speak of the devil, i just got my perlicks in!

i hope to have a kegerator done by July 4th.

Finally got around to bottling this batch. Took less than an hour from adding the sugar to the final bottle. I'm starting to really get into the groove of everything, and it's awesome.

Can't wait to have the cash to jump up to all grain. Come on tax check!

It's barely been a week since bottling and I've already gone through like 12 of these. I intended to test it like every other day or so but quickly came to the realization that, even with almost no carbonation, this beer was * tasty. On day 7, she's a very clear, golden-amber color with incredible lacing and a huge head that settles down to about half a centimeter and remains for the whole beer.

It's crazy. Just two days ago, before the beer had completely carbonated, she just reeked of cascade hops. Now, the cascade aroma has settled down a bit and you can actually detect maltiness in the nose. It's almost like a completely different beer. It's a little sweet right now, but I think that's just from priming sugar. I can't wait to see what it's like after a full 2-3 weeks.

I also pitched a batch of apfelwein yesterday, and that's bubbling away now. I want to brew more beer, but I'm bored with extract kits, so instead I'm just going to be putting any extra cash into all-grain gear.

yep, I can definitely vouch for the awesomeness of this brew.

I had Dubuenzo's beer, and it tastes like chocolate sex.

I had Nish's IPA. It was excellent!
keep up the good work, bud

So I just picked up the ingredients for a Gumballhead clone I'm brewing for my realm's opener afterparty.

My recipe is the 5-gallon extract version of this all-grain Gumballhead Clone. (thanks debuenzo)

3lb wheat dme
2.8lb x-light dme
1lb caravienne
1/4oz amarillo first wort hop (with the steeping caravienne)
1/4oz amarillo *
1/2oz amarillo *
1&1/4oz amarillo *
1oz amarillo *
1oz amarillo dry hopped

You'll notice that my hop schedule was not really scaled back from the original 6-gallon recipe, except for the dry-hopping. This may end up being a problem, especially since I am using pellet hops as opposed to leaf. Brewing on Sunday, so I have plenty of time to decide whether I want to scale the hops back or not.

because they are mostly late hop additions, scaling back shouldnt be necessary (especially if you are hoping for a citrusy herbal blast on the nose and palate)
it won't add a ton of bitterness and offput the balance

Realized that wheat malt extract is already 55/45 wheat to malt. So what I ended up with is like a quarter wheat beer. Hash called it Drunken Dumballhead. Or maybe that's what he was calling me. Who knows?

Just dry-hopped it last night. I probably should have waited a few more days, but I was drunk and wanted to show off to my friends. We also dipped into my first batch of apfelwein. At 1.004 it's not quite finished, but it's clear as crystal and that little bit of leftover sugar made it taste so * good. It was like a sweet riesling. Very refreshing! And such a joyous buzz, to boot.

And man, I felt so cool pulling a growler's worth straight out of the fermenter and chilling it down to enjoy immediately with close friends.

Protip: Apfelwein will make you want to drive a corkscrew through your ear the next morning just to make the headache stop.

In other news, I finally started my keezer build in earnest on Wednesday. Pictures forthcoming.

We drank half a gallon between four people. So it wasn't quite enough to get the nasty hangover I keep hearing about. You think using a beer yeast instead of montrachet would cut the hangover factor?

Can't wait to see that setup. Man, I want to invest in kegging and taps so bad, but I don't plan on being in a permanent living space any time in the next 5 years. Maybe I could find some kind of mini fridge big enough to fit a keg or two.

Have you read through the whole Apfelwein thread on HBT? If you can think of a variation for it, it's documented there.

yeah, i read far enough to get that impression. But I don't remember if anyone commented about the after-effects of a batch brewed with notty yeast. Time to go back and research!

I know there were a lot of people that were testing it with Nottingham. I can't recall specifically the results, but I'm sure they're in there somewhere.

derian, you doing a collar or through-the-lid?

also,derian and nish, what are your names on HBT
im GlenF

I'm doing a collar; they look classier and give more options IMO. Also I can get a fifth corny on the compressor hump with my 1x10 collar. I'm hoping the 1x10s are stout enough; I didn't want to muck around with full size 2x10s.

I have it all cut out; I just need to figure out my tap and Love placement, then stain and assemble.

I'm Doli on HBT, though I mostly just lurk.

1x10 should probably work...you using L brackets, mitering, etc? Adding foam board to the inside to beef it up?
I guess i could wait for pix, but I'm curious...

I kind of half assed it. The only mitering capability I have is a circular saw, so I just did the front two corners. I'm planning on gluing and using some finishing brads to put it all together, plus double corner braces to help.

I'm going to hinge it so that the lid and collar lift up to keep the shanks out of the way during keg changes, and I'm seriously debating building a nice tiled top on top of the lid (probably down the road a bit). I'll have to see how it holds up with the basic setup before adding 10 pounds of tile, grout and wood to it, I guess.

No plans for insulation yet; if I have problems with foaming I'll probably have to pick some up and set up a fan inside somewhere.

