Kegerator (6/23/2010)

Well, I am not sure what has inspired me, but I am back for another post. The big news is I'm building a kegerator. I plan to use a small chest freezer with a temp control unit for the basis of my project. The chest freezer and controller unit were order this evening and the expected delivery date is 7/3/2010. I will keep you post through the construction process!

(4/15/2010)

Gelatin finings are awesome!

(4/10/2010)

Double IPA

1.081-1.015
7.0 SRM 68.6 IBU
8.64 ABV

20.00 lb 2-row
1.67 lb crystal 15L
1.25 lb Munich malt
0.42 lb crystal 40L

75.00 grams Magnum 10% 60 min

24.00 grams Centennial 20 min
24.00 grams Cascade 20 min
24.00 grams Amarillo 20 min

24.00 grams Centennial 10 min
24.00 grams Cascade 10 min
24.00 grams Amarillo 10 min

24.00 grams Centennial flame out
24.00 grams Cascade flame out
24.00 grams Amarillo flame out

24.00 grams Centennial dry hopped
24.00 grams Cascade dry hopped
24.00 grams Amarillo dry hopped

(4/10/2010)

Long neglected blog...we meet again. Since the last update, my centennial plant has be growing slowly but surely. The three sprouts now stand about 4 inches tall with leaves that have drastically increased in size. Considering how the growing season went last year, I have come to realize I shouldn't expect too much of a harvest this year. I my only hope is that the plant becomes well established and is ready to deliver next year.

On a happier note, I have decided to brew a double IPA on Sunday. I still am not quite certain of the specifics, but I do know I will be using the hop bursting technique. I plan to get at least 50% of the total bitterness from the last 20 minutes or later of the boil. I know the base will be American 2-row with maybe a little light crystal. I find that too much caramel flavor isn't the best suited to my tastes. I might also mix in a bit of Munich malt for a biscuit/malty flavor with out the big addition of sweetness and some table sugar to dry the whole thing out. I have the initial recipe worked up in Beer Smith with an OG of 1.079 with 81 IBU. Once I have the whole thing sorted out, I will post the recipe.

(3/30/2010)

A lot has happened over the last week. I finally managed to brew the cream ale and I think it turned out as the best brew day on the system so far, and hopefully it will turn out to be my best brew to date. I (for the first time) hit all of my numbers within a one degree window and I hit all of my volumes to within a pint. With a final volume of 80 pints (10 gal), that's maintaining a margin of error of only 1.25%. My efficiency was a little higher than the expected 80% but only by 2 or 3%. The increase in efficiency was really a surprise considering I used an abbreviated cereal mash to save time.

On another front, my centennial rhizome is back to life and has sent up three shoots. Over the last two or three days the shoots have tripled in length and put out a total of 14 leaves. In the next day or two, I will be installing a trellis capable of holding a second centennial and I will be transplanting the rhizome from a large pot to the ground.

A little further down the road, I have been thinking about putting in some winter wheat at the end of the growing season. I think it would be great to try to make an organic witbier with all the wheat grown here. It's still just a thought for now...

(3/18/2010)

Well, I never got around to brewing the cream ale...but it is still on the agenda. My last week has been consumed with another activity I enjoy, gardening. Don't think for a second that the brewing is being neglected though...I have incorporated some herbs to be used in some belgian ales in the garden.

going along with the garden topic, my centennial rhizome (which I assumed was dead) has sent up 3 runners so far this year. I am going to build a trellis in the back yard against the house as soon as I have an opportunity.

3/10/2010

Since my last post, I have bottled my Mosse Drool clone, and I think I turned out excellent. From the 10 gallons, I was left with exactly 88 bottles. I plan on opening a bottke tonight possibly to see how it has been carbonating. The ESB I brewed is growing on me. At first I wasn't such a fan, but now I love it.

This Sunday, I will be brewing my cream ale. I have to make a starter first because I accidentally froze my yeast. Hopefully there is still some life in those little vials.

