Brewer's Friend Home Brewing Software

Brew Shed Slab Is Poured

The brew shed has gone from the drawing board to reality. The slab has been poured! Late into the evenings last winter I had been making plans for this project. Now it is underway! Next step is to frame and roof it. That will be happening soon and I will post pictures.

May I remind our readers: You know you are seriously addicted to home brewing when you start making plans for a brew shed!

Details about the slab:

• 12′ x 12′
• Mono pour
• 4” thick
• 6” wide footings around the edge 8” deep, reinforced with rebar
• Vapor barrier
• Wire mesh
• J-bolts (achor bolts), three per side, which the treated sill plate will bolt to.
• Made space for door jamb
• 4 hops plants already added out front.
• Total cost: $1200.

You can get the price down on the slab if you do it yourself. The bill from the concrete ready mix truck was under $300. Be prepared to dig and level the area first. Then add a base of gravel and tamp. Then install the forms, haul in more gravel, tamp, etc… It adds up to many hours of hard labor. Not being an expert at this, or knowing anybody who was willing to help, writing a check was the simplest solution. I plan to use my wood working skills and help out with the framing in the next phase.

Ideas for an over the top brew shed foundation:

• Go with stamped and dyed concrete pattern. It is amazing what can be done with decorative concrete. This was more than double the price. Someday I might cover my basic gray floor in tile, but I don’t have immediate plans.
• Acid stain over the concrete – this looks good too, and is more affordable than a stamped pattern.
• Polished finish, again for looks more than anything. My concrete guy said it would cost about $300, or I could rent the machine.
• Add in your plumbing pipes ahead of time – floor drain, sewer line, supply line. I opted out of these for cost reasons.
• Add insulation underneath the slab. This can really help if you plan to make it climate controlled.
• Design the layout of the building with hops in mind. Plan to cover the shed in hops! I have already planted 4 new rhizomes on the southern exposure.

Alternative Designs:

I considered doing posts supporting a wooden floor. Ultimately a wooden floor is just about as much work as a slab. The slab will perform better and last longer. With a suspended floor animals can tear up insulation from underneath. Oregon is really wet too, and I figured the concrete would hold up better.

Stay tuned for more from Brewer’s Friend!

Posted in Fun | 1 Comment »

Racking Tutorial with a Built In Spigot

Racking beer is made easy if your primary fermenter has a spigot. Note that this piece of equipment is essentially a bottling bucket with a good lid. They are cheap and easy to use with only a few drawbacks.

Racking beer is not required, but it can add clarity in the final beer. I only rack my ales about a third of the time. If you are going to dry hop, doing a very strong beer, or fermenting for more than 3-4 weeks, then racking is a good idea. There is an exception, I always rack my lagers before cooling them down to 33F for 4-6 weeks.

Here is how I racked my latest batch of Oktoberfest:

1) At least one day before, lift the primary fermenter up to a table. This will give the yeast time to settle back down.

2) Sanitize secondary fermentor, hose, cork and airlock. I like StarSan for this purpose. Have your hydrometer and a sampling cup on hand.

3) Get the hose hooked up and dropped into the secondary. Turn on the hose. Minimize splashing if possible. Depending on how low the spigot is some yeast will come through, but not a lot.

4) About half way through I stop the hose, and take a sample for gravity and taste. I make sure my hands are VERY clean for this step.

5) Continue draining. Tip the bucket at the end. Make sure to fill it to the top.

6) Record your hydrometer value and note the flavors.

Primary fermentation in a bucket is easy for the following reasons:

• Easy to sanitize the bucket. Those 90-degree brushes for cleaning carboys can be a pain to use.
• Easy to clean the bucket after fermentation.
• When fitted with a spigot, draining is a breeze. No siphon is needed. There is less equipment to sanitize and clean up.
• Stopping the flow to take a sample is easy.

Knocks against using a plastic buckets as a fermenters:

• Odors can remain behind in plastic, especially strong dark beers.
• There is concern for oxygen penetration.
• The seal can fail around the spigot. Never had this happen, but it would be a major mess. I fitted mine with a double set of washers on the inside and outside. This did involve a trip to the hardware store, and I bought extra. I keep a habit of only turning the spigot clockwise, so I don’t accidentally loosen the thread.

