Messages

16

Ingredients / Re: Berliner Weisse Sweetener Choices

« on: January 15, 2013, 11:24:44 AM »

I'm a big fan of the woodruff syrup.

I've not looked very hard but I havn't had much luck in finding it. do you have a source?

Check your local German market.  I found a bottle for a friend at one recently.

17

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: 2013 Brew Year's Resolutions/Goals

« on: January 06, 2013, 09:58:42 AM »

1. Get into and pass the BJCP tasting exam.
2. Advance something past the first round of the NHC.

18

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Christmas Presents

« on: December 27, 2012, 12:01:24 PM »

... it was a Scotch advent calendar.  24 drams of different scotches... the last one being a 50 year old speyside.  It was awesome opening each day to see what we were trying that night.

That is awesome.  I wan't one with bourbon next year!

They had one for gin, but I didn't see one for bourbon.  http://www.masterofmalt.com/gin/drinks-by-the-dram/the-ginvent-calendar-gin/

Maybe they'll have one next year.

19

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Christmas Presents

« on: December 27, 2012, 11:30:29 AM »

My in-laws gave me a couple of 2.5 gallon kegs and a dual-stage temp controller.
My wife and daughter got me the new Hops book, a couple of aluminum pitchers, and a false bottom for my 26 gallon kettle.

It's good to see other scotch lovers on here.  My wife and daughter also got me a Glencairn glass and a bottle of the Glenrothes 1988.

My wife also found an awesome pre-christmas gift for us... it was a Scotch advent calendar.  24 drams of different scotches... the last one being a 50 year old speyside.  It was awesome opening each day to see what we were trying that night.

20

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: What's Brewing This Weekend - 12/28 Edition

« on: December 27, 2012, 11:15:14 AM »

Going to brew 10 gallons of RIS tomorrow.  Half will go into a 5 gallon barrel that barley wine just vacated.

21

All Things Food / Re: Weinerschnitzle

« on: December 26, 2012, 10:49:31 PM »

Go with Spaetzle, sauerkraut, kolsch, and a nice light cabbage and carrot salad with vinegrette

That sounds about perfect!

22

The Pub / Re: Merry Christmas Everybody!!!

« on: December 24, 2012, 07:11:17 PM »

Thanks, Paul.  Merry Christmas to you and yours!

23

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: 13 Years of Zymurgy Now Online!

« on: December 21, 2012, 12:27:47 PM »

Awesome!  Thanks!

24

Going Pro / Re: getting 30 bbls on line

« on: December 03, 2012, 01:14:43 PM »

Someone attempted to clean one using an unregulated air compressor, so it was pressurized WAY above the maximum pressure that those are rated for.

Apparently that isn't the case for all of the breweries that have had issues.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121021/GJNEWS_01/121029899
http://www.saferproducts.gov/ViewIncident/1266302

FWIW, we had one fail about two years ago at normal working pressure (10-12 psi). I believe that in that case the seam had been weakened by repeated hot/cold cycling.

Wow... thanks for those links.  I was unaware of the low-pressure failures.

25

All Things Food / Re: Kitchen Knives

« on: December 02, 2012, 06:23:16 PM »

I have a Shun 8" santoku and a Shun Pro 10 1/2" yanagiba knife, and I highly recommend them. They are extremely sharp and they're well-balanced. They'll run about $120-160 each, depending on sale price. I haven't used the Victorinox Forschner Fibrox, but, as already mentioned, they're the preferred knife of America's Test Kitchen and performed just as well as $100+ knives in their tests.

I bought my wife a Shun Chef's Knife for XMas last year and she loves it.  They work great and I think the damascus blades are beautiful.

26

Classifieds / Re: 10 gal Cornies on eBay

« on: December 02, 2012, 06:16:53 PM »

About 10 years ago our club did a mass purchase of 100+ 10 gal. cornies.  We got them for about $15 each.  Time have changed.

Wow... that seems crazy now.  I wish I could find a deal like that.  I'd probably buy a dozen of them.  LOL

27

Going Pro / Re: getting 30 bbls on line

« on: December 02, 2012, 06:14:46 PM »

We have some plastic kegs and some used stainless sankes. Gonna probably sell off all the plastic kegs when we start leasing.

I heard about the tragedy from the plastic keg exploding and killing a brewer this year. Really scary. Makes you rethink the whole plastic keg idea.

I know a couple of local breweries that use them without issue.  From what I understand of the explosion, it was really more of a brewery safety issue than an issue with the keg.  Someone attempted to clean one using an unregulated air compressor, so it was pressurized WAY above the maximum pressure that those are rated for.  Someone could argue that a steel keg would have held anyway, but it still could have easily been avoided by regulating the compressor to something within spec when cleaning.  I think I heard something about the brewery in question having a competition to see who could clean the most kegs in a time period, which likely led to someone scrapping safety to be faster.  Just a terrible tragedy.

28

Going Pro / Re: getting 30 bbls on line

« on: November 30, 2012, 01:05:52 PM »

Nice!  It's amazing how much bigger they look than the 7's.

29

Equipment and Software / Re: Is there a small, cheap, good quality glycol chiller out there?

« on: November 30, 2012, 08:10:49 AM »

I always just battled warm summer water with the cool over night trick. Narry a hitch, kinda nice to not have to screw with aerating and pitching until the next day.

This is what I do.  I transfer to fermenter through a counter-flow chiller with ground water, which usually drops me to about 80 degrees in the summer.  That fermenter goes into the fermentation fridge and I don't aerate or pitch yeast until the temp drops to the desired level.  Most of the time, I can pitch the same evening, but lagers take until the next morning.

30

All Grain Brewing / Re: 5-gallon vs. 10-gallon cooler?

« on: November 26, 2012, 09:57:51 PM »

My only concern with using the 10 gallon cooler for partial mash small beers is that you may end up with the grain bed too shallow to reasonably act as a filter.

Honest question:  Why bother partial mashing?  If you are going through the effort to partial mash and you are willing to build a 10 gallon mash tun, you can just as effectively go all-grain.  you'll save a few bucks and have even more control over your process.  Just something to consider.