re: Homebrewing Thread: Volume II

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We must be thinking the same thing. I brewed the Pils for Clash of the Carboys, and brewed up a modified Pliny clone for it as well. Just not sure if the Pliny will be ready in time.

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Lol, yep. I've been wanting to enter another competition. Been about 2 years since I last entered. I just happened to check the schedule and I will have 2 beers about ready for it.

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Finally kegged and carbed my German Pils. Its pretty cloudy though. Should I add gelatin to clarify, or will it clarify naturally over time?

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I use gelatin and whirflock in almost all of my beers. I'll crash cool my fermentor, then transfer to a keg with 1/4 tsp of gelatin. Since the beer is already cold, it goes to work pretty quickly. I pull my first pint after 24 hours of fore carbing. The first few pints are trash, but it clears up nicely after that. I even BAIB and squeeze the bag, and the gelatin has no problem clearing it up.

I mix it with about a half cup of warm/hot water.

I'm expanding my kegerator. Bought an extension sleeve to add a 3rd tap on the tower. Going to start kegging some of my fruited mixed ferm sours, as opposed to bottling. I'll still bottle some of my more complex fermented sours (like the lambics).



In addition, i bought a new Intertap faucet. Forward sealing (like perlick) but the nozzles are interchangeable. Comes with a standard tap, stout tap, growler filler tap, and ball lock spout. Reviews are pretty good and the whole setup is cheaper than a perlick faucet. Also bought a 90 shank with duotight push in fitting. Depending on how these shanks work, i may replace the other 2 shanks as well with the same setup. I hate cleaning/replacing lines so i rarely do anything other than run starsan and pbw through them before/after each keg.



One of my perlick's is leaking and it may be one of the gaskets. Any pressure change outside, and it ends up leaking a couple ounces of beer out the tap and making a mess of the counter. And with the plague of alcoholic flies just looking for anyone with an open beer to hang out with, i need to fix it.

My intertap came in, and my tap handles are finished. Took some 1.5” dowels and bought a wood burning kit. cut, sanded, stained, and sealed them. They came out pretty good. Very cheap to make so I plan to make one for every style I brew.

Front


Back - easier to see with the sunlight.

Hop Garden update

Cascade seems to have outgrown the chinook. The centennial is struggling. I have a few cones on the cascade and 1 on chinook. About to cut back the dead centennial bine.

The growers are around 7-8’ now. Top of trellis is 10’ for reference.

Had some hop merchant caterpillars eating the chinook leaves a few weeks back, that I took care of.





I think I planted the rhizomes in the back a little too deep in this area that’s why they didn’t grow. Doesn’t drain very well. Next year I’ll mound it up better.

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Mine are struggling in this 100+ heat everyday. We will see if they produce any hops.

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yep.... the one that flowered, all the hops burnt up

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Bootleg presale open. thinking about geting something but idk what.... I havent brewed in forever and this might be the spark i need to get back to it.

ETA: and both new lager strains are sold out

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Yeah, i managed to get both lager strains, the Embrace the Funk fermentor series, and a pack of Funk Weapon #1. Excited about the 2 lager strains.

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I think i'm about to start buying my grains in bulk and milling myself. Does anyone have a recommendation on grain mills? 2 roller or 3 roller mill?

Also, about how long does uncrushed grain last? And i know it's hard, but what is the best way to store them to prevent all of the little bugs that love grains from getting in there?

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i have done all the research in the past...and it basically came down to, all the addons really wouldnt benefit the home brewer. it isnt much extra time running the grain in the mill a second time in a 2 roller, when a commercial guy a 3 roller is a time saver.

the hardened steel rollers would be great if you milling thousands and thousands of pounds a year while the home brewer would be just fine with the regular rollers.

etc. i dont remember everything but i was most concerned about the best way to mount the damn thing to be space conscience.

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1st place German Pils in the Clash of the Carboys! LFG!

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Congrats man! It’s always fun to medal.

I didn’t place on any of mine. Drinking them out of the tap and I’ll admit they are good, but not great.