing Awareness party that will be held sometime in May. I will have about 40 gallons of homebrew to serve that includes 6 or 7 different styles! Brad and I are getting together soon to brew another Porter too!

Well...that's all for now..brew good!
(_)3

Hawks Landing Howie's Celebration
10-A American Pale Ale
Size: 11.5 gal
Efficiency: 77.55%
Attenuation: 77.5%
Calories: 172.24 per 12 fl oz
Original Gravity: 1.052 (1.045 - 1.060)
Terminal Gravity: 1.012 (1.010 - 1.015)
Color: 10.8 (5.0 - 14.0)
Alcohol: 5.28% (4.5% - 6.0%)
Bitterness: 47.63 (30.0 - 45.0)

Ingredients:
11.00 lbs American 2-row
7.00 lbs Maris Otter
0.50 lbs Crystal Malt 10°L
0.50 lbs Crystal Malt 40°L
1.00 lbs Munich 20L Malt
1.00 lbs Victory® Malt
1.50 lbs White Wheat Malt
1.0 oz Nugget (11.8%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
2.0 oz Amarillo (9.7%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
1.5 oz Cascade (5.50%) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min
0.5 gal WYeast 1056 American Ale
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15.0 min

Schedule:
00:11:14 Mash In - Liquor: 6.12 gal; Strike: 168.7 °F; Target: 154.0 °F
01:26:14 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 75.0 min; Final: 150.8 °F
01:33:28 Mash Out - Heat: 7.2 min; Target: 168.0 °F
02:18:28 Sparge - Sparge: 10.03 gal sparge @ 170.0 °F, 13.48 gal collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 13.48 gal
(90 Minute Boil)

Brew in the Park Day!

2007-03-25T20:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was our club's (Central Florida Home Brewers) annual "Brew in the Park" event. I have been told that we had at least a dozen home brewers on hand forging their craft, and that we produced a total of 115 gallons of beer! Brad and I were responsible for 14 gallons. We made a nice IPA that took 29.5 lbs of grain,and had a SG of 1.066. There was a total of 8 ounces of hops in this baby, and it was a real joy to brew too!

We had a real good variety of brews being made...Marzens, Porters, American Pale Ale, an English Pale Ale, IPA's and a few others as well! We had a great turn out and the club's president stated that this was the best turn out ever for this event! I had a great time as well and it was a lot of fun to see what the other members of the club were brewing on and making.

I did have an accident and smashed my 6 gallon carboy while rinsing it out and getting it ready to fill up. A fellow member that lives close to the park Mitch, went home and brought another 6 gallon carboy for me to borrow. Thanks a million Mitch! I'll get it back to you soon!

Below are some pics of the event as I saw it. I wish I had taken more, but I was a bit busy brewing!

Thanks for stopping by,
Cheers! (_)3

A nice SS setup controlled by 3 PID's. It was
this brewery's maiden run! All SS plumbing too!

Another approach, a 3 tier gravity system.

Here's my system. That's Brad explaining the
concept behind our madness!!

Here's Vic brewing up a traditional English Bitter!
(Vic is in the blue shirt)

Here's nationally recognised brewer Mark Williams
tending to his system. He makes great beers!

Another 3 tier system. They seem very popular!

Here's Mitch doing his chores.

Where's the elevator??

The most elaborate brew system there. It is a beauty!

The Mash Tun

2007-03-19T20:29:00.000-04:00

Thanks for returning!

I have used a few types of mash tuns, from a simple 2 bucket setup, a round Gott type mash tun and now I am currently using a Hobby Beverage MiniBrew Mash Lauter Tun.

I had my doubts about the device as I tried to find out others who had used it. I did get some negative feedback with some saying that they had gotten a sort of "plastic" taste to their wort and finished beer. I was very suspicious about this claim, so I decided to purchase the unit as it has all the major features built in, and the thermal properties were just fantastic! It is made of FDA approved polyethylene (HDPE).

Here's what the MiniBrew site says about the product:

"The MiniMash Lauter Tun is a round, 15 gallon tank will hold up to 35 lbs of grain. Tank is 21 3/4" tall by 15" in diameter. 3/32" screen holes are ideal for a good filter bed. 5/16" thick walls provide mass for strength and good insulation. Transfers BTUs 100,000 times slower than stainless steel based on BTU transfer rate high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Sometimes a blanket or neoprene for insulation is needed."

The thermal properties is what sold me on this product. I have used it for a good 8 brewing sessions, and it holds the mash temperature very very well. At 70 degF ambient outdoor temps, and mashing at a temperature of 154 degF, the tun lost 3 degrees in a 90 minute timed period. An insulated blanket would only be needed for brewing outdoors in a much colder climate. You do have to make sure that you clean the tun very good before first use and after using it too. It is super easy to clean using a soft sponge and some warm water. Of the beers that I have created using the minimash lauter tun, I have not ever picked up any off flavors or "plastic" tastes to any of my beers. After my friend Brad witnessed the unit's operation and superb thermal properties, he went home and got online and purchased one! He has been very happy with it ever since, and I have been very happy with it too. For the single infusion brewer, it is a dream to work with, and you only have to add your dough-in mash water at 13 degF higher than your mash temp, and you'll hit your desired temps with no problem...and will also be able to hold it for practically the entire duration of the mash cycle!

I have my mash tun setup to recirculate through my wort chiller that's placed in my boil kettle that's kept about 5 degrees warmer than the target mash temperature. I also use a Ranco digital temp comtroller to control when the pump comes on, and can hold a mash temp to a +/- 1 degF. Works like a dream! I just have to watch the temp of the boil kettle to insure that it doesn't get too hot. This setup allows me to do very accurate step mashes as well, and is very responsive. I would very much recommend this product to all homebrewers! I love this thing!

