Share the wealth

Well, it is done. I’ve ordered my 14 gallon modified brew kettle – Unfortunately it is backordered, so I probably won’t see it until sometime in June. When I get it, it will be very nice – Threaded fitting for my kettle thermometer, 1/2″ full-port all-stainless valve, etc – Had to get spot-welded handles, but hey – I don’t intend on dragging around 12 gallons of hot liquid anyways. I also got a 50 foot 1/2″ copper immersion cooler to go with it – I know Oliver will be yelling at me for not getting a counter flow chiller, but quite honestly – I like keeping my break material in the kettle and the immersion chiller is so less worry for me. Maybe I’ll pony up and get a Therminator one of these days.

I’ve got over 200 pounds of grain in my basement. I wish I were kidding. I don’t forsee having to buy much grain for the next year or so. I’ve got it all in rubbermaid bins in sealed ziploc bags (or something comparable) so I shouldn’t have to worry about it going stale. If anyone feels like brewing on a Sunday thru Wednesday and realizes their local supply store is closed … give me a call.

I’ve got 20 gallons in fermenters at the moment – a batch of strong dark belgian, a Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone, the black honey ale for my dad, and now a scottish 80/-. Next weekend I’ll be brewing either a Pig Iron Porter clone or a Scotch ale (using the yeast cake from this batch). I’ve also got a few others on the drawing board, a English stout and what I’m calling “Native Rage IPA”… Warrior, Chinook, Amarillo, and a yet to be determined dry hop all rolled up into one enamel stripping double IPA. Since I’m a malt head, I figured I’d branch out and try to brew something that would make Scott Bieber weep like a little girl (kidding!)

My hops out in the back yard are going nuts. One of my cascades is already at the top of the fence. The recent arrivals are all doing pretty well with the exception of that one damned Liberty rhizome. It looked funky when we put it in the ground, and it sure is taking its time to push some shoots up. Hopefully it will :-
My keg of OAVIP kicked it (Recipe posted on FSB.com). I found out last night while diagnosing why my Kegerator lost its mojo in a matter of a month (CO2 was all gone). I had a leak at the cylinder regulator, I think. At any rate, that means that my Limey Vale Nut Brown Ale is on tap and it is goooooood. Crystal clear, drier than most nut browns and slightly hoppier – but strong and nice.

Speaking of which, guess I’ll go pull a pint. Cheers!

If its not scottish….

Yay! Another brew day. I’ve got a culture of WLP028 Edinburg Ale on the stir plate ready for a batch of scottish ale. Tonight will be my second all-grain night. I can’t wait – I’m using “Golden Promise” as the base malt – it is supposed to be great in Scottish-style ales. Next weekend I’ll brew a big Scotch ale and use the yeast cake from this batch for that one.

I got a really awesome all-stainless ball valve for my 10 gallon kettle. The thing is built to last. In that shipment I also got a XL smack-pack of Ringwood Ale yeast (WY1187). Alot of people hate ringwood, but it can’t be all bad since a certain local brewpub uses it extensively… And I intend on trying to duplicate one of their beers here pretty soon.

I got a $500 award at work for some pretty cool stuff I did for our sourcing organization last year. Its an automated entry routine that eliminated a ton of really tedious data loading for them when we went live on SAP. That money is going straight into buying a 14 gallon kettle & new immersion chiller. I can’t wait to place the order.

State Line Liquors Beer Update

I just received an email from State Line Liquors, so I though I would pass along the beer section.

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Beer… Beer… Beer

We’ve got a preliminary beer tasting schedule forthe next few months & a few additional notes we’d like to pass it along!

Stop by on Friday, April 29th from 4:00-7:00 pm when a representative from Tröegs Brewing Company will be offering samples of some of their many fine beers (no fee). Chris & John Trogner of Tröeg Brothers Brewing in Central Pennsylvania say, “We aren’t concerned with making beer to a particular style, as much as we want to create a quality beer that we like to drink—that’s what is really important.” State Line carries a great selection & on April 29th (only), you can enjoy discounted prices on these Troeg brews: Hopback Amber Ale, Amber Pale Ale, Rugged Trail Nut Brown, Sunshine Pils & the ever-popular, Troegenator Double Bock. Visit the Troegs feature page (go to “Beer Home”) on our website for additional info on these great brews.

GOOD NEWS… The sold out Baltimore/Clipper City bus trip (from January) has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 7th! BAD NEWS… Of the customers who’d signed up for the original trip, we had no cancellations. The trip is still completely full with an extensive waiting list.
We’ll be sure to let you know if we add another trip anytime in the near future!

NEXT our upcoming beer tastings schedule:
Thursday, May 19th, 2005, 7:00-9:00 pm, “Blind IPA’s”
Thursday, June 16th, 2005, 7:00-9:00 pm, “The Beers of Summer”
Thursday, July 21st, 2005, 7:00-9:00 pm, “Wheat Beers”
Of course we’ll have details as we get closer to each event but in the meantime, please mark the dates on your calendar! We may be adding a date or two so keep an eye on the Beer Tasting page of our website. Also, for those who attended our recent Belgian tasting, please check out “Spring ’05 Belgian Tasting” (click) page for some fun photos taken that evening.

Also, a reminder, thru April 30th Club Card members may take advantage of a special 15% discount on all Belgian singles & 10% discount on all Belgian 4-packs & 6-packs. This is the last week!

North Country Malt Supply

OK guys – I knew this company was around, but I am just amazed that I haven’t used them until now. They’ve got fantastic prices on malt and they ship really really fast. And they’re open more than just Thursday thru Saturday. They have a pretty big selection of malts to choose from including several our local source doesn’t carry like Kiln Coffee and Pale Chocolate (used pretty extensively by Iron Hill).

I actually have 75+ lbs of grain coming from them at the moment… although you have to pay shipping, its pretty reasonable. A 55 lb bag of Maris Otter Pale malt with shipping is $45 ($27 without)… and since its in Upstate New York, it should take only a matter of 1 or 2 days to get here.

So while some folks may be displeased that it doesn’t support our LHBS, check out:

Of course… if you need malt you could probably just call me and I’ll sell you some of mine at cost… At the end of this week I will have over 200lbs of grain in my basement… And I’ve got a mill that does a fantastic job as well.

o.O Yeah… I went off the deep end, but I won’t need to buy grain for a long, long, LONG time.

Another in the bag

Or the fermenter, rather. My inaugural brew on the all-grain system went really well. Definitely found some things I intend on doing different next time, but I ended up hitting my OG and then some – I undersparged and ended up concentrating my wort down to 1.069… if I had actually had an extra half gallon it would have been closer to the intended target of 1.062. I also intend on managing my sparge temps a little better next time – I think I pretty much hate this whirly-gig sparger… I think it cools the water too much before it hits the grain bed.

What is it that causes those irrational fears in the back of one’s head? People have been successfully brewing for thousands of years using the method I did today and have managed to make something fermentable (and most times it could pass for beer)… And yet somehow I had this little voice back there telling me that it wouldn’t work for me. WHAT IS THAT?!?!? I didn’t believe it would until I had finished my 60 minute boil, cooled it, and tasted the gravity sample. Amazingly enough… it tasted like sweet wort! And once again the laws of physics, chemistry, and nature apply to me as well. How reassuring. :-p

It was a 6 hour process, but quite honestly – worth every minute. I think I’m going to love brewing even more now.