The real solution to this issue is to buy a stainless steel canonical fermentor. This is how commercial breweries do it. Compared to a carboy or plastic bucket they are fifteen times the price! Figure spending at least $500 on one.

Notice there was no head space in the secondary. That was 100% on purpose to avoid oxidation. Check out information in this article about why topping of the secondary is important.

Update 11/12/2011: Check out the article on Infected Batches to see why you might want to tear down your bottling bucket now and then, since the spigot can get pretty gross without you knowing it.

Posted in Brewing, Equipment | 1 Comment »

Beat Oxidation Problems by Topping Off

From my recent experience making wine, I was reminded of the importance of completely filling up the secondary fermenter to the top. A sure way to get a spoiled batch of wine is to leave a lot of head space in the carboy after racking.

In beer oxidation can lead to wet card board flavors, low shelf life, and other nasty defects. Leaving head space in the secondary is a sure way to trigger oxidation problems. Wine books say to top off the secondary with a similar style of wine. With beer that is not as easy because of the wide variation between beers even in the same style. The beer could be diluted with water but that doesn’t feel right to me if it is more than 1-2% of the total volume.

The best solution is to take the size of the secondary fermenter and add half a gallon to determine your batch size. For example if I will rack into a 5 gallon carboy, I would target 5.25 – 5.5 gallons for my batch size. Figure one to two quarts will be left behind in yeast and trub. Five gallons is a good size, easy to move around, and fits into a corny keg. I never use a bucket as a secondary fermenter because of the head space issue. Only carboys fitted with a stopper offer an easy way fill to the very top and prevent oxidation.

(5 gallon batch of lager, primary fermentation complete.)

(5 gallon batch of lager racked into the secondary.)

How do you get exactly the amount of wort you want?

For extract brewers, this will be easy because you are topping off with water. Just adjust your recipe for the target OG and water volume and top off to that level. Your fermentation vessel should have water volume marks established on it ahead of time (either by you, or labeled by the manufacturer).

For all grain brewers it is not as easy because of mashing, the full wort boil, and no topping off allowed. It takes some practice in knowing your equipment. I have been referring back to this article lately to dial in my water volume.

Note this head space issue only applies to secondary fermentation (if you are racking). Oxygen is good for wort that is going into the primary. Fermentation will drive oxygen out of the airlock. Oxygen is only harmful after the wort has fermented (green beer and afterwards). You need head space in the primary because the foamy krausen head will rise as fermentation happens (both for ales and lagers).

I also do bigger batches, using my 8 gallon plastic primary and then racking form there to glass. Be careful on that one. I recently found out I have a 7 gallon carboy, thinking it was a 6.5, and wound up with head space I was not counting on! In that case, I slowly vented the head space with CO2 for about a minute. A full seven gallon carboy is pretty heavy too. Ultimately doing an 11 gallon batch and splitting it in half is the best way to make a large amount of home brew in one go.

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Time to order Hops Rhizomes 2011

It is time to order hops rhizomes for spring planting. The sooner you plant hops rhizomes, the sooner you can start growing hops vines and enjoying home grown hops in your beer. This year I will plant a few new varieties around the site where my brew shed is going up.

Hops Rhizomes Ready to be Planted

Hops are propagated by a root cutting called a rhizome (as opposed to seeds or starters). The rhizome is planted in the ground and grows to become a complete hops plant. The new plant is essentially a clone of the mother plant. All rhizomes come from female plants which produce hops cones for brewing. Male hops plants have seeds in their cones, and are not the best for brewing with. It takes at least two years to get to full cone production. In the first year there will not be much of a harvest, maybe a half ounce of dried cones at best (in my experience). In the second year, get a bucket when picking the cones! The best time to plant a rhizome is right now, in late winter / early spring.

If you are going to buy rhizomes this year, make sure to check out:

The Thyme Garden

I ordered from The Thyme Garden before and have had good experiences. Here is a link directly to their hops page. They are an organic nursery and herb farm in the coastal range mountains of Oregon. They can’t ship to Washington because of a quarantine, but they do ship everywhere else in the US except Hawaii. Their prices are very reasonable, especially when you consider you are getting high quality organic hops.

