Topics

46

The Pub / Formula 1

« on: May 19, 2011, 11:22:26 AM »

Any F1 fans here?

I was a big fan when I was kid, and have gotten back into it over the past few years. This year has been the most exciting that I can remember with the new tire compounds, KERS and DRS.

Its such a shame the coverage in the US is such complete s***. But thanks to the internet, watching the BBC's F1 coverage makes me so jealous of people living in Europe, its absolutely the best sports coverage in the world. Martin Brundle, David Coulthard, the hilarious Eddie Jordan, Jake Humphrey, Crofty, Anthony Davidson, the list of excellent personalities seems to go on forever.

Everything about the BBC's show is great, and the banter and jabbing that goes on between the announcers is hilarious. Its so enjoyable that I watch everything from friday practice to the race on sunday.

I mostly cheer for Ferrari (Massa/Alonso), Team Lotus, McLaren and any team that Rubens Barrichello is a part of (he did beat the Stig afterall).

 I know there aren't alot of F1 fans in the US but I love it. Anyone else?

Tony

47

General Homebrew Discussion / NJ Craft Brewers Guild Puts Out Action Alert For Brewery Bills

« on: May 18, 2011, 12:42:26 AM »

I thought this might be of interest:

The talking points are up and the action alert has been made.

The Garden State Craft Brewers Guild is asking New Jersey beer enthusiasts to reach out to their representatives in Trenton to support Senate bill 2870 and Assembly bill A3969.

The companion legislation would bring the rules under which the state's craft breweries operate more in line with marketplace conditions in the mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere nationally.


But back to the commercial brewing legislation.

Here's what the guild says is the aim of S2870 and A3969, which were referred to law and public safety committees in their respective chambers:

Remove the arbitrary cap (2 brew pubs) on the amount of brewpubs a company can open in the state. (Taking away this cap means brewpub businesses wishing to expand and create jobs in the state could without any unnecessary restrictions.)

Allow small breweries to sell beer directly to consumers from their brewery locations. (New Jersey wineries already have this privilege. Additionally, this element mirrors A3520, which was introduced back in November.)

Allow small brewers to sell their product at 10 locations across the state directly to consumers. (New Jersey wineries have this privilege already, bringing their product directly to consumers without any harmful impact on other wine or alcohol interests. Think BYOB restaurants with this one.)

Allow small breweries and brewpubs to offer samples to consumers both at their brewery or offsite at such things as charity events and festivals.

Allow brewpubs to sell their beer at other bars and restaurants that they own but do not brew beer onsite, yet have a retail consumption license.

Allow brewpubs to sell their beer off-premise in the same manner as small breweries through the wholesale distribution chain. (This would allow consumers to buy their favorite brewpub beer at other locations in the state.)

Increase the amount of craft beer both New Jersey’s small breweries and brewpubs could produce annually.

The current regulations were enacted in the early 1990s, a time when craft brewing in New Jersey seemed faddish, more likely to remain a niche interest and not grow into a part of the state's manufacturing base.



I only copied the most interesting bits, the entire article can be found here:

http://beerstainedletter.blogspot.com/2011/05/guild-puts-out-action-alert-for-brewery.html

48

The Pub / Brewery Logo Design

« on: May 17, 2011, 04:29:49 PM »

I'm a graphic designer and in my spare time I like to experiment with different projects either to hone my skills or learn new ones. Since I got back into brewing I've been obsessed with beer logos and labels so I decided to create a one for a fake company.

I heard the word Flintlocke somewhere and it stuck so I decided to run with it.

Lemme know what you think!

Cheers!
Tony

49

The Pub / I'm a dad again!

« on: May 10, 2011, 11:25:34 AM »

My wife ordered 14 baby chicks (assorted styles and colors!) and they arrived today, they are so adorable! In the laundry room we converted one of the big utility sinks into a holding area equipped with feeders, water dispenser and heat lamp. I also bought an extra thermometer when i was building my fermentation tote, which works great! It'll be awhile before they are big enough to lay eggs, I think my wife said about a year, but boy it'll be nice to have fresh organic eggs again.

We live on 4 acres and have an old broken down chicken coop (foxes killed all of our chickens a few years ago) and a fenced in area so my wife also ordered a new 3x5 coop for their new home which should be here in a month or so.

The orange glow is from the heat lamp:



Cheers!
Tony

50

Equipment and Software / New Mash Tun

« on: May 06, 2011, 12:40:02 PM »

Brought some homebrew over to a buddy's house last week and started talking about going all-grain. I mentioned that I was going to purchase a coleman cooler for the mash tun conversion and he says "I think i have an extra, you can have it!". I know it isn't blue, but it was free!

