Beer

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Harry
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Beer

Post by Harry »

So I started brewing a couple of months ago. My daughters had bought me one of those 1 gallon beer kits for xMas but I didnt want to brew it until I had a temp controlled ferment place because of the swings in temps in our house.

I bought a $200 freezer from HomeDepot, an aquarium heater and a controller made by a company called Inkbird that has cool/heat outlets on it. You set the temp you want and it turns on and off whichever is needed to get towards the target temp.

Right off the bat I screwed the pooch drilling the hole for the wires in the side of the freezer and the woosh told me I just spent another $200. Once getting the new freezer I was more careful drilling the other shell then clearing by hand the hole through the insulation before drilling through. Success...

Armed with a temp controlled environment I set off on my 1 gallon brew, brewing was straightforward but lots of cleaning/sanitizing. Got the gallon of wort into the ferment bottle and put in the freezer set at 65F

and wait... and wait...

So a week or so later siphoned the no beer into bottles and added priming sugar and promptly began breaking bottles capping them. Ended up with a half gallon growler and 3 bottles to return to the fermentor to let the added sugar naturally carbonate.

And wait...

After a week had to try it, flat beer, damn. Wait another week and its great. Problem is I have just 2 bottles of beer and the 64oz growler. The growler is one of those spring lock glass bottles and apparently it did not seal as well as the capped bottles so it was flat too. Upside is that even flat was some of the bet been I have ever had (of course there's the I made it bias involved here).

It set me off though and since I have done several more 5 gallon brews and purchased ball lock corny kegs for avoiding the bottling end of things. The brews so far have been

Dead Ringer (Northern Brewers clone of Bells Two Hearted IPA) my favorite so far
Smithwicks Red Ale (also from Northern) Very good easy to drink beer
Caribou Slobber (Notherns clone of Moose Drool, a dark beer along the lines of Newcastle but more all around) Like this one a whole lot
The Nutty Irishman (From AiH, dark Milk Stout with Irish Cream and Hazelnut flavorings) This one is still sitting getting some age on it
Two Hearted (AiHs version of the same name) Just moved this one to the secondary.
Blue Moon (AiH clone of the same name) Next up for brewing, maybe today or tomorrow.

Will take some pictures and fill in some more on all of this as its been an adventure, all in all my beer budget remains about the same but my beer is much better quality. Lots of cleaning involved, wife is happy because the kitchen gets a good going over just before brewday and she always gets a kick at how deep I go into things. Going to be looking soon to brew something things for her as she doesnt drink beer, meed and cider are more her speed.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
Rasper
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Re: Beer

Post by Rasper »

How do I get to Onyx from Huatulco, Mexico? I love good beer.

Richard
latzanimal
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Re: Beer

Post by latzanimal »

Awesome Harry. I used to work with a guy who brewed his own and had won awards for them....
mite5255
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Re: Beer

Post by mite5255 »

I use to brew my own with a mate in the late 70's, we use to make two lots,one each, problem was that when it was ready for drinking we'd try and sample every bottle just to make sure it was all good, next day was never very good :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: wife banned me from ever home brewing again and apparently the ban is still current ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) we sure use to make a mess of ourselves lol lol
When life gets tough, remember: You were the strongest sperm :)
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Harry
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Re: Beer

Post by Harry »

I can imagine, I probably drink too much but no more now then when I was hauling (or the wife was haulin for me) bud home.

For the $ wise its about the same but damn the beer is whole lot better.

I skipped the whole bottling thing, just seemed like too much trouble. Using those 5 gallon corny kegs. I do want to get a counterpressure bottler setup for bottling from the keg to put back some here and there from the middle of the keg when its running as clear as it will get but still not gone. Will give a bit of variety and be able to pass a beer or two along not that I am looking to become anyones brewer, its a hell of a lot of work and wait for the 55 bottles worth of beer.

Got that AiH version of Two hearted on tap now, Daughter came out a few days ago and we did a taste testing since she was here for a taste of the Northern version of the same beer. My older daughter back east mailed me a bottle of Bells Two Hearted also. We found the original to have a bit of a funk taste to it, wasnt like someone washed their gym socks in it or anything, well maybe a quick dip. The clones were much more grapefruit, sharp and clear. Mine actually pour much clearer visually than the commercial one. Anyhow the AiH version I used a boost called brewvint alcohol boost (maltose and glucose I think) and it finished out real dry and close to 8%, drinks great but got to be careful with that one. The Northern version was straight up like drinking unsweetened grapefruit juice out of the 64oz can like we used to get when we were kids.

