Via Home Sweet Homebrew: National Toast to Michael Jackson

Via a newsletter from Home Sweet Homebrew in Philly. I'm running out the door, so I don't have time to look for a site or link with more information.

"There is a proposed National Toast to Michael Jackson at many beer bars coast
to coast on September 12, with proceeds from the bars to go to the National
Parkinson’s Foundation. Please consider joining in and contributing something to
the Memorial Fund."

Update: Looks like September 30th is the new date. Check out this post from Toranado.

Beer Haiku Daily - Michael Jackson

A good toast if you'll be toasting Michael.

Beer Haiku Daily - Michael Jackson

Dogfish Head - Off-Centered Brewer Wanted

Are you up to it?

Dogfish Head - Off-Centered Brewer Wanted

Someday...someday...

OMG...the beer blogosphere cries out over Michael Jackson's passing.

Check out RSBS over at beerinator.

I wonder if he knew how many people he has touched. If he didn't then perhaps he does now.

I'm in awe.

The Passing of Michael Jackson.

I didn't know Michael Jackson very well , but, I did get to meet him recently. Sometimes people can affect you in even the shortest of encounters. Such is the case with Mr. Jackson.

I'm sorry to hear of his passing. He was a kind soul indeed.

I'll uphold my promise to read John Barleycorn as he suggested during our brief conversation.

Cheers Mr. Jackson!

More info -> Popular Science 'The Device' - All-In-One Beer Making Machine - Gizmodo

I posted a bit about this before, but, here's some more info and a video.

Man's Best Friend: 'The Device' - All-In-One Beer Making Machine - Gizmodo

Cheers!

Belgian Style Ales - Specifig Gravity & Tasting

Didn't get it into the secondaries yet. Worked in the backyard instead. Tomorrow I'll transfer them. Decided to taste them and take a reading. Used the beer thief to get sample out of the carboys. Drop it in, wait for it to fill and pull out the thief with a sample in it.

The airlock is still bubbling intermittently.












Light Version 1.014 S.G. (7.3% abv)
still in primary - light, watery - drinkable










Dark Version 1.013 S.G. (6.1% abv)
still in primary - caramel, alcohol, spicy, kinda confusing

Into the Keg/Secondary tonight...

Looks like I'll have some time to get 'er done tonight. I'll take some pictures along the way. If you in the area and you want to stop by feel free :-)

Hmmm...so this means the primary fermenters will be empty again. Time to brew again! After all I have wedding beer to make.

Also, next week I'll be brewing with Jeremy over at his place.

Site Changes: Links on the Right

I should probably label this, "How to be useful." This site's purpose is to be useful to homebrewers. In an effort to uphold this mission I have have created five link lists on the right hand side of the blog. They are...

• Favorite Homebrewer Links
• Homebrewer Links (useful, but not on the top of my mind)
  
• Favorite Beer Links
• Beer Links (good, but not on the top of my mind)
  
• New Links I'm Checkin' Out (after a short review these links will move into one of the other lists)

We'll see how that works. I'm sure there will be another incarnation, but for now that'll do.

Keg as Secondary Fermenter: Overview of steps...

I find that I'm more efficient if I go through the steps and write them down before I actually start. I don't always use the written list, but, it helps me memorize to write them down. Again, this is just how I do it. It seems to work. If you have suggestions, I'm all ears. So here it goes.

Equipment I'll be using...

• two 5 gallon cornielius kegs
• tubing for siphoning
• auto siphon
• B-Brite
• iodophor
• two carboys filled with ~5 gallons fermented beer
• 5 lb CO2 canister (regulator, fittings, etc.)
• container to hold 1 - 2 gallons of sanitizing solution
• paper towels
• carboy brush

Steps I'll probably go through...

