# Brew Day with Pics!



## LoveTheWine

Made a All grain Steam beer today.
Any comment, input or suggestions are appreciated!

Used: Pilsen, munich and crystal malts. Perle, hallertau and tettnager hops.
I use a Hybrid BIAB (brew in a bag) and cooler mash tun method. (cause it's cheap and efficient!)

Measuring out grain, grinding with victoria mill/drill (mounted in a bucket). Loading in bags and pouring in 152 deg water.


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## LoveTheWine

*Continued...*

...After 90 min mash we drain the liquid and sparge the grains (use more water to rinse out the grain) to get a full 7 gallons of liquid into the boiling kettle.
My boiling kettle is a 55,000 BTU country cooker set (cause it's cheap and efficient).

Next the liquid is boiled for 60 min adding 3 oz of hops at various times.
When this is done the pot is submerged in the red tub full of water and ice to quickly chill down to 60 degrees.

I made a 1 L yeast starter out of some lager yeast used in a previous batch.
When the liquid (now called wort) is cooled, it is transfered into the bucket fermenter and yeast added.

This batch converted sugars at a rate of 80% which is very good!
Because this is a steam beer, it will be fermented about 60 degrees with the Lager yeast.


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## Wade E

Ahhhh look at that youngster working that Rigid Drill!!! Looks great and good job!


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## Pumpkinman

LOL, I was thinking the same thing! A brewer in training! Wait until junior has to do a "what did you do this winter" report in school!!..LMAO!!!
Which Lager yeast are you going to use?
The process looks great! but then again, I get way too excited when I make Beer and wine..LOL 80% efficiency is great!
Do you plan on lagering the beer as well?


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## LoneStarLori

Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for posting the pics. I like to see how things are done.

Your little helper looks like he is on a mission. If he has a sister, my bet is there are dolls missing limbs.


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## LoveTheWine

Pumpkinman said:


> LOL, I was thinking the same thing! A brewer in training! Wait until junior has to do a "what did you do this winter" report in school!!..LMAO!!!
> Which Lager yeast are you going to use?
> The process looks great! but then again, I get way too excited when I make Beer and wine..LOL 80% efficiency is great!
> Do you plan on lagering the beer as well?



I'm using Saflager W-34/70 dry lager yeast that was used to ferment a Pilsner a couple months ago. I washed the yeast after primary and stored in the fridge.

Liquid yeasts are hard to get and very expensive where I live.

It wont be lagered but will be transfered to a secondary to cold crash for (1) week and dry hop using tettnager and saaz hops.

I would lager it but upcoming brews are going to be: Oktoberfest and German lagers so I wanted something a little different on this one!


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## cimbaliw

Sparge On!


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## LoveTheWine

LoneStarLori said:


> Looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for posting the pics. I like to see how things are done.
> 
> Your little helper looks like he is on a mission. If he has a sister, my bet is there are dolls missing limbs.



Ha, he does have a big sister but he is pretty gentle on her stuff!
He is mildly autistic but has great mechanical skills and is a social butterfly.


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## Pumpkinman

Sounds great!!!! I'm a big fan of Oktoberfest lager myself, I make a killer Oktoberfest, it takes between 2-3 months, but it is well worth the wait!!!!
Right now I have the following either bottled or fermenting:
Cascade Pale ale
Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
Oktoberfest
Irish Imperial ale that I added enough roasted barley to give it a Guinness like flavor profile - it is amazing!
Golden APA
Centennial IPA Clone
Hoptimum IPA Clone
Lagunitas Brown Shugga (just shy of a barleywine) Clone
Golden American IPA
and planning on starting another Oktoberfest within the week...what can I say...I like to have choices...LMAO! The worst part is that I still bottle!


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## LoveTheWine

Pumpkinman said:


> Sounds great!!!! I'm a big fan of Oktoberfest lager myself, I make a killer Oktoberfest, it takes between 2-3 months, but it is well worth the wait!!!!
> Right now I have the following either bottled or fermenting:
> Cascade Pale ale
> Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale
> Oktoberfest
> Irish Imperial ale that I added enough roasted barley to give it a Guinness like flavor profile - it is amazing!
> Golden APA
> Centennial IPA Clone
> Hoptimum IPA Clone
> Lagunitas Brown Shugga (just shy of a barleywine) Clone
> Golden American IPA
> and planning on starting another Oktoberfest within the week...what can I say...I like to have choices...LMAO! The worst part is that I still bottle!




