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Posted: 10/8/2005 4:59:34 PM EDT
Update: see part 2 here! archive.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=419191&page=1
is about to be made  Brewing an all grain 10 gallon batch, recipe is: 19 lbs Briess 2 row malt 3 lbs German pilsen malt 5 oz Chocolate Malt Wyeast 2112 (California) liquid yeast 2 oz's Chinook hops (14.5 alpha) added 60 min before end of boil for bittering 2 oz's Fuggles hops (3.5 alpha) added 5 min before end of boil for aroma It'll be a orangish/red Anchor Steam like beer with some German accents. (is that snobbish or what?) actually turned out to be a nice brown color! This is day 1, planned to brew today but since it's raining, actual brewing will take place tommorrow since I have to boil outside. Here's the preliminary steps: 1. Got my yeast starter from Wyeast 2112 California Common lager yeast. This is my favorite yeast since it mimics my favorite beer - Anchor Steam. It's used to make lagers at room temperatures Since I'll end up with two 5 gallon carboys of wort (unfermented beer), I need two pitching's worth of yeast starter, so I made 1.2 L's worth  Frugal brewing tip: When you open your "smack pack" of yeast, save some of it in a sanitized test tube and set aside for your next brew session that way you'll save $5 from having to buy another smack pack of yeast. I store mine in the fridge in that little cup to keep the test tube mostly upright  2. Buy a bag of grain, this is a unopened 50 lb bag of Briess 2 row malt  3. Open the bag and start scooping out the malt to be weighed. If you could smell this malt you'd be in heaven, it smells great!   I got 18 lbs 12.4 ozs, close enough  4. Here's the other malt, one of the left is prepackaged and weighed, it's 3 lbs. One on the right is 1 lb but I'll just use 5 oz's of it  5. Time to crush the malt, this part sucks if you have to do it by hand. Here''s my malt mill, it fits over a 7 gallon brew bucket  Like I said, grinding it by hand sucks! I removed the handle and attached a drill  All done, here's 22 lbs of crushed malt   I put the lid on it and letting it sit until tommorrow morning  Tommorrow will be the mash, boil, cooling down of the wort, filling up the fermenters, pitching the yeast and clean up  |
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Posted: 10/8/2005 5:06:39 PM EDT
[#1]
now you'll never have to leave your house
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Posted: 10/8/2005 5:06:45 PM EDT
[#2]
You can buy beer ya'know
 j/k wish I had the time to do it.
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:36:48 AM EDT
[#3]
Day 2 (yesterday):
1. I do the mash and sparge all inside, and the boil, cooldown outside. I use two 20 qt stock pots to heat up mash and sparge water Here's some mash water being heated, the pot on the right is milky because I tossed in some gypsum  2. My mash tun with false bottom, had to weigh it down else it'd float up  Filled the sucker with the crushed malt 3.  4. added water to make a mash at around 150F  5. I'll let it sit for 75 minutes and stir every 15 with the mash rake  6. Moved to kitchen counter for gravity purposes  7. The first runnings, usually cloudy I'll toss it back in the mash tun  8. Here's my 3 tier setup, 10 gallons of 175F water in the top tank, sprinkles water over the mash tun, unfermented beer or wort is being collected in the white brew buckets   9. while sparging is going on I fill the hop bags  10. Fill up the boiling keg and start the boil. I have to lug the white buckets of wort outside  11. about to boil  12. Boiling's done, hops were thrown in during the boil. Now time to cool the wort from 212F to about 70F  13. Once cooled a hose was attached to the spigot on the boiling keg, fermenters filled up, yeast tossed in the fermenters, fermenters moved inside to sit and to let the fermentation begin  As of this morning they're bubbling away !
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:42:16 AM EDT
[#4]
But why drink something that tastes good? 
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:45:52 AM EDT
[#5]
Geez! It's much easier to go to the store and buy the stuff!
 Hope the neighbors don't dime you to the cops for running a lab! Hope everything tastes good when finished! |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:48:38 AM EDT
[#6]
 Very COOL!!!!!!! Sean |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:50:14 AM EDT
[#7]
Store bought beer isn't as good unless it's a microbrew or along the caliber of Sam Adams or something. Even then it's not as fresh as homemade beer. Does anyone cook burgers over a grill when they can go through the McD drivethru? It's a hobby, fun too. Oh, that 10 gallons of beer runs about $25 that's about 100 beers or 25 cents each, about $1.50 a six pack, $6 for a case, plus mine'll be kegged, on tap ! |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:52:57 AM EDT
[#8]
Fellow brewer!