• Clean two kegs with B-Brite (1 gallon warm water, 1 tblsp B-Brite) helps get the rough stuff out. May not be necessary if your keg is clean. I usually take the valves off and clean all the pieces I can. ( I should probably have some keg lube, but, I've never used it)
• Save B-Brite solution for use with other equipment. Put it in a container big enough to hold the equipment you are cleaning.
• Sanitize first keg with BTF Iodophor (2.5 gallons of cold water, 1 tsp water)
• Sanitize second keg with BTF Iodophor (2.5 gallons of cold water, 1 tsp water)
• Sit kegs right side up for a few minutes with iodophor solution (sanitize bottom half)
• Sit kegs upside down for a few minutes with iodophor solution (sanitize top half)
• Bring carboys, primary fermenters, upstairs.
• Use saved b-brite solution to clean/sanitize siphon and racking tube.
• Put primary fermenters on table to prepare for siphoning. (surface higher than the kegs)
• Dump iodophor solution from one keg and don't rinse just let it drip.
• Hook up the CO2 to the gas in port.
• With regulator set to 5-10 lbs fill up the keg with CO2. The idea here is to transfer the beer into the CO2 filled keg where O2 probably won't touch it. Not sure how much this helps, but, hey who am I to argue at this point. Only takes a few seconds and seems to make perfect sense.
• Siphon the beer from the primary to the keg. Less splashing the better, but, since it is just CO2 in there it doesn't matter much ;-)
• Leave as much of the sediment in the primary as you can.
• Siphoning is complete.
• Put the top back on the keg.
• Hit it with CO2.
• Use the pressure release valve to evacuate gases from the keg.
• Hit with CO2.
• Use the pressure release valve to evacuate gases from the keg.
• At this point there should be very little air left and only CO2 in the headspace.
• Hit with CO2 enough so that the keg seals.
• Store where you would normally store a secondary fermenter @ 60 - 75 degrees.
• Rinse the siphon and tube in B-Brite solution.
• (repeating the above steps for second keg)
• Dump iodophor solution from one keg and don't rinse just let it drip.
• Hook up the CO2 to the gas in port.
• With regulator set to 5-10 lbs fill up the keg with CO2. The idea here is to transfer the beer into the CO2 filled keg where O2 probably won't touch it. Not sure how much this helps, but, hey who am I to argue at this point. Only takes a few seconds and seems to make perfect sense.
• Siphon the beer from the primary to the keg. Less splashing the better, but, since it is just CO2 in there it doesn't matter much ;-)
• Leave as much of the sediment in the primary as you can.
• Siphoning is complete.
• Put the top back on the keg.
• Hit it with CO2.
• Use the pressure release valve to evacuate gases from the keg.
• Hit with CO2.
• Use the pressure release valve to evacuate gases from the keg.
• At this point there should be very little air left and only CO2 in the headspace.
• Hit with CO2 enough so that the keg seals.
• Store where you would normally store a secondary fermenter @ 60 - 75 degrees.
• clean equipment using B-Brite solution (carboys, siphon, tubing, stoppers, air locks)put it all away so other people can use the kitchen ;-)

Brewing Beer: Using corny kegs as secondary fermenters

Checked the two belgian style ales last night. Looks like they are ready to be moved into the secondary. The only problem is that I don't have two secondaries. Hmmm....what can I do?

I'm not borrowing two glass carboys again. That's just a hassle for everybody. I think I might use my extra corny kegs. Paul has been using corny kegs as a secondary fermenter for a long time. I think I'll take a cue from him.

Time to add his page to the list of useful hombrewing links. I've used his page many times. Especially when starting to keg. Thanks Paul.

The All-Grain Evangelist: Fermentation Temperature Control, Part II: Son of Fermentation Chiller

The All-Grain Evangelist: A Beer Brewer's Blog - Fermentation Temperature Control, Part II: Son of Fermentation Chiller

Ok. I gotta get a handle on my projects that are related to beer. This has weekend project written all over it. No, I can't do it. Not now. Nope, not gonna. No way.

Maybe next spring.

Hop Talk: Online Brewing Resources

Check out Hop Talk for a list of places to go for home brew info.

I'm ramping up my search for the best home brew resources so this is quite timely. Check it out.

Last bottle of St. Bernardus 12 60th Anniversary

Shared a bottle of this with friends tonight. :-) Nothing better than sharing a good beer with friends.

Now I don't have any more :-(

Maybe my beer Belgian style ales will taste like this. Not likely. Still have a long way to go. It will be fun trying though. Rock on!

Why brewing beer is not like baking a cake | Monday Night Brewery : Atlanta, GA

Why brewing beer is not like baking a cake : Monday Night Brewery : Atlanta, GA

It is literally a living organism, and like all living organisms, is
difficult to understand and control.

- Johathan, MNB

Dead on!

That doesn't mean it is too complicated for the uninitiated to try. Are you ready to experience brewing?

Fermentation: Time lapse video from last year

Watch the first 15 hours of the fermentation of my NRK and IPA. A frame was taken every 5 minutes for 15 hours. You can see the lag time of about 7 hours while the yeast is getting ready to do its thing. Then it begins :-)

Brewing Beer: Fermentation, another video snippet...

Looks like the blow off tube
has really been put to good use here.

