I really want to brew today....

.....but I can't

Bryan's IPA

Brewed again today. Things went fairly well. I'm starting to get my system dialed in.

Here it is while mashing

The Boil

Again with the boil

So for part of the "dry hop" I did a hop tea. Basically took two small french presses and put an ounce of pellet hops in each, then I put boiling water in each and let it sit for an hour and pressed it out and poured the "hop tea" in with the primary.

CFC working amazing still

Ingredients-

Grain:

11 lbs 2 Row Base Malt

2 lbs Munich Malt

1 lb Caramunich II

Water:

5.2 Gallons @ 163F

3.2 Gallons @ 184F

Hops: (pellets)

0.75 oz Nugget @ 60

0.75 oz Cascade @60

1.5 oz Nugget @ 15

1.5 oz Cascade @ 10

1.5 oz Cascade @ 5

Hop Tea:

1 oz Nugget

1 oz Cascade

Dry Hop:

2 oz Cascade

Yeast:

Wyeast 1056 American Ale

21FEB2011: Like I said I had a really good time brewing. Things went fairly well but I lost some more temperature than I would have liked in the mash. This probably contributed to the lower than target O.G. I hit 6.8 Gallons pre-boil at 1.041. Post-boil I came out to 4.8 gallons and ended at 1.056. I wanted to hit 1.061 but oh well. I need to raise up my banjo burner a couple of inches and then I think it will be better on the boil.

02MAR2011: Finally transferred to secondary. Gravity is at 1.008 so sitting at 6.4% ABV. I think that will be perfect for this beer. Aroma is wonderful with a lot of the dry hop coming through. I think that Hop Tea did wonders because there is so much Hop Flavor without it being overly bitter or grassy. I can't wait to try that again on some future brews.

No Buts Stout

The insulated Mash Tun while doing the stout. This kept the temperature a little better because I actually pushed the sleeping bag underneath as well. I only dropped 2 degrees over the whole hour.

Here is the boil kettle when I first fired it up and had the banjo going full.

Here is a close up of the banjo going strong. I love this burner!

Some steam coming off the boil. The smell is absolutely wonderful.

Chillin towards the end of the boil

After the CFC and sitting in my messy extra bedroom after the pitch

19FEB2011: On this one I pretty much stuck to the recipe but I got lazy and did not do a double batch sparge. I will make sure to do that next time as that may be contributing to my low O.G. I ended up with 1.054 and was hoping for 1.060. Thats not too bad though as I prefer a mid range ABV on a stout versus the high 7's and 8's. Taste was pretty good at first. Can't wait to see what it comes out like after fermentation.

23FEB2011: Just pulled a thief full out of the carboy. Gravity is now at 1.021. This puts me at about 4.4% ABV. I actually like a low ABV on a stout, but I was hoping to hit at least 5%. I'm gonna wait a few more days and see if it will drop anymore. It had some very nice roasty flavors. The oatmeal really comes through on this one. I am excited to try it cold and carbonated.

24FEB2011: Gravity is still at 1.021. Fermentation must be complete. Transfered to the keg and bottled 4 in 22oz bottles. Tastes really good. Can't wait for this one to condition.

Grain:
7 lbs 2 Row Base Malt
3 lbs Flaked Roasted Oats (I roast these myself @ 350 for about 45 minutes)
0.5 lb Crystal 30l
0.5 lb Crystal 120l
1 lb Black Patent
0.5 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Roasted Barley

Water:
5.1 Gallons @ 163F
3.3 Gallons @ 183F

Hops: (pellets)
2 oz Cascade 6.6% @ 60
1 oz Cascade 6.6% @ 15
1 oz Cascade 6.6% @ 2

Yeast:
Safale 05 Dry Yeast

Funners not a Word IPA

Everything set-up in the backyard before the busy day.

Chris warming his hands while boiling.

The Boil

Chris enjoying the Imperial NW Red

The CFC in action. That thing works like magic. Beer came out at 58F

So, I changed the recipe on this one from my previous post of the planned recipe. I ended up using Nugget instead of Millennium. Not so much because of taste but because that is what I have most of on hand and wanted to burn through it. I also changed the first set of cascade for nugget to add a little bit more bitter.

Grain:
11 lbs 2 Row Base Malt
1 lb Crystal 50l
1 lb carapils

Water:
4.9 Gallons @163F
3.4 Gallons @182F

Hops: (all pellets)
1.5 oz Nugget 13% @60
1 oz Nugget 13% @30
1 oz Cascade 6% @20
1 oz Cascade 6% @10
1 oz Cascade 6% @2

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

19FEB2011: Brewing went okay for first time on the system. I think those burners have a break in period or something cause they did a lot better on the second batch. I insulated the mash tun but ended up dropping about 7 degrees by the end so I was a little frustrated at that. Then when I went to sparge I had accidentally left the ball valve on the mash tun open and the hose was sitting on top of the lid for the boil kettle. That meant that I lost about a quarter gallon of good sugars. That was kind of frustrating, but oh well. It boiled ok but not as great as I would have liked. Like I said I think those burners have a break in period. It was hard to keep it at a full rolling boil the whole time so I ended up with 6 gallons at the end instead of 5. That meant my O.G. turned out to be a lame 1.038. I was pretty bummed about this so I ended up pouring a few gallons of it into my extra pot and put it on the stove to boil off a gallon or so in hopes to raise the gravity. Well, it didn't work as planned. It did raise but my O.G. still ended up being only 1.041. I don't want to mess with it too much so I am just going to leave it and see how it ends up tasting.