I would plan the hops yard and dig the holes for the rhizomes the first nice day after you place your order. That way when the rhizomes arrive you can get them in the ground quickly, rain or shine. The surest way of killing the rhizome is to leave it in the fridge for weeks.

These Brewer’s Friend articles should be of interest if you have never grown hops before:

Planning Your Hops Yard for Home Brewing

How To Plant Hops for Home Brewing

I highly recommend growing hops. It is really fun and satisfying all around. Everybody loves to talk about hops even non-drinkers. The vines look great crawling up the house, shed, or custom designed trellis. Hops vines on the house, yeah, that is how life should be. Not to mention, beer made with your own hops is something to be proud of. Enjoy!

Brewer’s Friend received hops rhizomes from The Thyme Garden for review as part of this article and link exchange.

Posted in Hops Growing | 2 Comments »

Good news for Oregon Home Brewers

The Oregon Senate has passed legislation to re-legalize aspects of home brewing that were outlawed last year. The bill, SB 444, invalidates last June’s article. At that time home brew clubs and beer competitions were considered illegal. The law was so narrowly reinterpreted that taking home brewed beer out of the house was seen as a problem.  It was stupid, and thankfully our democratic system has shown itself able to do some good.  The spirit of the laws surrounding alcohol regulation and taxation draw the line when money and commercial production come into play.  Unfortunately home brew got sucked into this temporarily but now that is fixed.

The credit for saving us goes to Sen. Floyd Prozanski! Oregon is fortunate that Sen. Prozanksi is a long time member of the Oregon Senate AND a long time home brewer.  I am impressed by the fact that not a single member of the Oregon Senate voted ‘No’ on the bill. All 30 members voted yes.  It was bi-partisan whoo hoo!

What the bill does in Oregon:

• Beer and wine competitions are legalized.
• Home brew clubs may operate again as they used to.  Members may bring the home brew to share and taste.
• Transportation of home brew is legal, including sweet wort.  You can brew at your friend’s house and ferment at your house.
• Compensation in the form of home brew contest prize money is legal.
• Club dues are legal provided the amount of the dues is NOT tied to the amount of home brew you get to drink.  Dues must be separate from how much beer you get during a meeting.
• Trading home brew is legal.
• Trading home brew ingredients is legal.
• Donating home brew to a not for profit qualifies for a tax deduction!?
• Restates statue limiting amounts of home brew per household.  If you are over 21 you can brew 100 gallons.  If your spouse or roommate is also over 21, you can brew up to 200 gallons between the both of you.
• Holders of a brewery public house license may allow customers to brew on site, provided alcohol by volume does not exceed 14% in the brew.  The customer made brew may not be consumed or sold in the pub.

It still needs to pass in the House, but it is widely expected to sail through without a problem. The bill has a rider that makes it go into effect when the Governor signs it. To track the progress of the bill:
https://gov.oregonlive.com/bill/2011/SB444/

For the full content of SB 444:
https://www.leg.state.or.us/11reg/measures/sb0400.dir/sb0444.intro.html

Posted in Announcements | 2 Comments »

Brewers Cannot Spell – Fermentor or Fermenter?

How do you spell fermenter, fermentor? According to my text editor both are spelled wrong! It is the big tub we put the wort in, add the yeast to, and watch bubble. It can also be called a fermentation vessel, carboy, or simply the primary.

According to google, fermentor gives 266,000 results, fermenter gives 725,000 results. Hmmm….

In product search, fermentor gives 689 results, fermenter gives 45,300 results. According to the market, the correct spelling must be with an ‘e’, fermenter.

It turns out yeast are also a fermenter, because of the ‘er’, in other words they do the fermentation.

This is giving me a headache. I’m ready for a beer. Here’s how my latest pale ale turned out:

Ahh that’s nice.

Posted in Fun | 4 Comments »

Hot Liquor Tank for All Grain Brewing

Advanced all grain brewers use a Hot Liquor Tank to heat their strike and sparge water. The term Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) is a misnomer that comes from the commercial brewing world. The HLT never holds anything that has alcohol in it or sweet wort. A better name would be a hot water tank, or hot water pot. The HLT has a simple job. It is the container where the brewing water is heated to mash temperature. The HLT is also where brewing salts are added to the source water.