Brewing Beer: Belgian Ales Fermentation In Progress Video

The small carboy has a blow off tube. The large doesn't.
Wow they started fermenting quickly. You know what they say.
The bigger the starter, the faster your fermentation :-)

Brewing Beer: Belgian Style Ales Boil Video

All done. Thanks Jeremy for helping out :-) Ok, the night didn't go as planned, but, it never does. I staggered the boils, which saved me time. Both Belgian style ales are in carboys waiting to be colonized with lotsa little creatures. Hmmm...will we blow the fermentation lock off again?

Brewing both batches took about 3 1/2 hours.
Not bad really. Wanna see the wort boiling? Here is very short video.

Brewing Beer: Belgian Ales Brew Day

Jeremy is coming over tonight to assist me in brewing. I get to try out the new pot/kettle :-) I was thinking I could brew both batches at once, but, I keep forgetting that cooling these puppies down requires a wort chiller. Can't use the wort chiller in two brews at the same time. I'll have to stagger them or do them one after the other. I think it will go something like this. These are partial boil extract brews.

• batch1: boil water (5 gallons?) for topping off both batches and set aside, this is to sterilize
• batch1: boil 4 to 5 gallons of water for batch 1 wort
• batch1: add malt
• batch1: bring wort to boil
• batch1: 60 min count down begins
• batch2: boil 4 to 5 gallons of water for batch 2 wort
• batch1: add hops....etc.
• batch1: 15 min left add wort chiller (to sanitize)
• etc.

I'll update this as I get time...

Equipment: A New Pot...er brew kettle

I needed a pot big enough to brew a few gallons of wort without worrying about boil over. I think this is the same pot Bryan recently purchased. Not bad for the price.

24 quart stock pot (link to BJs wholesale website)

Probably not big enough to boil the whole wort considering the amount of water that boils off. I hear a typical boil off rate is about 1/2 gal every 20 minutes. That would mean I need at least a 7 gallon kettle. Too expensive right now. Not happening. Here are the reasons this is better than what I had before.

• bigger by about two gallons
• thicker bottom (not sure if there is aluminum core or not)
• wider rather than taller so it fits on my stove - I hope, I haven't tried it yet :-(

Yeast Starter: Overview & Status

Just as quickly as it got rolling it is slowing down. No more of those bubbles in this little brew. Some yeast is still visibly in suspension and will be for a couple days. I could use this yeast right now if I were ready to brew.

Here's a quick overview the process.

• saved the yeast slurry from primary fermenter after last brew
• decided on recipe
• put up the yeast starter
• fermentation in progress
• fermentation slowing down
• yeast settling out of suspension
• drain some of the beer off the top
• slosh it around to make a slurry
• pitch 1/2 the yeast in one wort
• pitch the other half in another

Why did I do this? There are a couple reasons. I want to master home brewing and I'd like to feel confident that I can reuse yeast without contamination. The other reason? It is cheaper than buying liquid yeast for each batch.

Supposedly you shouldn't keep reusing the same yeast too many times. I think five generations is the suggested limit. I guess there are good reasons for that. I won't guess about them here. I haven't been diligent enough to get past three generations.

Where to from here? Besides brewing the two Belgian style ales this week? Someday I'd like to explore keeping a small library of yeast on hand. We'll see. I have successfully kept yeast in the fridge for a year and reused it. We'll see.

Nate's Beer and Brewing Blog

Nate is holding down the fort in Central/Western PA. Check out his site for some beer cloning action!

Nate's Beer and Brewing Blog

Hey Nate, did you see that Chad Hurley of YouTube fame was featured in the IUP alumni mag? Pretty cool. He was a freshman when I graduated.

Yeast Starter: Video of the bubbles :-)

Looks like its working! I'll be brewing on Wednesday or Thursday. The video may be unavailable for a bit while YouTube is processing it.

Brookston Beer Bulletin » The Bronze Age of Irish Brewing

Jay has a great story for us this morning. I'd love to taste this brew.

Brookston Beer Bulletin » The Bronze Age of Irish Brewing

And you thought this was going to be about Guinness! Nope these guys think that ancient people used to brew beer in troughs in the ground.

I decided to embed the video here too. I love these guys :-) Does this make you think that we worry about sanitation too much?

Yeast Starter: Reusing yeast from last batch

Note: 9/5/2007 The flask cracked from the heat. I don't use it anymore. Instead I heat the mini wort in a pot and pour it into the fermentation vessel (usually a growler).

