What are you doing with homebrew today?

Trialben said:
Pity you can't drop that shelf down a bit to accommodate the fermenter?

You could cut some wooden chocks or make a bracket ...
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I looked at that. But it is too narrow for the fermentor (it's where the compressor is living).
I could only go up, but I don't want to dent or destroy the freezer section

And then clever me decided to double check and Sir, you are a genius!

Door won't close if I put it on the bottom, but if I raise it 4 cm it all fits :D:D
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Zambezi Special said:
I looked at that. But it is too narrow for the fermentor (it's where the compressor is living).
I could only go up, but I don't want to dent or destroy the freezer section

And then clever me decided to double check and Sir, you are a genius!

Door won't close if I put it on the bottom, but if I raise it 4 cm it all fits :D:D
View attachment 23090
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If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer.
 
Zambezi Special said:
I looked at that. But it is too narrow for the fermentor (it's where the compressor is living).
I could only go up, but I don't want to dent or destroy the freezer section

And then clever me decided to double check and Sir, you are a genius!

Door won't close if I put it on the bottom, but if I raise it 4 cm it all fits :D:D
View attachment 23090
Click to expand...
Sometimes it's the simple things that work glad it worked out Zambezi.

Ohh controlled fermentation...:D
 
Just joking about the hammer, of course @Zambezi Special . In your case, I see a small scrap of wood did the trick. Now, who's gonna make fun of you for not throwing that little block of wood away? Not me. I've got a LOT more scraps. :D

As for what I'm doing, I'm gonna start working out the logic to control my fermenting chamber a little better. I have a little Series One Plus (GE) PLC that was a demonstrator/developer unit back when I was doing a lot of automation work in the 80's and 90's. It's already mounted in a carry case, so all I need is some external relays (if the output cards are not relay output) and a 24V supply (built in) for external contacts that will be inputs to the logic. This will let me tweak logic, monitor what's running and maybe even run both at the same time on occasion during transition. I just wish the little temperature controller had an analog output that I could watch temperature with, and an input that I could change temperature setpoint with. Then, I could completely automate the entire fermentation cycle from start to finish.

For now, what I'm going to do is add another ITC1000F to the fermenting system. It will monitor chamber temperature. I'll use the outputs from that (and the existing one) as inputs to the PLC, then outputs from the PLC to control the compressor or warming fan. I may separate the heating element and the fan so that I can run the fan anytime heating or cooling is required to move the air in the chamber. As it stands, it only runs when heating is required. I don't have enough room in the chamber for another fan.

Gonna sketch out the flow-chart for the control and make sure it makes sense before I start modding what I've already done. Gotta build it between batches because I'm dependent on what I have to ferment out there. Temperature swings this time of year are pretty crazy. I'll post the flowchart sketch when done so you guys can pick me apart on it.
 
Bottled the batch of strong scotch ale today, yielded 51 12oz longnecks. OG was 1.095, FG 1.026, for almost 9% ABV. I re-yeasted with 1/2 pack of Notty and carbed to about 2.4 vols. Will condition for a month or so to carb, then cellar for a couple more months.

Brewing tomorrow, doing a nut brown ale.
 
I just watched this video with Wil Wheaton (the actor) and BrewingTV. They do everything pretty much the same way I do in the mash phase. They started the vorlauf a little bit earlier than I do, but that's not really going to affect it much. They also used the burner to bump the temperature while mashing/recirculating, and I noticed they were doing all their temperature control manually (just like I do). Their technique was almost identical to what I do, up to the sparging. They did a fly sparge, I do batch sparging, and vorlauf the sparges as well. I think the jury's still out on how much difference there is in the efficiency of the two sparging techniques, but I'm pretty darn sure I've significantly bumped my efficiency. So, looks to me like if I get a grip on my mashing temperatures, that'll be a major hurtle in my beer quality. The batches where I've missed target FG, were stupid cloudy, and had lousy head retention are quite possibly due to the mashing temps being all over the place. It's just too hard to control the temperature with the monster burner. It's fantastic for getting up to boil quick, but sorta like killing a housefly with a 20-pound sledgehammer trying to hold 150-170 degrees.

Looks like I'm ordering some more stuff tomorrow. Gonna be laid up Friday (double epidural) and pretty much all weekend, so gotta get the collection ball off the Speckled Hen I got fermenting out there.
 
RoadRoach said:
Just joking about the hammer, of course @Zambezi Special . In your case, I see a small scrap of wood did the trick. Now, who's gonna make fun of you for not throwing that little block of wood away? Not me. I've got a LOT more scraps. :D
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They are actually 2 wooden bottle openers.
First thing I saw lying around.
They are a bit small, so won't be using them. Instead I'll use 2 quarry tiles. Just cleaned them.
Today is for testing the inkbird controller
 
Dumped the trub collection ball on the Speckled Hen to start pseudo-Secondary Fermentation. I call it that, because it really amounts to racking the beer off the trub to finish fermenting. The difference is it's actually removing the trub without oxidation risks associated with moving the beer, at least greatly mitigated risks. There's still one small bubble that can't be helped. Same objective, different technique.
 
