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Brewed my first batch of beer!


impur

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Miles - Would you like to borrow my copy of John Palmer's How To Brew? I picked it up and read through it a few months ago. I am currently saving for the deluxe kit from Valley Vintner Brewery, hoping to brew my first batch soon :] I will actually probably use the co2 from the carboy as co2 injection for my planted tank :] A lot of the supplies are the same between brewing and aquariums...pH testers, Hydrometers, air pumps, thermometers...

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Thanks for the offer Max, but i've already got a copy ;) Its got some great info.

 

Thats a good idea for the CO2!! I was thinking of a way to utilize my CO2 tank, so i'm thinking after a couple batches which i'll bottle, then i might move to kegging. Need to track down a fridge i could turn into a kegerator!!

 

 

I checked the batch when i got home last night, 68 degrees and the airlock is bubbling away with CO2 so we are fermenting!!!! Smells like eggs though, and its in the bathtub in one of my bathrooms. If it gets worse i'm gonna have to find another spot to let it sit. Not sure where though, my garage doesn't maintain a constant temp so........

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A friend of mine used some styrofoam and a cardboard box, siliconed the styrofoam together, and would drop frozen water bottles in with his fermentor to keep it cool. Seems like that could work in your garage. Or just get an old fridge on craigslist and set the temp as high as it goes, and attach a thermostat to the inside of it and plug the fridge into that.

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I'm thinking i could just put a flexible tubing into the hole on the fermenter lid, then i would submerge the tubing in a 2 liter coke bottle or something filled half way with water. That way i could put the coke bottle outside or near a slightly open window, maybe in my game room where the venturi for my skimmer goes out the window. And i could move the fermenter into my game room closet, with the tubing going a few short feet to the window.

 

But if it comes down to it, yah i'll just get a fridge off CL and mod it to hold my fermenter. I could use a dual Ranco controller, get 2 fridges, and have a fermenter and kegerator :D

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I should show my husband this thread.

 

He didnt know what kind of beer to brew next, so he ask me. I said a blonde ail. So, in honor of me, hahaha, he made one last weekend that he named Tammy's Natural Blonde Ail. (ok, so actually it should say with gray highlights) He just brewed one yesterday called Chocolate Stout, I think thats what he called it.

 

My husband goes to Above the Rest Homebrewing for his supplies.

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Great, now i've been browsing the homebrew forums and I want to build a fermenting chamber so i can do lagers. Oh and i want to build a kegerator. Oh and a keezer too. A brutus would be cool i could probably do that. Lets see a wort chiller, i need to make a tun, i could make a keggle, so many things to DIY. I love it!!

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Wow! You are really into the hobby! :)

I've found this book really useful for diy projects. You can find all you need:

"Brew Ware, How to find, adapt & build homebrewing equipment", Lutzen and Stevens, Storey Publishing

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Thanks i'll look that one up!

 

I'm already planning on a fermentation box under my work bench in the garage. I want enough room to have at least 2 batches going at a time, maybe more. Just gotta track down a cheap small fridge.

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Bring grains to boil then turn off and let steep for 30 min

 

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Bring back to boil

 

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Helper

 

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Add half of DME and half of bittering hops

 

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Boil 45 min

 

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After 45 min add remainging bittering hops, DME and aroma hops and boil for 15 min

 

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Yah i got it at one of their garage sales at the brewery in Newport. You can get the same yeast they use, Pacman yeast, you just gotta find a place that carries it. Plus its more expensive. My LHBS used to carry it, but the price is 3-5 bucks more than the yeast he carries so he stopped. I could have ordered it, but eh. I wanted to brew!!

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It is not my fault lol

My next experiment is gonna be cured meat.... some more controllers for temp, humidity and a old refrigerator. Will be also a good setup for fermenting lagers.

I still have to scan my Stone IPA... do you like Stone IPA?

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Ok, this is the Stone Iperial Ipa. If you like strong hoppy, resin tasting IPA, this is for you. Enjoy (drooler)

 

The other pic is my setup. I usually have 3 batches fermenting: 2 beers and 1 Apfelwein. I just bottled the last one so I only have Stone IPA and Stone Ruination IPA, this one in dry hopping in this moment.

 

I was gonna build a kegerator with a separate chamber for fermentation (mostly for the hot summer) but the other project (cured meat cellar) changed my plans, making it even more complicated.

I'm trying to design a setup what can use a single refrigerator as a temperature device for 3 areas: the serving station, the beer fermenting cellar and the meat curing cellar. I think it can be done with some pc fans and a couple of temperature controllers with dual switch. (nutty)

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