BLACK IPA (silent blog)

Brewing Inspiration

Reason #1

Here is a pic of one of the last remaining almost IPA's. My wife grabbed and poured the last cold one out of the refridgerator. Even she is a fan of hand-crafted bier.

WeinBerg Weizenbier

Yesterday I bottled the overly hopped, all-grain, hybrid American White Wheat beer that I recently brewed. This one is going to be good.

Definitely buy yourself a spring-loaded bottling wand. The gravity wands start leaking when your bottling bucket gets low.
Capping with ye'ol' Red Barron.

I swear by these 12 oz. plastic "tester" bottles.

The King's bier!

Holier Than Thou..... How? reference

Holier Than Thou..... How?

.
I began a Patersbier this Saturday. It had a low mash temp of 147. There really was a three stage mash, but that is a little above my equipment so I opted for the single 60 min mash.

This is the 9 lbs. of Pilsner malt right before it went into the mash tun.

My mash tun got stuck so I wash forced to make a mess and ended up with a wart that was a bit cloudier than the last brew. Oh well, bread beer will be fine.

WYEAST again. They need to hire me as a sales rep. I have had great luck with these activator packs and can pretty much predict when and how ferment will occur. This is a trappist.

1 oz. German tradition (60 min) and .5 oz. Czech Saaz (10 min)


Turkey fry pot. Works as well as any. Katy said "I thought you weren't going to brew inside anymore." I love the honey-tea-esk aroma. She says it smells like sweet potatoes.

Irish moss. I put some in with about 20 minutes of boil time left.


St. Pauli Girl in my 25 cent thrift store dimple glass!

Air lock getting ready to burp.

Did I mention the Mead?

I had some honey and I had an extra pack of yeast so I thought, "What the hay." I did not follow any recipe, just added some honey to a gallon of water, a little brown sugar and a few strawberries. I let it cool, pitched the yeast and well....it is turning into something. We will see.......

From Start to Finish with Fred

I took all of my home-brewing gadgets over to my Dad's house today to brew his first batch. I used some of the new things I have created. Brewing is an art. Art is refinement, whether the increments are large or small.



Getting the strike water up to temp.







My mobile gravity system.









Inside of the mash tun. Check out the youtube video for a how-to.








GRAINS!!












Letting the grain bed settle.

Returning the wart to the mash.

MMMMMMMMMMM almost beer!

New sparge.

Working well.

adding a bit more sparge water.

the ball valve really helped control the sparge flow.

pre=boil and hops. Very clear and Great color.

Dawson's Red Multigrain. Thanks Northern Brewer!

New Gadgets, Ideas, and Brew

DISCLAIMER: I am, in no way, form, or fashion, an expert, just an experimenter.

Here is what I am going to use as a sparge tank. It is a two-gallon Coleman cooler. I will add a brass ball valve so that I can control the flow rate for the sparge.

Here is the most awesome thing I have created to date. It is my sparge arm. I used what I had. Note to everyone, never use pvc. You must always use cpvc designated drinking water, especially when running hot water through it. That is also high temp water line with small holes drilled every inch or so....

In an attempt to combat the growing Florida heat, I have been devising a plan for a cooler locker each night instead of counting sheep. This is the bottom of the pantry which generally just collects grocery bags waiting to go to the recycling bin.

Here is a picture of the inside. This is the American Wheat which I transferred to the secondary and added an oz. of Cascade hops today. There is also a frozen two liter(litre) for the brits, which is helping regulate the temp. I intend on adding a small ac vent and foam to the locker to make it as efficient as possible. The ice is working pretty well. It is sitting around 70 degrees.

How I made my Mash Tun

This is a great and ingenious "How To" video that I found on Youtube. I used all of the parts that were listed but instead used a cylindrical Drink Cooler. The genius really lies in the use of of the braided stainless steel in lieu of a false bottom. I generally haven't been too successful at saving money by creating devices and gadgets thyself BUT, in the end I did make them myself, didn't pay shipping, and....didn't have to wait for them in the mail. ENJOY

All Grain Dry Hop #1

First of all, my wife insists that I quit saying "Dry Hop." So as the rule of the universe works, I find myself repeating that small phrase in regular conversation with her present. I don't mean it, my attention deficit is forcing it to be the every third looping thought. Do you have those too? I definitely get them. Sometimes they are harmless thoughts like "Dry-Hop" other times they are " "LIFE IS TOO BIG!" Depends on the day. ANYWAY, I did bottle my first attempt at an all-grain.

























Here is a pic of my empty carboy (sad sight) and these great little plastic coke bottles that I used. The plastic bottles are great for measuring carbonation without having to pop a bottle open. And then when my mind can't take it anymore and I have to open one, I don't waste as much. That's the thought for now .

John Prine's Grandma and Mo Would Be Proud

In an attempt to be as self sufficient as possible, I purchased a circa 1956 SINGER sewing machine. The boys and I set out yesterday morning for a bit of thrifting and came across it at a little place called Finders Keepers in East Palatka. Before we made it over the bridge I had already called my sister to enlist her help in getting it going. By nightfall she was threaded up and purring like a.... well a sewing machine. A little oil, a little new thread, and a little overcoming the fear of my Grandmother Mo's tale of a needle going through her finger, and I was in sewing business. How does this relate to brewing? Well, my first attempt at becoming a seamster resulted in the Bergen Beer Bib.




Here it is and I know, it looks like a beer ghost. This is a dry hopped pale ale (all-grain) that I don't think is ever going to stop fermenting. It spent one week in the primary and is going on three weeks in the secondary. I am ready to try it!