A Small Hiatus

Brewing has not been much of a priority this year. I have made a couple nice brews, the Berliner Weisse in particular, but not much else. I recently got a new job in Massachusetts and will be moving out there in the next two weeks. That means that I will have to continue my hiatus from brewing but don't worry, I have a few things planned. Specifically, my new single vessel, automated brewery! Look for that at the beginning of next year!

Two Brew Day

It was a nice, crisp, 40 degrees this morning at the start of my brew day. Successful day all together brewing an ESB and Bourbon Vanilla Bean Porter. Both recipes can be found on my Recipe page. The new brewing equipment still works perfectly. I was able to set the mash temperature and let it run by itself while I went inside to warm up. Can't wait to try them!

Tap Display

Although this is mainly a sight about my brewing, here's a little something I put together to display beer taps I have collected. Eventually I want to display them on a wrap around shelf in a basement or something but this will do for now.

 

It was specifically made to fit on top of my kegerator.

New Pages!!

Finally, new pages are up! Check out the Equipment section above to look at my new brewing setup and learn a little more about certain parts of the brewery. Please let me know if you have any questions about my setup or brewing in general. I will be happy to answer them and I'll help look things up if I don't know.

I have also come up with a cool way to label my beers. Grog Tags makes reusable beer and wine labels that can be written on with a dry erase crayon and wiped off. They are supposed to stay on even when the bottle has condensation or is put into an ice chest! They are completely customizable and look pretty professional. I have come up with an initial design below, let me know what you think!

New Posts Coming!!

This website has been idle for far too long! I have still been brewing and constantly updating my brewing system. I am currently in the process of a major overhaul and upgrade with picture and descriptions coming soon. I will also update recent recipes used and how they turned out soon as well! Keep checking back for those updates!

Here's a little something to hold you over....



 Oh, and I think we have a temporary mascot!!

What should we name him??

American Honey Wheat

New brew on Friday went well. Learned some things about my setup that need to be addressed for my next brew, specifically that my mash tun needs hotter water in order to heat up the vessel to ensure the proper holding temperature.

Here is the recipe for the Honey Wheat:

• 3 lbs Pale Ale Malt
• 3 lbs Wheat Malt
• 0.5 lb Carapils Malt
• 0.5 lb Aromatic Malt
• 3 lbs Wildflower Honey
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1/2 oz 8.0 alpha Northern Brewer (60 minutes)
• 1/2 oz 3.6 alpha Fuggles (15 minutes)
• 1/2 oz 3.6 alpha Fuggles (end of boil)
• Hefe IV Yeast

Because the temperature for the mash was a little low, the starting gravity was also a little low.

Brew Day!

It's been over 7 months since my last brew. Finally with all my additions I am ready to go to all grain 5 gallon batches. The two I made today were a Red Hook ESB clone and a Firestone Walker Double Barrel clone. Here are some pictures of how the brew day went....

New brewery setup.





Grains ready for some hot water!



MMMM, smells good.



Recirculating the wort to clear it out.



Getting ready for the boil.



Took about 8 hours from start to finish to brew both beers. I'm really happy with the setup I have so far. Much easier than trying to boil and mash on my electric stove.

I will have to see how they turn out. Both had low starting gravities so my cooler may not be as efficient as I hoped. I'll probably brew another batch in two weeks!!