23FEB2011- Used a thief on this one as well. Gravity is at 1.010. Thats pretty low but its still bubbling fairly actively. Due to the low O.G. this obviously can't hit the higher ABV I like in an IPA. Which I have a hard time even calling this an IPA, I'm probably just going to consider it a Pale Ale. It tastes really good and refreshing but the hops don't come through as strong as I like. A nice crisp summer beer is what this seems more like.

03MAR2011- Finally got my last keg fixed today after work. I went over to my parent's house and my dad had just bought a dent puller for hi truck. It worked amazingly well on the keg and now it seals without even having to use pennies. Transferred the IPA (maybe I should just rename it a pale ale) to the corny. Everything went well and F.G. is at 1.004 giving an ABV of 4.9%. It tastes really good with a light maltiness and strong but not overly boisterous floral notes. Can't wait til its carbed and ready.

All Systems Go

So I was able to spend a little time and get the Burner attachments painted and set. Here is one of the small burners under the HLT.

I shortened the lenght of the attachments holding the Big Daddy Banjo. It was sitting a little far away from the kettle. I think its perfect now, or at least I hope its perfect.

Here is the system all put together with straps holding the kettles on and high temp tubing running from one kettle to the next.

I can brew now but would like to get a couple of things added in the future as I have cash available. Might be kind of hard though with a baby on the way. (thats right, Steph is pregnant with our first child if you hadn't heard)

First I need some weldless thermometers, especially for the Mash/Lauter Tun and the Hot Liquor Tank. I would like one for the brew kettle as well but it seems less important. I also at some point need to get and install some casters. It will be nice to be able to roll the system around, but mainly I just need to raise the height a few inches. When we originally designed the system I didn't think the bottom burner would be that big or sit that low. The last thing I would really like to install is sight glasses. But for now I took some extra pipe I had laying around and filled a keg one gallon at a time and made a mark where each gallon was at. Now I can just fill with a hose until it hits the right line.

Upcoming Brews

So, I have had them listed for while now but I am brewing this weekend if all goes to plan. I am gonna do two batches hopefully. This will be my first time on my own system. There are a few things I would really like to do to it to be able to brew but as of right now I "can" use my system but it may be a little difficult. I don't yet have the cash for weldless thermometers so I will have to continually dip the one I have.

Anyways, here are the planned recipes for Saturday:

No Buts Stout: (this one I took from a book but changed it a little to what I think I will like as well as using the hops I have on hand instead of spending money for others.)

Grain:
7 lbs 2 Row Base Malt
3 lbs Flaked Roasted Oats (I roast these myself @ 350 for about 45 minutes)
0.5 lb Crystal 30l
0.5 lb Crystal 120l
1 lb Black Patent
0.5 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Roasted Barley

Water:
5.1 Gallons @ 163F
3.3 Gallons @ 183F (double batch sparge)

Hops: (pellets)
2 oz Cascade 6.6% @ 60
1 oz Cascade 6.6% @ 15
1 oz Cascade 6.6% @ 2

Yeast:
Safale 05 Dry Yeast

Funners not a Word IPA: (I made this one up in my head)

Grain:
11 lbs 2 Row Base Malt
1 lb Crystal 50l
1 lb carapils

Water:
4.9 Gallons @163F
3.4 Gallons @182F (double batch sparge)

Hops: (all pellets)
1.5 oz Millenium 14% @60
1 oz Cascade 6% @30
1 oz Cascade 6% @20
1 oz Cascade 6% @10
1 oz Cascade 6% @2

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale

Counter Flow Chiller

So I decided to take my existing Immersion Chiller that I got with my first kit and turn it into a CFC (Counter Flow Chiller). Here are all the necessary pieces of equipment that I gathered before I started on the project.

After having all the materials I tried to push the hose on around the immersion chiller while it was still coiled. I wanted to do this so it would like nice and clean and perfectly coiled on my finished project. Well, that didn't work out so well. Surprisingly I was able to get about half of it on but there ended up being too much friction and I had to straighten the whole things out to get the hose on. Even with it fully straightened it was difficult. Norman really wanted to help.

Here is what One of the ends looks like when it is completed. The other end does not bend the 3/8 copper. I bent this end so I could easily drain it into my fermenter. I had it outside and leak tested it. Everything works great with no leaks.

Here is a pic of the whole thing put together. The only parts that are not on here in this pic is the hook up between the boil kettle and the 3/8 copper, as well as the drain hose for the outer tube.