Below are a few pics of the unit and some of the plumbing that I added to it. Have questions? Please ask!!

Looking in the mash tun we can see the false bottom
and the thermowell that houses the temp probe.

Here's a shot of the underside of the tun's lid. A
sprinkler head is fastened to the under side to use
for sparging. It works great!

some of the tuns plumbing.

Full shot of the mash tun.

Here'swhere the wort is returned from recycling.

Inside shot of the return. I had to use a 3/8
pipe tap to allow for the fittings thds.
Fitting was not included with the mashtun.

I hope you enjoyed the shots! Next week Brad and I will be going to and participating in my brew club's annual "Brew in the Park" event. We'll be brewing up a 10 gallon batch of an American IPA that Brad whipped up. The SG will be 1.069 and will take 29 lbs of grain! There will also be other brewers there and we'll all be brewing up a storm! I'll make sure to get some good pics of this event, as it is always a lot of fun!

Thanks again...and Brew On!!!! (_)3

The Psychology (psychosis) of my 1 Burner Brewery

2007-03-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

OK...better late than never. This post is supposed to be about how I came up with my home brewery design. Hummmm.....let's think about this.

I was then using a 5 gallon homemade 3 tier gravity setup and was working my a#* off just to make 5 gallons of beer at a time. Not to mention all the long hours of being in my driveway in the HOT blistering Florida sunshine. Believe me...NOT fun! That system incorporated 2 turkey type burners and the 7 or 8 gallon aluminum kettles that came with the kits. I used this system for about 3 years, and towards the end, I grew very tired of jumping up and down on a ladder to stir the mash and other things. Also I viewed the entire setup, with the HLT (hot liquor tank) on the top tier a rather dangerous system to work with. I had to be on my toes at all times, and really had to watch my visitors as it was a very large liability if someone had gotten injured. Pretty scary stuff!

So I started thinking about the necessary steps that are taken when anyone brews up a batch of beer. Each step would be the same no matter of size of brewery or who was brewing it. There are several basic steps that must be performed in sequence, to produce a decent beer.

The steps would be:
1). Heat up enough water to supply the mash the proper amount, add to the mash tun when proper temperature has been reached, dough in the grain, then attain the starting mash temperature of your mash program.
2). Heat up a proper amount of hot water to be able to have sparge water in the correct volume.
3). Collect and boil the collected wort add hops etc...then cool the wort as fast as you can.
4). Transfer to primary fermenter....and so on.

It occurred to me that I have been wasting a lot of propane and energy by using 2 burners. 1 to heat the water...and the other to boil the wort. Completely redundant! I thought that if I could heat the water, add it to the mash tun, then keep it hot during the entire process, I could recirculate the wort from the mash tun, through my immersion chiller, then back to the top of the mash tun, therefore maintaining proper temperature, and giving me the possibility the option of performing multiple step mashes. Nice!

So...how can I store hot water for later usage? How about using a picnic cooler? It has great insulating qualities and could hold 15 gallons of hot water! Perfect for my 10 gallon batches!

Sooo...I figured that if I had a decent burner and a decent boil kettle, I could heat the water for the mash tun to the proper temp. that I needed, pump it into the mash tun...add my grains..then proceeded with the mash program. While mashing, we can hold the hot water in the kettle, then transfer it just before it was time to sparge and collect the wort, then pump it into the HLT then be ready to sparge.

Now...I also would need 2 pumps to support the operations. 1 to recirculate the wort from the mash tun, and another to transfer hot water from the kettle to the tun and HLT.

So...besides the fermentation equipment, where would I throw my money? It is my opinion that any brewer should not scrimp when it comes to purchasing their boil kettle. The boil kettle is the heart of the system and actually is used the most. You should get one that is plenty big enough for you to perform the size brews you want to create. I have just received my new boil kettle, a 28 gallon Italian kettle from MoreBeer.com . It is a MONSTER! I love it. I just finished setting it up and washing it and it looks great! Perfect for the planned 20 gallon batches that Brad and I have planned! Talk about excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK...sorry for the ranting....I have discovered that you really need 1 burner for your brewery, a great boil kettle... an easy and efficient mash tun (i use the Hobby Beverage mini-Mash Tun and LOVE it.) more about that on a future post.

So I guess what I'm saying is, throw your money at: Boil Kettle, a great burner, I have a banjo burner, also called a hurricane burner, Mash Tun, Pumps and QD's, and very importantly, your fermentation process (i'll be covering that in future posts).

I hope that I made some kind of sense on this post as this is a rush job of a post. Shown below is the new boil kettle, and a new shot of my mash tun and Hot Liquor Tank (modified cooler) and other stuff that's about the garage.

I'll be attending our brew club's annual "Brew in the Park" event on 03/24/2007, and will be getting ready for that, as I will be bringing my brewery to the event to brew up one of my original APA recipes. Other's will also be brewing there and I will certainly have a few pics to share. It's always a lot of fun!

I'll be talking more about the 1 burner brewery next week, and will go in depth about the mash tun. Pics will be furnished, followed by a quiz!

Thanks for visiting...and remember that we do thankfully accept any donations you may want to send! See left nav bar to do that.

Take care....brew on!
(_)3

Reconfigured brewery setup. I lowered the HLT
and place it next to the Mash Tun. A LOT easier
to work with! I also revamped the plumbing situation
as well.

Out with the old and in with the new! The old
Boil Kettle is on the left..and the new one is..well...
the big one??? It's huge!

