Home Brew

I brewed for years in a system that was almost entirely plastic (though I always fermented in glass carboys). Since I am starting from scratch, I've been looking for something easier to clean & maintain with less risk of getting an infected batch, especially since I may be upgrading to 10-15 gallon batches (to get more out of the occasional brewday).

Not sure I'm sold on RIMS, though the concept looks cool. I was looking at BrewMagic systems before I settled on Blichmann (you want to talk $$$ go look at a Sabco BrewMagic. It'll curl your hair!)

And kegging is absolutely a must. If I want or need to bottle, I'll use a counterpressure bottler to do it. No more bottle-conditioning for me, unless there's a good, compelling reason to do so and even then, I'll probably only bottle-condition a portion of the batch and keg the rest.

Interestingly, the one piece of hardware I held onto is my beer engine. It's an Angram and from the look of the wooden base, it actually spent time in a pub somewhere in the UK. I also have a 3-gallon corny keg with a shortened tube that I use to "cask-condition" my English ales so that I can get as close to the Real Ale experience as a Yank can.

Ohhhh boy... BrewMagic....... I've been reading a lot about brewing automation lately and have been looking at that system. Definitely big bucks.

One thing I've yet to get into is cask conditioning/dispensing. I've been thinking about trying it. Maybe a project for later this year. That beer engine sounds pretty neat too!

Kegging is fantastic. So much less trouble than bottling. That was the part of brewing I dreaded... cleaning/sterilizing bottles.

I also see 10-15 gallon batches in my future, and will be sizing up my gear accordingly. I'll need some more Corny's though. I've also been looking for an economical conical fermenter, but I'm not sure economical and conical go in the same phrase when talking homebrew haha...

So, I'm getting ready to keg my first attempt at a Belgian Blond this weekend, and while I'm doing that I plan on either starting another blond or a triple on the yeast cake, or more likely harvesting the the cake and making a couple of starters (and storing some of it).

Has anyone done this sort of thing here? I plan on sterilizing some mason jars and washing the yeast, then keeping some in the fridge for future use. Any tips?

Also, anyone know good places to pick up corny kegs (or 1/4 barrel sankeys - I could convert to those) in Canada? I scored my first 4 for free, and I don't think I'll be so lucky this time.

Also, I'm picking up my first 55lb sack of grain in town tomorrow. Exciting times!

Ben

Hi fdben,
I have experience harvesting yeast from the leftovers and also fermenting a second beer on top of a previously used cake. Both are very easy to do. Sanitation is key here. The problem is that it's been a while since I've had a chance to brew so my the techniques are a little foggy in my mind. If you haven't already, you need to join homebrewtalk.com. Those guys are to brewing what this site is to straight razors. They are amazingly helpful as well. For harvesting yeast, I use very small mason jars. You don't need a ton of yeast. You just need to read up on washing the yeast. You want to make sure you clean off the old beer and keep it nice and cold in the fridge. As far as corny kegs, I've never used them but I'm sure you can get them off of ebay.

Any opinions on my first all grain for this weekend?

2250g pale ale
500g carabohemian
250g whiskey

7g 14,2% nugget 60 min
10g 7,78 challenger 5 min

yeast nottingham(have safale s-04 and us-05 if any of those seem better suited)

total water 17l ending about 12l, i think

Oh while im asking
can wheat and oath malt be used as base malt?

Give it a try! I've done it for a few years now. In the long run its actually cheaper and really lets you brew the beer you want. Certainly go by your local brewing supplier, I bet they're pretty friendly. I have to budget my time wisely when I go to get advice because I usually end up talking for at least a half hour.

Good Luck!

problem is that my local brew supply is 3 hours away:p
So far im only missing the kettle but i have hope for the shops ill be hitting tomorrow:)

oh it would be +-30ibu depending on amount and effichensy

Ok it ended as a BIAB(brew in a bag) 18 litre 1,5h boil
after boil friday it was 9L OG60 now fermentation has stopped with FG12
Must say its gonna be a tasty beer even if the sample i tested was pretty much flat :)

edit:cant spell after testing beer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by janivar123

Ok it ended as a BIAB(brew in a bag) 18 litre 1,5h boil
after boil friday it was 9L OG60 now fermentation has stopped with FG12
Must say its gonna be a tasty beer even if the sample i tested was pretty much flat :)

edit:cant spell after testing beer

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Cool! Post here when its conditioned and let me know how it tastes! If I remember I'll do the same with my last batch that is kegged now. I had some issues getting it to carb properly - my other keg was leaking, dropping the pressure of the system.

Its pretty good - smooth, but I was aiming for more sweetness than came through. I've adjusted my grain bill for that, and to provide a bit more colour (I was outside the style guidelines... not that that matters) and will be attempting again.

Since then I've setup a water bath with heater to control my fermentation temperatures, and acquired fresh yeast - hopefully alleviating the two issues I had with my last couple batches.

I need to get on it because my keg is getting low already!

Ben