I cheat and use liquid malt extract. 'Tis brewing season again! |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 5:53:51 AM EDT
[#9]
tag
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Posted: 10/10/2005 6:14:48 AM EDT
[#10]
Sheeet! Dis be my lucky day!
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Posted: 10/10/2005 6:16:22 AM EDT
[#11]
Awesome setup. I'd never seen the entire process in pic form just read about it. My usual is to take a can and go from there. Your system looks great and I'd love to see the final project. Please post a pic of the amber waves of grainy perfection sitting majestically in a frosty mug!
Skol!
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Posted: 10/10/2005 6:28:37 AM EDT
[#12]
wOOt!! ROAD TRIP!
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Posted: 10/10/2005 6:33:50 AM EDT
[#13]
If you need help getting rid of that nasty stuff just say the word.
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:00:23 AM EDT
[#14]
I'm not much of a beer drinker, but one of the best beers I have ever had was a home brew.
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:03:00 AM EDT
[#15]
Beer wont be ready until Thanksgiving time frame, it'll take 2-3 weeks to ferment out, then it'll go to secondary fermenters for a couple weeks to clear, then to kegs to force carbonate which takes another week. Worst thing about brewing is the wait! |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:03:22 AM EDT
[#16]
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:09:49 AM EDT
[#17]
Once you're done making it and it's in your keg how long is the beer good for?
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:14:24 AM EDT
[#18]
If your santization procedure is good, up to 6 months, but it's usually all drunk up by the end of 2 months. Homebrewers usually dont have the capacity to pasteurize their beer, only way to ward off spoilage is to be a little bit anal about sanitization. After the wort (unfermented beer) is boiled, everything that touches it has to be sanitized, the carboys, the siphoning cane, airlocks, tubing, keg, etc. Not that big a deal to sanitize thing, I usually just soak stuff in bleach solution then rinse with hot water |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:16:05 AM EDT
[#19]
wow. lots more work than wine making
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:16:27 AM EDT
[#20]
Wow. Thats some hard work ! Would love a taste. Hope all turns out. And thanks for the info. Very cool.
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:16:40 AM EDT
[#21]
Hey! Are you in NC?
I notice the American Brewmaster labels on the malt. I'm thinking about getting rid of my stuff. Here's a pic of the main brew system. I've also got lota corny kegs, and a couple of 10 Gallon Corny kegs, whihc are great for fermenting. System is two tier, have a pump to move from mash to boiler, also can function as mash recirc.  |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:38:02 AM EDT
[#22]
Saturday took no more than 45 mins to weigh and crush the grain, the brewing from yesterday Day 2 took 6 hours. If you just brew extracts brew day will be no longer than 2 hours. A lot of the brewing is just standing around watching stuff boil or drain. All grain is more involved but the beer is cheaper, but the quality is alot better IMHO, and you have total control over the wort, down to how many grains of what type goes in to the recipe. The typical home brew batch is 5 gallons, if you double that to 10 like I do, it's like getting 5 extra gallons of beer for no more extra work. |
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Posted: 10/10/2005 7:52:07 AM EDT
[#23]
Another beer lover. I'll drink to the process.
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Posted: 10/16/2005 5:46:39 PM EDT
[#24]
Update 10/16
As you can see, fermentation's going well. Note the beer is starting to clear, there's the yeast cake on the top, and some yeast and trub (grain husks, denatured grain proteins) on the bottom. In between it's dark and clear!  Close up of left carboy. Yelllow junk is yeast, white stuff is foam from the CO2 given off during fermentation.  Even closer up pic of right carboy 
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Posted: 10/16/2005 5:50:44 PM EDT
[#25]
This picture gives me wood. |
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Posted: 10/16/2005 5:51:16 PM EDT
[#26]
Looks tasty.
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Posted: 10/16/2005 6:04:50 PM EDT
[#27]
Damn, I'm getting thirsty.
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Posted: 10/16/2005 6:05:19 PM EDT
[#28]
That's the wort (unfermented beer) that's been aerated by splashing it when the carboys were filled and the yeast added, Nothing's going on there yet. Stuff is just foamy malt sugar water at the point the pic was taken. |
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Posted: 10/16/2005 6:06:41 PM EDT
[#29]
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Posted: 10/16/2005 6:10:16 PM EDT
[#30]
Man, used to make 5 gallons a month back in the day. Best beer is allways home made.
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Posted: 10/16/2005 6:22:13 PM EDT
[#31]
You know you can take the un cracked malt and dump some in a bowl with milk and have a great breakfast.