I decided to brew another Belgian ale or two. I'll shoot for roughly the same AVB as the last, between 5% and 6% abv. John Palmer's suggested 1/2 cup DME per pint should be fine. I might add just a little more since my specific gravity will be higher than 1.040. Again I'm assuming that keeping the original gravity of the starter and the wort will help. (who am I to argue with all these people who write books about the stuff)

I gathered the equipment, boiled up a starter wort, pitched the yeast and set it aside for three or four days. I'd like to get it brewed before the weekend if possible. Here are the details.

(reusing White Labs Belgian Ale Yeast WLP550)


Grabbed my equipment. Didn't really need all this. Here's what I used; 2000 ml, stopper, airlock, yeast, Beer Brite, lighter, growler, bowl, paper towels, carboy brush, small funnel. The flask isn't really necessary, but, makes it easier to boil a starter because you can boil the starter wort in the same thing you will ferment in.




I use B-Brite for cleaning and sanitation. One tablespoon per gallon of warm water.







Added 1/2 a tablespoon of B-Brite to this growler and filled it with warm water.







Shook the growler a few times, cleaned the cap and poured the B-Brite cleanser into this bowl. I'll use this solution any time I need to clean equipment.






Getting ready to remove the stopper from the yeast slurry in this flask. I saved if from the bottom of primary fermenter two months ago when I brewed those two Belgian style ales. Since then it has been refrigerated in my beer fridge in the basement.





Removed stopper and airlock. Placed it in the cleaning solution while I prepare to transfer the slurry into the growler. If I had another flask I wouldn't need to do this, but, I don't. Note to self store slurry in growler next time.






Before I pour the slurry into the growler I want to sanitize the lip of the flask. It's been sitting around in fridge for two months. Could have bacteria on it. I use a lighter to do this.







Slosh the slurry around to get it all into solution. That way little chunks won't plug up the funnel when I transfer it.







The flask is dirty and I need to clean the stuff from the sides using a carboy brush.










Boiling one quart of water. I should probably use one pint like John Palmer suggests, but, I figure the bigger the better. If anybody knows a reason not to this, let me know.

Next time I'll mix the dry malt extract in ahead of time. Then boil. Much easier.

one cup DME
one quart water



Transferring the slurry to the growler. The funnel has been soaking in the cleaning solution for a while now and should be sanitized. The growler should also be sanitized by now.









Shook up the slurry to aerate. I'm thinking that will help later when I pitch it into the










Flask after struggling to get the DME into the flask and almost boiling it over. Again next time I'll mix the DME into the water first, then boil it ;-)

Boiled for about fifteen minutes to sanitize.








Added the sanitized stopper and airlock. Cooling off the wort in a pan of water. Still makes me nervous. I'm afraid the glass will shatter due to temperature differences, but, I'm not willing to wait. Need to do some more research.

Note: I sanitized the lip of the flask with a flame again.






Once the temperature falls to the right temp pitch the slurry into the wort. You're shooting for a pitching temperature around 75 degrees after both solutions are mixed. I'll leave the rest up to you.

I'll brew in three or four days.

Yeast Starter: reusing the Belgian ale yeast

About two months ago I brewed two five gallon batches of Belgian style ale. Both used the same Belgian White Labs yeast WLP550. I'm going to reuse the yeast I saved from the yeast cake on one of the beers. First thing to do. Make a yeast starter. I'll use John Palmer's recommended method of creating a yeast starter as a guide this time.

- 1 pint of water
- 1/2 cup of dry malt extract
- yeast nutrient (oops don't have any)

I guess I should figure out my beer recipe now so I can match my specific gravity in the starter to the recipe. Many people say that works better. I'll be back with my decision and what I did to reuse the yeast for this next batch or two.

Got a taste for that barleywine...

Every time I open another bottle I seem to want another.

Like I said, I don't think my stash of the barley wine will last. Opened another tonight to share with the family. Most of them cringed and said, "ewh". I didn't expect otherwise. A couple were intrigued by the nose and wanted to know what I used to make it.

Great weather, good home brew and some time with family around the fire. :-)

Brewing Equipment - Home Brewing Wiki

The Home Brewing Wiki dives deeper into many home brewing topics. Not all are equally explored however Brewing Equipment is one of the topics with loads of detail.

Homebrewing - Wikipedia, decent overview

If you're looking for an overview of the home brewing topic Wikipedia has some good information. It covers the history, priciples, ingredients, equipment, brewing culture, useful links and discussion of legal restrictions. Not a complete treatment, but a nice smattering of useful info.

