Back to Homebrew

[corkybstewart]

When I joined the realbeer forums I was strictly a homebrew drinker and had been for about 10 years. Then I started reading posts about all this amazing American beer that was on the market so I started slowly drinking more and more commercial beer until I was about 50/50 homebrew and commercial stuff, and loving all of it.
After our Oktoberfest and a few bad batches of homebrew I was out of good homebrew, and I made a few road trips collecting commercial stuff. But now I've got 5 good homebrews on tap again and I realized tonight that I have tons of commercial stuff I have little interest in drinking. Don't get excited, I'll drink it but I really prefer my homebrew again. I've made some improvements to the "brewery" and once again I'm a committed homebrew addict. Life is good.

[Mikegobrew]

Wow. First Tiger Woods, and now Corky has made a few bad batches of homebrew. What's the world coming to? :D

Seriously, what were some of the improvements to the "brewery"?

[corkybstewart]

First of all I replaced the dead dorm fridge on my fermentation chamber with an AC window unit, and I installed a thermowell on my conical so that my Johnson temp controller is dealing with wort temp, not ambient.
I've been using my old immersion chiller in series with my counterflow chiller that is sitting in an ice bath, and using my pump to recirculate the wort through the CFC and back to the kettle. 14 minutes to go from boiling to 62F, not bad for 11 gallons last weekend.
And maybe more important I had gotten complacent about my technique, I'm paying more attention to details, following my recipes again instead of winging it half the time, and I'm not trying to rush the process. If I don't have time to do it right I wait until I do.

[beerbreath]

Got photos??? What's the ferm chamber look like?? This "new" stuff should be ambrosia, judging from the samplings I've had of your "complacent" efforts.

[corkybstewart]

Got photos??? What's the ferm chamber look like?? This "new" stuff should be ambrosia, judging from the samplings I've had of your "complacent" efforts.
Trust me I don't serve my complacent efforts. I have a friend who is doing some experimentation with a couple of the bad batches.
Try this link, you'll see the new and improved fermentation chamber.
http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo65/rocdoc1/my%20beer%20stuff/

[beerking]

Trust me I don't serve my complacent efforts. I have a friend who is doing some experimentation with a couple of the bad batches.
Try this link, you'll see the new and improved fermentation chamber.
http://s362.photobucket.com/albums/oo65/rocdoc1/my%20beer%20stuff/

Nice looking setup you have there, Corky! I do have to wonder how you use the PrePortioned Cookie Dough in your beer though. ;)

[corkybstewart]

Nice looking setup you have there, Corky! I do have to wonder how you use the PrePortioned Cookie Dough in your beer though. ;)
It's cheaper than rat poison and keeps the mice happy and not eating my malt:rolleyes:

[beerking]

Sounds like a good option. We only get the occasional lone mouse or two when the weather first gets cold. I keep my malt in a large tupperware-style bin, and late every fall I put out a couple of traps, baited with peanut butter. We usually catch 1-2 mice every fall that way and don't have any more problems until the following year.
This year one mouse was too small to set off the traps. Keep getting all the peanut butter and not setting them off. One morning my daughter spotted it in the kitchen. I smacked it with the broom a couple of times, and after a few squeaks it no longer bothered us! :D

[corkybstewart]

I put a stiff rubber strip across the bottom of the door to the beerroom and I haven't had a mouse get in there for 2 years. And my 3 otherwise useless cats help in the garage.

[beerking]

Unfortunately for me, my brewery is the utility room. That means we have the furnace and the water heater in the room. This is good because I use natural gas for my burners, and have the pipes right there. The unfortunate part is that my sump pump is in the same room...great place for mice to get in!

[ingenry09]

Sorry for being invisible, life has been "interesting" the last few months. Between working long hours and having serious health issues heart, I have been untouchable. But, I am working my way back into life, and this is a big part of my life.

So, now you will have to put up with me more often. To the new folks, howdy and we will get to know each other. To the spammers getting onto this board, fuck you I am kicking you as fast as I can.

Animal

[Otis Spunkmeyer]

So, now you will have to put up with me more often. To the new folks, howdy and we will get to know each other. To the spammers getting onto this board, fuck you I am kicking you as fast as I can.

Animal

I see no need for fucking or kicking.

At least not at the same time.