Allright boys, I'm going to try to take a field-trip to Midwest today to get the rest of the stuff I will need to start kegging. I've got a 5lb tank of Argon that I am going to swap out for a Co2 tank. I'm going to do that tomorrow so the gas tank is covered. I also have a tube of lube that Ryan picked up for me a while ago, but other than the stuff below, can you make any other suggestions so I can be fully functional with only one trip to the store? One of these: Two of both of these:
Well the one in the picture can hold 27 gallons so there's one huge plus. I wouldn't spend the money on one unless I was going big, the 7 gallon conical just don't seem worth the price. Especially the stainless steal ones. Drueled over the 537 US/gallon fermenters at Granite City in Roseville over the weekend.
About time! :golfclap: Yeah, i still need to go over to midwest. Purchase plan: bigger BTU external burner and all the supplies to make German Helles round #2. Round #1 is a big hit. I'm willing to trade winter ale at some point for someone to teach me all grain brewing. I'm not ready to make the jump just yet but I want to learn.
I'm in the process of building mash tun #2 so when its fully operational i'll let ya know. I only have 3 all grain batches in the books but I think I have a fairly good idea what i'm doing. I think. Excellent day of brewing today, great company and great beer. Thanks Ted!
"Hey Ted, when are you going to use that "thermometer" thing that tells you how strong the beer will be?" [looks around] "Um, if I were gong to use that thing, I would have done it about 2 minutes ago..." ha ha ha! Thanks for stopping by, man! I think I'm going to have a MNSubaru brew day in the near future.
I've got a couple of keg problems that I wanted to run by you guys to see if there is a solution. This is my first kegged batch and I guess I may be learning the hard way. I was SO excited to go out and pour a glass or two of crud that had settled and then have nice, clear beer. Damn it. I was muttering to myself "I thought kegging was supposed to be SO easy... I'm going back to bottles, f*** this..." When I went to pour a glass last, the sludge and dry hop from my secondary COMPLETELY clogged the pickup line, plastic collar, poppet valve and post. I pulled the assembly out of my 2nd (empty) keg, sanitized and swapped them out. Clogged again. I did this three-or-four times with the same result. Is there an easy way to get the rest of the crud out? I thought of taking the poppet valve out of the post, hooking up the out-line and blasting it into a pail. The first two times, the long stainless tube even got clogged. (I know, I know... The way to fix it is to not put the sludge into the keg in the first place. Talk to Paul about that one... HA!) Second problem: Apparently BOTH of my corny kegs leak right where the post crews onto the threads. Are the white Nylon washers supposed to be the "o-ring" or create the seal between the post and the keg threads? Mine are pretty old. Despite my best efforts to tighten them. Can I use some Teflon tape or something on the threads to seal that? I have gone through just about all of a 5lb tank in a week and there is beer all over my refrigerator floor.
Wow Ted sounds like you should just drop those kegs off at my house and i'll fix em for ya :yumyum: Well at this point you've transfered plenty already so what's one more. Put a painters strainer bag over your racking cane and transfer into a new keg, that should filter out all the sludge/hop material that'll clog your out dip tube. As for the leaking out the posts, I don't think a little teflon tape will cause any issues and if it fixes your leak why not give it a go. It will be a pain to do this every time you keg though. And be sure to sanitize that tape. Where did the kegs come from? Have they been used for beer in the past? Maybe need new popets? Also check your gaskets and be sure they're lubed up good.
HA. I started a thread HERE too. The beer smells flipping AWESOME, by the way... I was wondering if I could pull it from one keg to the other and keep the crud out. For the leaks, are there nylon collars between the tube and the post on yours? Or, do you throw the tube (and o-ring) into the keg and screw on the post? My o-rings are pretty old. The kegs came from a dude on Craigslist. Ryan hasn't had any trouble with his. I believe they had pop and for sure orange juice in them previosuly. The poppets look good - but got clogged with hop gunk a few times. Going through a $20 tank of gas and enjoying 0 beers doing so sucks.
Guess I blanked and forget that the beer was dry hopped. Just thought about that. My fault Ted. I would have suggested a strainer bag if I would have been thinking clearly. There should be a rubber gasket under the gas in and liquid out dip tubes, here's a picture. Oh and if the kegs had soda of any kind in them previously i'd rebuild them with all new gaskets for sure. Just rebuilt one of Erics kegs that looked practically brand new but I didn't want to risk it so new seals it has.
