Give thanks with Fermentation Friday homebrew pictures :-)

Just keepin' the RSS feed alive here ;-)

Actually right now, I'm giving thanks that my Mom has given up her dialup connection and now has DSL! Whoohoo!

BTW go check out the photos from Pfiff!

Fermentation Friday the easy way...a visual experience even...

I think this Fermentation Friday snuck up on Joel and I. Still waiting to hear from him. Maybe it was the bazillion Allagash beers tasting he attended on Monday Night. Verticals, horizontals, diagonals even a Belgian style homebrew. So I'll take the reigns for this one. Since this is very last minute and I'm not sure how many of you have time to write something in the next day, lets make it easier.

Email me at beerbits2@gmail.com or leave a link to one or more of your favorite brewing/homebrew pictures.

We might even be able to create a slide show. Where ever you are and where ever you will be I hope you enjoy yourself, your family and your friends. Now send me some pictures.

Photo of me and my son picking hops taken by Bryan over at The Brew Lounge

No more ads...

...at least for the time being. So let your weary eyes rest easy.

(Don't forget to send homebrew photos too! beerbits2@gmail.com)

Breaking news...Fermentation Friday...need homebrew pictures...

This is for my twitter friends out there. Calling all twits...er...twitterers ;-)

After Thanksgiving comes...Fermentation Friday

Yeah...things have been rolling along pretty quickly these days. I don't think we have a topic announced yet. No prob. I'm sure we'll see something soon. Happy Thanksgiving everybody :-)

Up next! November 28 - Dr Joel @ The Grain Bill

A porter is born...from BB2 readers :-)

Two brews have been inspired by BB2 readers. First an easy drinking wheat beer. Not the IPA or the Imperial that some of you suggested, but, something for the masses around the holidays. Then I got selfish. It was time for something more. Adeptus mentioned the porter and linked to his recipe. I held back for the first batch, but, last night I decided it was time to get back into something darker. Remember I'm trying to use up the ingredients I have instead of spending more money. I kept the target abv. reasonable at around 5% and well here's the rest...

• 3.3 lbs of extra pale LME
• 4 lbs of wheat LME
• .25 oz chocolate
• .25 oz roasted malt
• .25 oz special B
  
• 1 oz cascade 60 min
• .5 oz fuggles 20 min
• .5 oz fuggles 10 min
• Safale S-04 English Ale yeast (4th pitching)

Its fermenting away. Actually I made a 5 gallon batch and a 1 gallon batch. I'm going to experiment with some cocoa powder and see if I can make my wife a chocolate beer :-) I'll probably add the chocolate at bottling time. Thanks BB2 readers for the inspiration and help.

Busy time of year, do you feel it too?

The brew basement is moving along bit by bit. Coming soon to the blog is a picture of a pot, some kegs and misc beer stuff sitting in its new space soon. Ooooo....I'm sure you can't wait ;-) What has been done so far...

• wife patched and painted walls
• Purchased materials
• Fixed some of the wall
• dug out terrarium
• laid moisture barrier
• built floor frame
• cut flooring OSB
• cut some of the vinyl flooring
• caulked the skylight in the terrarium
• replaced lights with compact flourescents
• lots of planning

It really is starting to shape up. The mold smells coming from the terrarium are almost all gone. That alone makes a huge difference. With the new paint and lights it really is brighter. I'm looking forward to some new track lighting and getting everything cleaned up. Not sure what I'll do with the wood burner at this point. Probably just tear out some of the wood that is too close to the fireplace for the new codes. Then I get to organize all my beer stuff and get it in place. Too bad I don't have any conicals. I have to remember this is all on the cheap.

Of course there are many other things to be done...

• kids activities
• food drive
• coat drive
• prepare for hunting season
• holiday shopping
• brewing ;-)

Right now it's a good busy. Lets hope it stays that way.

Free Beer! ;-) I'll teach you how to homebrew. Email me.

beerbits2@gmail.com

I'm serious. Anybody want to take me up on this experiement? Email me if you want more information. Not sure where this is headed, but, I'm willing to teach if you want to learn.

Edit: extract brewing only

:-) I brewed again.

Still working my way through my stockpile of ingredients. Brian stopped over to help me brew another batch. Used the yeast cake from the last beer. This is the third reuse of this yeast. Cha ching! Saving money. Well, except for the $20 I spent at The Sly Fox for dinner and a couple beers. I'll get to that later. About the three batches.

