Where are the good beer makers?

[Atomic Wedgy]

Well, I gotta say..... the last beer I brewed is the best one yet. Its not my favorite style, but I think it the best crafted beer I've done. Its freaking delicious. As HPG predicted, the beer really came into its own once it was carbed up. It really, really is awesome. I am torn as I want to share it with friends b/c of how good it is, but at the same time... I want to have it all to myself. https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/red-light-sunburn-iira. It is quite dark. Actually brown, but if you hold your glass up to the light, you do see the deep red.

One thing that I did change in my brew process was the way that I added volume to the brew kettle. Previously, I always topped up with water after the boil. Partly cause it helps get the temp down and partly cause it was what I always did. This time, I kept pouring hot water over my grain bag and kept it. I didn't even know if I would use it, but what the hell. As it turned out I did use a lot of it. I let the kettle boil some off and when I could add more, I added sparge. I even kept a couple litres when the boil was over, boiled it separately and added that instead of topping up with water. I'm thinking it made a huge difference.

Happy brewing lads. Anyone got any good stories?

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Making a few tweaks to my system the next time I brew, mostly just in positioning the tanks. I'll keep the hot water tank elevated (and probably raise it a bit, leaving it about 4 feet off the ground), and raise the mash tun to about 2 feet, and start using an open pump box on the tun discharge before circulating the wort back through the HERMS coil and out. This will prevent the pump from applying any suction to the grain bed itself, which I think has been leading to compaction of the bed and stuck sparges.

Picked up an old chest freezer from a buddy last week, which is now a fermentation chamber that can fit 4 carboys. Added a heat bulb and a two-way temperature controller, so if the fermentation is more than a degree out of the target range on either side the system will automatically heat or cool to keep it right.

The rye ale has turned out more as a brown than a red (lesson learned... roasted barley doesn't make a red!) but the astringency of the rye fits really well. It's almost like a dry nut brown, but with the sweetness there. Turned out well, though not as planned.

The amarillo wheat ale is such a massive hit I can't really wrap my head around it. Placed very well in a homebrew competition... nearly won a 2000L commercial brew. Wow.

The plan for the next brew is to do a few experimental things. The first is a sorgum beer, so gluten free to accommodate a few family members that can't handle barley. The other thing will be to do a Red Ale. Since we produce 60 L in a batch, we'll split it 66/33 into a hopped red ale -- freaking love the style -- that should come mature about October called... wait for it... One Ping Only. The other 3rd I'm hoping we can convert into a Flanders -type red. Sour beer can be so incredibly good, but I sure as hell don't need 3 batches of it.

My brew buddies and I are now into large territory. 9 pony kegs, 14 fermenters, solid temperature control, forced carbonation. We still only can produce about 120 L in a solid day of brewing, and we all have young kids so that doesn't happen often. But damn, the results have been really good recently.

[Ritchierich]

We are now about a month into our brews and it is awesome. We just brewed three kegs today, our new record.

Our first brew was really tasty, extremely hoppy so not for everyone. We have just cracked a few more kegs. We did an APA which turned out real nice, an easy drinking summertime beer. We also just cracked a Belgian Wit. It is perfect.

Our biggest problem with our first few kegs was the alcohol was too high (7.5%). Hard to drink that all day. So now we are lowering our OG in our brews.

We also have a computer program now that we can make adjustments (colour, bitterness, etc.) to our beer and it will tell us the new recipe. Pretty awesome.

FHG - If you are able to run a continuous sparge it works great so you never get a stuck sparge. Our whole system is based on gravity. We have a cooler up high that we fill with water for the sparge, it runs into the Mash which is at a medium level and then it runs into the boil which is at a low level.
Also, if you master a gluten free beer I would love to get your ideas. We hope to make one eventually just to try it out.

[Atomic Wedgy]

YO! I haven't brewed a beer in about six months, but my latest one is just becoming ready to drink. She's a real beaut. If I were to critique it... possibly a touch too bitter. I have a heavy hand for the hops. Maybe next time, I'll move some of the FWH back to the dry hop stage.

Here is the recipe for anyone that is interested.

https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/face-wash-ipa


Ritchierich, how has your brew house been doing?