Brewing With Brad

2007-03-05T06:55:00.000-05:00

Well we sure had a great brewing session over at Brad's house.
I woke up at 6 AM and had my usual 2 cups of coffee and headed over to Brad's house.
When I got there Brad was already in the garage and was busy sanitizing the brewery hoses and pumps and plumbing. That took about 15 minutes. Then we both reviewed the printout of the day's brewing session and proceded to create the 5 gallon batch of Copper Ale. It was a spin-off of a recipe that was published in this month's Zymurgy magazine but with a couple of changes to the hop bill and grain bill as well. Brad lit the burner and proceeded to get the filtered water up to the dough in temperature of 163 degF. Our target temperature was 152 degF and he hit it right on! Needless to say that the rest of the brewing session went without a hitch, and from what Brad tells me, the beer is fermenting like crazy! He had to install a blow-off hose as it was blasting out of his 6 gallon carboy like crazy! This beer is going to be a winner, and I can't wait to try some. But wait we must....patience is the name of this game.

Below are a few shots of Brad's brewing setup which was based after my system. Speaking of my system, I have already reconfigured my plumbing situation and also lowered the sparge tank and placed it to the right of the mash tun at the same height. Doing this has simplified the plumbing layout and it will now be easier for me to monitor the sparge level in the tank. Enough already!
Enjoy the shots, and I'll see ya next week and we'll talk about the design of the 1 burner brewery.

Cheers! (_)3

Here's Brad firing up the burner at sunrise.

An over the shoulder shot of the lit burner:

Here's Brad's brewery layout and homemade stand!

The HLT, power box, pump and digital temp comtroller.

3 wise men! the HLT, mash tun and boil kettle:

Here's the mash tun and the heat exchanger, powered by a 1500 watt heating element:
The mash temp is controlled by this setup and the digital temp comtroller monitors the mash temp and runs the pump if the temps get too low. This setup can hold a +/- 1 degF all day long!
Actually, the pump only came on once during the entire 90 minute single infusion mash!

Here's a peek into the mash tun. Plenty of room for more grain!

Another shot of the setup.

Hey...it's light out!

Another shot of the HLT...

Here's the wort at full boil.

Here's the 8:15 am breakfast, ummmm Porter and doughnuts!

The heat exchanger setup again.

See ya next week! Any questions??

Ybor Centro Beerfest!

2007-02-25T09:01:00.000-05:00

Well it was a great beerfest over at Ybor Centro yesterday and I managed to survive and drive home safely too! This beer fest is put on by the Florida Brewers Guild and was a great success!
Among the listing of craft brew attendees were Spanish Springs Brewers, Orlando Brewing Partners, Tampa Bay Brewing Co. (they have a brand new location and were in the center of the festival!!) Shipyard Brewing Co., and many other's from around the state of Florida. Also participating were several of the local and not so local brew clubs from around the state one of which I belong to (Central Florida Home Brewers).

I started my day waking up at 6:30 AM, having my 2 morning coffee's, then started to load the suv up with a couple of chairs and a 3 gallon keg of my English Summer Ale that I donated to the cause. (it lasted 20 minutes!)

Seeing that I was the Designated Driver, I had to make a few stops to pick a couple members up. The first stop I had to make was to the club's president's home (Preston Hoover) (40 minutes away) to pick the club's banner. After I successfully navigated there (via gps) and loaded the banner, I was off to get our head meister and great homebrewer Ed Measom. Ed took Best of Show this year at the Best Florida Beer Competion for his wonderful Bock Beer! Congrats Ed!

That drive took another 45 minutes. We loaded up the suv with all of Ed's beer ( a peach wit, an apricot wit, a traditional wit, and a very awesome barleywine that was made over a year ago) and other equipment such as Co2, booth setup items etc.

Once the suv was loaded 1 more stop was in order! So off we went to pick up Don and Bob across town. After that, we were off to Ybor Centro which was another hour and 15 minute drive. We arrived about 12:45 and unloaded the suv of all the stuff and proceded to locate our booth and get set up. Our booth was located right in front of Tampa Bay Brewing Co's front window, so Don, Bob and I took advantage of that and went in for lunch! We each ordered a sandwich and of course had to try some of their wonderful craft brews! We each ordered their Porter and it was just perfect asides from being served a little too cold. We just let the little beauties sit on the table for about 15 - 20 minutes to warm up a bit then the food was served. The Cuban sandwiches there were awesome and we made them disappear promptly!
After lunch it was time to go to work and man the booth! The festival starting time came, and the beer began to flow, the band began to play, and the rest is history!

Below are a few pics of this wonderful event and next week I'll be going over Brad's house to lend a hand when he brew's a Copper APA! I'll have pic's for that as well!

See ya next week!
Cheers!

What a crowd and a perfect day!

Looking up at the stairway.

Old Time Box Office.

Inside the open air covered area.

Ahhh...Stogies and Handcrafted Stout!

Here's Scott servin it up! Can I get 2 of them??

Outside view and a couple of homebrew fans!

Looking towards Tampa Bay Brewing Co!

The live music was great! Thanks guy's!

The action outside.

New Pics!

2007-02-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

Hey...!!
Here they are as I promised, a few new pics and a peek of my newly updated brewery. I brewed a Northern English Brown Ale last Sunday and the session went great! It was a 10 gallon batch and it is fermenting like crazy at 67 degF. I really love my new conical and the cooling coil that I installed to make it happen. It sure beats spending hundreds of dollars for an externally cooled version from any one of the online brewshops that are around, and to my knowledge I have not seen or heard of anyone with a FerminChiller like mine. It works perfectly and holds the temp to a +/- 1 degF! Just perfect! I can even brew lagers in it! I house the conical in the home built insulated fermentation chamber (the big blue box) on the left side, and keep my kegs on the right side for storage. Its very handy for me and a great place to store a bunch of brew! If anyone has any questions at all about any of my brew items, please feel free to ask! Here's some pics of the recent brew day. In future writings, I'll be explaining in detail each vessel and step that I use to make my beer along with a few recipies and some reviews of some great brewpubs and breweries that I have visited and the beers that I love to drink. Enjoy the shots!

