What are you doing with homebrew today?

Unless you're force carbonating (using CO2), you might be disappointed in your early taste test. It's gonna be pretty flat. Even 4 days after bottling, you'll find the alcohol taste not as smooth, and perhaps even a little bitey. Don't let that put you off. Just let it age a bit more before you try to drink it for best flavor.

Homebrewing is a game of patience and hurrying. Gotta know when to do which and the best thing to teach that is experience with the whole process.

Welcome to the craft, and good luck.
I agree. I will be super patient and wait it out. I am already at the bus stop waiting for next Saturday to arrive. So I cna go even longer. but the excitement level is definitely there currently.
 
You probably NEED a subwoofer for the tractor shed anyway...
My luck, it'll probably rattle the metal roofing and make all the fasteners start leaking. I did the roof myself, and out of nearly 1500 screws, I had ONE leak where I didn't tighten one enough. That's a pretty good score.

I insulated the walls of the shed but didn't bother with a ceiling, thinking I'd do that later if I decided to climate control it. It was built for tractor storage, that's it, and tractors don't care if they get cold or hot. Gonna need a bigger electrical service and insulation for the roll-up doors if I ever pan to put A/C in it. I wasn't homebrewing at the time, so the thought never entered my mind to do otherwise. I did put a vented ridge on the roof, but in summer it still gets pretty stinkin hot out here. Not something I think I'll be able to keep up with using ice, certainly not with what I have to produce it. (2 refrigerators and a large chest freezer). We have a lot of mouths to feed (again) so all of the freezer compartments stay pretty full with edibles, albeit, the fridge in the garage was certainly acquired for keeping my home brew hobby. Didn't figure it would take the missus long to commandeer at least part of the freezer on it for her use. I may be able to crank up (or down as the case may be) the freezer section of that one to freeze faster and harder. Haven't bothered to check yet but looks like I'm gonna get bothered today.

Lousy timing for back troubles too. Sciatica has me semi-legless (left leg is all but useless) the last three days. Did some yard work that required a lot of bending, but nothing heavy. Aggravated the bulging disk at L3/L4. Feels like someone's ripped my leg off and trying to beat me with the soggy end. I've had 7 epidurals for it in the past 5 years, the latest in May this year, but they simply don't last as long now. Looks like going under the knife is becoming unavoidable.

Feeling a bit better today. The pain doesn't go quite as far down the leg, so maybe some of the inflammation is easing up. Using up all my ice packs for the fermenting, so don't have any for my back. Gotta have our priorities, right?

Woke up with the temperature at 69.6, and first load of ice has it back down to 67.9. It'll be interesting to see what the swinging temperature does with S05. While somewhat high, it's always been steady around 70-72 when I fermented in one of my basement rooms. I'd convert that for brewing, however, no plumbing, carpeted floor (easily fixed), and finished for a bedroom gives the house more value as a 5th or 6th bedroom. It's directly below the kitchen, so supply plumbing really wouldn't be an issue, but drainage/venting would be. It still ain't out of the question for conversion. It was gonna be a game room after who we thought was the last teen occupant moved out. Then more moved back in will little critters. The best laid plans and all that stuff, ya know?
 
I agree. I will be super patient and wait it out. I am already at the bus stop waiting for next Saturday to arrive. So I cna go even longer. but the excitement level is definitely there currently.
"Have mercy, been waitin' for the bus all day!" -- ZZTop

Whatever you do, do not aerate it when you're racking it off for bottling. If you do, it will probably taste like wet cardboard within a few days. Just let that air-lock stop bubbling before you rack it for bottling. That'll give you the best result.
 
Checked.in on RWS looks on track this is G6 out of this 34/70
The starter liquid tasted super malty
20220919_074144.jpg

I keep this covered..
 
It's been a busy day in the home brewery today.
Called in sick to look after Matilda well that and sort brewing out :). Don't worry she sure got all my attention whilst she was awake ;).

First job was pitch that yeast above and clean up brew kettle - wired in my new glycol pump.

Then checking in on the Niger soupYup tasted good at room temp
Set about transferring this into keg with some priming sugar
1.007/8 it looked this saison yeast doesn't attenuate as low hint hints
20220919_130120.jpg
@Zambezi Specia if ya want a more malty saison[ATTACH=full]22370[/ATTACH]
Got most of that transfered on its own pressure.
Cleaned that fermenter put the spunding valve on the short cut lager and she's all sorted.
 

