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What's brewin?

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    What's brewin?

    Just brewed an all grain chocolate hazelnut porter - it's fermenting right now.

    Will keg it and plan to try to keep some for St. Pats.

    What you guys brewing at the moment?

    #2
    Tea.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      Well thats always brewin here too - its what keeps me able to make beer!

    #3
    I tried brewing beer several years back. After 3 attempts I just couldn't get the yeast to take. Did everything the books say, to a T. My last batch I spent about $70 or so on everything including the grains and roasted 'em myself. My wife wasn't happy with the money spent for nothing and I couldn't legally distill my own whiskey so I switched to BBQ! I am a little envious of folks who got it down and make good stuff, and yours sounds really good.

    Comment


    • Huskee
      Huskee commented
      Editing a comment
      Waster Please do. However, much like why I won't purchase a pizza oven and get good at pizzas, my waist line and closet can't handle me indulging in many more luxuries like great pizza and beer!

    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      Huskee - I went straight into all-grain brewing after watching Ben Cull's video simplest all grain brew day and did exactly the same for quite some time. https://youtu.be/ZYOaZ8g8-ho

      TheApartmentBrewer on YouTube also has a lot of great information but its a little more advanced
      Welcome to my channel, TheApartmentBrewer! I’ve been an avid homebrewer since early 2016, and I’ve lived in small living spaces and apartments the entire time. I’m very passionate about homebrewing and here on this channel I mostly do grain to glass videos, which means in a single video, I cover an entire beer’s brewing process from start to finish - the recipe development, the mash, the boil, the fermentation, and the final tasting. I also do informative videos, equipment reviews and system builds with small spaces and apartments in mind! While most of my videos tend on the longer side, I think you’ll find them full of useful details, entertaining brews and descriptive tastings. The homebrew community on YouTube is awesome, supportive and knowledgeable, and I’m happy to be a part of it all. If you want to be a part of it too, check out my videos and subscribe if you like what you see! New videos uploaded every Monday morning at 9 AM EST!


      David Heath on YT is one of my favorites - refined recipes and explanations.
      Hi, my name is David Heath and welcome to my channel. My main channel focus is around educational content, often teaching recipe design and various types of techniques. My main aim with each video is that that there will be at least one thing new learnt. I am a fully qualified master brewer & I have been brewing beer for over 35 years. Since leaving commercial brewing I have worked as a brewery consultant and in the homebrew industry with retail and wholesale. My current role is for a large homebrew group in Norway, where I service homebrew stores and breweries with products from many manufacturers. I am also involved in product testing for a handful of companies due to my experience. This Youtube channel, however, is all just me as a private individual, nothing commercial and I am careful to have the vast majority of my content about passing on knowledge.


      Run out of space - if you want more PM me.

    • Huskee
      Huskee commented
      Editing a comment
      Waster Thanks a lot!

    #4
    I brewed for about 25 years, but finally gave it up, just wasn't able to sling around my modded keg mash tun & burners anymore... when that puppy was full of wet grain, it was HEAVY. I kept four old cylinder soda kegs that I'd reconditioned in rotation for many years. Gave my whole setup to a much younger colleague who hailed from Oregon and has kept it all in good use since. Doing BBQ is a very similar kind of fun, with the added bonus that you don't have to wait weeks to taste the results!

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      Yeah the spent grains can be heave as well as lugging around 5 gallon kegs full of beer, but I think of it as a bonus to do weight lifting while brewing :-)

    #5
    Fermenting my liver.
    Brewing a hangover.
    So glad you asked.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      bbqLuv Well you gotta do something while waiting for signs that the stall is finally over :-)

    #6
    Waster What recipe did you use? I have Jamil Zainasheff's chocolate hazelnut porter on tap right now. I make it every year but I bump up the malt and the abv is in the 9% range. Its one of the best beers I've ever had.
    Last edited by 58limited; January 19, 2023, 03:08 AM.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      58limited Thats exactly the base recipe I tried this one. I modified also, to round out the grain amounts, scale for my Brewzilla and also balance the beer a little more (extra ABV doesn't hurt) but keeping the BU:GU ratio. First time Ive tried a Jamil recipe and I just moved to secondary with the cocoa nibs in mesh bag and of course sampled it - tastes wonderful as is - hoping 2-3 weeks on the nibs will take it over the top!

    #7
    Just kicked the Porter keg, on to the Scottish Ale. Blonde Ale in the fermenter.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      gatorjj Nice! although keg cleaning is a PITA its ultimately worth it to have fresh beer on tap in the kegerator. What Scottish ale recipe are you brewing shilling or wee heavy?

    • gatorjj
      gatorjj commented
      Editing a comment
      This one is probably some kind of shilling (60?70? I don't really adhere that strictly to styles), it's my "light" one so 5.6%. It's skinnied down from my usual one which clocks in about 7.8%. I usually do the lighter one in summer, or in this case to refresh the yeast harvest before I do the heavy one.

      I don't find keg cleaning to be that big of a deal, just take it all apart and soak for an hour with PBW and hot water. It sure beats filling and cleaning 50 "little kegs"

    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      gatorjj - keg cleaning v bottle washing - yeah hands down much easier. I ferment in an old sanke 7.5G conversion and keg in sanke 5G kegs too. I was thinking of converting to corny kegs as those are super simple to dry hop in but still haven't done it for some reason!

    #8
    Sounds good.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks, hopefully it'll taste good too. Winter is a great time for darker beers!

    #9
    Cheers!

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      HawkerXP. Cheers to you too brother.