Cooling and whirlpooling the wort.

Transferring the cooled wort to the fermenter

Another satisfied customer!
The fermenter ready to do its thing!
Here's where the ice bath goes. it is circulated by an aquarium pump!
The transportable Boil Kettle!

Fill her up!
Shot of the fill tube.
The sparge setup using a pump. It works great!
Boiling the wort.
My trusty Barley Crusher.

Full view of the brewery.
And a full frontal view as well! Oh BABY!!! LOL!
This mash tun ROCKS. Holds temps forever!
Holding the mash at 153 degF

L8R! Cheers!

I'm Back!!!

2007-02-16T20:03:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone...1 million apologies for the huge delay in my postings. Please forgive me!

A LOT has happened in my life during this time of absence and I hope that all of you will understand. We had our house up for sale a while back..but the market came to a sudden stop, so we cancelled our plans. This was after fixing up the homestead and packing up the stuff...brewery included. Very sad. Anyways, we did not move as planned and have decided to stay here in FL for a while more.

I have decommissioned the old 5 gallon brew setup and have been spending most of my time [and $$$] on putting together a new and improved 10 - 20 gallon capacity brewery! I have finally finished and have actually used it for the first time 3 weeks ago too. I calculated efficiency at 80% which made me very happy to say the least. I have not taken any photos of the new setup, but I will do that this weekend when I brew one of my favorite styles, a Northern English Brown Ale. I will have all kinds of photos for everyone to gawk at sometime next week.

My wife was so tired of looking at and tripping over carboys in the tub and shower, that I had to build a fermentation chamber and host it in the garage. More on this in future postings, but it did take a while to build. I also broke down and purchased a stainless conical fermenter to house my 10 gallon sessions. Its full of pale ale right now, but I am going to keg that tomorrow! Pics are coming...i promise!

I also helped my friend and fellow brewer Brad to configure his brewery after a long period of non-brewing for him. We get together often for brew talk sessions and real brewing sessions. He's a great guy and a lot of fun too! More pics of his brewery setup coming soon too.

I must say that it is real good to be back in the saddle again! Please put this blog on your active list as it will be updated on a more regular basis from now on.

I have all kinds of stories and pic's and brewpub reviews to write about, and a few articles on a gadget or two that I have made for my brewery.

That's it for now though...I'll post some pics real soon as I will be kegging tomorrow and brewing on Sunday!

Cheers!

Ron S

Happy Holidays!

2005-12-27T17:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks for stopping by!

I'd like to wish everyone the very best that life can offer for this wonderful holiday season! Now go out and try some different beers!

Speaking about different beers, my wife gave me as a present a 12 pak of Beers from Across America, which contained 2 beers of different styles from all over the US! (she said that she got it at SAM's Club). It contains (or supposed to cantain) some of the best beers made from the best micro-breweries in the US. It has Porter to Light Ale and even a lager. Needless to say, I am waiting until New Year's Eve to break into this most auspicious gift!

I've been real busy giving my friends and co-workers presents this season. I have given as gifts a lot of the Peach Wine that I made and even had some people asking how to order more for next year! Everyone seems to like that wine a lot!

The last 2 beers that I made are slowly disappearing, and the Pale English Ale came out awesome. One of the best beers that I have ever brewed!

The Oatmeal Stout will be ready in about 4 more weeks too!

I am currently working on expanding the home brewery and have already received a bigger boil kettle ( a new SABCO keg) and am waiting for the new mash tun and new 14 gallon SS conical fermenter to arrive as well. In the meantime, I will be building a fermenting chamber of which I have already gotten most of the parts. It will be run on 2 TEC's (thermoelectric) cooling devices attached to a home made very well insulated chamber large enough to contain the conical fermentor and maybe 2-4 cornie kegs too! I will post some photos (taken by my new digital camera) as the new brewery is being built and put together. It will be a HERMS system controlled by a PID controller and 2 pumps. I have yet to order the convoluted copper coil for the counterflow chiller to be made for the pre-chiller and the other coil for the deep-chiller. I will do my very best to provide photos of every step of the way on the construction of this new brewery.

Well....gotta run...
Please have a very healthy and safe holiday season!

Sunny Brewing Days Are Here Again!

2005-11-08T20:02:00.000-05:00

It's about time that I get this thing updated. Sorry for the delay, but due to the past rainy weather, I was forced to delay my brewing efforts...until recently that is! I turned into a brewing fool last Sat and finally had a very nice day to brew on. So needless to say I brewed! I ended up brewing a double batch of 2 different beers. Remember that Oatmeal Stout I was talkin about? And how about that second installment of Howies Celebration? Well...you guessed it! I brewed both of these beers and they are now sitting in my trusty bathtub wrapped in soaking wet towels in our second bathroom, along with that light English Ale that I previously brewed. Speaking of which, that one will be kegged this weekend and will be ready to try out in about 10 days after kegging!
The Strong Scotch Ale came out pretty good, and I have just entered that plus the IPA and Brown Ale into a local brew off being held by a nearby brewing club. I should have the results of that in a week or so.
I am also drawing up plans to increase my home brewery's size to be able to increase my capacity. More on that later, but what i'm thinking of doing is to add on an extra mash tun and boil kettle so that I can brew two different styles at the same time. I am still in the thought stage at this point however.
I also would like to add some automation to the brewery and will probably have to purchase a pump soon to get things going.
The Peach Wine will be bottled this Thursday evening and it looks and tastes like a winner! I have promised a few people a bottle of this wine and will also be giving some away for xmas presents too. I make this wine once a year, and everyone that has tried it loves it! I'll try to furnish a few more pics soon..but for the meantime..
Stay safe...and Drink Better Beer...(and wine too) :)

Darn Weather!

