First All Grain Batch - Irish Red Ale

This batch of irish red was my first all grain recipe, and I realized that I needed to upgrade my brewing equipment after going through the boil. My 22 quart brew pot (obviously) wouldn't hold the over 6 gallons that I needed to boil to get down to my 5.25 gallon fermentation volume. This extra volume for a full boil was much harder for me to heat up and cool down.  So I would have a better brewing experience next time, I just went on a little buying spree. I got a new stainless steel 32 quart pot, wort chiller, and a propane burner (I also got the ingredients for an imperial IPA, but I'll get into that later). Look out wort, there is now a 210,000BTU dragon underneath you!

Back to the irish red. The Beer Smith build list is below, and everything went well. All of the steps took a little longer than normal, but nothing ended disastrously. During the boil I had a separate pot of boiling wort that I used to top off the main brew pot, so the volume and specific gravity were very close to what was expected. I am really excited to see how my St. Patty's day/opening day brew turned out!

Quadruple hops brewed...look out miller lite!

*Note - I just named this batch "Maroon Monsoon"

Beer Smith

Recently I have begun using Beer Smith to formulate recipes, and keep my brewing notes. Beer Smith can calculate your ABV, IBUs, beer color, and mash temperatures and volumes based on the ingredients and schedules that are entered. Below is the user interface with a pilsner recipe that I am planning on using later.

 I suggest anyone that homebrews, from extract to all grain, should try this program out. The best part is you get a free 21 day trial to decide if you want to pay for it.

Step by Step: Mash Lauter Tun Construction

With all of the information on base and specialty grains that I have been coming across recently, I decided to make a mash lauter tun to turn that knowledge into wisdom. Here was the thought process that I went through while making the MLT.

Step 1: Choose a cooler

There are a lot of cylindrical coolers out there made out of igloo coolers, but while doing research on this I found that they are relatively inefficient at heat retention and dead space. I went with a Coleman 62-Quart Xtreme Wheeled Cooler (Blue), because of the thick insulation and the design of the channeled interior. This channel allows for the filtering tube to lay at the lowest level, and there is little wasted space. 

Step 2: Get the guts

Everything that I used to make the MLT I was able to buy at Lowes. The build list was:

• 1 - Stainless Steel Water Supply Line
• 2 - Stainless Steel 3/4" Washers
• 1 - 1/2" X 1.5" Brass Nipple (2 male threaded ends)
• 1 - 1/2" Ball Valve (2 female threaded ends)
• 1 - 1/2" X 1/2" Brass Hose Barb Adapter (male threaded end) 
• 1 - 1/2" X 1/2" Brass Hose Barb Adapter (female threaded end)
• 2 - Stainless Steel Hose Clamps (large enough to go up to 3/4")
• 1 - Teflon Tape

Step 3: Prep for assembly

The steps taken to prep for the assembly are as follows:

1. Pop the larger handle off of the cooler, because it would be in the way later. 
2. Unscrew the existing drain by holding the interior of the drain with needle nose pliers and spinning the exterior piece. Be sure not to throw away any pieces, because the rubber washer will be needed later on (plus you might want to turn it back into a cooler at some point).
3. To fit onto the nipple, I had to file the inside of the washers. I really hope that you don't have this problem, because it is the step that took me the longest.
4. To remove the interior of the supply line, use a pair of sheers cut the supply line as close to the two ends as possible. Then push the steel braiding off of the tubing (dont pull, think chinese finger trap). Lastly, bend the loose ends into the tube, so that those damn things wont poke you later.

Step 4: Assembly

The assembly was relatively easy and really annoying at the same time. The steps for the assembly are as follows:

1. Open a beer.
2. Place the nipple into the drain of the cooler. On the inside of the cooler put the rubber washer that we saved from the prep, then one of the stainless steel washers on the nipple. On the exterior of the cooler put the other stainless steel washer on the nipple.
3. Use the teflon tape on the threading of the nipple on the inside of the cooler, and put the barb adapter with the female threaded end on finger tight.
4. Use the teflon tape on the threading of the nipple on the exterior of the cooler, and put the ball valve on finger tight.
5. Use the teflon tape on the threading of the barb adapter with the male threaded end, and put the barb adapter into the ball valve finger tight.
6. Wrench tighten the equipment added during the previous 3 steps.
7. Bend one of the ends of the supply line in on itself, place one of the hose clamps onto this end and tighten.
8. Place the other hose clamp onto the supply line, then slide the open end of the supply line onto the barb adapter on the inside of the cooler. Slide the hose clamp over both the barb adapter and the supply line, and tighten.
9. Open another beer, step back and appreciate the work you just did. 

"I am a Craft Beer Drinker" & "I am a Craft Beer Brewer"

These videos show the passion for quality, innovation and integrity that comes along with craft beer brewing and the loyalty that craft beer drinkers show towards this growing industry.

"I expect my brewer to create trends, not chase them"