My kegs have white nylon deal-ies as pictured below. They are .25 at midwest Did you have a bunch of the Imperial Stout at my place like I did? HA! No problem, lesson learned.
I could be wrong but I don't think there is supposed to be a nylon dealie there. All mine look like the picture I posted. I'd remove the nylon dealie and give it a go. Weird. I did not have any of your imperial stout but your starry alignment packs a good punch.
Ted: When I rebuilt our kegs I thought I replaced all the pop-up valves. I know all rings were replaced. Also you might have to just re-seat all that stuff good because when I handed you the keg I gave them to you pressurized if i remember correctly I know mine main lid where you fill the beer in can be a bitch to get to seat correctly. I actually have to pull up on mine as i pressurize the keg.
How much torque does that thing need? I pulled a blower motor out of my microwave before it went to the recycling place... It would probably need to be geared down, but you can have it if it would work.
Thanks but Eric already picked up a 1/2 hp motor for uber cheap. Someone somewhere probably has something that isn't working
My keggers are still holding pressure, but the beer is still really green and not carbonated yet. I suppose a week with a slow leak will delay things... I brewed the Hop Head Double IPA yesterday (my garage still smells awesome) AND I am playing around with some yeast ranching. I boiled some DME for about 20 minutes with about 2 cups of water and pitched some (hop filled) slurry in from my last batch of the Ferocious in which I used Wyeast British Ale II 1335. The hops are settling out and I've got some good activity going on. Have any of you guys done this -grown and saved yeast?
I've considered it, but I don't get to brewing very often. I often have several months between batches. So I wouldn't be able to keep the yeast alive or viable for that long. I have a biology degree so the flask brings back memories...
Yeah, I hear you on that. I purchased the starter kit a while ago and wanted to play around a bit on Sunday (before I decided to drive to Midwest and get double IPA kit). I figure I will just keep re-doing the process for a while and see what happens. I suppose I should find another beer that uses this yeast - I've got 12 gallons of Ferocious waiting to blend/finish on the dry hop...
On an unrelated topic: My Triple IPA I brewed in January still has no head. Bottle conditioned probably in February, it's been sitting at room temp and has a little yeast cake in the bottom of the bottle. It tastes great! but no head takes away from the full flavor/scent. There is slight carbonation. Perhaps They just need to sit in the bottle for a few more months. There's nothing I can do about it unless I get a kegging kit and empty all of them into a keg and force carb them... Thoughts? I'm impatient to wait to drink this delicious beer...
This might be a PITA, but could you crack the bottles, throw in some more boiled sugar water swirl up the yeast cake and re-cap?
Yeah, I guess I had thought of that too. - adding more sugar. It could be one of those that has to sit for a really long time. I've had a few that have taken a month or so to carb, but this is nearing 2 months with little improvement. So I'm a little anxious about it.
As long as you didn't do anything crazy ahead of bottling such as filtering the yeast out and you added the correct amount of sugar i'd move the bottles to the warmest location in your house and let it sit there a week and give another one a try. I had a Rocky Pale Ale that took around 2 months to fully carb, just had to forget about and let it do its thing. My friend has what we call a time machine closet that he carbs his beer in that is usually in the high 70's to low 80's and his bottles carb within a weeks time or less.
Looks like good fun Ted. Been reading up on yeast washing and storing yeast and what not but just haven't gotten around to actually doing it yet. I like the idea of making 5 batches worth of yeast from one US-05 packet but when it comes time to brew its easier and safer to always just pick up a new packet. Plus I don't have any fancy lab type toys as you have. Lucky. American Red brew day tomorrow! Also mocking up the mill stand so the belt and pulley wheels can be ordered.
Crappy cell phone pic of assembled Monster Mill hopper. Will hold 11 lbs of grain. A few more parts to order up and then we'll be able to assemble the puzzle and start milling.