So since I saved about $40 not buying the cooler, I decided that instead of going the DiY route I bought a SS Ball Valve Kit from Northern Brewer. Can't wait to give it a go!

I took some picts:

51

General Homebrew Discussion / Prehistoric yeast takes beer drinkers back in time

« on: April 19, 2011, 02:42:43 PM »

GUERNEVILLE, Calif. - Inside a stainless-steel tank at a brew pub here overlooking the redwood-rimmed Russian River, a 45-million-year-old yeast proves its mettle.

Prehistoric yeast takes beer drinkers back in time

Cool article

52

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP080 Cream Ale Yeast Blend

« on: April 16, 2011, 01:55:32 PM »

from whitelabs.com:

WLP080 Cream Ale Yeast Blend
This is a blend of ale and lager yeast strains.  The strains work together to create a clean, crisp, light American lager style ale. A pleasing estery aroma may be perceived from the ale yeast contribution. Hop flavors and bitterness are slightly subdued. Slight sulfur will be produced during fermentation, from the lager yeast.
Attenuation: 75-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-70°F
(18-21°C)
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium High

Anyone have any experience with this yeast? I was thinking of brewing up a cream ale and saw this listed and might try it instead of WLP001

Tony

53

Equipment and Software / Propane Burner Settings/Water Treatment Issues

« on: April 15, 2011, 11:42:27 AM »

A few weeks ago I bought a Bayou Classic KAB6 and used it for my first outdoor brew session. Having never used it before I adjusted the flame to what I thought was a good mix between flame height and jet-engine sound but I'm interested in hearing how others set their flame height/power, because I don't think mine was set correctly.

There were a ton of variables that day, one of which was intermittent wind gusts. Several times during both the run-up to the boil and during the boil that the flame would get knocked around and was even blown out once. I was steeping specialty grains and found it difficult to hold temp without having to constantly adjust the gas valve and/or the air-intake. I also noticed that the temp was varying a little too much during the boil and while it kept rolling, there were a few times where the temp dropped and the boil was reduced to a simmer before coming back up to temp.

After the whole session was complete, I did notice that there wasn't a lot of boil-off like there should've been, obviously. I started with 6 gal, added 6lb of extract and ended up with over 5.5 gal of wort after cooling. I put all 5.5 gal into the fermenter and pitched.

The fermentation went perfectly and after 3 days of the same FG I bottled as I normally do. The beer is ok but its definitely thin/watery and a little sweet for my tastes (both my wife and 2 other people really like it, go figure). I'm chalking this up to the inconsistent boil and the extra wort volume. Please correct me if I'm wrong about that.

After bottling, but before it was finished carbonating, we found out that our water treatment system was failing and needed to be serviced. We have well water (which i haven't had a water report done yet), a neutralizer and a salt tank. The neutralizer hadn't been serviced in a long time (long story...) and we ran the tank out of salt, both big problems. Needless to say the Ph was waaaaay off and actually caused our pipes to spring leaks 3 times over the last year or so. Obviously this Ph is also affecting the beer that we brewed with the untreated water, but I'm not exactly sure how.

Our water system is now fully repaired and serviced and I can definitely tell a difference in the taste, and now our soap makes suds. yay!

I plan on brewing this beer again (a northern english brown) now that the water is so much better and I also want to make sure that I'm setting up my burner correctly so that I get a full consistent boil throughout the session. As a test, I put the burner in an area outside that was protected by the wind on 3 sides and brought 6 gal of water to a boil. It took roughly 35-40 minutes to hit 100C (212F) and I let it boil for 60 minutes. After it cooled (i just left it sit outside with the lid on for a few hours to cool) I poured it into a fermentation bucket and it measured a tad under 4 gal (less than a finger thickness under the 4 gal mark).

To setup the burner I lit the flame and turned the gas valve until the flames leapt off the nozzle holes, then dialed it back slowly so the flames were actually resting on the nozzle holes. Then I adjusted the air-intake until the flame was a bright blue color with no orange/red at all. Is this a correct setting or do you guys go full balls to the wall with the flames shooting out of the sides of the kettle?

Sorry for the book-length post but i wanted everyone to have as much data as possible to come to a conclusion. I know there are a ton of variables and you should only change one at a time but I think so many of them were wrong that I need to try to get a new base-line.