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It's been a busy day in the home brewery today.
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Got most of that transfered on its own pressure.
Cleaned that fermenter put the spunding valve on the short cut lager and she's all sorted.[/USER]
Is that a Fermonster I spy in the last photo?
That might have to be another purchase, IF it will fit inside a 16" x 16 space inside dimensions of my brand spankin new Vissani freezer. I think this one qualifies for a George Carlin word, "refrigedeezer" cause it can run as either. I got the FF7.9 as a gift, and it certainly taught me a few things about cleaning up my brew with a conical fermenter, but unfortunately, it is not pressure rated, ergo, no way I can pressure transfer like that. Gonna try a very low pressure and see what happens, so the NEXT purchase will wind up being a CO2 bottle and regulator. (I'll take any recommendations). Curling full fermenters is for the young. The valve on the FF7.9 is right on the bottom, so maybe it won't take much pressure to drain it to a bucket sitting on the floor outside the freezer. Most of it would gravity drain until the level in the bucket was even with the level in the cone.

Swapped ice containers. Pulled the collection ball on the fermenter. That stuff looked absolutely nasty (thanks to the coagulating effect of Whirlfloc) but smelled absolutely wonderful. Seriously, it looked like barf and smelled like I was standing outside a bakery. That confused my brain, considerably. I really expected a horrible odor to come outta that collector bulb. Despite my pitiful efforts at temperature control, my Frankenbeer is turning into beer. I gotta change ice again, so better get with the program.

Oh yeah, the new refrigedeezer:

IMG_3054[1].JPG
IMG_3055[1].JPG
 
Is that a Fermonster I spy in the last photo?
That might have to be another purchase, IF it will fit inside a 16" x 16 space inside dimensions of my brand spankin new Vissani freezer. I think this one qualifies for a George Carlin word, "refrigedeezer" cause it can run as either. I got the FF7.9 as a gift, and it certainly taught me a few things about cleaning up my brew with a conical fermenter, but unfortunately, it is not pressure rated, ergo, no way I can pressure transfer like that. Gonna try a very low pressure and see what happens, so the NEXT purchase will wind up being a CO2 bottle and regulator. (I'll take any recommendations). Curling full fermenters is for the young. The valve on the FF7.9 is right on the bottom, so maybe it won't take much pressure to drain it to a bucket sitting on the floor outside the freezer. Most of it would gravity drain until the level in the bucket was even with the level in the cone.

Swapped ice containers. Pulled the collection ball on the fermenter. That stuff looked absolutely nasty (thanks to the coagulating effect of Whirlfloc) but smelled absolutely wonderful. Seriously, it looked like barf and smelled like I was standing outside a bakery. That confused my brain, considerably. I really expected a horrible odor to come outta that collector bulb. Despite my pitiful efforts at temperature control, my Frankenbeer is turning into beer. I gotta change ice again, so better get with the program.

Oh yeah, the new refrigedeezer:

View attachment 22376 View attachment 22377
Fermentasaurs from Keg King had it a couple of years now fermented a few batches in there it's my backup these days :).

It fits in the freezer I was having troubles with so will easily fit in the franken freezer what ever your calling it lol!

The Alrounder from kegland is probably a more compact version but not as conical either way any of them bubble fermenter will alow pressure fermentation and closed transfers.

Looks like like a brand new fridge aye?
 
Oh yeah, forgot a minor detail. Modified the temperature control box for future application which includes running the freezer. Added and wired a receptacle on one side that is switched by the cooling relay. When I get closer to needing heat (which may not ever be required now that I have a frigadeezer) I'll add an outlet to the other end to turn the heater/fan on and off. I want to mount them inside the freezer, but can't bring myself to drill a hole in a brand-new freezer. Besides that, I have NO CLUE where the evap coils are in this thing. Temperature is climbing, which means all the ice is gone again. I'm having to swap the ice containers out 4x daily, which was a huge incentive to go buy the freezer. This means I now have lagering capability, too. WOOT!

Gotta build up some hoses and stuff for the pump to transfer from kettle to fermenter. Gonna have to make sure I do a bulk-head fitting in the lid of the fermenter such that I can just seal it back off (if I don't blow the lid off the thing) if pressure transfer to a bottling bucket doesn't work. I can definitely see kegging in my future. Putting a full keg up in the garage fridge might be tough, though. But it isn't as large and bulky as the FF7.9, so maybe not as hard as I think.
 
Fermentasaurs from Keg King had it a couple of years now fermented a few batches in there it's my backup these days :).

It fits in the freezer I was having troubles with so will easily fit in the franken freezer what ever your calling it lol!

The Alrounder from kegland is probably a more compact version but not as conical either way any of them bubble fermenter will alow pressure fermentation and closed transfers.

Looks like like a brand new fridge aye?