When you get a chance would you mind PM'ing your oktoberfest recipe to me.
This is... unless it's a secret

and maybe a few of those IPA ones too


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## Pumpkinman

Absolutely! No secrets here! 
I like to search for really good proven recipes, I'll try them once, if I like them, I may adjust them to my taste a little bit, but this recipe needs no tweaking, it flat out rocks! The original recipe has won several gold medals in national competitions, but for the life of me, I cannot remember where I got it, or who the original brewer is. 
I'll Pm you right now, if you pm me your email addy, I'll send any that you would like in a word doc.

Tom


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## seth8530

Brewing is fun until you realize how much cleanup is involved lol


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## LoveTheWine

Brewing is especially fun where I live... 12 beer cost 20-25$ to buy.
55 beer cost 10-25$ to make!!! I think the cleanup got a whole lot easier.

Oh yah. Brewing is super fun too!!!


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## Pumpkinman

Seth,
I've worked out a system of cleaning as I go, there is a bit of lag time between mashing and boiling, then again between starting the boil and cooling the wort, I make sure that by the time my beer is chilled and I pitch the yeast, I have only a few items to clean.


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## seth8530

Yeah, that is the best thing you can do. Honestly, I enjoy helping make some beer but my heart is really with wine making.


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## Wade E

You guys reuse your stuff? No wonder I was spending so much money!!!! LOL


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## Wade E

Heres some pics of the brew sculpture I built a few years ago, it was all electric and worked on gravity.


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## Pumpkinman

Real Nice! Do you brew anymore?


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## LoveTheWine

nice equipment wade!
thanks for sharing those pics!


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## Wade E

I ended up selling that set up after about a year of my wife not getting a paycheck. I have brewed since but not in awhile. When I get some money again Ill build or buy myself another set up. Great thing about all electric was that I could brew right in the basement and not have to worry about starting a fire and fumes from burners. I had a over the stove vent in my basement window ti help rid the room of steam. I still have my turkey fryer and a big pot.


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## LoneTreeFarms

Was that a snow/ice bath I saw? nice pics


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## LoneTreeFarms

LoveTheWine said:


> When you get a chance would you mind PM'ing your oktoberfest recipe to me.
> This is... unless it's a secret
> 
> and maybe a few of those IPA ones too



I second this! we need a spot to share a few beer recipes for those of us that brew both!


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## Pumpkinman

I have no problem sharing any recipe!


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## LoveTheWine

LoneTreeFarms said:


> Was that a snow/ice bath I saw? nice pics



Yeah This was the first day it snowed this year so I took advantage!


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## LoveTheWine

LoneTreeFarms said:


> I second this! we need a spot to share a few beer recipes for those of us that brew both!



There is a recipe section on the forum home page. I'm not sure if this includes beer recipes or not.

We could always start a dedicated thread for 'Beer Recipes'.


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## fedup

Here is a good site for recipes
*http://brewery.org/cm3/CatsMeow3.html*


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## LoveTheWine

fedup said:


> Here is a good site for recipes
> *http://brewery.org/cm3/CatsMeow3.html*



Thanks for the link... bookmarked!!!
Here are a couple I have used as well:

http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/styleview.html
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f82/


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## LoneTreeFarms

yeah I've used homebrewtalk a lot they've got some great recipes on that site. it'd be nice to have a small dedicated site on here for a few recipes too, ones that we've tried and had success with. just a thought.


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## Pumpkinman

I've emailed a half dozen recipes, let me know if you make any.
Thanks,
Tom


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## LoveTheWine

Pumpkinman said:


> I've emailed a half dozen recipes, let me know if you make any.
> Thanks,
> Tom



Your a good man Tom!!
Recipes received... They look great and I look forward to trying some of em.