Thanks for any info/tips you can give.

Cheers!
Tony

54

Equipment and Software / The WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery

« on: April 12, 2011, 08:20:06 PM »

Beautiful design, lots of picts and info here:

The WilliamsWarn Personal Brewery

55

Equipment and Software / Anyone using this cooler?

« on: April 07, 2011, 01:08:35 PM »

75 Qt DuraChill™ Wheeled 6-Day Cooler

Are any of you using this cooler? Do you like it? if not, which do you recommend for mash tun conversion?

thanks!
Tonyp

56

General Homebrew Discussion / un-Official AHA Twitter List

« on: March 29, 2011, 07:21:04 PM »

I noticed a few people have their twitter addy in their sigs and thought it might be a good idea to have a thread (or a sticky) where other members could find them easily. One idea I had was to have everyone that wants to participate reply to this post with their name and twitter addy and I'll update this post as the replies come in. Once you see your name listed you can delete your post to keep this thread easier to manage.

Good idea? Bad idea? btw, if any mods or admins have a problem with this or want to take it over, lemme know.

In any case, i'll start it off:

Name/Forum Name

Twitter ID

Tony Pittari/Tonyp	@tpittari
kgs	@kgs
Norm Benson/Timberati	@timberati
Joel/Sophisto	@Sophisto
Mark Gres/Mark G	@markgres
Gordon Strong/gordonstrong	@gordonstrong
Shamas/wahoo	@shamasuva
Ruben Abril/rabid_dingo	@Rabid_Dingo

If you would like to be added, please reply to this post with your Name and/or Forum Name and Twitter ID

Please don't forget to delete your post once you see your name in the list! Thanks![/b]

57

General Homebrew Discussion / Brewing Network Podcast Archive - Sunday Session 8/13/06 with Denny

« on: March 28, 2011, 03:20:24 PM »

Been jumping around the archives to interesting topics and saw what i figured to be Denny's name so I gave it a listen, just wanted to say nice job Denny! Once the skype connection cleared up it was a good show, lots of a great info and now i can read your posts in your voice!

good stuff,

Tony

58

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP002 at 60deg or lower

« on: March 28, 2011, 10:08:52 AM »

So I brewed up an English Brown using WLP002 this weekend, put the bucket on a small bench in the garage where its usually a steady 62-65deg and then the weather went south pushing the temps under 60deg since saturday, especially overnight. I wrecked my back and there is no way I can carry the bucket up 2 flights of stairs to where its basically 68-70 constant temp. Should I be worried at all, there is still no movement after a full 48 hrs.

I know, I know RDWHAHB but i'm still stressing over it and check the airlock every hour or so...

Have any of you used 002 at 60 or below?

Tony

59

Commercial Beer Reviews / Flying Fish ESB Amber Ale

« on: March 25, 2011, 06:47:29 PM »

As a fellow NJ Resident I felt a strong urge to support a local brewery and decided FF was a good choice.

Appearance- Amber/Orange, very hazy and 'thick' looking, head was thin, white and dissipated quickly leaving a ring around the edges of the glass.

Smell- Green apples, grassy, a little fruity and another aroma that i just can't place

Taste- toffee and caramel with a bit of sourness

Mouthfeel- Light, thin and crisp with a bit of a bite to it, dry finish

Drinkability- Overall I guess i would rate this a 5 out of 10, I was expecting an english ESB but it was more like an american ale. Not sure if i will pick this up again, but i will definitely try more Flying Fish in the future.

60

Equipment and Software / Bayou Classic KAB6 vs Electric Stove...FIGHT!

« on: March 23, 2011, 08:00:53 PM »

Bought one of these this week and finally got it setup with a new propane tank. I did a test on the electric kitchen stove then the same test outside using the new burner. I was surprised how easy it is to adjust the flame just using the air intake on the burner and dialed it in pretty quick, tho i suspect i can still fiddle with it a bit to be more efficient.

I brought 6ga of water to a boil and let it roll for 60 minutes to see what the boil-off would be.

Equipment	Time to Boil	Starting Volume	Ending Volume
Kitchen Stove	1:21:00	6ga	5ga
KAB6	0:23:00	6ga	5ga

Both ending volumes were so close I just rounded it to 5ga. I would've had to use a measuring cup to find the actual difference. Not sure if anyone else will find this data useful but I just thought it was interesting.

BTW I'm not sure what the BTUs are on the electric stovetop, its really old. I can try to find out if anyone needs the info.

Cheers!
Tony