Lots of things going on since the last post. More beer brewing of course, more new brewery work, and the Barley Legal Homebrewers Holiday party.
The Bad Dog Beer Series is underway. Marshy's Maibock was brewed on 12/8 and Dante's Dunkel on 12/13. Both are in the Redi Whip cooler on the way to lager temps. The Dunkel is a 4 week lager, so that will be replaced by Lola's Lager when it comes out. The Maibock and Lager will both be done near the end of Feb. Assuming I can keep on schedule the whole series will be done mid March. The others are Diana's Dubbel, Pipers Pilsner, Pru's Porter and Randy's Rye.
Ashley and I traded beer goodies for Christmas, but quite frankly I think I made out. They got me Mark's Keg Washer, aka carboy cleaner, and 2 beer kits: Winter Warmer and Nut Brown Ale. The keg washer is amazing and saved 10 gallons of water and an over night soak, for 30 minutes of high pressure washing on the first use. I'm going to make the Brown Ale a cherry flavored version. Can't wait.
We got Ashley the Bavarian Hefeweizen kit which we promptly brewed up on the weekend. On our way to Peddler's Village near New Hope, we stopped at the LHBS Princeton Homebrew for some supplies. Casey suggested that Ashley should personalize the kit and the obvious choice was Elderberries. We're hoping for some hint of them in the end. She's still working on what to call it. I posted it as Hefeberryweizen on Untappd when we brewed it.
While at PHB we had to pick up some grains to make up for a lack of grains in the hefe kit. She wanted to make bread with the grain leftovers. So, we threw together an all grain shot in the dark. We steeped the grains, rinsed and added the leftover DME from the yeast starter, and some honey for flavor and to raise the gravity. Also used a couple left over hops that all together were perfect as a Bavarian Ale, specifically the Drunken Reindeer Bavarian Ale. We added chicory and bitter orange peel for a little flavor. Considering the total shot in the dark at the LHBS we picked a fairly good assortment or parts based on post buy research.
The Barley Legal Home Brewers had their holiday party at Yards Brewery a week ago. Frank, Bela and I went and had a good time. They've been there before, but I'd not been. They broke out a special cask brewed just for the group, the Cask Trubble De Yards a Belgian Strong Dark Ale with a distinct orange flavor. Not bad, but not something I could drink several of. I had a few others which were all quite good, and I got a bottle of Flying Fish Exit 8 Chestnut Brown Ale in the gift exchange.
Making slow progress on the new brewery in the basement. Too much going on the last couple weeks. I've gotten a bunch of pieces parts on hand, but need a big block of time to make the sink/counter come together. The pump that came with the carboy cleaner is perfect for the immersion chiller. Blows the impeller off the fountain pump I was using, and far better than the drill pump I was working on, (belted to a small motor). The sink pump I found on craigs list near Ashley is as perfect as it could be. That would have been a budget killer at $150 more. Also learned that when using the IC you pump the first 5 gal into a bucket for cleanup, then recirc after that. Worked great on Ashley's Hefe.
Also 'claimed' my brewery on Untappd today. Now I can manage my beers like I'm a professional. Yea!
Cheers!
