Who is a Home Brewer

[davidr2340]

BUMP!!!
Who's out there brewing?
I'll be brewing batch #4 this Saturday... I hope! I just have to figure out what I want to do.
I'm drinking batch #2 out of the keg now. It's a Diamond Knot IPA clone, and it turned out damn good IMO! I have batch #3 in the secondary now. It's a Vanilla Weizen... should be interesting!!!

 

[jfields]

BUMP!!!
Who's out there brewing?
I'll be brewing batch #4 this Saturday... I hope! I just have to figure out what I want to do.
I'm drinking batch #2 out of the keg now. It's a Diamond Knot IPA clone, and it turned out damn good IMO! I have batch #3 in the secondary now. It's a Vanilla Weizen... should be interesting!!!

Dude. You gotta do a review on the VW. It sounds nasty but, I am fascinated and think you may pull it off. It could actually be good. :thumbs:

 

[Hillbilly Steaks]

I'm pretty sure this is my next adventure....

 

[davidr2340]

I'm pretty sure this is my next adventure....

:thumbs:
That's what I like to see bro!!!
You'd better get busy before the little 'bundles of joy" arrive!!!

 

[davidr2340]

Man, what a great day... Got up early, and brewed batch #5. A Dogfish Head 90min. IPA Clone!!! I'm really excited for this one!!! :thumbs:
Here are the Hop additions to take place during the 90min. boil!!! About 3 1/4oz!!! :love: Another 2oz. will be dry-hopped in the secondary!!!

Smoked a Tatuaje Havana VI - Hermosos, thanks to a VERY generous BOTL here!!! This was an amazing smoke!!!

And here it is in it's safe place... waiting for fermentation to begin!!!

Today was a damn fine day!!!

On a side note... this was batch #4, a Roasted Chipotle Blonde Ale...

This baby is kegged... and pretty damn good!!! :thumbs:

 

[SammyP]

On a side note... this was batch #4, a Roasted Chipotle Blonde Ale...

This baby is kegged... and pretty damn good!!! :thumbs:

Damn..... a couple raw ones for good measure, huh?

 

[davidr2340]

On a side note... this was batch #4, a Roasted Chipotle Blonde Ale...

This baby is kegged... and pretty damn good!!! :thumbs:

Damn..... a couple raw ones for good measure, huh?

6oz. chipotle peppers... And 3 red, & 3 green Jalepeno peppers!!!

 

[davidr2340]

Ahhhhh!!!! :angry:
I'm on my way home from a 10hr day today, and the girlfriend calls... "your beer exploded!!!" :0
Mother fu....

This bathroom is pretty damn small, so there wasn't a wall that didn't have crap on it!!!

And the ceiling right above!!!

And now after a quick trip to Lowes...

That was a fun 2hrs!!! :angry:

The thing we do for beer!!! :thumbs:

 

[Cigar Smokin Chef]

Ahhhhh!!!! :angry:
I'm on my way home from a 10hr day today, and the girlfriend calls... "your beer exploded!!!" :0
Mother fu....

This bathroom is pretty damn small, so there wasn't a wall that didn't have crap on it!!!

And the ceiling right above!!!

And now after a quick trip to Lowes...

That was a fun 2hrs!!! :angry:

The thing we do for beer!!! :thumbs:

Ahh David... I feel very responsible for your new addiction! Glad to see you "baptised" your Bathroom. lol! I'll try to get you a few samples from Three Dog Brewery soon. Keep up the brewing!

Mark

 

[davidr2340]

Well Mark... I put most of the blame on your shoulders as well bro!!! Although the girlfriend wasn't quite as pleased to see the bathroom "baptised"... as she had just cleaned it about a hour before!!! :laugh:
I would love to sample some TDB!!! I expect big things bro!!! I wish I bottled so I could send a few samples out as well!!! Looks like you'll just have to make a little trip to the left coast, and I'll pour ya a draught!!! :thumbs:

What have you guys been brewin' these days Mark?

