re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

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At least from a 2 tap keezer standpoint, the cost of the flowmeters, etc. for the raspberry pint build is a little much and would really only be cool when entertaining (or knowing when wife snags a taste).

As for fermentation controls, it is definitely something I have been researching. IIRC, Weskarl's died at an inopportune time and he went back to an inkbird. That makes me nervous.

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oohh well you know the Raspberry pints was droped and havent been worked on for years. and from what i read those swiss flowmeters werent accurate.

someone made something called iTaps but idk how far in development it went.

there is a new flow meter out, Kegtron, but it is like 250 for a 2 tap set up. and i think it connects to CraftbeerPi.




so all in all, i want to set up a pi to control the keezer, with the ability to measure the taps if i get a wild hair to buy that kegtron. And i want a pi to control a fermentation chamber when i get a dedicated one. Andi want my future electric brewery to be controlled by one using Craftbeerpi.

I beleve Craftbeerpi can now control fermentation too but you would want to have 2 running so you could brew and not take it off of your fermentation.

As far as controlling the keezer, there just inst may great options out right now, Raspberry pints is dead but could still work, and you have BrewPi. i want to read through the HBT automation forum to see what people are using.

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John Guest Bev-seal fittings

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im going to that when i rework my keezer. how do you keep your "cable mamagment" nice to a swap pout kegs? do you have a pic of the inside?

Thats what i have been thinking about with getting the correct line length some how running them in a custom keezer collar to cut down on the clutter of hoses.

Aslo i have run into an issue on finding a 7/8 in to john guest fitting. all i see are 5/8s. arnt all tap shanks 7/8's? or is that 5/8's the threads?

This says it fits shanks.

LINK

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onnects directly to the back of standard beer shanks, includes rubber washer.

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I also would want a valve right there at the back of the shank, so i could shut the beer off from inside and open the tap and spray some cleaner in there when i know i wont get a beer in a few days. To prevent growth since the taps are out in the elements.

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I'll show y'all my build pics.

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nICE!

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Frick it,

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you dont got to be a dick about it........ well you use way too much wood for that. but nice. i have looked into doing something like that too, but this is just gonna be out in the garage.

so tell me about this 50$ cooler...... i want one for 50 bucks

Back when they had better customer service, I let them know about the lid and sent pics. They sent a partial refund on top of the deal.

Robert and Charles at Brieux Carré were on Fermentation Nation Podcast again yesterday with Daan and they interviewed the Bootleg Biology guys.

I need to get my hands on that NEEPAH.

gguidr7@gmail.com

Shoot me an email and we can set something up.

It's Friday. What's on tap? What's in the Fermenter? And what do you have planned in the homebrew world?

On Tap/Bottle:
1) Grinch Juice - Kettle soured spruce and juniper Gose
2) Myrtille - Mixed fermentation blueberry sour. Used bootleg sour solera. Blended the sour with 3 gallons of clean saison and 3 lbs/ gallon of blueberries.
3) Vin du Suds - Mixed fermentation muscadine sour. Used bootleg biology Mad Fermentationist saison blend. Blended with 3 gallons clean saison and added about 2 lbs/gallon of fresh muscadines from the local produce market. Unfortunately, i carbonated this at a really high rate for no apparent reason. The larger format bottles are highly carb'd but ok. The smaller bottles are gushers. I'll make the correct adjustments when muscadines come around later this year.
4) Funk de la Poire' - Mixed fermentation sour with Warren pears. This is the only sour batch i'm not reusing the dregs. I used bootleg biology funk weapon #1 for the brett and also used a packet at bottling. So much funk. And it's the horse-blanket, leather, pungent funk. Which if you enjoy that funk, it's right up your alley. Which i do enjoy on occasion, but it gets a bit too much at times.
(Note on the 3 mixed ferm sours in bottles. All of these sours were brewed with no hops, so they are very tart. Some more than others. Tricky thing about mixed ferm sours, you don't learn things until a year after they are brewed. I've been wanting to get the classic pedio ropiness during aging, but have yet to come across it. I know some sour brewers don't like that, but once the beer clears, i hear the acidity becomes a bit rounder and quite pleasant. Anyway, since then, i've added about 5-10 IBU's worth of hops which could probably negate any pedio acidity. Pedio hates hops.)