    #10
    I have a chocolate porter in secondary (the keg) at the moment. It is my go-to English "robust" porter recipe, and it has a couple ounces of roasted cocao nibs in a stainless mesh basket suspended inside the keg. No chocolate in the mash or boil. Two weeks of the nibs in secondary is up tomorrow, at which point I will pull the nibs and move the keg from the garage floor into one of the kegerators.

    Next up is a Belgian saison.

    Currently on tap:

    - Truck Stop Honey Brown clone
    - Flanders Red, aged 2.5 years in a Buffalo trace barrel
    - Old Ale (12.9% ABV!!!)
    - Rye IPA
    Last edited by jfmorris; January 19, 2023, 01:56 PM.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      jfmorris Sounds awesome. I only have two taps on my kegerator, but have a fermentation freezer and conditioning freezer so can have about 4 beers on the go. Also just got hold of a cannular and looking forward to trying that to aid in building up reserves!

      On tap I have a wonderful Belgian triple (TheApartmentBrewer's recipe - it's amazing) and a Duvel clone. Going through a Belgian phase at the moment.

      I have a saison up next on the grain bill also.

      "One of the kegerators" :-)

    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      Waster haha it’s just two 2 tap kegerators - basically mini fridges with a beer tower on top. My son in law just bought a used 8 keg keezer so I’m having beer envy right now…

      I can bottle from the kegs with a Blichman bottle filler but am usually too lazy to deal with bottles… canning sounds interesting though!

    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      jfmorris - MoreBeer had a steal on the cannular can sealer and cans, so I just looked away and pressed the buy button :-). I have yet to try canning a whole batch - just a few to go, but it is really simple - just a little bit messier than filling bottles, as you cap on foam and then spin the can.

      Ooh, that 8 keg keezer sounds sweet.

    #11
    10 barrels of IPA today. Just another day livin' the dream in rubber boots.

    Click image for larger version

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    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      Holy smokes thats on another level!

      Do you find commercial brewing detracts from the joys of home brewing or do you exclusively brew commercially?

      Can you tell us which brewery?

    #12
    Waster I brew for a brewpub, so it's a lot like home brewing as long as I keep our core beers flowing. Other than that, I basically can make anything I want that I think will sell. Working production is a different story, I enjoyed it but I would not like to go back to it.

    As far as home brewing, I haven't home brewed since 2008 or 2009. I miss it as a hobby, but not enough to rebuild my home brewery. And, as I said, I can do whatever I want within reason, so I can just make recipes up and experiment on actual people. And honestly, the thought of taking 8 hours out of my weekend to make 5 gallons of beer doesn't appeal after years of making anywhere from 10 - 250 barrels in the same amount of time.

    But I enjoy the restriction of not having any kind of pilot brewery, it means when I make up recipes I have to think them through carefully, and know my ingredients, and I kinda think being restrained over the last 15 years has actually made me a better cook. There's also stuff you can probably do fairly easily in a home brew situation (decoction mash springs to mind) that there's no way to do in my brewhouse. It's tradeoffs. Home brewing is a great hobby, production brewing has it's moments, and working in a brewpub is kind of the perfect median for me. Just... don't turn a hobby into a job unless you really like that hobby.

    And I work at San Diego Brewing Co., so c'mon by. I'm the grouchy looking guy in rubber boots.
    Last edited by mnavarre; January 20, 2023, 10:12 PM.

    Comment


    • barelfly
      barelfly commented
      Editing a comment
      When i get to SD for work, I’ll stop by for a visit….any chance you have birria cooking as well

    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      Yeah - I know guys here who were homebrewers who took it commercial (3 breweries and a brew pub) and not a one of them brews at home anymore. I imagine if they want beer at home on tap, they can take home a sanke or a growler. They may be tired of beer too after being there all day...

    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      mnavarre Thats awesome you can experiment like that - I had imagined it would be restrictive, good to hear you have some freedom to play.

      Thanks for the insights on commercial v home - I had suspected that you probably wouldn't want to home brew and wondered if commercial brewing ruined the home brewing joy - but seems you still get that from the day job - well done!

      Friends have asked, but I know I'm not turning it into another job!

      If I ever get to SD, I'll be sure to stop by.

      Cheers!

    #13
    Here's something new I've been playing at. I'm repurposing an old 20 inch monitor and unused Raspberry Pi to run in kiosk mode and display a tap list above the kegerator(s):

    Live beverage menu for Jim's Bar & Grill.


    Been playing with that website. The free version is limited in customization and can only display 4 taps. My son in law already paid his $39 a year so he could have 8 taps showing on an old TV on the wall of his garage... He is also working on a home made version of the Plaato keg weight measurement system, with a way to tie it into a website. I get a 4 tap version when he is done. Then the menu should show a constant live status of how much is in each keg.

    Comment


    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      That’s fantastic! I’m an automation and controls engineer by day so this is right up my alley.

      I was wondering how you got/get the live volume left in the keg and whether this was an external weigh cell, an internal floating device or level probe.
      Well now you piqued my interest and I’m gonna have to look into it. I have some old PLC’s and HMI’s kicking around so maybe that route, but that tap list looks nice.
      Hmmmm.

    • jfmorris
      jfmorris commented
      Editing a comment
      Waster he is using a cheap load cell mounted between two thin round sheets of plywood. Keg sits on top of the load cell. We will calibrate it with a full keg with a known 5 gallons in it, and with an empty keg.

    • Waster
      Waster commented
      Editing a comment
      jfmorris very cool, I'd certainly be interested to see the build and how it went... keep us posted Jim!

    #14
    Very cool Jim! Toast!!

    Comment

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