RoadRoach said:
I just watched this video with Wil Wheaton (the actor) and BrewingTV. They do everything pretty much the same way I do in the mash phase. They started the vorlauf a little bit earlier than I do, but that's not really going to affect it much. They also used the burner to bump the temperature while mashing/recirculating, and I noticed they were doing all their temperature control manually (just like I do). Their technique was almost identical to what I do, up to the sparging. They did a fly sparge, I do batch sparging, and vorlauf the sparges as well. I think the jury's still out on how much difference there is in the efficiency of the two sparging techniques, but I'm pretty darn sure I've significantly bumped my efficiency. So, looks to me like if I get a grip on my mashing temperatures, that'll be a major hurtle in my beer quality. The batches where I've missed target FG, were stupid cloudy, and had lousy head retention are quite possibly due to the mashing temps being all over the place. It's just too hard to control the temperature with the monster burner. It's fantastic for getting up to boil quick, but sorta like killing a housefly with a 20-pound sledgehammer trying to hold 150-170 degrees.

Looks like I'm ordering some more stuff tomorrow. Gonna be laid up Friday (double epidural) and pretty much all weekend, so gotta get the collection ball off the Speckled Hen I got fermenting out there.
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I watched that video a couple times about the time I went all-grain. He worked with Stone Brewing on creating a homebrew recipe for their #w00t stout. Nothern Brewer sold the kit for a while. I brew it almost every winter.

And good luck with the epidurals!! I hope it brings you some relief.
 
BarbarianBrewer said:
I watched that video a couple times about the time I went all-grain. He worked with Stone Brewing on creating a homebrew recipe for their #w00t stout. Nothern Brewer sold the kit for a while. I brew it almost every winter.

And good luck with the epidurals!! I hope it brings you some relief.
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Thanks for the well wishes. This will be the 9th one, so I pretty much know what to expect. The 8th was bilateral (one on each side) at L4/L5 back in May, this one's on two different joints on the left side, L3/L4 and L4/L5. The more of 'em ya get, the less effective they are, but the doc says the deterioration is not advanced enough to warrant surgery. That's a good thing, I guess, albeit, it sure does hurt, and puts some pretty strict limits on activity that I REALLY don't need. He gave me a steroid shot a few weeks ago that helped, but I still get that feeling like someone kicked me in the left kidney on occasion. Once it relieved the cramping, it helped a lot with the left leg. The epidural is a little bit longer term suppression of the sciatica, but it doesn't actually FIX anything. I'll be able to do some things for a few weeks, then I'll start hurting again. Hoping to get some repairs done on a second property in that time frame. I already have the material list, so it's a matter of bite the bullet and make it happen.

I need to look up that stout and see if it's something I'd like to try. It's officially winter in Alabama now, so time for heavier heartier beers to put me to sleep in front of the TV.
 
Brewed 6 gallons (BIAB) of English brown ale (shooting for a northern version). Not quite true to form, as I used some leftover Golden Promise, but close enough to Maris for my palate, I guess. EKG bittering hops.

It was the last brew of the season that I'll do in my attached but unheated garage. High temp today was 34, so bearable, but we're expecting a 20 degree temp drop in the next few days. I was going to brew this Sat, but decided to push it up a few days.

(During the winter I brew indoors on the elec stovetop. I can do full 5 gallon BIAB batches in an 8 gallon Megapot if I use a 1500W heat stick to bring it to a boil.)

Overshot my gravity, better efficiency than predicted. Aiming for 1.048, got 1.055. Just over 6 gallons into the Brew Bucket. I have a blowoff attached. I pitched Notty, 1 pack, plus that half pack left over from yesterday. My past experiences with Notty have been low krausen, as I ferment at the low end of its range. Of course, me saying that all but guarantees it will blow up. ;)
 
Now I'm drinking a beer made by a friend of mine, he just recently started doing this, and here I am testing this beer for taste. At the same time I'm eating sea bass sides that my beloved wife made. I like to combine beer and fish, whether fried or salted. I think these two products were made for each other, what do you think:)
 
Sunfire96 said:
Holding my breath as the Cascade pale ale ferments through the mid 1.020's. I forgot to aerate the wort before pitching because I did it right after I came home late from work. Fingers crossed!
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Any reason to believe the wort *needed* aerating? Liquid yeast?
 
Megary said:
Any reason to believe the wort *needed* aerating? Liquid yeast?
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Yes, repitching slurry. It was only a couple days old tho, so it might be fine. The beer's under pressure at 12 psi around 70F now, and I'll let it continue to rise in temp at ambient until it's done. It's next to a radiator. When I've had stalled ferments in the past with liquid slurry, it was almost always because of lack of aeration before pitching.
 
Closed transferring my Oatmeal Stout so I can bottle it off the second fermenter. Have thought about just bottling off the fermenter but adding priming sugar to each bottle just seems to add to big of a step. Bottling is the one step the wife helps with which makes the process pretty simple.

20221117_125739.jpg
 
TetersMillBrewing said:
Closed transferring my Oatmeal Stout so I can bottle it off the second fermenter. Have thought about just bottling off the fermenter but adding priming sugar to each bottle just seems to add to big of a step. Bottling is the one step the wife helps with which makes the process pretty simple.

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That's some pretty spiffy stuff ya got there. Those fermenters are the bees knees.
 
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