Fermenter:
1) NEIPA with Sabro, Azacca, and Medusa hops. Kegging Sunday
2) 3 gallons Mixed ferm sour with wicked weed dregs (Generation 2) - ready for blending/bottle/fruit. Brew date 3/7/18.
3) 3 gallons mixed ferm sour with dregs from my first mixed ferm sour (Gen. 2) - ready for blending/bottle/fruit. Brew date 3/7/18.
4) 3 gallons mixed ferm sour with Bootleg Biology Mad Fermentation dregs (Gen. 2) - brewed 8/24/18. Still has some aging to do.
5) 1 gallon of mixed ferm dregs - can't remember what's in here. It's gen. 2 of one of my beers, just can't remember which.
6) Another 1 gallon of mixed ferm dregs - again, can't remember the source.
7) 6.5 gallons of mixed fermentation solera - Using the Bootleg biology Milk the funk Funklandia megablend. Also has dregs from jester king, jolly pumpkin, urban south, crooked stave, and dregs from each of my sour projects. This will be my first Solera. Right now, smells heavily of pineapple and peaches.

Planned
1) Need to brew up 6 gallons of a clean saison to blend with either of the 2, 3 gallon sours that are ready for fruit/bottling. 3 gallons will go toward blending, the other 3 gallons will rack on top of the dregs from the sour batch i'm blending for gen. 3. Also need to have a sour beer blending/tasting session and see how blending the 2 gen. 2 sour beers tastes.
2) Want to brew a full 5/6 gallon batch of a brett saison. I'll end up blending 4 gallons of the brett saison with one of the 1 gallon mixed ferm sours. I did this last year. The idea last year was to put the brett saison on figs. Well i didn't have enough figs (you need a lot for any discernable flavor. I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 lbs/gallon). Anyway, i added the figs, didn't catch any fig flavor. I also noticed the beer was lacking something. Acidity. So i had a 1 gallon demijohn of a mixed ferm sour so i blended that with the brett saison and it was fantastic. It was a good low acidity brett beer. So i'll try and recreate that, and possibly get a shite load of figs when they are ready. (i'll need about 20 lbs).
3) Another blend batch of clean saison will be needed.
4) I'll need to continue the pipeline and brew up another 6 gallons of sour. Probably reusing dregs. I've always wanted to add a fresh sour batch on top of spent fruit, so i may try that somewhere along the way. Kind of the way Jester King uses the spent raspberries from Atrial Rubicite to make La Vie en Rose.
5) Something clean will need to be brewed by this time. Probably another IPA with my neomexicanus hops. Or a Pale ale.
6) I've been wanting to brew a Kriek type beer. Possibly a flanders red base recipe, and add varying cherries along the way. Got a couple names picked out, Kriek-ish or Release the Kriekan.
7) And towards the end of the year will be my first solera pull. Will make adjustments to the replacement batch depending on how the beer is tasting. If it needs more brett, replacement will be a brett beer. If it to be less acidic, replacement beer will be a clean saison-esque beer with 10-15 IBU's of hops. Or if it's good as is, brew the same grain/hop bill as the original batch.

Holy shite, Bug! That all sounds fantastic. I need to start messing with Brett/Soured Saisons more... and make a trip to BR to taste some of this magic!

On Tap:
-100% Sabro NEIPA that’s probably going to kick in the next pint or two

In Fermenter:
-(1) gal of an Imperial Wit base I made for a Cranberry Nutmeg Christmas beer that I pitched Brett Clausenii on, then added some Lacto Plantarum about 2 weeks into the Brett kicking off. I believe I threw in a touch of 100% Cranberry Juice on top of it when I added the LAB. My first true “sour,” and it’s been sitting for about 3-4 months now. Might try it soon. It’s only a gallon because I want to ease into long term sours — I just don’t think I could handle having (5) gal go bad.

In Planning:
-Beet Saison with TBD inoculation. I was theorizing this morning that a Belgian Ardennes/Brett Trois combo might be nice?
-Golden Breakfast Stout with Big Chief French Truck Cold Brew in the secondary/keg.
-Matcha NEIPA. A brew I’ve worked on for over a year now, with varying results. My conclusion has put this beer squarely in the tincture realm as I haven’t been able to put matcha into a beer (pre-service) without it fining the everliving shite out of the beer, which isn’t itself bad, but obviously not ideal for a NEIPA. The earthy, grassy, creamy quality to matcha is a wonderful compliment to a traditional New England-style. I’ll end up making a neomexicanus NEIPA again, but this time with Zappa and Medusa, as well. Then, I’ll add a touch of a concentrated matcha tincture to the glass before I serve the beer.
-Plenty of other experimental beers I want to hold off on announcing until they are made and worked out.


PS: Anyone know of any Homebrew contests in South Louisiana in the next couple months?