 

[Cigar Smokin Chef]

Well Mark... I put most of the blame on your shoulders as well bro!!! Although the girlfriend wasn't quite as pleased to see the bathroom "baptised"... as she had just cleaned it about a hour before!!! :laugh:
I would love to sample some TDB!!! I expect big things bro!!! I wish I bottled so I could send a few samples out as well!!! Looks like you'll just have to make a little trip to the left coast, and I'll pour ya a draught!!! :thumbs:

What have you guys been brewin' these days Mark?

Well... been out of touch here for a while, but still around. We've been stuck on Belgian yeast for the last few batches, did a lawnmower beer with an og of 40! lowest og yet! should be clean and chugable! Just made a Belgian Strong dark ale OG of 84 (now thats more like it) Got a Rye beer in the bottle and a raunch bier that should be drinkable in a few weeks. my brewing partner just planted 6 types of hops in his back yard so we hop to do some interesting IPA's in the fall. other than that we've been brewing...beer! no recipes and no regrets just good times!

I really am jealous that you are kegging, we bottled 20 gallons last time we brewed. Unfortunately my wife is an alcoholic (thank God she can't stand beer) so kegs are not in my future. I limit myself to one Homebrew a night so I am not intoxicated and not a problem to her affliction. She will be in a rehab program and halfway house for the next several months though so I can enjoy them a bit more.

Ever tried shipping a Keg? I'd be a willing reciprocant (sorry for the spelling)!!!

 

[davidr2340]

Well Mark... I put most of the blame on your shoulders as well bro!!! Although the girlfriend wasn't quite as pleased to see the bathroom "baptised"... as she had just cleaned it about a hour before!!! :laugh:
I would love to sample some TDB!!! I expect big things bro!!! I wish I bottled so I could send a few samples out as well!!! Looks like you'll just have to make a little trip to the left coast, and I'll pour ya a draught!!! :thumbs:

What have you guys been brewin' these days Mark?

Well... been out of touch here for a while, but still around. We've been stuck on Belgian yeast for the last few batches, did a lawnmower beer with an og of 40! lowest og yet! should be clean and chugable! Just made a Belgian Strong dark ale OG of 84 (now thats more like it) Got a Rye beer in the bottle and a raunch bier that should be drinkable in a few weeks. my brewing partner just planted 6 types of hops in his back yard so we hop to do some interesting IPA's in the fall. other than that we've been brewing...beer! no recipes and no regrets just good times!

I really am jealous that you are kegging, we bottled 20 gallons last time we brewed. Unfortunately my wife is an alcoholic (thank God she can't stand beer) so kegs are not in my future. I limit myself to one Homebrew a night so I am not intoxicated and not a problem to her affliction. She will be in a rehab program and halfway house for the next several months though so I can enjoy them a bit more.

Ever tried shipping a Keg? I'd be a willing reciprocant (sorry for the spelling)!!!

My man Mark,
Good to see you around bro!!!
Glad to see you still brewin' strong. Man, I could not even imagine bottling 20 gallons!!! :0 Kegging is... KICK ASS!!! It's just a little bit too easy to go out and pour another pint though!!! ???
I'm glad to see the wife getting help. Trust me when I say this... It will be tough for the both of you bro! If you still have my number give me a call whenever bro.

I have never shipped a keg... Hmmm, I think you might really like this Dogfish Head 90min. clone I'm drinking now... Mmmm!!! :love:

 

[davidr2340]

Ahhhhh!!!! :angry:
I'm on my way home from a 10hr day today, and the girlfriend calls... "your beer exploded!!!" :0
Mother fu....

This bathroom is pretty damn small, so there wasn't a wall that didn't have crap on it!!!

And the ceiling right above!!!

And now after a quick trip to Lowes...

That was a fun 2hrs!!! :angry:

The thing we do for beer!!! :thumbs:

Well, I must say that this ugly mess above, turned out amazing!!! I think this is my best batch yet! What makes it even better... It comes in at 8.9% abv. Gotta love that!!! :love:

This beer has a very thick and creamy head. Also, the lacing on it almost lasts throughout the whole glass!!!

 

[davidr2340]

Here is batch #6 for me... Just a pretty simple wheat beer for a 4th. of July party...

Nothing all that special, but hopefully it will appeal to most of the people that'll be there!