2005-10-13T07:35:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a while since my last post so I thought I'd enter a new one today. I have been trying to get a brew session in for the last couple of weeks, but the weather has not been nice here. I do brew outside on our driveway, so when it rains I am out of luck! The weather guys are stating that this weekend should be nice and sunny, so I'm aiming for this Sat to get a brewing session in.
I have just ran out of Howie's Celebration Bier, and will be brewing another batch very soon. I will be brewing a light english style ale this weekend and hope to post some pics of the session when complete. I seem to keep on pushing the Stout brewing session back for one reason or the next, and that will be brewed after this English Ale, perhaps the following weekend or so.
I ran out of Co2 last week, and have since had my 10 lb tank refilled, thanks to my daughter Tanya, who had it filled for me during the week.
I also attended my first brew club meeting 2 weeks ago, with the
Central Florida Homebrewers Club and met a lot of nice people there. It was great to meet everyone there and they made me feel right at home. I'm looking forward to my next meeting with them. (Luke, you better be there)

Well, that's all for now...and remember to Drink Better Beer! (CFHB slogan)!
(_)3

Beer Pics!

2005-09-13T22:51:00.000-04:00

Here are the Pics! Howies Celebration is the golden colored brew and the dark one is the New Castle Clone. See the previous post (below) for the taste test report! Enjoy! (I sure am!!).
BTW... I will be brewing once again this weekend and we have been invited to attend a dear friend's annual German Octoberfest/cookout! I'll be making up a quick German alt to bring to the party. I'll be posting more on this recipe a little later this week.

Until then...Up Yer's!! LOL!!

Taste Test Report!

2005-09-10T21:36:00.000-04:00

OK everyone..I have finally performed the tasting of Howie's Celebration Bier and the New Castle Brown Ale Clone and the results are in!

Howie's Celebration Bier is a very nice tasting brew. The color is about the same as for a Pilsner Urquell and is very clear and transparent with no chill haze at all! It starts with a nose of a slightly malty aroma and a distinct flowery hop smell that lures you into taking your first sip! After taking that first sip, your taste buds seem to switch to at first a little bitterness, then the taste of sweet malt, and ends with a very nice dry sensation of a combination of orange corriander and malt and a slight bitter taste. Needless to say, you just have to have another gulp!
This is a recipe that I worked up on my own and will be tweeking it here and there until I am satisfied with it. I will be entering this batch in 2 different brew-offs in Oct and Nov as well as the 3 other brews that have been or are already completed. My neighbors love this batch too and I am trying my best to avoid them at this point! LOL!!
Also, this recipe is my first attempt to create a lager like beer from using ale ingredients, and I am right on target with it! The carbonation levels were perfect! It came out better than I expected, but like I said, a little tweaking is needed.

The New Castle Brown Ale Clone was interesting but came out a little heavy tasting. It has a very nice beige foamy head that is supported by a dark brown beer with ruby red highlights. I personaly think that the color came out a little dark. The clairity of the beer as excellent. It has a very malty nose and taste followed by a slight bitterness and ends with just a touch of sweetness. It is a good recipe that I will need to adjust for my system, as my mash efficency is very good and am getting anywhere from 75 to 83%. My last calculation came in at 80% and was performed while brewing this recipe. It is still a very good beer and once again, I find myself hiding out from the rath of "the neighbors" !!!

I did take a couple of pics of these brews, and I will post them on this thread asap, probably by Tuesday the latest.

Also, the IPA was finally racked and kegged and primed as of a week ago, and it looked absolutely awesome. It had the color of a shiney new copper penny, and my nieghbor and I tried a small taste and it was just great! This one will be a brew-off entry as well. I will be doing follow-ups with this one and the Strong Scotch Ale that is currently in the last week of secondary fermentation. I will be kegging and priming it next weekend.

Well, that's all I have for now...and remember: "cabs are cheap....lawyers are not!!"

Racking of the Wine

2005-08-16T15:18:00.000-04:00

Well I finally racked off the Peach Wine yesterday and it is tasting awesome! The SG was at 1.006 but I decided to rack it off and get it off the lees. The last thing we need is off flavors from the spent yeast and lees. The picture shows the wine in the secondary carboy after racking. It will remain there until more sediment is thrown then we will rack it off again. All the sugar syrup is in now so it becomes a waiting game at this point.

Howies Celebration and the New Castle Clone have started their second week of cold conditioning in the kegerator and will be ready to try out soon. Hopefully just in time for my birthday which is on Sept 7th!

Also, the IPA and the Scottish ale is still under their secondary fermentation cycle, with the IPA it is week 2, and the scottish ale it is week 1.

I am plannning another batch or two of wine to be made as well but I am undecided as to what kind to make. Maybe a nice Zin and a Merlot. We'll see.

Well thats it for now...
Keep brewing and thanks for stopping by!
cheers!

Volcanic Eruption and Bathtub Beer!