Homebrewing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Realbeer.com Beer Community

If you are looking for a place to learn about brewing and you want real homebrewers advice the Real Beer Community is a great place to go.

This is a great example of a homebrewer just getting started and enlisting the help of the community. Realbeer.com Beer Community - I'm ready to take the plunge I found this in the How To forum.

Homebrew for a wedding...hmmm

This is something that I'll be doing this year for my father's wedding. Time's a wastin'. Gotta get brewin'

The Wedding Page

Monday night recap over at Jack's...

That ahem...esteemed beer writer guy JACK CURTIN has posted the Monday night tasting recap from Wardell (beer slinger) Massey's list of what was tasted over at The Sly Fox. And if you look closely at the list of 22 barleywines and such you'll see mine.

I still think mine was the best of the bunch ;-) I might be biased though.

Popular Science: Beer Machine aka "The Device"

September 2007 issue (dead tree version) page 81 has an article about a guy, John Carnett, who built his own little extract brewery on a cart or two. I've seen similar setups from time to time. Keg for boiling the wort, another keg for the fermenter, two soda kegs for the final fermentation/serving, and a cold plate to chill the beer before it hits the tap which is built in. There are temp controllers and heat exchangers. All in all not too shabby. I don't have a link to an online version. It took $4,315 to make it over three months.

Not sure how Pop Sci integrates their dead tree content with their website, but in the section to watch is How 2.0.

Stoutenporter (a.k.a. the eff'd beer)

I haven't checked the specific gravity, but, I think it might be drying out a bit. I just tried some last night and it doesn' seem as cloying. What's the worst that could happen? It's already eff'd.

2005 Barleywine tasted tonight...

Compared to the huge number of barleywines floating around the table tonight, mine seemed dryed out and almost hot. Got some positive feedback from others though. Thanks everybody. I think I have about 10 more bottles left. One per year for the next 10 years? Yeah right, I don't think it will make it that long.

Gotta brew another one of these soon.

Perseids Meteor Shower

I caught about six hitting the atmosphere Saturday night. Sunday night/Monday morning I saw about three with my daughter. Then the clouds moved in.

Check it out here and here. All this confused me a bit though. I just went outside and stared blankly at the sky and saw some things that usually don't happen :-)

Nothing like some comet dust to remind you that we're floating along in space and being affected by other celestial objects. Its good to feel small every now and then.

Sittin' by the campfire with Ommegeddon :-)

Thought it might be a nice way to finish a couple days of camping with the family. Ommegang's Ommegeddon is much better as it warms from being stored in the coller on ice for days. Not rushing this one.

Hey don't forget the meteor shower this weekend. Sunday night is
supposed to be the best time to watch. Google it.

This being posted from a phone so please forgive the terseness and typos.

From Hail the Ale :-) Bite My Shiny, Metal, Beer-Brewing A$$

You gotta love it. Why didn't I think of that? A brewing Bender robot!

Bite My Shiny, Metal, Beer-Brewing A$$

Site Design: How's that?

I like the new look. How about you? Still some tweeks left, but this one feels better.

Good Reading: All About Beer:Homebrewing-Secondary Fermentation

This gives a good overview of why you would want to use a secondary fermentor when homebrewing. It also give some context in comparison to commercial brewing.

All About Beer: Homebrewing-Secondary Fermentation

The main site...

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/

New Site Design @ Beer Bits 2

Let me know what you think. I'm trying some things out. Go ahead. I can take it ;-)

Virtual beer?

Jeremy and I were just talking about this on meebo last night. Virtual beer. See I keep telling everybody that beer is the true source of everything good. Like special effects ;-)

» Ready for a virtual beer? Emerging Technology Trends ZDNet.com

To steal Jeremy's joke. What is the best thing about virtual beer? (wait for it...) No hangovers!

The Session #6: Fruit Beers @ Beer Bits 2

Beer, Beats & Bites has chosen fruit beer for The Session #6. I wish I would have had the foresight to brew a beer with some fruit. Hmmm...I'll just have to taste somebody elses. Catch you later tonight. Watch for comments here and a round up over the weekend. Looks like Greg posted tonight as well. Watch this post for some more comments.

Update
I thought it might be interesting to try two beers that were quite possibly completely opposite, but still have something in common. Both Abita's Purple Haze and Lindeman's Framboise Lambic have raspberry flavors, but, that is pretty much where the similarities end.