Cream Ale:

80% 2-row
10% rice
10% sugar

17 IBU Noble hops

(3/3/2010)

Last night I tried the first beer I brewed on the new system and I was very well pleased. The carbonation was just right and the beer kept a nice creamy tan head. The bottle had very little sediment on the bottom which was also nice. I think I might have over sparged just a bit because the beer tasted very dry, much drier than a final gravity of 1.012 should be. Meghan really seemed to enjoy this one so I think it turned out pretty well!

(2/26/2010)

I have come to realize that I am slow to post anything new and for this, I appologize. Well...this week I have some interesting thoughts for anyone out there. I unknowingly scheduled myself off two days off in a row this week and I couldn't have been happier. On Tuesday, my first day off I prepared for my first exam in my masters class which ended up being a great idea. On Wednesday, (my second day off), I decided to brew 5 gallons of anything that was a lager. After much deliberation, I found a good looking clone of Yuengling and I decide Meghan (my wife) would absolutely love this recipe.

After a great brew day I pitched my yeast and as of 48 hours later nothing had happened. The Wyeast package I pitched only swelled slightly after being activated for over 5 hours. I guess this was the major reason for concern. This was my first lager...and to date I have never had a bad brew (specificallly meaning infection). After reading much through the Wyeast website, I concluded I could wait 36 hours before seeing any activity. After a full 48 hours I didn't know what to do, but then I realized I had a re pitch of Wyeast 1098 in the fridge. I decided to pitch 100ml of Wyeast 1098 to save my beer. About 6 hours later, the 1098 has depleted all of the O2 and begun to ferment the beer, evident from the full kausen on the beer.

Hopefully I will have better luck next time. I am vary happy that I was able to slavage the beer after 48 hours of lag time. I think I will try to use several dry yeast packets the next time to ensure the proper pitching rates rates.

One last thing... Paradocs, I absolutley love the names you give your beers especially the IRA...

(2/23/2010)

High Tech Temp. Control

(2/19/2010)

Bottling day has arrived! Unfortunately there may not be any pictures. My wife brought home her classroom camera to let me borrow, but she has forgotten the USB cable every day for the last week. As soon as she brings it, I will have fermentation and bottling pics!

I will also be brewing a Moose Drool Brown Ale clone on Sunday:

16.73lb 2-row
1.92lb Crystal 40L
0.38lb Chocolate Malt
0.19 Black Patent

33 grams Magnum for 60 min

at 75% efficiency
SG 1.052
FG 1.013
16.8 SRM
26.1 IBU
4.98 ABV

(2/16/2010)

It has been a while since I posted last. Since my last post, the ESB has pretty well finished fermenting. I plan to bottle the beer on Friday of this week. A special thanks goes out to Van who has let me borrow his bottling tree. With 100 or so bottles, Friday is going to be busy.

The fermentation went pretty well. Surprisingly, I had to continuously add hot water to the water bath to maintain the fermentation temperature. After the krausen fell, I allowed the beer to stabilize at 58 deg. With such a low temperature in the basement, I think I might try to tackle my first lager. I might try a Classic American Pilsner for my first.

Following bottling on Friday, I will be brewing again on Sunday. This time I will be brewing an American Brown Ale. I will post the recipe and a picture of the fermentation temp control water baths soon!

The First Brew (2/8/2010)

Well the first brew was surprisingly successful and I got an even better efficiency than expected. The mash went well after a thorough pre-heating and the mash stabilized at a temperature of 151. I didn't measure the temperature at the end of the 45 minute rest, so I am not certain what the total heat loss was, but I imagine it really wasn't that much. The pump worked well and was even able to pump up the 7 feet to the hot liquor tank. After sparging, we were left with 13 gallons in the kettle (1.5 more than expected). After the hour boil, we ended up with 11 gallons total with 10 or so making it into the fermenters. The post boil gravity ended up at 11.5 Plato and a total efficiency of 87%. This may not be typical of all future batches because I tend to get a better efficiency on low gravity beers (likely due to the higher water to total grain ratio). The 70 foot wort chiller worked much better than expected. I was able to cool the entire 11 gallons of wort in the kettle to 58 degrees in 20 minutes. The chiller worked so well, that I actually had to warm my fermenters this morning.