In a gravity fed system, the HLT is at the highest level, the mash tun is at mid level, and the boil kettle is at the lowest level. Each level has a ball valve to allow draining to the next level with ease. Advanced setups involving a pump, single tier, or HERMS will have a modified version of an HLT.

1) Brewing water is heated in Hot Liquor Tank (HLT)
2) Mashing happens in Mash Lauter Tun (MLT)
3) Wort is drained into Boil Kettle (BK)

An HLT is a luxury for all grain brewers. Up until now, I was using a combination of a 20qt extract kettle and a 4 qt pot to heat my brewing water. This was based on a two-tier gravity system where the mash tun drained to my boil kettle. It works, but lifting 18qt of hot water is dicey. Now that I am going for a 3-tier gravity system in my brew shed I need the HLT.

Extract brewers do not have to worry about an HLT, since there is no mashing involved. Extract brewers should focus on building a mash tun first (bulkhead, mainfold ).

A complete HLT has the following:

• Ball Valve: for easily draining the brewing water to the mash lauter tun.
• Thermometer: used to tell how hot the water is that will be drained into the mash lauter tun. Get one that can be calibrated with a set screw.
• Sight Gauge: tells how much water is in the HLT
• Dip tube: allows you to drain to the bottom (see dip tube article).
• Capacity: Anything bigger than your brew kettle is wasted. I went with the same size for looks. Depending on the strategy for mashing, going with a smaller HLT would be fine.

The HLT I selected is from MoreBeer

I wanted an all inclusive package that would be hassle free. I also wanted to match my existing brew kettle which is also from MoreBeer. I have been very happy with both! Morebeer custom welds the stainless steel ball valve, fits the sight gauge and thermometer before shipping. It took about 10 days for the HLT to arrive. I had to add my own dip tube, just like with my kettle. Manufacturers don’t seem to get the utility of a built in dip tube on such a heavy pot.

Other things to note:

• When draining to your mash tun, make sure to use hosing rated for foods that can handle temperatures up to boiling.
• Accurate water volume is critical for all grain brewing. Make sure to account for dead space in the HLT when marking off the water volume ticks. The sight gauge doesn’t come with marks on it. See this page for information about total water calculations.
• The thermometer must be calibrated! Thankfully, MoreBeer HLT comes with a thermometer that can be adjusted. A poorly calibrated thermometer can lead to reduced brew house efficiency and differences in flavor and body if mash temperatures are wrong.

Morebeer.com gave BrewersFriend.com a $50 discount for writing this article.

Posted in Equipment | 10 Comments »

Brew Shed Plans The Obsession Continues

Home brewing is a fun hobby with many aspects. There is always something to do – a new batch, a do it yourself (DIY) build, or a brew shed.

The progression starts with a $150 kit from a friend and a 5 gallon batch of ale. This can lead to spending hundreds of dollars on equipment, including refrigeration systems, large boil kettles, and even computer controlled brewing sculptures. All this stuff needs a place to be kept. Closets, garages, basements, or a spare bedroom is where it beings to collect. Eventually, the brewer realizes a dedicated space is required. Separation of space is a good thing for the brewer, and for the rest of the brewer’s family.

You know you are seriously addicted to home brewing when you start making plans for a brew shed!

Here is a sketch of what I plan to build in the back yard:

The style is called timber framing or Tudorbethan and echos architecture in Germany/Austria from centuries past. I love the old world look and so does my wife, but it is not for everybody. I wanted room to store all my equipment, space for a computer desk, and lots of natural light. I plan to go with a monastery feel inside. I am thinking of a tile floor that looks like stone. Exposed beams will be faced in walnut. The stained glass window will shine on the brew sculpture in the morning!  A real place to meditate on brewing and get away from everything.

Design Considerations:

Some brew sheds double as a bar and hangout area (aka bloke shack). Many feature a man cave theme, hot babe posters, a big screen TV for watching the game, track lighting, and seating. Electrical and plumbing are good to consider, but they increase the cost. I found insulation is expensive, but essential since I want to store my wine out there too. It will have A/C and a heater to keep it between 50F-65F.

The brewing area will have an exhaust fan since I will be using propane initially. Never brew with propane in a non-ventilated area!

This shed doesn’t require permits here in Portland Oregon because of its size and height. It will be within the required property line setbacks. Check with your local building/zoning office to make sure your project conforms to the rules.

