Home Brewers

#480
#480
I heard back from one of our city planners today and was informed I can not operate a commercial brewery from my home on any scale. Breweries here can only operate in areas zoned heavy industrial.
 
#481
#481
Last night we had some friends over and broke into our double hop head IPA (Midwest Supplies) and it was great. Everyone loved it, with nary a naysayer. Great flavor, very smooth, with a nice malt/hop balance.
Highly recommend.
 
#482
#482
Started building my keg brew kettle (keggle). First I made a jig so I could cut as close to a prefect circle as possible. The cut turned out good. Next I will polish it and drill holes for the spigot and thermometer I have ordered.
 

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#483
#483
Bottled the IPA kit yesterday. Flavor was good but no real hop bite. There was a note in the kit that said they changed Hop suppliers. Wondering if they screwed up. Seems like the batch will taste good, just not with an IPA bite. Time will tell.....
 
#484
#484
SmokeySteve said:
Bottled the IPA kit yesterday. Flavor was good but no real hop bite. There was a note in the kit that said they changed Hop suppliers. Wondering if they screwed up. Seems like the batch will taste good, just not with an IPA bite. Time will tell.....
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Which kit was it Steve?
 
#488
#488
Here's how it ended up. Doesn't look much different than above but gives an idea of what I started with. My fittings came in this week so I plan to drill holes next and get them installed and hopefully brew a couple batches in it this weekend.
 

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#490
#490
OK, cracked open the IPA. Might be showing my ignorance but put 2 in the fridge and those were dead, did not carbonate. The others did. I thought carbonation liked cold? Seem to remember I did that before with no problem.

It turned out so-so. Dark for an IPA. Does not taste like US style IPA, not citrusy bitter on the front end. This hits on the back end similar to an imperial Pils. Not my best batch but drinkable. The old Sex, Pizza Beer rule :)
 

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#491
#491
SmokeySteve said:
OK, cracked open the IPA. Might be showing my ignorance but put 2 in the fridge and those were dead, did not carbonate. The others did. I thought carbonation liked cold? Seem to remember I did that before with no problem.

It turned out so-so. Dark for an IPA. Does not taste like US style IPA, not citrusy bitter on the front end. This hits on the back end similar to an imperial Pils. Not my best batch but drinkable. The old Sex, Pizza Beer rule :)
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Yeah Steve you don't want to chill them until they have carbonated. The yeast needs to be active for them to carbonate and chilling them makes the yeast settle out. When I was bottling I tried to give them 2 or 3 weeks at least before chilling.

Also if you like citrus tasting hops look for kits with cascade or chinook hops. You should try the Extra Pale Ale from Northern Brewer. Its made with all cascades and its really good.
 
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#493
#493
I got one keggle done today. I plan to brew a couple batches in it tomorrow. The brewpot is only going to have spigot and thermometer. I will be able to brew up to 12 gallon batches in it.
 

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#494
#494
Hopvol said:
Yeah Steve you don't want to chill them until they have carbonated. The yeast needs to be active for them to carbonate and chilling them makes the yeast settle out. When I was bottling I tried to give them 2 or 3 weeks at least before chilling.

Also if you like citrus tasting hops look for kits with cascade or chinook hops. You should try the Extra Pale Ale from Northern Brewer. Its made with all cascades and its really good.
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Thanks for the advice. Strangely enough, this kit had Cascade hops so that was why I was expecting a stronger upfront citrusy bite.
 
#496
#496
Hopvol said:
Hmmm, was it all Cascade's? Do you remember how many oz's?
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No only partial Cascade, unfortunately do not remember the amount. There was a note that said they recently changed the Hops portion of the recipe.

Next time we plan on getting a kit from Alternative Beverages in Charlotte.
 
#497
#497
The new brew pot worked great. Brewed a Chinook IPA and Sierra Madre IPA yesterday.
 

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#498
#498
Love the immersion chiller. This was the first time using it. Took wort from 214 to 72 degrees in 18 min!
 

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#499
#499
I'm needing to upgrade to a 5 gallon brew kettle and I found this one on ebay. Camp Chef 'Hot Pot' 5 Gallon Pot | eBay

@HopVol: Have you ever used kettles that are enamel coated like this? I'm just wondering if it will be good enough to brew in and keep a boil going for the length of time needed. Don't know if the enamel coating is a bad thing or not? Any advice would be appreciated. :hi:
 
#500
#500
supersmo18 said:
I'm needing to upgrade to a 5 gallon brew kettle and I found this one on ebay. Camp Chef 'Hot Pot' 5 Gallon Pot | eBay

@HopVol: Have you ever used kettles that are enamel coated like this? I'm just wondering if it will be good enough to brew in and keep a boil going for the length of time needed. Don't know if the enamel coating is a bad thing or not? Any advice would be appreciated. :hi:
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Ive never used an enamel coated pot. My only concern would be if the enamel would start chipping or peeling over time. You probably know stainless steel is best and alot of brewers will tell you not to use anything but ss. However it can be expensive. I brewed for several years in aluminum pots. I would bet you can fine an aluminum pot similar in price.

The only other thing I would add is get as big a pot as you can afford. If you get a pot that only holds 5 gallons you will have to do partial boils and top off the fermenter with water. I done this for a long time too but you will eventually want to do full boils because it makes better beer and greatly reduces your chances of contamination. You can always add a spigot to any pot later. You will also have boil overs easy in a 5 gallon pot. Hope this helps.
 
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