Brewing Gear No comments yet

I need new homebrewing gear since I gave most of my older gear away before the move.  Right now I am looking for kettles and need to decided between the following:

Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker

20 gal BoilerMaker brew pot with standard equipment

• Stainless 3pc ball valve with dip tube
• Adjustable angle BrewMometer
• Glass level gauge with stainless guard & laser etched graduations
• Handles
• Lid
• Stepped bottom for optional false bottom

Notes:  I really like the quality that these guys produce.  I have the 14.5 Gallon Fermenator and Thrumometer and both are top notch.  Wanted to get the Therminator chiller, but went the cheap route and bought the Chirron chiller.

Morebeer.com / Northern Brewer Mega Pots

From Northern Brewer

This line of stainless steel stock pots combine great quality and remarkable value. Unlike the inexpensive Italian Kettles made from welded sheet metal, these kettles are totally seamless. The wall thickness and overall mass of the kettles is significantly higher. The bottom of the kettle has three layers — an aluminum layer is sandwiched between two stainless steel layers for superior heat dissipation. The bottom of the kettles are 5 mm thick, five times the thickness of the Italian Kettles. All of these pots come with a heavy-duty stainless steel lid, and hollow handles. These kettles will last a lifetime.

Note:  These seem perfect.  Same features of Boilermaker, at less cost.  But then, I wonder why even bother with the kettles and just purchase a MoreBeer 1100 Brewsculpture!

Could it be?! 2008 Cascade (max. 32 oz.) $2.00 1 comment

www.freshops.com

Chief Brewing Officer No comments yet

Tutorials: How to make a Mash Tun No comments yet

Here’s an easy setup for creating your first mash tun:

• 10 Gallon Igloo cooler (GFS)
• 10” Stainless Steel False bottom (MoreBeer)
• 1’ Tubing – 3/8” ID (MoreBeer)
• Stainless Steel 1/2” Full Port Ball Valve (MoreBeer)
• Weldless Bulkhead Fitting (MoreBeer)
• 1/2” Male NPT to 1/2” stainless steel barb
• 1/2” Male NPT to 3/8” stainless steel barb (shown here as plastic)

Setup:

• Remove existing spout on cooler
• Install bulkhead fitting
• Place false bottom in cooler
• Install 1/2” Male NPT to 3/8” stainless steel barb inside cooler
• Connect tubing from false bottom to 3/8” barb

• Install 1/2” Male NPT to 1/2” stainless steel barb outside cooler

Congrats!  You now have a solid mash tun!

Tutorials: Yeast Starter No comments yet

So you want to speed up your fermentation?  Well my friend, you need a yeast starter.  Here are the basic essentials for creating a yeast starter:

• Air Lock
• 2 oz. Wheat Dry Malt Extract (DME)
• 1000ml Erlenmeyer Flask
• No. 8.5 drilled rubber stopper
• 1 oz. Low Alpha Acid hops (optional)
• Yeast
• Thermometer

Now that you have these equipment and ingredients, lets jump right into the starter right?  No!  Treat this starter as a mini-brew and sanitize the equipment first.

Now that we have that taken care of, let’s being!

• Fill the flask with 400ml of water and place on burner
• Bring the temperature of the water up to 190-200 degree Fahrenheit
• Once that temperature is reached, take the flask off the burner and add the DME and hops (if being used)

• Bring this wort up to at least 190 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes to pasteurize the mixture

• Be careful, as this wort can boil over just as fast as the 5-gallon batches

Now its time to cool this wort down for pitching!  I use an ice bath, basically get this down to 65-70 degree F ASAP.

Some people cover the top of the flask with foil, in these pictures I forgot to do this…

Once down to pitching temperature, pitch your yeast and add the airlock (filled with cheap vodka up to the line) and stopper.  Left as is, fermentation will start overnight and will be ready for use for your next brew!

Cheers!

Brewing: Great Pumpkin Ale 2008 Edition No comments yet

First beer of the year?  Wow I am slacking, but it is time to brew the great pumpkin ale!  3# of Roasted pumpkin can go either in the mash or in the boil.  I have brewed this both ways and will probably go the mash route…less mess.  One thing to note, go easy on the spices.  A little goes a long way, and if you put too much in, you’ll have to age this for a while to allow the spices to mellow out.

Ingredients:

Grains:
10# pale 2 row malt
1# Special Roast
1/2# Belgian Aromatic
1# Crystal 60

Hops:
1 oz. Mt Hood – bittering60 minutes
1 oz. Mt Hood – finishing – 5 minutes

Other:
3# Roasted Pumpkin – 60 minutes
1# Dark Brown Sugar
Spices:  Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Clove -  boil 15 minutes
Irish Moss – 15 minutes

Yeast
White Labs California Ale (WLP001) Starter (1 quart)

Sweetness Stout – Total Destruction No comments yet

Glimpses of what happens when you do not anticipate your yeast starter to work as well as it did.  Note the air-lock.  This puppy shot across the basement about 15 feet, while the lid of the fermenter blew off the bucket..  This shows some wild, strong fermentation.  End result:  Delicious!

Labels: Mothra Pumpkina No comments yet

What kind of name is Mothra Pumpkina?  Well its a name that you give a beer when a big ass moth drops into your pumpkin ale wort.  Did I fish him out you ask….

Labels: Fumar No comments yet

I need to find the recipe for this one.  Based off of Alasaka Brewing’s smoked porter, it was damn tasty! 

Funny note:  Fumar was my first “gusher” beer.  My sister-in-law opened a bottle and it immediately sprayed all over her!  Nothing like wearing a smoked porter!  It was after that incident that I decided to keg

Labels: I Can’t Taste the Hops No comments yet

Story:  Jackass friend thinks he knows what he’s talking about regarding beer.  We are drinking at Heartland brewery in NYC, he’s drinking their American Wheat beer with a very low hop presence.  He says, “Wow this beer is very hoppy!”  If this was Three Floyds Gumball Head, I might agree, however I had to correct him and call him a moron.  Then the next day while drinking some Arrogant Bastard, he proclaims, “This beer has no hops, I can’t taste the hops”  Alas, a new imperial IPA beer was born!