Brand spankin new, yeah. $380 after taxes. Hated to spend that kinda money, but folks are asking $100 for busted non-working crap around here. "Good for parts!" Umm, I don't need parts for something I don't have, and certainly don't need a freezer that doesn't work. But that's the mentality of most of the Gen Xers and Millennials in this town. Their junk is worth a lotta money (in their mind). I checked some local used appliance dealers too, but they're proud of anything that works too. If I'm gonna have to pay new price, might as well have a new freezer. So, just bit the bullet and got it. I'll have to put the fermenter in empty and without the top and air-lock. The bar that runs across about 6 inches down from the top is 35 inches high from the bottom shelf (above the crisper drawer). FF7.9 is 38 inches tall with the air-lock in, so I had to strip EVERY shelf out of it except the one on the very bottom. I'm thinking about cutting a piece of sheet metal to lay on top of the shelf and the hump in the back so that I don't get any weird pressure points on that glass shelf. I'm hoping to move the fermenter tomorrow and the controller box and will show the tight fit when I get it set in there.
 
Transferred the last Base Jumper to the keg, cleaned the fermenter, and got some ice for a brewday tomorrow :)
What's "Base Jumper" like? It sounds interesting, though I think anyone that intentionally jumps off a mountain needs their head examined (prior to the jumping, of course). Can you link the recipe? I'd like to have a look. In the mood for trying new things lately, expanding my horizons.
 
What's "Base Jumper" like? It sounds interesting, though I think anyone that intentionally jumps off a mountain needs their head examined (prior to the jumping, of course). Can you link the recipe? I'd like to have a look. In the mood for trying new things lately, expanding my horizons.
It's a series of 7 recipes I brewed to compare and contrast base malts.

Here's the discussion thread:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/forum/threads/base-malt-comparison-project.15691/
 
Ah, I was actually reading some of that thread, but silly me didn't connect the dots. A bit pre-occupied with my own adventures, I guess. I liked what I was reading, so no idea how/why I didn't put a watch on it. I'll go back and read again from the top. Thanks!
No problem. The recipe is a simple extra pale ale with a single malt and single hop in 2 boil additions. Pick your favorite malt and hop and decide how bitter you want it. I wanna say you prefer a less bitter beer? This one comes out around 30 IBUs (theoretically)
 
Moved the fermenter from the homemade cooling chamber into the new frigedeezer. For now, just gonna hang the temp sensor between the door and the body so I can push it up into the thermowell. The move wasn't as bad as anticipated because the missus helped me by keeping the stand under the fermenter in the move. Worst part was that silly me put it in the freezer with the TC well in the back, didn't I? So, had to take it back out (because the handle won't let it spin in the freezer) to turn it around. Probe in, freezer running, ITC-1000F waiting to see what happens. Already dropped the temp from 67.7 to 67.6 in less than 5 minutes. No more totin' ice.

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Hard to see, but the airlock sticks up above the internal temp controller bracket, so I had to take that off to put the fermenter in the freezer. 20 minutes later, and the temp is already down to 65.6F from 67.8. So, maybe money well spent on the freezer. I may have to reconsider turning the freezer on full tilt. Not sure how cold the ambient is gonna get in there meaning how much undershoot I'm gonna get. I can tweak a lotta things to fix that now, though. This batch will definitely get renamed to Frankenbeer if it survives all the disturbances I've given it. It's taken a beating on temperature and been bumped around a little, too. A little agitation, but I don't think any sloshing or aerating. Hoping it still had enough CO2 in the headspace to prevent any problems with critters going in while I had the airlock off.

Now, to look up fittings and stuff to put on that lid so I can try to push the beer out the bottom and into the bottling bucket .... The FF7.9 isn't pressure rated, so I dare not put more than a couple PIS on it. I'm not too concerned about the valve or it's attachment to the bottom, but I won't be impressed if it blows the lid off or breaks it. Worst I can do is break it, best I can do is force fermented beer to go where I want without aeration. Any recommendations on a good C02 regulator, spunding valve rig, and source for line parts? Come to think of it, my stepson (who got me started with this) has a tank and regulator. Might borrow his for a while. He isn't brewing much, and I'm pretty sure he has most everything needed for kegging, too. Might borrow his stuff and pay him back with some beer.

No problem. The recipe is a simple extra pale ale with a single malt and single hop in 2 boil additions. Pick your favorite malt and hop and decide how bitter you want it. I wanna say you prefer a less bitter beer? This one comes out around 30 IBUs (theoretically)
30 is actually a good number for me, if the hops are bringing something else to the party other than just plain bitterness. I'll even range up into the 40s in a stout if it's got some other fun for the tongue. But, you're right, I don't drink beer because I like bitter things. I tend to avoid using specialty flavor hops for bittering because Warrior (16 AAU) is so cheap and it doesn't take much of it (less sludge after the boil). Too much of it, though, and the beer tastes like I just mowed the lawn.

This sounds like a good way to individually sample hops, malts, and yeasts to try different things, then put adjuncts in to make a specialty beer. Thanks for your malt foundation research. I may give these a go and perhaps just try different hops in the one I like best until I find the hops I like best, then repeat with that foundation to find the yeast I like best. Got some brewing to do, darn it.
 

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