• First one is a strong dark English ale with an American size dose of hops. A bit too much hops for my taste actually. I guess this will be the house beer. This one is better as it warms. I think I should have boiled more vigorously. Its kinda cloudy and has some slightly off flavors.
• Next we have the Whip it up Wheat. A good session beer, lighter in body and much more balanced in terms of hops and malt. Should be in the 3% or 4% range.
• Last nights 1620 Just in Time Ale v4 should be similar to the Whip it up Wheat, but, will hopefully be a bit more biscuity. We shall see. Forgot to check it this morning, but, I racked it onto the yeast cake of the Whip it up Wheat so it should be chugging along.

So brewing is going well. I'm not in better shape than I was last year at this time, but, I should be by Christmas. Last year I had my father's wedding beer to brew so there were a few partial kegs laying around.

About saving the money. Well, I'm not doing too bad. Last night really put me over the line. I made an exception and decided to go to The Sly Fox to catch up with a friend. Gotta hold my ground for the next couple weeks. Tough with the holidays coming up.

:-) Brewing tonight!

A quick stop at the Monday night tasting and a beer with a good friend. By the way I'm still keeping track of my beer expenditures over there on the right. After the pub I'm off to pickup some coats for a coat drive. Then its home to brew the next batch of 1620 Just in Time Ale or a reasonable facsimile. Brian is coming over to taste the beer I brewed during teach a friend to brew day. Oh and help with the brewing I suppose ;-)

I have visions of brewing in the brew basement some day. Need to get a sink and something to heat the wort with. I can always dream :-) One step at a time. First the floor and fixing the walls.

Brewing, life challenges and the brew basement...

:-) :-( Life is good, as in good for me right now, and bad. I have about a batch and a half on hand and ready to go. Not quite enough for the holidays. So, I'll need to brew again soon. This isn't the bad. I'll get to that. The dark beer from the fall fest is good. Might be a bit too pellet hoppy (new term?), but, still good. The dry yeast seemed to work out well enough. Also, the English session I just brewed is an unknown. Need to taste it. I have just enough time to brew another Just In Time 1620, the only beer I brew every year. Another opportunity to brew, life is good.

So what did I do today? I worked on the brew basement. Found some vinyl flooring remnants on sale, bought some OSB flooring and dug out some old 2x4s. Soon I'll have a place to put all my beer stuff. At some point I'll have a picture for you. It isn't as extravagant as it sounds. It is however a place where I can see real honest to goodness progress.

On to the lack of posting. I often think of (wait gonna get a pint of homebrew...there that's better)...OK where was I? I often think of writing more about my personal life here in this blog, but, just doesn't seem to fit. It would help me keep up the daily posting, however, my digressions would probably go too deep too quickly or perhaps too shallow too often ;-) I have been preoccupied with personal things lately and I am just this once going to dive into one of those deep pools of digression right now, if you don't mind. A personal, although I fear given current events, not exactly uncommon story follows.

For years I've been plugging along at my job. I've had my share of challenges and learning experiences. Probably a bit too much politics. Is it any different where you are? Well August 2009 marks my tenth year at my current employer. Besides being a bit more grey in the beard and earning a few more vacation days, I'm a bit richer in my relationships. My day job has brought me closer to many and in turn I have learned a great deal about myself.

Knowing this, you might understand how I feel of late. Some of my close friends and many acquaintances received their notice at work. They have been "laid off". I've been fortunate enough so far and retain my own job, but, for how long? A lay off seems to be so indiscriminate. You might be doing your job perfectly fine one day and the next your out of it. Impersonal from a business perspective and very jolting from a personal perspective. In times like these I realize I take employment for granted. I wonder how many people in the nation are doing the same?

To all of those who face tough times and to all of those who can help in times of need. I sincerely hope this finds you well and able.

Tasting a brew and making more...

Well I'm on a roll.

Tasted the brew from Teach a Friend to Homebrew day and well it isn't finished yet. Its kegged and time to put in the fridge for some cold conditioning. I've had a few pints and there is lots of promise. Once the yeast drops and the beer clears I'll know more.

What more? The brew from Friday is finishing up. I think its ready to keg. I'll follow that up with another brew for Thanksgiving. Might even split the slurry into two and get the batch for deer season done as well.

Did you notice my little offer over there on the right? That's right. I'll teach you how to brew if In fact you need that kind of thing. I suspect most of you already know as much or more than me, but, if you know somebody who wants help let me know. Its free right now. I'm considering it market research.

Free homebrew lessons!

Ingredients + BB2 readers = BB2 homebrew :-)

From the "its teach a friend to brew day all year around" department...