Google SketchUp was what I used to draw the plans. Their 3D warehouse is amazing. Someone had already taken the time to design brewing sculptures, kegs, freezers, etc. Look in the ‘components’ section of SketchUp to find that stuff. Very helpful and all free!

Here are the best pages I could find on others who built brew sheds:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/problems-swmbo-kids-195238/
https://www.jrbrewing.com/brewshed/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/my-new-brewery-alehouse-shed-brewing-porn-99310/
https://www.homebrewchatter.com/board/showthread.php?11067-My-brew-shed-build

You can also go with a pre-made option, such as these:
www.socalsheds.com
I personally wanted to design and construct my own brew shed, but some pre-built sheds are pretty nice too.

Cost and Time Line:

The materials estimate is around $8,000 for the complete 12’x16′ shed. That does not count labor I hire out. Keep in mind the $8,000 includes heavy duty concrete piers, electrical work, energy star doors and windows, insulation, a metal roof, gutters, etc. Hopefully we start getting the foundation in place this Spring. More to come on this topic!

Posted in Fun | 6 Comments »

Benjamin Franklin’s Birthday

Benjamin Franklin’s birthday is coming up Monday, January 17th. This year it happens to fall on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which makes it a day off for a lot of folks in the US. I plan to brew in honor of both!

Ben Franklin Quote:
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”

There is some controversy over whether or not Ben actually said this. Apparently the quote comes from a letter he wrote, where in context he was talking about how the rains feed grape vines, and how good wine is. His exposure to fine wine makes sense. He spent a good deal of time in France as a diplomat while trying to get support for the revolution. The quote sounds great and fits with his popular style of witty truths. Even so, historians jumped on it and tore it apart:
https://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/09/15/misquote-ben-franklin-on-beer.htm

Personally, I am 100% sure Ben Franklin would be into home brewing, blogging, and beer.

What type of beer he would have had access to is another question. Unlike the so called hops shortage we had last year, there was a real hops shortage in the 18th century colonies. Also, many of the modern hop varieties we know and love did not exist back then. Some research indicates Goldings would have been available. The beer style would have been British (since America was under 21 years old still), and I bet it was towards the deep pale to brown end of the color spectrum. Molasses might have been an ingredient – the tax was ignored in the colonies!

This site has an excellent write up with detailed information on the topic of Poor Richard’s Ale:
https://www.benfranklin300.org/etc_article_ale.htm

Posted in Fun | 3 Comments »

Stainless Steel CAD Designed Dip Tube

A dip tube allows a kettle to drain to the bottom by itself. No lifting and pouring required. It works because of siphon action. Adding a dip tube to your kettle or HLT is something to consider.

My kettle has female 1/2″ pipe thread on the inside, with a ball valve on the outside. This made it possible to screw in the dip tube with wrenches and a little pipe dope. No welding was required. This dip tube leaves 1.5 quarts of dead space, but it is all trub anyway.  I actually get clearer wort in the primary. The other nice thing about this approach is it can be disassembled.

This dip tube is specifically made of stainless steel. Brass can contain trace amounts of lead. Copper is okay, but I don’t trust solder materials (or my soldering skills). A dip tube has to be completely air tight or the siphon won’t work.

This was not cheap at $39.35, however stainless steel fittings are expensive no matter where you go. Having a working dip tube on the first try was really nice. I was picturing several trips to the hardware store, until I realized a stainless steel fitting to go from pipe thread to compression thread is a specialty item. I started calling around and found Swagelok, a company with a local office that stocked what I needed and was ready to help. They actually designed this part just for me, and they saved the design so other people can order it too.

This dip tube was computer designed in an ISO-9000 shop with me looking over the engineer’s shoulder! Swagelok makes valves and fittings for all kinds of percision industrial applications like semi-conductor fabs. The CAD design is overkill, but in a cool way. Bending the stainless steel tube is the hardest part. It requires a special tool. It took them a couple tries to get it just right.

Here is the information on the parts, and how to contact them if you want to order it.
Swagelok Northwest (Portland Valve & Fitting Co.)
(503) 288-6901
www.swagelok.com

Part #: PORTL08-002, 1/2″ DIP TUBE

If you just want the connector, and not the tube, it is part SS-810-1-8.

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