The only hiccup of the day was at the very end. The pump preformed great until the dip tube became clogged with hop mass. I might try to put braided hoses on the dip tube for the next batch to see if that helps.

bulk hop buy (2/4/2010)

Would anyone like to participate in a bulk hop buy with me? Niko Homebrew Supply (http://www.nikobrew.com/) Has good prices on hops with a flat rate shipping of $5 per order. If bought by the pound, the price per ounce is significantly reduced. I was hoping by buying together, we could take advantage of the flat rate shipping and good pricing on pounds. Leave me a comment if your interested!

I am interested in:

Mt Hood
Magnum
East Kent Goldings
Amarillo
Cascade
Centennial
Willamette

(2/2/2010)

The first brew has been scheduled for this coming Sunday (2/7/2010)!

For a post boil ten gallon batch:

12.24 lb 2-Row
2.00 lb Flaked Maize
0.83 lb Crystal 120
0.44 lb Cara-pils
0.44 lb Victory malt

61g (60 min) Glacier
31g (30 min) Glacier
15g (1 min) East Kent Goldings
15g (1 min) East Kent Goldings

2 vials of wlp007

At 75% Efficiency
Est OG: 1.043
Est FG: 1.009
35 IBU
9.1 SRM

(1/27/2010)

Well this is the brewery installed the garage. The system seems to work pretty well. When testing the sytem, the only leak was from a compression fitting on the wort chiller. The only thing left to do is to install the march pump and aquire an oxygenation system. I think I am also going to buy some insulation to put around the mash tun and maybe the hot liquor tank if there is enough left over. After that, all I have left to do is brew the first batch. Tenatively, the first brew is planned to take place on 2/7!

(1/26/2010)

Just to let anyone out there know, I have been trying to get a pic of the new brewery to upload. Unfortunately, the wife's camera is dead, so it might be a while before I get a good pic up.

(1/13/2010)

Well, today has been a pretty long day. The good news is the 3-tier stand is in the garage and it fits like a charm. Yesterday, my wort chiller, March pump, and 2 6.5 gal carboys arrived at my door step. So, needless to say things are comming together very quickly. According to my chicken scratch notes, I only need two parts and some propane and the new system will be opperational. If I get it all together tomorrow, this will mean that I beat my deadline by 7 days.

I am very pleased with the progress I made. Over the course of 20 days (1/4/2010 to 1/24/2010) I turned 11 2x4's, 15' of copper tubing, 5 ball valves, 2 coolers, 1 propane burner, and 1 15 gallon kettle into an opperational brewery.

Once I finish with the 2 remaining pieces tomorrow, I will begin to test all of the plumbing (I say begin because there may be some repairs needed). My friend Scott and his wife will be over tomorrow, so hopefully he will be willing to help me out. I will keep you updated.

Being this close to completion, I guess this blog will switch from detailing my construction to following my brewing escapades. I have begun to think about the first few beers I plan on brewing with the new system. I think I am going to begin with 10 gallons of ordinary bitter to build up a little yeast. I have had great success building up and re pitching yeast, so I plan to use 10 gallons of very low gravity beers and two tubes of yeast to start each series I brew. So after the bitter, I plan to brew an American IPA , and a spiced old ale with pumpkin all using White Labs WLP 007. After that, I am not quite sure. I figure by then it might be time to start thinking about spring seasonals. Does any out there have any experience making lager like beer with an ale yeast at cooler temps because I would sure like a maibock for the spring?

Well that it for now. I will post a pic or two of tomorrows testing when I get a chance.

Initial Assembly

(1/18/2010)

Well, I'm sitting here at the computer winding down for the night drinking a Berliner Weiss.

This morning before work, I finished with the polyurethane. All that I have left on the stand is the final assembly. It would be finished right now if the wife weren't sleeping. (I'm told that I'm loud when I use the power tools in the basement)

I hope to have the plumbing assemblies mounted to the frame sometime tomorrow. After mounting, there are only a few things left. I think I am going to buy a March Pump from Midwest Homebrew Supplies. I have devised a way to have the hot water transferred from the kettle to the hot liquor tank as well as being able to recirculate ice water through the wort chiller using a series of quick disconnects. I hope to be completely done construction by the 31st of this month.

