I think I spewed a little Big Wave through my nose when I saw it.
What are you doing with homebrew today?
- Thread starter BOB357
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What kinda hops you growin, and how hard are they to grow? Whatcha use for fertilizer, and how much? Just wondering how they'd fare down here where the temperature and humidity are usually about the same number, or the humidity is winning.
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Looks great! I would love to brew in a nice big shed like that. I'd probably be doing 3 hour boils just to maximize the Boiling Brew Kettle Zen I get from sitting next to my brew kettle and listening to brewing podcasts
Wow, that was the longest mash I've ever done. 3 steps plus sparge totaled out to just over 2 hours. I hope it's worth it. Wort's nice and sweet and tastes quite nice. Something new, not quite sure what, but possibly the Maris Otter. Didn't pull a pre-boil gravity. Not like it makes much difference. I'll top up with water to get the FG I need, even if it shorts the batch a little. The mash was still pretty wet when I dumped it on the compost, so probably left a bit behind, but still wound up with 4 gallons of wort.
Well I grow Sterling, Saaz, Northern Brewer and a PILE of Cluster. Generally hit 'em all with a little 10-10-10 early spring. It's pretty humid here too although I know it get's hotter in your area.
Ibex grow systems used to list what hops grow best in different climates on thier site, don't see that info anymore. this may help you out...
https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/crop-production/hops-an-alternative-crop-for-alabama-growers/
FINALLY, done. I think this brew is the antithesis of Rapier Wit. 1 hour setup, 2 hours of mashing/sparging, 1 hour of boiling, 1.5 hours of cleanup and stowing the gear. Rapier Wit can be done, including setup and clean up, in the same amount of time it takes just to mash this stuff, mostly because I can do all of it in the kitchen without making a mess.
This is also the first batch I've ever used a fining agent (Whirlfloc) in. Let's see what that does for the clarity along with the conical fermenter. Exoecting some pretty nice looking hooch outta this batch. We'll see.
Next up, Chocolate Oatmeal stout, all grain. At least it's a short mash (compared to this brutal monster). Dunno if I wanna do that stepped mash thing again unless I get a pump for the sparge. If I had a second conical fermenter, I'd just leave everything out here and hit it hard in the morning. Another conical and a pump on my wish list now. Perhaps Santa will come early. Maybe BIAB techniques will help with the labor in this recipe. Wouldn't have to transfer from/to kettle then. Just lift the bag and let it drip. And that would be absolutely NO problem out here with exposed trusses.
Long brew day, Still got the rest of the cleanup to do, so better get to it.
This is also the first batch I've ever used a fining agent (Whirlfloc) in. Let's see what that does for the clarity along with the conical fermenter. Exoecting some pretty nice looking hooch outta this batch. We'll see.
Next up, Chocolate Oatmeal stout, all grain. At least it's a short mash (compared to this brutal monster). Dunno if I wanna do that stepped mash thing again unless I get a pump for the sparge. If I had a second conical fermenter, I'd just leave everything out here and hit it hard in the morning. Another conical and a pump on my wish list now. Perhaps Santa will come early. Maybe BIAB techniques will help with the labor in this recipe. Wouldn't have to transfer from/to kettle then. Just lift the bag and let it drip. And that would be absolutely NO problem out here with exposed trusses.
Long brew day, Still got the rest of the cleanup to do, so better get to it.
Thanks heaps for the info. Do you sell to breweries and suppliers, or use all you produce? Can you tell the difference in a brew made with home-grown versus store-bought hops? (Probably a silly question). Don't think you could get 'em fresher than from the back yard. The brew I just finished used Magnum for bittering, but Centennial and Cascade for flavoring/aroma (the two primary cultivars suited to this area). Hoping it turns out as good as it looked and smelled. If so, there are at least 5 local micro breweries in the area (within 10 miles of me) that would probably appreciate a reasonably priced fresh source.
Well last year I gave a bunch of Cluster away and used pretty much everything else. Think I will have a good bit more Cluster this year. I’ll get it tested and maybe try selling some on eBay if it tests good.