2005-08-08T19:31:00.000-04:00

Well the Scottish Strong Ale has been brewed as of last Sat. and it was a lot of fun to create! I first created a 1/2 gal yeast starter on Thurs night, and when it was added to the primary fermentor it took off like a rocket! The picture on this post was taken less than 12 hours into the fermentation and I had to remove the air lock and add a blow-off tube! Today I have taken the blow-off tube off and replaced with the air lock. It is really chugging along! On the other pic, it show the IPA that was brewed after I racked it into the secondary (5 gal carboy). I use the second bathroom's tub in our home to keep the fermentating temp at 70 deg F. The home is air conditioned at 74 deg F and having the carboys wrapped with wet towels, the temp stays at 70 deg F! Just perfect! With this last brew session, I will have a total of 20 gallons of beer on tap soon and of 4 different styles! I still have room for more, and I will continue to brew the backup beers as we go along. the Oatmeal stout will be next, and I will keg this brew into (2) three gallon kegs that I have just purchased. This will allow me to have one 3 gallon keg on tap while the other can be put away for future consumption. The wife is wanting me to make some root beer for her, so I guess I better do that real soon!
Well that's about all I have for now. Until later....
nos strovia! (sp??)

Another Brew Day!

2005-08-05T20:08:00.000-04:00

Yep!! Tomorrow will be another brew day for us. I'll be brewing the Classic Strong Scotch Ale. I have already created the starter as shown in the photo, and it looks like we're off to a great start!
To get the recipe and directions for this brew, click here.

Howies' Celebration Bier and the New Castle Brown Ale Clone will have been carbonating for 3 weeks this Sunday, and I will wait another week before I enter the kegs into the kegerator for more cold conditioning. (3 weeks worth). Then after that we'll just have to crack into these baby's and give it a go! I'll have a photo or 2 of these finished brews and a full taste report when the time comes.

I will also have to rack off the IPA we made last week on Sunday into the secondary 5 gal carboy, and will let it ferment out and clear for 3-4 weeks.

The Peach Wine is still fermenting and when it reaches a gravity of 10 or less, I will rack that off into the secondary to let it mature and clear.

I am already planning the next 3 brews to be made. A classic Oatmeal Stout, a Rasberry Wheat Wiezen, and the first lager of the season which will be announced later. Also will be making some more wine soon as well. More on this later.

I will post an update on tomorrow's brewing session when finished, and will try to furnish a photo or 2.

Until then....down the hatch!

IPA Brew Day.

2005-08-01T14:03:00.000-04:00

Well we finally brewed the IPA last Sunday and it went very well. I started the yeast starter on Friday night and by Sunday it was more than ready to use. The entire brewing process took about 5.5 hours and went very smoothly. My neighbor Dennis came by to lend a hand and have a few brews as well. 24 hours have gone by, and the fermentation has really taken off! It smells great too. And what better way to conclude and celebrate America Beer Month by brewing the beer of the week, the IPA! What a way to go.

I have just added the last of the sugar syrup to the peach wine. I also had a small sample, and it tastes great but a bit young. This wine has a ways to go before I can even offer it to someone. Fermentation should resume within the next 24 hours. I will let it ferment out and clear, (around 3 months), then rack it into a secondary 3 gal carboy for further conditioning, and maybe we can get it bottled in time for Christmas! This wine should be aged in the bottle for as long as you can stand to look at it! (we're talking months here) and then some!!

Plans are on the calendar to brew the Scottish Classic Red Ale for this coming weekend, weather permitting. We'll be using a partial mash schedule, and I'll be posting the directions and the recipe soon. I am also drafting plans for an E-Book that I will be authoring soon. It may take a while to get it all together, so don't hold your breath!
Well...gotta run...and please feel free to leave your comments!
cheers!

IPA Recipe and Updates!

2005-07-28T08:04:00.000-04:00

Peach Wine Update: Really nothing much to say about the peach wine other than it is still fermenting nicely. I will check the SG of it this weekend and if necessary, will add the remaining syrup to it. I have yet to remove 2 pints to allow space to add the syrup, and will do that when the time comes. (this Saturday)

Ok..the ingredients have been ordered for the next 2 beer batches! After taking inventory of my supplies, it was discovered that I had enough grains to make the IPA if I used the mini-mash method. And that's exactly what I wanted to do anyways due to the fact that my brew system can only mash up to around 10 lbs of grain max. The next recipes call for more grain than my system can handle, so I have opted to use the mini-mash method and am planning to brew the IPA this weekend, depending on what day the goods arrive. I'll need to make a yeast starter 1-2 days before brew day, so we'll see.

The IPA recipe was originally an all grain recipe that I have recalculated into the mini-mash recipe shown below. I used the mathamatical methods that appear in the wonderful book written by Ray Daniels titled "Designing Great Beers". Every homebrewer really needs a copy of this book as it is very helpful in helping the homebrewer understand the different styles, their history, how to hit your starting specific gravity, and the math behind the scenes to help you to not only to formulate your own recipies, but to also help you to convert any all grain recipe into a more manageable and easier to perform mini or partial mash method of brewing. That means that although you may have have a small 5 gallon brewing setup, you should still be able to brew all those really big Belgium style brews that typically have enormous grain bills. And it has a whole lot more too!

Here's the IPA recipe and directions:

----------------------Schooner 1889 IPA----------------------------------
General----------------------------------------------------------------------

Category: India Pale Ale (IPA)

Subcategory: English IPA

Recipe Type: Partial Mash

Batch Size: 5.00 gal.

Volume Boiled: 4.0 gal.

Sterlized Water to Top Off: 2-2.5 gal. (having a little extra is a good thing)

Mash Efficiency: 72 %

Total Grain/Extract: 11.26 lbs.

Total Hops: 3.4 oz.

Calories (12 fl. oz.): 287.1

Cost to Brew: $38.46 (USD)Cost per Bottle (12 fl. oz.): $0.69 (USD)

Vital Statistics-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original Gravity: 1.072

Terminal Gravity: 1.015

Color: 13.35 SRM

Bitterness: 54.4 IBU

Alcohol (%volume): 7.5 %

Ingredients--------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.43 lbs. Golden Promise Pale Malt (Grain)

1.0 lbs. British Crystal Malt 55 deg;L (Grain)

3.5 lbs. Muntons Dry Extra Light DME

3.33 lbs. Alexanders Pale Liquid

1.1 oz. Challenger (Pellets, 8.5 %AA) boiled 90 minutes.