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Posted: 10/16/2005 9:55:07 PM EDT
[#32]
Did you Kreusen afterrge 1st fermentation stage?
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Posted: 10/16/2005 10:11:17 PM EDT
[#33]
Did anyone ever call the cops when they first saw you doing that? If I tried that around here, the cops and Hazmat meth-mobile would be her in a heartbeat.
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Posted: 10/16/2005 10:24:31 PM EDT
[#34]
Stae laws vary. Here in KC you can produce up to 200 gallons for personal consumption. Selling is a felony
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Posted: 10/17/2005 4:00:26 AM EDT
[#35]
That's federal law on BATFE's web page somewhere |
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Posted: 10/17/2005 4:01:48 AM EDT
[#36]
I just let it ferment out like it's doing now then rack to a secondary to get the beer off the dead yeast and trub and if I have the refridgerator space, keep it chilled for a couple weeks until even more yeast drops out. Then it's nice and cold and ready for kegging |
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Posted: 10/17/2005 4:02:34 AM EDT
[#37]
Nope. In the past had some curious neighbors, explained what I'm doing and they get interested, I give them a homebrew and they're on their way! It pays to have homebrew on hand from the previous brewing session when brewing |
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Posted: 10/17/2005 7:27:11 AM EDT
[#38]
I stand corrected. |
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Posted: 10/17/2005 8:15:18 AM EDT
[#39]
www.atf.gov/alcohol/info/faq/subpages/25_205.htm Sec. 25.205 Production (a) Any adult may produce beer, without payment of tax, for personal or family use and not for sale. An adult is any individual who is 18 years of age or older. If the locality in which the household is located requires a greater minimum age for the sale of beer to individuals, the adult shall be that age before commencing the production of beer. This exemption does not authorize the production of beer for use contrary to state or local law. (b) The production of beer per household, without payment of tax, for personal or family use may not exceed: (1) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are two or more adults residing in the household, or (2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only one adult residing in the household. (c) Partnerships except as provided in Sec. 25.207, corporations or associations may not produce beer, without payment of tax, for personal or family use. (Sec. 201, Pub. L. 85-859, 72 Stat. 1334, as amended (26 U.S.C. 5053)) This was last updated on September 17, 1999 ----------------------------------------------- You can't sell it, but you can give it away, selling would be tax evasion I think since you need a tax stamp to produce and sell beer |
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Posted: 1/2/2006 4:23:15 PM EDT
[#40]
Nice setup, I don't have one that fancy, only have used the malt kits so far.
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Posted: 1/2/2006 4:43:55 PM EDT
[#41]
It's about the minimalist setup you can have for doing all grain. If your local homebrew supply place has a scale and malt mill you can skip that equipment and you can do away with making yeast starters if doing 5 gallon batches. The 10 gallon cooler acts as both a mash tun and a sparging vessel with the false bottom. Per the pics I heat up mash and sparge water inside the house instead of outside in a separate boiler. As for kegging I started with bottles and priming the bottles with corn sugar, so you dont need kegging equipment even for all grain, just makes it more easier, you have one big bottle (the keg) to clean, sanitize, and fill, instead of 50 or so individual bottles for every 5 gallons. And no bottle capping |
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Posted: 1/2/2006 6:16:48 PM EDT
[#42]
rad
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Posted: 1/2/2006 6:21:37 PM EDT
[#43]
Neato
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Posted: 1/2/2006 7:08:57 PM EDT
[#45]
Kegging at Earp's ranch:
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Posted: 1/2/2006 7:56:33 PM EDT
[#46]
whacha make? |
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Posted: 1/2/2006 8:03:14 PM EDT
[#47]
Kickass guys! I'm a bit intimidated by all grain brewing, but I do make a pretty good Belgian Trippel using extracts. I've learned that kegging is the only way to go.
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Posted: 3/28/2006 3:01:05 PM EDT
[#48]
Bad enough I have to look at everybody's guns here and feel bad. Now my pathetic amateur status in brewing is reenforced by better brewing setups.
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Posted: 3/28/2006 5:57:14 PM EDT
[#49]
So how close to you get to Anchor Steam in a finished product? Anchor Steam is one of my favorite brews and I'ld love to make it. (But as those of you may have seen in my tahoe trip pix, I need to consume a substantial beer like I need a whole in my head.) I'm about 70lbs over my "fighting" weight and good beer can't help in that department.
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Posted: 3/28/2006 6:05:18 PM EDT
[#50]
I have a batch of Kolsch Beer going right now. It's sitting in secondary, just need another week or so..
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