Well, that's it for now. I will try to have a pic posted as soon as I mount the external plumbing

(1/17/2010)

Well today has been an eventful day. The morning started by meeting Van Delhotal, a fellow home brewer here in Goddard, KS for the first time. He was more than generous inviting me to his house to see his home brew setup. It was really great to see another 3-tier system as I'm in the process of building my own. From an outside observer stand point, his brass quick disconnect setup s quite impressive.

Shortly there-after my good buddy Jon, and Mike from OK stopped by with another delivery of bottles. Thanks so much to Mike. He not only has saved several hundred bottles, but has even taken it upon himself to both clean and de-label all the bottles.

After that, I polyurethaned the new system I am in the process of building. Hopefully i will get one more coat on tonight. As it stands now, I am done soldering all except for one connection. the frame has been stained, and one coat of polyurethane has been applied. With just a few more pieces of equipment, the 10 gallon gallon system will be ready for its inaugural brew.

Stained frame with plumbing

(1/13/2010)

Well it has been a very long day. I made a ton of progress on my 3 tier system. The day started with me completing the wooden frame. I went to Lowe's and bought stain to make it a little more eye catching. I also found braces meant for conduit to use as supports for the plumbing. After finishing the wood structure, I also managed to finish 90% of the plumbing. And, to top it all off, I stained the entire frame. Needless to say, this day off has been very long but productive. Tomorrow my plan is to polish the plumbing, but I guess we will see what time I get up.

I have been thinking alot about what to brew for the first couple of beers on the new system. I have quite a bit of Amarillo hops laying around and a good bit of 2-row still. I was thinking my first brew might be either an American pale ale or an IPA. Not really sure yet, but I might also have to consider making something pretty low gravity just to build up some yeast. Maybe an ordinary bitter followed by the APA or IPA...

Well that's it for now. After today I may be ahead of schedule to have the system completed by the end of the month. Once I re-assemble everything, I will try to post some pictures just in case any one is actually reading this.

(1/10/2010)

Well, after a few days off from working on my project, I am back on task. This morning I started laying out the plumbing for my new system. I decided to use a comination of compression fittings and soldered fittings that will allow for easy disassembly while remaing compact in my limited space. Hopefully in the next day or two, I will have all of the plumbing installed.


Initial plumbing layout

Pictures (1/7/2010)

3 tier frame



Burner, brew pot, and mash tun



12.5 gallon mash tun



Plumbing for the 3 tier system

First Post (1/7/2010)

Well this is the first post of my blog. Before I talk about what I am doing right now, lets go back in time for just a second.

After graduating from college in West Virginia, I moved to Wichita, KS in August 2008 to work at Cessna Aircraft. Soon after the move, I found out there was a home brew shop here in Wichita. I had been interested in the idea of brewing my own beer since college, but I never had the money to get into the hobby. I went down to the shop and I bought the basic kit which included a "Kit and Kilo". After brewing the included recipe, I was less than satisfied. I guess that first beer was the beginning of it all. Soon after I began to purchase all malt extract kits from online homebrew shops and saw a definitive increase in quality.

Well, at about that time the economy went south and I was layed off 2/24/2009. After the lay off, I used my vacation pay out to make the jump into all grain brewing. I decided to start small so that the cost per batch would be very affordable. The mash tun I built was made from a 7 dollar cooler, and the rest of the pieces to finish the mash tun cost another $7. My $14 mash only held a total of 2 gallons, but it was enough to get started. Soon after my first few all-grain batches, I realized that the water in Wichita was not the best for brewing, so I began to tackle the issue of water chemistry.

After changing jobs twice, my wife and I bought a house just west of Wichita in Goddard KS. With more room and a new house, I decided to expand my brewery.

...Jumping into the present...

I am currently building a 3 tier all-grain system. I have bought a 15 gallon brew pot, and a 185,000 btu propane burner. I have also built the structure for the 3 tier system. Tonight I finished welding the tubing for my mash tun. I still have alot of work ahead of me, but my goal is to have the system ready to brew by the end of this month.

Well that's it for now...if there is anyone one out there interested, I'll keep you posted!