[fantasyhockeygeek]

That brew looks awesome, AW. I've got a Cascadian Dark Ale in the fermenter right now that should be a good dark hop bomb to get through the rest of the winter.

Right now pouring I've got a harvest Ale (loads of random hops from the neighbourhood) that tasted like shit when I first tapped the keg but has since conditioned to being an outstanding pint.

The other thing I've got going is a pale Ale that was fermented in three carboys identically but was dry hopped with centennial in one, summit in the other, and none in the 3rd. All three taste great though different. Fun.

Next on the docket will be a Flemish Ale, which needs to sit in a carboy for a YEAR. Hopefully it is worth the wait.

I'll probably do a big IPA too... in the new gear.

New gear you say? Surely FHG is joking! Nope. Sold the old kit (Hot liquor tank, mash tun, pump, connections, chiller, kettle, burner, everything).

Bought this:http://brewhaequipment.com/products/biac-package

Mash, lauter, chill, ferment... All in the same single piece of equipment. I've had to install some ventilation in the basement to prevent it from becoming a mould factory, but damn I'm looking forward to the brew.

[Atomic Wedgy]

O.....M.....G....! Check out that kit! That is some serious looking gear. So pretty! Must have.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Bump?

Last few brews:

Sorachi Ace Lemon Ale - self explanatory. Split into 3 carboys and dry hopped with Sorachi (lemony), Azacca (tropical fruity) and Belma (melon) respectively. Perfect summer sipper, and shocking how much the aroma from the dry hop affects how you perceive the taste.

Two Hands IPA - solid smooth malt backbone supporting about 70 IBU of Amarillo and Simcoe. Ridiculously good. Melanoidin malt at about 5% for body and roundness is an absolute revelation for me. Can't recommend enough; I put it in virtually all my beers now to round out the mouth feel and enhance the flavours.

Just kegged up a batch of my house pale ale - think classic English ESB (toasty, chewy, nice and malty) finished with northwest hops at about 50 IBU. Really looking forward to this one.

I've taken storage to a very efficient level, picking up an old 5-tier filing cabinet. Each tier holds 55 grolsch bottles. Small footprint, 275 pints.

How's brewing going for you guys?

[Mr. Guru]

Anyone know where I can get a wort chiller at a good price?

Just got myself a 100L stainless steel tub

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Anyone know where I can get a wort chiller at a good price?

Just got myself a 100L stainless steel tub

www.ontariobeerkegs.com -- all the kit you'll need to get it sorted. I'd recommend going inline, but lots of people swear by immersion.

[Mr. Guru]

Why inline over immersion?

How fast can you get it to room temp? And what size?

[fantasyhockeygeek]

I'm a fan of pumps.

My experience is that you'll end up going inline in the end, but there's no harm in going immersion to start. Simpler, I suppose.

I have a different set of kit, but you should be able to crash a 60-75 litre batch in 10-15 minutes.

[Mr. Guru]

Id love to see pictures of your set up.

Have you posted it anywhere on this thread?

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Yeah... I got pressured to reduce the footprint of my gear so I bought me one of these, medium size, used. It's magic.

I've got an old fridge that fits three pony kegs, with taps on the front, and 6 more kegs past that... I force carb and bottle using the Blichmann beer gun, so I have loads of grolsch bottles.

Yeah, I'm a good guy to know.

[Bomm Bastic]

Yeah... I got pressured to reduce the footprint of my gear so I bought me one of these, medium size, used. It's magic.

I've got an old fridge that fits three pony kegs, with taps on the front, and 6 more kegs past that... I force carb and bottle using the Blichmann beer gun, so I have loads of grolsch bottles.

Yeah, I'm a good guy to know.

Jeebus...I'll say.

Note to self: find realtor; move to FHG's neighborhood and stalk same.

[fantasyhockeygeek]

Jeebus...I'll say.

Note to self: find realtor; move to FHG's neighborhood and stalk same.

Bomm, I live in Vancouver. If you can afford to find a Realtor and move into my hood then you can afford to buy as much damn beer as you please whenever you please.

Only reason I can afford fun gear like this is because I rent... It's less than 1/3 the cost of ownership. Vancouver is a lovely place to visit....