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.

 

[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.

 

[Wade E]

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

 

[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?

 

[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.

 

[LoveTheWine]

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!

 

[cimbaliw]

Sparge On!

 

[LoveTheWine]

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.

 

[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!

 

[LoveTheWine]

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

 

[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

 

[seth8530]

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

 

[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!!!

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Wade E]

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

 

[Wade E]

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

 

[Pumpkinman]

Real Nice! Do you brew anymore?

 

[LoveTheWine]

nice equipment wade!
thanks for sharing those pics!

 

[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.