My name on HBT is Nysh. I also mostly just lurk.

i just found out that my friend has a wine refrigerator big enough to hold a carboy, so I'm gunna have a fermentation chiller soon. So awesome!

Also, how do you guys feel about thermometers/ball valves fitted to a brew pot? How useful are they? Is it worth it to get a pot with these instruments pre-fitted? I'm looking to upgrade to a bigger pot, and I'm trying to consider all of my options.

Oh, and my apfelwein got stuck at 1.002. It dropped a few points after I took a sample and siphoned off a half gallon, but now it's stuck again. I tasted the sample today, and it's got kind of a diacetyl taste to it. It's different, but still very tasty. Going to bottle it without any sugar and hope it doesn't explode!

How big is bigger?

Here are some good sources:

Bayou Classic 1060 62-Quart Stainless-Steel Stockpot with Vented Lid by Bayou Classic
Buy new: $160.00 $118.99

I have heard the Bayou Classics are nice pots.

60 Quart Stock Pot with Lid and Basket by CajunGrocer
Available at external website: Cajun Store for $99.95

No idea about these

It is pretty easy to add a ball valve to one of these.

up next: cream ale


currently enjoying a southern tier oak aged unearthly IIPA
woah...11% malty, boozey, hop-resiny, oak IIPA

last year's was better, but this is good

I see that the last post to this was some time back so I was wondering whether the guild is still in operation and whether i might apply? i'm actually more of a vintner than brewer, but i could do that as well if needs be.

http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe
it does not have all the fruits and flavors i like to use [exotic tropicals such as the leechy nut which has a VERY floral white grape flavor and lends itself beautifully to champagne yeast (you do not need anything else with it!)] but it does have more than enough! even dr.pepper!

Has the idea of a brewer's guild progressed at all? One of my roommates and I have been brewing using kits for about a year, and are about to switch to AG. I hope to have a batch to bring to Chaos this year, and would love to have a group to hang out with and discuss and compare notes. Anyone?

i'll be coming to chaos also and should have something ready for it. i don't do much beer making but i would totally be up for testing your batch and giving notes!

I feel like I should point out that one of the board rules refers to the avoiding discussion of illegal activities. While brewing and vinting are perfectly legal distillation of alcohol is NOT.

Distillation is heavily regulated by the BATF and should probably not be boasted or posted about unless you want tax men knocking at your door with axe in hand asking to see your still.

thank you rowan, and you are 100% correct. BUT it also depends on what state you're in. some states do allow distillation. i believe my state is on of them.... i think so... i hope so.... hmmmm.....

Distillation is prohibited in Illinois under statute Chapter 235, Act 5, Article II, 2-1:
"No person shall manufacture, bottle, blend, sell, barter, transport, transfer into this State from a point outside this State, deliver, furnish or possess any alcoholic liquor for beverage purposes...provided, however, nothing herein contained shall prevent...by simple fermentation and without distillation"

I would, however, like to point out that a reflux still is not necessary for distillation. A very simple form of distillation can be performed via freeze distillation. So if I wanted to distill my mead, all I would have to do is stick it in the freezer and pour off the alcohol, since water freezes up. It could be argued that the definition of distillation is limited, as evidenced by these examples:

http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/we ... stillation
http://science.education.nih.gov/supple ... ossary.htm
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/top ... stillation

All of the above refer to boiling points and vapors and are from respectable sources. Nowhere is distillation via difference in freezing points mentioned.

doh! editing it all out. thanks guys.

Read my "loophole section" at the bottom of my post.

Irenicus, you are correct. The laymens term for freezing to concentrate alcohol is known as jacking.

The thing about it is that you are not just concentrating alcohol, but everything else that is in your mixture including sugars and residual yeast. I can tell you from personal experience that this can make for some funny tasting end products.

Furthermore, it doesn't matter what your state says about distillation it is regulated by the Federal Government.



Full context of above quote here

Yes, it produces a product that is everything minus some water. But fractional freezing only produces funny tasting end products if:
1) Fermentation was carried out incorrectly
2) You're using grain mash and not malt or fruit base.

The funny tasty end products are from fusels and higher-order alcohols produced by either too high fermentation temperature, insufficient nitrogen available for the yeast, or a large proportion of complex starches in the mash/wort/must rather than simpler sugars and carbs.

The only reason the government taxes alcohol because they want money. But in the case of distillation via fractional freezing, screwing up on one or more of the things I mentioned above can actually harm your health. Poor technique can lead to excess methanol and propanol accumulation in your distillate.

Bring your stuff to Okfest. I should have some growlers and what-not to share. Beer, mead, wine, cider...it's all good.

Necroing this thread in the name of the upcoming Okfest.

I started homebrewing earlier this year and I have my second beer, a hefeweisen fermenting right now. I expect it to be ready for fest.

I will also be bringing some bottles of my first batch (Irish stout).

I propose a meetup where we share our homebrews and talk brewing.

Anyone else up for this?

i'm there, dude! might not have anything to offer, but i always love talking shop!