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## Wade E

Ill add a subforum to recipes for beer when I get home later. Homebrewtalk is our sister site for those of you who dont know.


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## Pumpkinman

Cool! I frequent HBT a lot as well! Tons of info!


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## DirtyDawg10

Looking good! I'm thinking of making a 10 gal cooler mash tun. What size do you guys use? I need to check out the recipe section too. I'm looking for a good IPA recipe. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## LoveTheWine

DirtyDawg10 said:


> Looking good! I'm thinking of making a 10 gal cooler mash tun. What size do you guys use? I need to check out the recipe section too. I'm looking for a good IPA recipe.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making



My cooler/mash ton is 7.5 gallons... perfect for 5.5 gallon batches!!


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## Pumpkinman

Derek,
I use a 10 gal Igloo cooler converted into a mash tun.
I have a few killer IPA recipes.


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## DirtyDawg10

Thanks guys! Yeah I think I'll go with the ten. Seems like a good size. If you don't mind sending me a killer recipe that would be awesome. You should have a PM from me with my email in it. You guys rock!


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## Pumpkinman

Derek,
Please resend your email address, I didn't get a PM from you yet.
Tom


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## LoveTheWine

Tomorrow evening I get the opportunity to attend a 'cask night' in Victoria BC, tasting one off and unique cask conditioned beers.
Here is the description below:



> We're excited to kick off the inaugural Victoria Beer Week with a Cask Night at Victoria Public Market, celebrating craft beer in Victoria and throughout BC. This event will boast around 30 craft breweries – for a complete listing of participating breweries, see below.
> Expect special one-off casks, collaborations and special food/beer pairings with some of the fantastic vendors located in the VPM space. Beginning early February, we'll begin revealing some of the beers that will be on tap as well as some of our other surprises.
> The $40 ticket get you:
> entry to the cask night
> 10 tokens for beer samples
> 2 tokens for food samples
> 1 complimentary Victoria Beer Week sample glass
> an amazing time



For those that don't know, Victoria has an amazing brew couture with quite a few excellent brew pubs and micro breweries there.


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## Pumpkinman

NICE!!! Sounds like a lot of fun!


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## Wade E

Sorry guys and gals, I kind of forgot with everything going on here. Ill do it right now!


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## Wade E

OK, its there, now start filling it as and empty forum is 1 that will be deleted! 
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f136/


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## botigol

It already has an occupant


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## DirtyDawg10

Just finished my new 10 gal mash tun. 





Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## Wade E

Nice job! I was informed about the beer forums layout being messed up and asked the boss to straighten it out as I dont like playing around in the template area. Just be patient as he runs about 21 forums in all!!! Homebrewtalk is 1 of them and if any of you are on there you know thats a huge forum! Any of you guys that want to get set up making your own mashtun or anything like that HBT is the place to go to find out all youll ever need to know about brewing or DIY beer stuff. Its where I learned to build my whole set up and how to brew beer. They are also a great bunch of guys and gals over there. Never had a problem there unlike a certain wine forum.


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## LoveTheWine

What a great weekend! Met lots of head brewers, got to taste a ton of original beer all cask conditioned and got to mingle with the brewers at an after party.

Unfortunately my phone died right before the cask event but I did get some brewery pictures

Today Lighthouse brewing and Victoria home brewers held a home brewers seminar at the brewery. There was a help yourself kegerator there and I even got to try an awesome double IPA, beer drawn straight off the cold conditioned tank!

I asked the head brewer there, Dean, if I could by some 'Citra' hops as it's been hard to locate any. Instead he gave them to me... 1.5 lbs worth! Also got a ton of brewing info there!


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## Pumpkinman

WOW!!! Now that's what I call a great day!!


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## DirtyDawg10

Nice! Sounds fun. 


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making


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## LoveTheWine

*Another brew day today*

This time we did a British ESB 5.5 gallon batch.
Grain bill inc. Maris Otter, crystal and victory malts.
Hops used: Galena and EK Goldings.
Yeast: S-04

Played around with water chemistry on this one too!
The wort look uber dark but it should end up lighter then Fullers ESB by a long shot.


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