Next up. Brewing more beer. What style? Don't really know. Style schmyle I always say. I'm thinking of stretching my ingredients and making a few batches of session beer. You know less malt, less alcohol, but, still flavorful. Maybe you have a suggestion? Style, recipe, thoughts?

If I get enough responses, we'll do this together via this blog. I'll post the suggestions, recipe, revisions, progress and explosions ;-)

Here are the ingredients I have in stock. Post a comment and tell me what to make.

PelletHops
Hallertau
Fuggles
Cascade

Whole Flower from the back yard
Chinook
Cascade

Malt Extract
3 lbs Muntons extra pale liquid malt extract
20+ lbs Northern Brewer
wheat liquid malt extract

Steeping Grains
Belgian Special B
chocolate
roasted

Yeast (dry yeast to save money & experiment)
Y007 Safale S-04 English Ale yeast in the
current brew (rack onto the yeast cake)
Y005 Danstar Nottingham Ale Yeast
Y008 Saflager S-23
Y014 Safale US-05

BTW I've been working on this scratch and drink gadget for Blogger that could be useful.

Sticking to my financial beer guns...

I have a tally of beer/brewing money spent over there in the sidebar. Looking good so far :-)

Update: Beer bar visit! Ding! Hit the Malvern Boathouse for $3 pints. A Breckinridge Avalance and Stone Arrogant Bastard. Not bad for happy hour. Still set me back $6, but, a bargain I'd say.

Teach a friend to brew day went well here at Beer Bits 2

I'll finish the thread I started with the last few posts, but first...

I started thinking about Teach a Friend to Brew Day when I realized it would be on the same day as our neighborhood fall festival. That's when I thought. How cool would it be to demonstrate brewing at the party. I was a bit reluctant, but, my wife encouraged me. That's all it took. Out went the neighborhood newsletter announcing the spectacle. Soon it was showtime and I spent most of the day Saturday getting my proverbial sh#t together. Ten gallons of water, check, 3 gallons of one step, check, liquid malt extract check, 30 lbs of ice, check, lots of books and mags, check...the rest of the mobile brewing setup, check. Did I mention that this demonstration is not at my house?!

In retrospect I could have been a little better organized with the Teach a Friend to Brew Day literature and even cards for my own website, but, I made up for it with lots of answers and explanations, besides they know where I live. I also found a couple other homebrewers in the neighborhood. Not to mention Bryan from The Brew Lounge. Thanks for taking some pictures. Somehow I forgot to do that too. Yes, that's a limited edition TBL T-Shirt I'm sporting.

Some popular questions and statements;

• How long does it take?
• What are you doing right now?
• So we can't drink it today?
• Do you sell your beer?
• Will you give us a chance to taste the beer?
• How do you increase the alcohol?
• What kind of beer are you making?
• How much does it cost?
  

I did my best to answer all these questions and was very impressed with the interest and desire to learn. If you ever get a chance to demonstrate, do it. It is very rewarding to share what you know.

About 10 to 20 people asked questions and helped. The process took about 4 hours to brew a 5 gal. extract batch of some kind of high abv stout. The process went like this.

1. go buy yeast because you can't find yours
2. spend hours gathering and loading everything you need for mobile brewery
   
3. heat 6 gallons of water I brought in soda kegs
4. add steeping grains
5. steep for 30 min
6. bring to boil
7. kill flame
8. add malt extract
9. boil
10. turn down the heat
11. add some hops
12. add some more hops periodically
13. chill with 30 lbs of ice
14. panic and ask to borrow garden hose
15. clean chiller with one step
16. chill beer with chiller to 75 degrees F
17. put pot on table (after borrowing table)
18. siphon beer into carboy
19. add dry yeast
20. aerate by shaking carboy on grass
21. add stopper and airlock
22. clean up
23. enjoy homemade mead
24. go to awesome homebrew halloween party

Thanks everybody for helping out and making it a success!

Past, present and future...

Forgive me if I've been mysterious, even evasive. The spell of the holiday entranced me. Caught up in the moment I imagine. So where were we? Sour homebrew, teaching a friend to brew, learning to brew, explaining myself, Fermentation Friday, oh right Halloween.

I'll come to my senses and finish out this little digression I started.

Wormwood be damned. Long live the other.

Tonight I witnessed a celebration. The likes of which you have never seen. These creatures infesting the yellow liquid are seemingly uncontrollable. Their deeds are unholy, but, their seduction speaks for itself. The tamer of wild things and bewitcher of brews sold his soul. No other explanation will suffice. Beer should not taste like this.

Again the night sky is clear. Stars and the moon shine. You are not alone. Our numbers grow everyday.