I'm good with that.

Will be brewing Monday here.

How's the brew going?

I ended up doing 2 this weekend. Did my Imperial red ale which turned out with 1.076 OG, then we're doing a blackberry IPA, 1.058 OG.

Still hoping for this weekend as brew day for the Chiefsplanet IPA.

Did mine today. 1.056 OG. Only snagged 1 picture since I was playing with a new smoker as well. Tough trying to time everything. Just a 2.5 gallon mini batch.

http://oi68.tinypic.com/2iuvvup.jpg

Oh, did get to use new QD's today! Worth every penny!

Awesome.

How do you aerate your wort?

I literally just shake my carboy around for a couple minutes and swirl it.

Yesterday we used a fermenter bucket for the first time, and it wasn't quite as easy as my glass is.

Also, I've heard of people pitching their yeast, THEN aerating afterwards. Which seems a little strange to me. I thought the point of aeration was for the yeast afterwards to grab onto the fermentable sugars and that the yeast actually needs the oxygen at the beginning stage.

I've always aerated then pitched.

I hate "stuff" in my beer, so I pour through a fine mesh strainer from the pot to the bucket or carboy. That aerates the crap outta the wort. Just sprinkle dry yeast on top and done.

I love buckets, but bought a cheap 4 gallon glass big mouth to try out. Will keep it for secondary on sours, but think I'm going back to buckets. I have a 10" strainer that works perfectly on a bucket with 3 gallons of wort. The big mouth requires the smaller 5" strainer which clogs up super quick. Think I cleaned out the strainer 6 or 7 times while going through 3 gallons today.

Cool.

I really need to get a strainer. I love hoppy ass IPA's, and although during the siphon I do a great job of avoiding too much stuff, I'd like to have a strainer just for my post boil pour. I used a Whirlfloc tablet for the first time twice this weekend, so we'll see how that makes a difference in the clarity.

I mainly wanted it for my Red ale, which is literally a Chiefs beer. Everything about it was based around Chiefs #'s or timing. I wanted that red clarity to come through well for that one.

My wife is helping out now and we bought that plastic bucket, she was so disappointed this morning when she woke up and saw her airlock wasn't moving or hadn't moved at all yet (8 hours after pitching).

Now it's moving along just fine, but I warned her, airlock activity isn't conclusive of fermentation anyways.

My Hoppy Honey Wheat which was my 2nd ever beer turned out terrific. Lightly carbonated which I liked. I used 102 grams of corn sugar and it turned out great for 38 bottles.




Also: For those in Johnson County, Brew Lab is opening July 5th. Come check it out. I'm a part of the JoCo homebrewers association now, and have met some awesome awesome like minded people which has been a great motivator. Brew Lab will be our meeting grounds each month for the group.

:)

I check for bubbles constantly too. My very first beer I put in the basement to ferment. Nice and cool and dark. After three days and no bubbles I put a thermometer next to the fermenting bucket. 52 degrees. :) I now ferment upstairs at 67 on the kitchen table under a box for darkness.

Whirlfloc is awesome. Combined with a 10 day cold crash and I get super clear results. I saw a marked improvement over moss. And yes, a post boil strainer is an absolute necessity for a clear IPA, at least for me. I'm too lazy for gelatin. Cold crash works tremendously for avoiding dry hop additions.

Alrighty weather is shit so I am brewing today! Brewing right now to be specific.

Ill try to live blog this so to speak. Already crushed my grains and mashed in at 150F.

Here is my grain inventory, I may have an addiction to brewing. 55gal gray trashcan has 2 50lb bags (or whats left of them) of 2 row in it. White 5gal buckets with screw on lids have various bags of secondary grains.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...pscsu5lner.jpg

When we started this recipe I already had 1lb of Citra and 1lb of Amarillo in my freezer. The only ingredient I had to pick up was the Mosaic hops.



http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...psl8qye1m6.jpg

Brew system consist of an electric hot liquor tank with temp control, a keg mash tune and a Bayou Classic Kettle. You can see my water filtration system hanging on the wall behind it all.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...pszvbdzper.jpg


All mashed in at 150F

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...psmcmnqx8v.jpg

Sparge is done

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...psbpm7ufmz.jpg

8gal in the kettle. Shooting for 6gal in the fermenter. I adjusted the recipe for this volume in Beersmith.

http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...psfpyofhpa.jpg

Awesome stuff Marcellus. Have you thought about making brewing a business, or is this just a hobby?

Oh yea several times. Still part of my 5 year plan. My brother brews as well and has went to several craft brewery start up classes at Portland State.

I have worked in manufacturing of nutritional beverages the last 17 years now so production management is my specialty.

Plan to open a micro brew around 2021. Maybe something larger.

2PM IPA is now in my fermentation chamber with S-05 yeast set at 68F.

I hit 1.058 OG so should come out just right at 6.6%.


http://i541.photobucket.com/albums/g...psdx00o0p7.jpg

Nice setup!

Nice work so far, fellas.

Got my WY1056 starter going. Shooting for a Sunday brewday.

http://i.imgur.com/BlTDOF2.jpg?1