We also tasted the Nutty Irishman since I had moved it to its final keg and it is under CO2 pressure carbonating. I used the tap line off the Two Hearted so there was a mix I poured off into another cup flushing the line to clear it to pour and after putting it back. The Nutty Irishman I get a Yoohoo with a shot of Espresso taste from, its a bit sweet and black as ink. Funny on that taste as has neither coffee or chocolate. Surprisingly the line cleaning mix wasnt bad at all, I called it the Two Faced Irish Bastard :-)
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
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Harry
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Re: Beer

Post by Harry »

Put my Cascade hop rhizomes in the greenhouse and will be getting some Centennial in some soon from a preorder. They are starting to sprout now, hoping they will become a high season 20% or so shade then come out as the summer heat begins to let up. If the timing works how I suspect it might be pretty nice and if not I will dig em up and move em outside next year.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
mite5255
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Re: Beer

Post by mite5255 »

It a shame we cannot send beer via the International post we could all try each others favorite drop ;)
When life gets tough, remember: You were the strongest sperm :)
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Harry
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Re: Beer

Post by Harry »

Too expensive anyhow, that bottle of Bells Two Hearted my daughter sent me was like $12 to send a $3 bottle of beer.

Dust off a bucket and brew a batch and we can share recipes ;-)

I guess I am kidding when I say dust off a bucket, you can brew on the cheap but being a tool guy I will have about 3 or 4 grand int his by the time I am all done.

Once I get set up for all grain, have hops growing and begin culturing yeast should be able to reduce costs to about a 3rd so instead of $40 for 5 gallon more like $15. That will save me close to a thousand dollars a year so I can see a payback eventually over and above the getting to drink something you made and is of high quality that would cost 2 or 3 times more if buying good beer.

Other upside is most of whats been spent has been in equipment that also has and holds value.

On the all grain, I think its the Aussies that came up with the brew in a bag for all grain brewing in a single kettle. Thats likely the direction I will go when I get ready to move from extract brewing. Seems simple enough and I have a couple ideas of my own to add to it..
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
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Harry
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Re: Beer

Post by Harry »

Been loving this home brewing. The quality of these beers has been as good or better than what I buy for like $5 to $10 a 22oz bottle and can brew it for under $50 (some beers way under) for 5 gallons.

Have been nutz about collecting up shiny things and spent way too much to justify any real savings but it has been a lot of fun. Got a 5L keg with tap and co2 cartridge regulator for fathers day. They are regular about $180 but got an email about a flash sale thing on Amazon for $40 off so i showed it to the wife. Already had one of the 5L kegs and 3 of 64oz ones. Nice to put some beer back from a batch without having to screw with bottles and works great to take a little beer somewhere.

A couple weeks ago pulled the trigger on a Malestrom Yeast Stir Plate, its a trick little gadget that a lot of folks DiY using a computer fan and magnets for spinning a plastic coated bar magnet inside a flask to keep the yeast aerated and moving through the liquid to get the best growth out of them. It wasnt real cheap but very well built and I got a free 5 gallon beer ingredient kit with it :-) I am culturing 4 different strains of yeast now so that saves 5 to 8 dollars on every batch of beer while costing just a dollar or so for the DME (dry malt extract to feed them) and yeast nutrient. You just double up thier count hen just use half each brew and save the rest to double up again later.

Have collected of about 8 of the 5 gallon corny kegs now I need more space for aging that can be kept in the 55 F range.

Wife says I have enough stuff now I need to build a beer shed so thats up on the projects list.

This has been a lot of fun, well a lot of cleaning that hasnt been all that much fun but mostly a lot of fun. Wish I had started brewing years ago.

Oh yeah, the hops I planted in the greenhouse are 6 feet up the string already. Looking forward to adding my own hops to brews.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
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Harry
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Re: Beer

Post by Harry »

Here is the latest shiny with an ugly but happy mug to accompany it.

Ran about a gallon of an IPA called M-80 through it and have to say its a bit nicer than serving through a black plastic picnic tap that I use on my corny kegs.

Will eventually get a kegerator with 3 taps that will hold 3 corny kegs but still have a ways to go before I can sell that one ;-) Got to show the missus just how much money this home brewing is saving us, lol.
20180524_145455.jpg
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints the sinners are much more fun...
Muller
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