1.0 oz. Whitbread Golding (WGV) (Whole, 6.00 %AA) (or Fuggles) boiled 15 minutes.

1.25 oz. East Kent Goldings (Whole, 5.00 %AA) boiled 2 minutes.

4 ounces Lyles Golden Syrup (not included in calculations)

Yeast: WYeast 1187 Ringwood Ale

Brewing Directions--------------------------------------------------------------------------24-48 hours before brew day: Create a 1 quart yeast starter by boiling 2 cups water then
take off heat source, then add 2 cups of M & F Extra Light DME and a few bittering hop
pellets and dissolve and boil for 10 minutes. Cool in ice water bath, and when below 80
deg F, transfer into a half gal jug and add yeast to it and mix well. Put a stopper and air
lock on it then let it ferment until ready to use at room temp.

On Brew day: Start by boiling 2.5 gal of water for 10 minutes to sterilize and put aside to cool and for topping off primary fermentor.

Then crush and mix the grains in 1.25 gal of 167 deg F water. When fully mixed, the mash temp should be at 154 deg F. Hold at 154 deg F for 90 minutes or until starch conversion has taken place. Test a few drops with iodine on a stark white saucer. If it changes color, mash for another 15 minutes then test again. The color of the iodine should not change color. During mashing, prepare your sparge water (3 gallons) by bringing it to a boil for 10 minutes, then take off heat source and let it cool to 168-170 deg F. Try to keep it at this temp until ready to sparge. Once conversion has tested positive, continue to the next step.

Now strain the grain water into the brew pot and return the mashed grains into the mashing vessel and add the 3 gals of 168 deg F sparge water to it. Stir it well to mix then let it sit for 10 minutes, then strain off into brew pot again. Discard the spent grains. Top off the brew pot if necessary to contain 4 to 4.25 gals of wort, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and add the DME and LME, the Lyles Golden Syrup and bittering hops.

Return to heat and boil for 1 hour while watching for and preventing any boil-overs.Then add your flavor hops, and 1 tsp of Irish Moss and boil for 15 minutes. You can also place your wort chiller into the brew-pot at this time to sterilize it. Boil for 13 minutes then add your aroma hops, boil for another 1-2 minutes, then kill the fire and cool off wort as fast as possible to below 80 deg F. I like to cool mine off to an even 72 deg F. When cooled, strain and transfer wort to 6 gal carboy, and then carefully add the sterilized water we put aside until it comes up to the turn on the top of the carboy. I usually fill it just to the bottom of where it curves up to save room for the yeast. When the temp has stabelized at 70 deg F, aerate wort with aerating stone and oxygen for 15 minutes then pitch your yeast and continue to aerate while stirring for another 10 minutes. Put a stopper and air lock on and ferment for no more than 7 days or until fermentation slows down.

Then rack into secondary (5 gal carboy) and ferment out to finished gravity (FG) or until beer has cleared. (3-4 weeks). Then prime with 1.25 cups of M&F Xtra Light DME and bottle, or if kegging, prime with 2/3 cups DME and seal with 10 psi CO2 and let it carbonate for a minimum of 4 weeks at 70 deg F. then store kegs or bottles at cellar temperatures of 50 deg F. Also if you want, you can try to make the beer clearer by storing it at 33-40 deg F for a period of 3 additional weeks after the initial 3-4 week priming and carbonating phase has been completed. Then serve at 48-50 deg F and enjoy!

Kegging and Priming Day!

2005-07-18T20:02:00.000-04:00

***Sunday 07/17/2005***

We have finally reached week 3 for Howies Celebration Bier and it is time to rack the finished beer into a keg and prime it! After gathering the equipment and sterlizing everything, the transfer commences. The picture shows the brew(Howies' Celebration Bier) being siphoned off into the 5 gal corny keg. I usually just keg the beer then force carbonate it with my CO2 system, but this time I wanted to prime the keg with 1/2 cup of corn sugar which is boiled in 1/2 pint of water for 10 minutes. Before adding the priming sugar to the keg, it is cooled off to 70 deg F. While adding, the brew is stirred and the primer is mixed very well. The keg is then sealed with 10-/12 lbs PSI and purged of atmosphere, then allowed to carbonate for a minimum of 3 weeks. (I like to wait at least 5 weeks before I try a pint) During each week I find it necessary to add some CO2 to the keg to maintain the 10-12 lbs of pressure while carbonating.

After inspecting the New Castle Nut Brown Ale clone for clairity and FG (final gravity), I decided to keg this brew today as well and save myself some work and time. I primed this brew with 2/3 cup of M&F Extra Light Dry Malt Extract, boiled for the usual 10 minutes in 3/4 pint of water, then cooled to 70 deg F before adding to the kegged beer. Then the same procedure will be followed as for the carbonation and addition of CO2 when needed.

The photo above shows the beer being racked into a keg. You can also see the triple manifold gage setup on the pegboard, the CO2 tank on the bottom right, the temperature controller on peg board to maintain constant cooling temps and the custom kegerator that I built from a freezer, to dispense the brew with 4 taps. Now all we have to do is to wait until it is time to "pull a pint".

The peach wine is still fermenting out and should take a few more weeks to get the SG (specific gravity) down to the required level in order to add more sugar syrup. It smells awesome, but has a long time to go. (about 7 months)

I am now planning the next 2 brews to be made soon. An IPA and a Scottish Red Strong Ale. I will be ordering the ingredients this week and getting things ready to go! When I get close to another brew day, I will post the exact receipe's that I will be using.