Purple Haze was first in the line up. ('cause I know I like the Framboise better ;-) The color is straw yellowish orange with a very soft large head of small bubbles. It's nose is kinda earthy and yeasty. Not unexpected for a wheat beer. It has a hint of raspberry on the nose as well as on the tongue with the fruity wheatness you would expect from a wheat beer. Very drinkable and pleasant. Some uninitiated might baulk at the nose, but, it smells better than most popular macro beers. This could be a chick beer. Take note men.

Next up....THE FRAMBIOSE! Peel away the foil, pop out the cork and wow you really get a hint of what is to come. Imagine a bowl full of red raspberries just picked and sitting in front of you. That's what it smells like and it hasn't even been poured yet. Pour it and you see the bubbles have a purple tint to them. Smell that sour fruit. Take it in. (I think I need a moment to myself)

Ok, it is a dark purple with a good head that dissipates to a velvety blanket. The color is reminiscent of raspberry jam. The nose is well just as light and fruity as the fruit itself. Now for the taste. I should note that this beer is now at room temperature. It's taken that long for me to get to it :-) Oh back to the taste. Imagine a raspberry sauce served with cheesecake. That's it. Sweet and tart with almost all the characteristics of the fruit itself. I've often thought of beer as liquid bread. Well this is liquid dessert. Liquid raspberries for the gods! Sheesh...sometimes a beer just moves ya.

I like to bring things down to earth. So here it goes. You walk into a bar. You ask the bartender if they have any raspberry beer. (you heard about it from your friend) You get to choose between Abita's Purple Haze Raspberry Wheat Brew and Lindemans Framboise. First you'll need to get past the price difference. Then what? What would you choose? Well most people won't get past the price difference. At three times the cost Lindeman's just isn't in the same league.

I've been known to put taste above price before. Which would I choose? Duh...the Lindemans. Which would most people choose after tasting both? Purple Haze, it is more drinkable as an entry level beer. Lindemans Frambois would be more appealing to somebody who is exploring the beer world. Although it is a bit sweet for my taste, it is delicious. There is no doubt about it.

How do they do this? Evidently barley malt, unmalted wheat, raspberries and spontaneous fermentation. Damn. I gotta try this with my hombrew. I wonder what kinda spontaneous fermentation I'd get out here in Southeastern PA? Not sure I wanna find out.

One last point. Does fruit and beer go together. Most people would say no. Most beer people would say yes. There is room to grow in this area. I think there are more people out there who would be interested in fruit beer if they weren't stuck with all those so so raspberry or cherry wheat beers. The world needs to be educated!

Over at The Brew Lounge Bryan is brewing tomorrow for the first time :-)

Over at The Brew Lounge Bryan is ramping up for his first homebrewing experience. Always makes me happy to see somebody try their hand at homebrewing.

Good luck! Like I said in my comments I have an '05 barley wine for us to enjoy if you like. Always helps to have homemade beer to enjoy when you're brewing your own :-)

The Perfect Brew Tower

Check this out.

The Perfect Brew Tower

Now that's a project! I think I would need an engineering degree and some welding skillz. If I only knew an engineer....hmmm...

Fermenting out the Stoutenporter...

Well, I didn't have any high gravity liquid yeast laying around so I decided to try some champagne yeast. Now, this seemed to work with the Barleywine I brewed a while back. Lets see what happens here.

Now I just have to remember to let the pressure out of the keg as the yeast does its thing.

YouTube - Home brewing the easy way part 1

Here is that video I was talking about. Actually he has four. Again, this isn't the only way to brew, but, I like his minimalist approach. He's good at keeping the video moving along too. Check out "CraigTube". He plays some pretty mean drums too. Check out his main page for a video of his band playing Baracuda. ;-)

YouTube - Home brewing the easy way part 1

Homebrewing Schedule & YouTube video...

Ok, I've decided.

• Tonight, I'll fix up the Stoutenporter with some high gravity yeast. It is warming up as we speak. Had to take it out of the fridge.
• Then I'll brew an English style Pale Ale either tonight or Friday night.
• On Sunday I'll attempt to fit in a Strong Ale.
• Jeremy needs to get his butt moving too and I'm gonna help with that. We just haven't nailed down a good time for it.

Last night I saw a few interesting videos on YouTube about how to brew beer. Funny how everybody has their own little take on it. Fundamentally it is the same process, but, it can be as simple or complex as you want to make it. I guess it is like cooking in that respect.

I'll try to post some of these videos here a little later. Just search YouTube for home brewing stuff and you'll see them. The one I was watching was from a guy in Canada.