Interesting meeting and lots of great beer. I found out that there is a local brewpub that will sell wort to homebrewers for them to ferment with whatever yeast, dry hop, or whatever else they can think of. The call it their "open source" beer. What a neat idea!
So I'm sitting here thinking...CACTUS BEER. Agave? Then it dawns on me, if I can do a hickory smoked beer for Carolina...why not do a mesquite beer for Texas? Now we just have to find a house so I can get my system down here!
Not in brewing, in location. That's right! RCBC is now headquartered in San Antonio, TX! I hope this explains the lack of updates. Problem is, all my gear is still in NC, so no brewing news until we find a permanent home (we are currently renting).
Tuesday was double brew day. Brown ale and a new recipe for a traditional bock. I went bock with the intent of a) getting a good yeast slurry together, and b) I accidentally bought too much pilsner malt, so I'm going to do a double bock too and try to clean some of it out!
I used to blame my lack of posting on being blocked through work, but I'm not blocked (haven't been for a while now) and still no posts. They say when you are busy some things get pushed aside. Sorry folks...
On Tuesday I took the day off and brewed up two batches of beer, hopefully to be ready in time for a guys weekend in August. Another cream ale and a new recipe, hickory smoked robust porter. I smoked the malt myself for one hour using my grill as a makeshift smoker. It worked well, but I was a little worried about getting too much smoke in the final product. I ended up only putting 2lbs of the smoked malt in a 12.5gal batch (most recipes call for ~3lbs for a 6gal batch). Hickory is a strong flavor, hopefully it will come out good!
So tonight I am "planning" to do my first filtered beer. I have a keg of brown, a keg of Pale, and a Bohemian pilsner, all of which I am planning to run through my new filter. I'm interested to see how it changes the taste profile...
Summer heat is beating me down! Did get two more brews done, brown and (almost done) my first pale ale. We shall see how it turns out! Anywho, Drank Tank and I worked out a beer run through Greensboro. 5.5mi through the blazing hot sun and 4 bars (plus a homebrew at Derick's). Successful save the closed dive bar, but we adjusted fire and made it to the next place. Good times!
This weekend is a special one. I won't be brewing for the first time in a while. Actually, I might still brew, just not sure what it will be. I'm thinking a hickory smoked stout if it works out that I have the time to smoke some malt by this weekend...
Bottling the Glacier Wolf is this afternoon, might even get a visit from Jon (Wolfbeer Co. Pres) if he's available. We will see. Otherwise it's a little over carbonated, which works out well when bottling with a beer gun.
Bo Pils is great (already emptied one keg), and the cream ale is carbing. I actually might need to do another run of it for the Summertime Brews Fest (Chocolate cream ale concept). We will see!
As you can tell from the lack of posts, I've been very busy this spring. Between tennis, gardening, and training for the CPAT(fireman exam) I just haven't had a bunch of free time. I have found plenty of time for brewing, though. Currently either on tap or conditioning I have a Bohemian Pilsner, Octoberfest, Brown Ale, and a Cream Ale. I also have a "Glacier Wolf" test run that I did for a friend that runs Wolf Beer Co. It will be bottled this week and sent to him to see if the recipe (we designed together) is good. I personal dig the beer because it falls between a N. English Brown and a Scottish Ale. We will see how it tests.
I finished the 4-tap tower and continue to work on new ways to organize the brewing room. I need to build some shelves and get rid of some plastic shelves to make for more floor space, and get some containers for storing bulk grain.
Hops have already been harvested...yes, I said harvested! Well, at least the first round of cascades have. Two plants yielded about 14oz of wet hops, and I expect that will work about to about a 1/2lb of dry. I plant to do some dry/flavor hopping on an APA later this month with them. I also expect the plants will yield more as the summer progresses.
Finally, there are some interesting things going on in my brewing world that I can't discuss, but needless to say that if/when they pan out I will definitely have something to blog about!
I'm currently rebuilding a 4-tap Brass "T" that was given to me a couple years ago. I actually have fabricated a mount that goes through the wall of the new cool room and into the new chest freezer. The parts are old so I ordered a full set of rebuild kits (rubber o-rings, etc). I expect they will be here by the end of the week. I'll try to post some pics when it is complete...
That's right, another second place. This time for the now-coveted RCBC Just Brown Ale. I knew I had a contender, and probably would have taken home 1st place if last year's Carolina Brewer of the Year and fellow BBGer, Jim Smith, hadn't entered an incredible Mild that ended up 3rd best in show. I'm actually looking forward to entering it in a couple more contests to see if it places as well...
Two weekends in a row brewing...good times. Helped the Patrolman (Bayard) brew up some Oktoberfest, and followed up with an Irish Red (with Irish Jim's assistance, no doubt). I'm finally getting comfortable with the brewery, and it shows as the last few brews have gone of without a hitch (knock on wood). The awesome brown ale is already one keg down, and I am saving the other one for a friend's (Evan) wedding. I need to get one of those vienna kegs cold and carbed...right now the only thing on tap is the less-than-desirable version of the cockhammer...
15gal of Vienna and 10gal of brown. I really need to get the sink setup in the cold room. It's hard to clean hoses and carboys when it's 25 outside. Cold hands!
Looks like all went well on brew day yesterday. Only one mild boilover. Assistant brewer Jim was on hand, and we went on a pre-brew run which I believe is going to become a tradition. All went well, the beer is in the fermentor and hopefully we will get a full finished 15gal. OG for the 14.5gal that went into the fermentor was 1.060, a good bit stronger than I had calculated, which means that the brewery is getting better efficiency that I had projected for the higher volume, but once I transfer to kegs and dilute with some water it should be closer to 1.051 (projected, since it will be post-fermentation). Hopefully it will taste as good as the brew day was!
Had three other visitors, Captain Pete made a rare apperance, best-man Mike showed up to oversee the activities and ensure Jim didn't get "too close", and Rob from the BBG came by with his wife bearing dougnuts and homebrew.
More upgrades. It seems I spent too much time building facilities, and not enough actually brewing! Finished a bigger, nastier cold room that houses ALL of my brewing equipment. I have a decision to make regarding the current kegerator, as it is a little big considering the space. I am hoping to find a small freezer to convert and save the space. For now it all fits, and their is enough space to move stuff around (although things are very snug)! I'll try to get some pics this weekend and post...
Mint Chocolate and Gingerbread are done. I must say, the ginger did not come out like it did this year, but I've found with spiced beer that less is usually better. Either way, it's a nice stout. The Mint Chocolate was good, with plenty of chocolate and a slight mint flavor. As usual, we didn't end up with as much as I would have liked, but still enough to share. Last night Santa made his list. Were you naughty or nice?
(above)The lid is a little wider than the hole, for overlap. I kept one of the lids from a previous keg conversion and reinstalled it's ball valve after removing the old pickup tube. (below) I seal the lid by using a bar that clamps using the handles of the keg. One side is stationary, the other has a bolt that pulls the bar down and applies top pressure to the lid. I used a couple scraps of the gasket material to make it extra tight.
I didn't even know it! Anyway, a lot has happened. I recently finished a 15gal fermentor using a 1/2bbl keg and ran my first 15gal batch of brew. I must say, it's exciting to have a "triple" batch of beer. I would love to go even bigger, but for now 10-15gal of beer is all I am willing to screw up at a time!
