Central ADV Homebrewers

[Bimble]

Originally Posted by Metallic Waste

Problem solved.
-K

brewed up a case of mistaken identity

[Hodag]

Originally Posted by propforward

Plus I firmly believe that a 5 gallon keg of beer tastes better than it's bottled equivalent.

I agree 100%

[GSAnderson]

Originally Posted by lkoncor

Just bottled my first batch on the 28th. Should be ready just in time for the Daytona 24hrs on Jan 30-31st.

What'd ya brew?

[lkoncor]

Fat Tire Clone kit from Midwest.

had to find something the wife might like for my first attempt so she will put up with future purchases.

[propforward]

Nice. I'll be very interested to hear what you think of it.

[gonzomup]

Originally Posted by Metallic Waste

Looks like one of your gnomes made a break for it, K!

Well, that, or he raided that little tankard.

[Metallic Waste]

Yeah, except that it's not one of my pics. I would never, ever, choose that color mulch since I live in a yellow house.
-K

[Oh2RideMore]

Got the brewers best kit, and an ipa to start. Also picked up a case of fat tire for the bottles of course.... Need another case, so will be busy this week after work. May be practiced by the time you guys get together at that farm. Now, how to mount a keg to my wr250 for the ride. Looks like MN here now

From Drop Box

[zoid]

Originally Posted by propforward

Brilliant! Keep us appraised of your brewing progress. It's good to talk of things fermentable and see what everyone is up to.

So, I brewed a batch of IPA last saturday night. Number 6 for the season. Yeah, I have a serious IPA addiction.

It was the brew that if anything could go wrong, it would go wrong.

I put in a CD and was milling the grain when I heard a sound like a needle sliding across the record. (Ya know, vinyl). I opened the player and found a scratch all the way across American Beauty(Grateful Dead). WTF???

I'm an antique. I just put in a tape.

Mash was finished, conversion achieved, and time to sparge. Started to sparge and nothing come out of my mashtun. WTF???

My old Igloo cooler had cracked and I was using a new one. Didn't know that the bottom of it was convex. It wouldn't drain. So for the next 45 minutes, I would lift the 14 lbs of grain, add a bit of sparge water, lift, add, lift, add, etc.

Finished sparging and was waiting for the boil to start. Heard and smelled that old familiar boilover while I was changing tapes. WTF???

Was almost done with the boil and it was time to add finings. One teaspoon of Irish Moss dumbass, not a tablespoon. A teaspoon. And why does BB King sound like he is gargling pebbles? Yup. Ate a tape.

By this time, I may have had a few beers. Ok, I had had more than a few beers. And when the boil was over and I had cooled it enough to put it in the fermenter and add yeast, the wort was 82 degrees though, not the 72 that I thought I saw. Oh, well. Should I have expected anything else?

Racked it to secondary tonight and this was one of the most active brews ever. We'll see.

[propforward]

Originally Posted by zoid

Ya know, vinyl

Records. Brilliant!

That will most likely be the best beer you ever brewed, with all the love that's in it.

[Oh2RideMore]

Until I get the basics down, thought I would start out with kits, and brewed up an IPA kit from brewers best. Took longer than I thought would, but wort is fermenting now in primary, and will check gravity in 7 days or so for end of fermentation. Tried to be as sterile as possible, sterilized everything, but will see. My friend's brother is going all out with grain mill, spargers, and wort chillers, but his beer sucks. I think he should have followed the kits first then moved on....

[propforward]

I agree. Stick with extract kits first and see if you like it.

All grain brewing is a whole different ball game. It gives you a lot more control, but takes a lot more control to get right.

The extract kits can be brewed and dealt with in the evenings. For all grain you'd better be ready to sacrifice a day to the initial brewing session.

To be honest, I've been home brewing in an on and off manner for many years, and I still primarily stick with extract kits. Why?

Because they are great.

I occassionally concoct my own recipes, which is quite fun, but the kits give you a very high chance of success, which come quaffing time is very rewarding indeed.

Tried to be as sterile as possible, sterilized everything

If you are completely anal and fret a lot about the sterilization part, you will do fine. If you catch yourself saying "should be OK", then stop, and sterilize anyway.

I like "one step" sterilizing powder. Brilliant stuff, and I have never lost a batch through contamination when using it.

Can't wait to read your tasting notes when it's ready!

[Oh2RideMore]

IPA is just active like crazy today, lots of bubbling. Trying to finish a case of fat tire so I have enough bottles, yeah thats the reason...

[RonJS]

Originally Posted by zoid

Was almost done with the boil and it was time to add finings. One teaspoon of Irish Moss dumbass, not a tablespoon. A teaspoon.



Racked it to secondary tonight and this was one of the most active brews ever. We'll see.

While too much Irish moss can reduce head-retention and hurt yeast nutrition by reducing free amino nitrogen, one tablespoon in a 5 gallon batch is not too much in an all grain wort.

Your active fermentation is proof of that.

I usually toss mine in (not re-hydrated) after the hot break.

Ron

[propforward]

Looks like I'll be heading to the brew shoppe on monday evening, so I think I'm going to do one of these next:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/pyram...ional-esb.html