 

[Cigar Smokin Chef]

Hey David are you transfering to a second carboy after a week or so? It looks like the carboy in your last post has some blow out on the sides. This is an important step to keep off flavors from your finished product.

Mark

 

[davidr2340]

Hey David are you transfering to a second carboy after a week or so? It looks like the carboy in your last post has some blow out on the sides. This is an important step to keep off flavors from your finished product.

Mark

Yes sir... Every batch has been transfered to secondary after a week or so... Seems to really help!
That picture is day 4 after pitching my yeast!
:thumbs:

 

[smoke76]

I have tryed home brewing in the past and noticed some of you guys have some pretty technical setups compaired to the kit I bought at the local hb shop. Does it make a difference to transfer like I've seen you guys do? Also what is the best way to cool the wort after boiling. The first batch killed the yeast so I gave the next one a Ice bath in my tub. The wife really loved that idea! I want to try it again so would it be better to build something bigger or keep using the 5 gal bucket?

George

 

[Gonz]

I have tryed home brewing in the past and noticed some of you guys have some pretty technical setups compaired to the kit I bought at the local hb shop. Does it make a difference to transfer like I've seen you guys do? Also what is the best way to cool the wort after boiling. The first batch killed the yeast so I gave the next one a Ice bath in my tub. The wife really loved that idea! I want to try it again so would it be better to build something bigger or keep using the 5 gal bucket?

George

I'm just an amateur myself (only brewed 10 batches so far), but all I do is put the kettle in a sink full of ice water. They make a contraption for rapid cooling which is a coil with cold water flowing through it, but the way I see it that's one more thing to sterilize and worry about. It's spendy too if I recall correctly.

 

[ndp]

As far as the coil we always dropped ours in with about 15 min. left on the boil, that sterilizes it pretty good. (I assume that is what davidr2340 is doing with the one in his picture) Before that I would take a few empty milk jugs, fill with water, freeze, and give them a dip in the sterilizer before dropping them in to the hot wort, which is also sitting in an ice bath. Always seemed to work well for me.

Nate

P.S. blow off tubes are a must, I don't even mess around with an airlock any more (except secondary)

 

[Cigar Smokin Chef]

I have tryed home brewing in the past and noticed some of you guys have some pretty technical setups compaired to the kit I bought at the local hb shop. Does it make a difference to transfer like I've seen you guys do? Also what is the best way to cool the wort after boiling. The first batch killed the yeast so I gave the next one a Ice bath in my tub. The wife really loved that idea! I want to try it again so would it be better to build something bigger or keep using the 5 gal bucket?

George

Hi George,
As with all hobbies start small and learn as you go. The transfer of your wort to a fresh carboy after a week or so will help improve the flavor of your beer. Leaving the wort on the "trub" gives it a chance to pick up off flavors. Plastic buckets also are not the best fermentaton vessels they can scratch easily and hold bacteria that can ruin a batch. My advise to you is to buy at least one glass carboy, preferably two. After your wort blows off ( We usually wait a week or two ), transfer your fermenting wort to the carboy and wait for it to finish fermenting. Be sure to keep it out of the light, a blanket or jacket can be used to protect it. As a long time brewer I always use a carboy for my initial fermentation also. One of the benefits of the secondary fermenter is that you don't need to rush it into the bottle or keg.

As far as chilling, the faster the better. I used an ice bath (snow bath in the winter) for a while , but it took forever to chill. There a basicly two types of chiller to look into. An imersion chiller is a copper tube that you can hook to your water supply. You imerse the SANITIZED chiller into your boiled wort and run cold water through it. the other type is a counterflow chiller, the wort runs through a copper tube that is threaded through the Garden hose. Both types work well. We chill 10 Gallons in about 20 Mins with a counterflow. Be careful of sanitation regardless of which method you use.Always try to get as close to 68F before you pitch your yeast.

Did you like the beer that you made? If so, you can use some of these methods to make it better, but relax and make your investments as you feel like it. If you didnt like it there are many things you can do to make it better, get some advice from other brewers and try again.

Here is a link that shows our set-up Three Dog Brewery It took me 15 years to get to this point and I am still learning!

Keep on Brewin'

Mark