I havnt brewed in almost 3 months! eeek! I will have to remedy that asap. My buddy washes his yeast and stores it, then does a yeast starter with it before brewing. He has a dozen or so dormant jars of it in his fridge. He said he hasnt bought yeast in over a year lol. I'm too lazy to do this, did it once and dont think I'll ever do it again. Also the opportunity for funk getting in there and the decrease in the amount of live cells goes down. So for me I like to get a .99 cent pack of dry yeast every time. Usually US-05. Saves time, and is cheap.
I literally just finished bottling my last batch of wine, im glad to see this thread. Now don't get me wrong i prefer to brew beer over wine, i just don't have the space right now. And, xBrian, +1 I agree completely on the yeast. its nice to say you have your own and use it and all but if its going to run the risk of contaminating from 5-20 gallons of beer then its above and beyond with the .75-.99 cents you pay.
Well, I picked up some grains today. Going to do a little session tomorrow. Its going to be great cleaning my tuns outside now. Its been a little difficult doing this in the basement sink over the winter. Heres what I got: 9 lbs Rahr 2-row 2 lbs Briess wheat 1 lb Briess pils malt 1 lb cara 10L 1 lb cara 60L 1 ounce Summit pellets 1 ounce Amarillo pelletts 1 ounce Simcor pelletts and I have some cascade in the freezer left from my 1 lb bag. Probably will use an ounce of that US-05 safale dry yeast Should bring my ibus to around 70 or so and abv around 6.5 to 7%
Just starting my boil now, going to do a 90 minute, hop additions will go in at the 60 minute mark. Mash temp was 147 and mash out temp was 170. I changed the hops schedule a little too and now have a 90 ibu beer! yum. also added about a third of a lb of lactose. Should drastically improve mouthfeel after such a low mash temp. Plus will help to contend with the higher ibus for a more drinkable and well rounded beer. Edit: OG of 1.071! This thing is gonna be bigger then expected, so glad I did a lower mash temp. The lactose will now do more then I ever could have imagined to balance the dryness and large ibus with added density to the feel. Cant wait for this to go into the keg!
There's a contest coming up in LaCrosse! http://betweenthebluffsbeerfest.com/2010/. I might enter my IPA if I can get it to carb. Otherwise I'll enter my Oatmeal Stout just for experience. Anyone else want to join!?
I don't have any brews that fit their 6 judged categories Well other than my Paultoberfest but i'm not sure i'll let any of my remaining 8 bottles go. I am entering my American Amber/Red into the Granite City Brew off though. $3 and drop your entries off at any Granite City location and they handle the shipping. http://www.gcfb.net/special_brew_off.cfm
Running to the Depot today to get the stuff to make my Lauter Tun. Going to see what the waters of AG brewing taste like... Also pre-ordered some hop Rhizomes - awaiting delivery.
The mill is operational. Need a larger capacitor to get it going but if you help it start spinning it takes off. Adjusting the gap is nice an easy but still might attempt to condition my malt before milling. 50 lb. bag of Pale Malt also acquired. Now what to brew......:yumyum:
Just started my first batch on Saturday! Phat Tyre from Northern Brewer. Looks like all is going well, it seems to be fermenting good! How did everyone's first batch turn out? I'm wondering if mine will even be drinkable!!!
Woot! Congrats on the first batch. My first batch was Midwests Autumn Amber Ale and was my worst batch but not bad by any means. It was consumed rather quickly. Pitched my yeast at 90 degrees and ended up with some bottle gushers but fixed both issues the 2nd go at it and my beer has only gotten better.
Welcome WRXer! My 1st batch was an Irish Red Ale - It was drinkable despite all of the stuff that I learned after I brewed it. Let us know what questions you have. Have you read How to Brew? I just got these in the mail today - looks like I'll be getting my hands dirty tonight.
Gotta love it. You purchased a bunch of sticks in plastic bags Looks like the makings of a delicious IPA Nice sneakers
I need to get myself some sticks in plastic bags! Okay, to remedy my flat IPA I added 1/8th tsp or ~0.5g table sugar each to 3 bottles. I hope to try one within a week with better results.
Keep us posted on carbage. I have some muntons carb tabs that I have yet to use, if you would like to give a few of those a go let me know. Dug in my 2nd 2' x 2' raised bed last night and spaced it a few feet from the cascade bed. Now what to plant....Centennial or Columbus hmmmmm. The Cascades are going absolutely nuts, have around 20 shoots up with the longest around 8".