Well, thats all for now. Cheers!

Peach Wine Receipe

2005-07-11T07:40:00.000-04:00

I have just noticed that I have omitted the Peach Wine receipe that I used. This receipe appears in a book entitled "First Steps in Wine Making" written by C.C. Berry. I had to change it a bit to accomodate my needs. Here's the receipe that I used to make 3 gallons of Peach Wine:

Ingredients:

9 lbs fresh over ripe peaches
5 lbs white sugar
2 lbs dark brown sugar
2 oz pectic enzyme
3 tsb citric acid
1/2 tsp grape tannin
Sherry or Tokay yeast ( I used sherry yeast)

Wash and stone peaches and place into polyethelene fermenting bin. Scrub hands clean then crush and squeeze peaches as much as possible.
Boil 1 1/2 gal of water and pour over peaches and cover, Let cool overnight.
The next day, stir in the Pectic Enzyme and cover until the following day.
On the third day, strain peach mixture through muslin ( I used a Large fine mesh grain bag ) twice if possible, and place into a 3 gal carboy fermentor.
Mix the white and brown sugar together in a large bowl, then measure out 5 lbs of sugar and dissolve into 1 pint of very hot water. This will give you slightly over a quart of syrup with 2 pounds of dry sugar left for later use. Pour syrup into carboy and mix well. Add sterlized and cooled water to the turn of the carboy and stabilize temp at 70 deg F. Then add the yeast and place fermentation lock on carboy.
Ferment for 5-6 days, then check the SG. When the SG is at or below 1.030, make up the rest of the sugar syrup into a pint of water like before, and add half of it after it cools down to 70 deg F. Save the rest for later in the fridge.
Check the SG a week later, and if the reading is between 10 or 15, add remainder of syrup. You will have to remove 2 pints from the fermentor to do this. Just save this into a half gallon jar under a fermentation lack to use to top off after the first racking.
Allow to ferment out until the SG reading is 10. Then rack into secondary fermentor. The wine will settle out and will become clear. Bottle when the SG is at 1.005 or below. For best results, let the wine age for 4 to 6 months or longer before trying.
Enjoy!

Day One for my Weblog!

2005-07-10T16:21:00.000-04:00

OK...this is new to me, so please bear with me till I get the hang of this.
I have been home brewing beer for about 10 years now and have just started to make my own wines during the last year. I 'm an all grain brewer of beer and am now creating "Country Wines" from whole fruits. This publication is just a record of my brewing activities, and who knows, it might even turn out to be useful to someone other than myself!
Shown below is what's been going on for the last couple of weeks. I will be creating new entries as I go along and will be including my best recipies to go along with this.
Enjoy!

***June 16 2005***Brewed Howie's Celebration Bier today. This is a receipe that I have created. You can view the receipe here: http://www.beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=4694

***June 24 2005***Racked Howie's Celebration into secondary fermenter today. Also made plans to brew a New Castle Clone Brown Ale for tomorrow.

***June 25 2005***Brewed the New Castle Brown Ale Clone today. It was a very easy receipe to make! Here it is below:

OG: 1.048-1.051
FG: 1.011-1.013

Mash 8.75 lbs of British 2-row and2oz 55L British Crystal Malt2oz British Chocolate Malt 1oz British Black malt at 150deg F for 90 minutes. then sparge w/169 deg F water to get 6.5 gal wort. Bring to a boil and add: 1oz Target @8% AA for 1 hour then add: .5 oz East Kent Goldings and 1 tsp Irish Moss for 15 minutes.Cool wort as quickly as possible and whirlpool for 45 minutes. Then slowly drain from brew pot into primary fermentor. I use a 6 gal carboy. Stabilize temp to 70 deg F then pitch yeast. (British Ale Yeast) Ferment for no more than 7 days or until it slows, then rack into 5 gal secondary fermenter. Hold for 3 weeks or until target gravity is reached.Prime with .75 cup of corn sugar dissolved in once boiling water of 1 pint and when at 70 deg F rack finished beer into keg with primer or bottle. Let it ferment at 70 deg F for at lease 4 weeks then cool to 50-55 deg F and try a pint or 2!

***July 2nd 2005***
Placed Peach wine in to Primary Carboy and added sherry yeast.
Racked off NCastle clone into secondary fermenter.
Week 2 starts for Howies Celebration in the secondary. Looking very clear. Time will tell.

***July 9 2005***
Peach Wine fermented very well during the week and as of today has slowed down considerably. I will check gravity today and if it is at or below 30, will add the next addition of sugar syrup, which should wake it up somewhat.
NCastle clone brew starts 2nd week of secondary.
Week 3 starts for Howies Celebration. This brew is now looking crystal clear. I am looking forward to tasting it, but it still has to go thru racking and priming phase and will take at least another 4-5 weeks before it ends up in a glass.

***July 10 2005***
SG of Peach Wine too low so I had to add 2 pints of sugar syrup which is a 5:2 ratio of white sugar to dark brown sugar and 2lbs to 1 pint of boiled water, which brought SG to around 1.026. I have about 1 pint of syrup left and will have to rack 2 pints out of carboy to make the rest fit. I will save the racked 2 pints in a half gallon bottle with lock on it and will use it after SG falls to 1.005 and gets racked into secondary fermenter. This should take about 2 weeks or so, and I'll have to check it weekly until target is hit. After about 2 hrs, fermentation has resumed nicely!

Well...I think i'm all caught up now and can continue with this blog thingy! Stay tuned for more, and I should have some more pics to display soon!