There is a method to this madness. Stay tuned for more...
Until then...cheers!
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Great Beer Experiment
What do these objects have in common - a homebrew and...what's that in the little bottle? Hmmmm...seems as though Professor Beaneaux was in Lake Charles this weekend. What could possibly be in the works? Care to take a guess?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bubbling Buddies
It's certainly not as exciting as Conner and Carson, but to a homebrewer it is quite thrilling - airlocks from two batches of successful brew doing their thing. Check out the video for some great fermentation action! The one in the back is a Blonde Ale; in front is my Bridgeport IPA clone.
Until next time...Cheers!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
It's a Blonde!
No photos today; just data from last night's brew.
I decided to make a Blonde Ale in the hopes that the locals would find it palletable and not too dramatically different as opposed to their Bud Light. One little step at a time...
Ingredients:
10 lb 2 row
1/2 lb CaraHell
1 oz Williamette @ 60 minutes
I went a little heavy on the hops just because I wanted to. Actually, I was drinking a beer and talking to my neighbor Pete and I forgot to reduce them to 0.8 oz. Oh well, if you can get them, use them! The global hop shortage is real folks; there are many on-line brewshops that I used to purchase them from that are out. Zip. Zero. And what used to cost $1 is now going for $4 and projected to increase. I hope that my supply will get me through the next 2 years! And if you think that it won't affect you because you are not a brewer, think again. It's going to cost all of us. Read about the shortage here.
Back on the porch, I thought that I would make several water measurements in order to build a database that will help me to estimate my volumes and thus my final gravities more closely. Here's what I used:
10.5 lbs grain @ 2.1 target lbs mash water/lb grain = 22.05 total lbs water, or 2.69 gal of mash water required.
Assuming .084 lbs of water retention per lb of grain, I calculated my total mash volume to be 3.57 gallons, and this is what I tried to hold in the mash tun. I mashed out at about 154 degF.
For my total water volume, I targeted a final kettle volume of 5.5 gal. I assumed a 17% evaporation rate for a loss of 1.13 gal. My kettle start volume thus had to be 6.63 gal. I assumed that each lb of grain would absorb 0.115 gal of water, so I added another 1.21 gal. I assumed 5% system losses, for another .28 gal. Total water for the brew was thus calculated to be 6.63+1.21+.28=8.12 gal (it's easier to put all of this on a spreadsheet that does the calcs for you, which I did).
I measured the preboil gravity at 1.044 @ 60 degF. That's respectable. I measured my actual evaporation at 1.3 gal. Pretty close to my assumption; it looks like I may actually be losing closer to 20%. I'll keep tracking that. My final gravity came in at 1.051 at 60 degF, which is a little heavier than I had figured. Oh well, more alcohol for the Cajun Coors Light crowd that I am trying to convert.
This morning the airlock was bubbling; she's alive! Stay tuned for details on primary fermentation.
Today I'm travelling to India on the USS Bridgeport.
Until tonight, cheer!
I decided to make a Blonde Ale in the hopes that the locals would find it palletable and not too dramatically different as opposed to their Bud Light. One little step at a time...
Ingredients:
10 lb 2 row
1/2 lb CaraHell
1 oz Williamette @ 60 minutes
I went a little heavy on the hops just because I wanted to. Actually, I was drinking a beer and talking to my neighbor Pete and I forgot to reduce them to 0.8 oz. Oh well, if you can get them, use them! The global hop shortage is real folks; there are many on-line brewshops that I used to purchase them from that are out. Zip. Zero. And what used to cost $1 is now going for $4 and projected to increase. I hope that my supply will get me through the next 2 years! And if you think that it won't affect you because you are not a brewer, think again. It's going to cost all of us. Read about the shortage here.
Back on the porch, I thought that I would make several water measurements in order to build a database that will help me to estimate my volumes and thus my final gravities more closely. Here's what I used:
10.5 lbs grain @ 2.1 target lbs mash water/lb grain = 22.05 total lbs water, or 2.69 gal of mash water required.
Assuming .084 lbs of water retention per lb of grain, I calculated my total mash volume to be 3.57 gallons, and this is what I tried to hold in the mash tun. I mashed out at about 154 degF.
For my total water volume, I targeted a final kettle volume of 5.5 gal. I assumed a 17% evaporation rate for a loss of 1.13 gal. My kettle start volume thus had to be 6.63 gal. I assumed that each lb of grain would absorb 0.115 gal of water, so I added another 1.21 gal. I assumed 5% system losses, for another .28 gal. Total water for the brew was thus calculated to be 6.63+1.21+.28=8.12 gal (it's easier to put all of this on a spreadsheet that does the calcs for you, which I did).
I measured the preboil gravity at 1.044 @ 60 degF. That's respectable. I measured my actual evaporation at 1.3 gal. Pretty close to my assumption; it looks like I may actually be losing closer to 20%. I'll keep tracking that. My final gravity came in at 1.051 at 60 degF, which is a little heavier than I had figured. Oh well, more alcohol for the Cajun Coors Light crowd that I am trying to convert.
This morning the airlock was bubbling; she's alive! Stay tuned for details on primary fermentation.
Today I'm travelling to India on the USS Bridgeport.
Until tonight, cheer!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Son of Kegerator!
Since it's Valentine's Day and my wife is out of town, I seized the opportunity to spend time with my mistress...beer. I've been kind of concerned about my kegerator of late - so lonely looking with that huge door and just that one little tap. So tonight I created Son of Kegerator.
Such a lonley little tap
Please refer to my last post in which I displayed various parts. Add to those parts these simple tools, and you have the makings for a kegerator addition
A drill and 2 hole saws is really all you need
First, I drilled a pilot hole through the front of the door. I choose to drill in the door because doors rarely have refrigeration coils in them, like you might find in the side of some fridges. Drill a hole in your coils and you have a big problem - bad kegerator karma there.
The 1/8" pilot hole
Next, I used the 7/8" hole saw to drill a hole from the inside of the door towards the outside.
7/8" hole from the inside
I then drilled a 1 3/8" hole through the outside skin of the door.
1 3/8" outside hole
After that, it's just a matter of installing the tap in the door and a two-way manifold to the CO2 lines and voila...kegerator has a buddy! Side by side, every day, they will be there to keep each other (and me) happy!
Plastic manifold with hose and clamps
Beer and gas lines ready to go (notice no butter in the butter tray)
Voila! Buddies for life!
Tomorrow starts the weekend brew marathon. I'm building a Blonde on the Front Porch...
Until next time, cheers!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The New Parts Arrived!
Today a box showed up at my house with my newest purchase. More parts from the Beverage Factory! Below you can see them in their newly purchased glory.
What will he do with those things, you might be asking?
Stay tuned for next week's blog...the wife is out of town again.
Until then...Cheers!
What will he do with those things, you might be asking?
Stay tuned for next week's blog...the wife is out of town again.
Until then...Cheers!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Done with the Chandelier
Not much brew news to report this weekend, although I did order some more parts from the Beverage Factory when my wife wasn't looking. More on that next week. Meanwhile, I did finish rebuilding my grandmother's chandelier. Photo attached.
Until next time, Cheers!
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