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My Pale Ale the took off so fast finished a bit lower than expected at .002 the recipe builder was looking for .010.
decided to keg it today but the kegerator was full , only holds two kegs but the Amber Ale was showing it only had 4 brews left in it.
So I bottled those in some old soda pop bottles.
Then I got a bit lazy, The Amber keg was already purged, empty and hungry. So I just refilled it without the usual Cleaning, scrubbing and sanitizing.
Then I put it on my electric rocking horse at 30 pounds CO2 to carb it up a bit but as soon as I started I realized I never cold crashed the fermenter at all so it was still around 62°F so probably wasn't going to take much carbing right now. Oh well I have time , still have a small keg of Herm's Wheat on tap.
decided to keg it today but the kegerator was full , only holds two kegs but the Amber Ale was showing it only had 4 brews left in it.
So I bottled those in some old soda pop bottles.
Then I got a bit lazy, The Amber keg was already purged, empty and hungry. So I just refilled it without the usual Cleaning, scrubbing and sanitizing.
Then I put it on my electric rocking horse at 30 pounds CO2 to carb it up a bit but as soon as I started I realized I never cold crashed the fermenter at all so it was still around 62°F so probably wasn't going to take much carbing right now. Oh well I have time , still have a small keg of Herm's Wheat on tap.
Bottled herms wheat for comp
That kegs kicked now lucky
That kegs kicked now lucky
Just checked on the summer blonde. Happily popping the air lock about 1 bubble per second. Why is CO2 bubbling through water so fascinating?
As soon as it calms down, I’ll empty the sediment ball and collect a new S05 cake for another blonde of some sort. Got tons of bottles, might as well try to fill’em up.
Anyone try one of the transfer pumps from Harbor Freight? Can’t seem to find any temperature ratings on them. A pump and some brew bags are decidedly the next equipment investments. I wanna see if recirculating helps with final clarity and finish. I actually kind of like skipping the extra vessel for mashing, but would like to eliminate the steps to empty the kettle, and handling the hot wort. I think bags would take at least 30 minutes off all grain brewing for me.
As soon as it calms down, I’ll empty the sediment ball and collect a new S05 cake for another blonde of some sort. Got tons of bottles, might as well try to fill’em up.
Anyone try one of the transfer pumps from Harbor Freight? Can’t seem to find any temperature ratings on them. A pump and some brew bags are decidedly the next equipment investments. I wanna see if recirculating helps with final clarity and finish. I actually kind of like skipping the extra vessel for mashing, but would like to eliminate the steps to empty the kettle, and handling the hot wort. I think bags would take at least 30 minutes off all grain brewing for me.
Packaged "Mystery Hop #3" and the first day's picking of Cluster today. Don't know what #3 is but it smells fantastic(thinking maybe Centennial) only had 10oz of it, did 2 1/2 lb of Cluster today, thinking I'll wind up with between 5 1/2 and 7 lbs of it when I'm done.
Depends on what your using it for and how big you need. I have(and like a lot) 2 pumps in my brewing system. A Kegland MK.II on the Mash Tun and a SeaFlo Beer Pump on the boil kettle(both with stainless heads). Also have a SeaFlo Model 21 self priminmg pump that I used for racking until I just put spigots on everlything.
Pretty sure that the "Beer Pump" is a March clone, I run it throttled back with a ball valve back into the whirlpool fittiing(from Brewhardware.com) during the boil like a "self stirring" kettle to keep the led on and the steam running through the condenser.
Closed loop Gravity transfer into kicked keg I like your style man!
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Thanks, with the keg still at tap pressure I could even purge the lines and bag . I didn't have to use my CO2 bottle at all.
Beautiful!
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Bottling day...dark mild....hey..ya know what?..using bombers really makes things go faster!
The jury is still out on the new capper.
The jury is still out on the new capper.
Packaged another 2 1/2 lb of Cluster hops, picked the last 2 straggler Cluster bines(don't get as much sun, they were behind. Figure I've got another 2-3 lb to package, these last ones were the best looking of the bunch.
