I need help building an all grain brewing system.

Travis left a comment referring to picking the right size cooler. That got me thinking. I'll be there's a bunch of wisdom floating around out there. Hopefully between the lot of us we can come up with something good. So far I have...

• 2 x 15 gallon pots
• one 6 gallon pot
• one 210,000 BTU burner
• one regular burner

So, what should my new all grain system consist of?

Brewing fantasy becomes reality...

Spent the night with a friend envisioning a larger brewing system. Right now I'm a bit limited. Extract brews in a six gallon (24 quart) stock pot. Almost full boils or double batch partial boils. All this on my electric kitchen stove. If you followed my twitter digest the other night you'll see it takes me about four hours to brew five gallons.

What if I could heat water faster? What if I could brew more at a time? What if I finally learned how to brew all grain? Well it's all gonna happen. First a new propane burner. Then a keggle. Finally a mash/lauter tun. The burner and the keggle spigot fittings are on their way. The three tier system with the mash/lauter tun will be built over the next month or so.

Web pages about growing hops...

Did you know I have a little collection of links to web pages about growing hops? Its over there in the sidebar with all the other Quick Reference links. Just sent it to my brother-in-law to help him when he plants the rhizomes I just sent him. I should probably send it to my Dad too.

http://beerbits2.blogspot.com/2007/10/hops-growing-resources.html

March Fermentation Friday: Spring brew fever!

Thanks Bryon for hosting this month. Great topic. Really got me thinking. Don't forget to check out Bryon's wrap up. Go here for his topic post.

I'll have to admit that I looked around a bit at all the early Fermentation Friday posts to get inspiration this time around. I think its the lack of coffee this morning. Time to remedy that. Ok, got my cup of coffee.

Brewing is something I do all year round. It's sad to see the cold tap water I use with my immersion chiller get warmer. Some of the darker beers that seem so inviting in the cold months get finished off and lighter ones are brewed. Cooler fermentation temps in the basement slowly rise with the coming of summer. It isn't without regret that I leave winter behind.

Of course this is the way of things and it cannot be controlled. So what is there to look forward to in spring and summer? More daylight means more motivation and more perceived time to brew. The warmer temps make it easier to brew outside and get out of the kitchen. More frequent get togethers in the neighborhood mean more chances to share my brew. Don't forget the hop plants in the backyard. They're sprouting and will soon be growing out of control. Perhaps some hop shoot salad this year (whatever that is).

So all this is well and good, but, Bryon wants to know what spring will propel us to do. Not quite sure yet. It's a good thing he brought this up. Ok, well I brewed two nights ago. Good start. Sent out hop rhizomes for the first time this year. There we go. Something new. You may have noticed my newfound interest in opening a brewery someday. What else?

Ok, maybe. Just maybe I'll try out this all grain thing. I'm so close. I have some used kegs at my disposal. Bryon, this could be all your fault. At least that's what I'm going to tell my wife.

Friday, Fermentation Friday that is...

Uhuh, now I just have to remember to post. You should too :-)

http://blog.homebrewbeer.net/2009/03/fermentation-friday-embrace-your-spring.html

Twitter Digest

• 19:58 water heating, equipment out, ingredients out #
• 20:00 yech, mold in siphon tube #
• 20:27 Brewing tonight: What kinda of beer should I brew...hmmm...: That's right Mr. Last Minute is brewing again. I ha.. tinyurl.com/dgmwv4 #
• 20:47 after much deliberation an english ale it is :-) #
• 20:56 measuring steeping grains caramunich and caravienne #
• 21:14 figured all the weights for ingredients #
• 21:36 steeping grains #
• 21:37 scouring internet for london pride specs 'n found 'em #
• 22:24 added liquid malt extract #
• 22:26 before that rinsed steeping grains #
• 22:28 next wait for boil (kitchen stove electric) #
• 23:11 15 min left in boil #
• 23:12 rehydrating safale 33 soon #
• 00:05 wort chiller with the immersion chiller #
• 00:26 racked it into the carboy #
• 00:27 yeast pitched and wort aerated (shaken) #
• 00:29 clean up time :-) #

Brewing tonight: What kinda of beer should I brew...hmmm...

That's right Mr. Last Minute is brewing again. I have a bunch of stuff on the shelf screaming pick me...pick me. Hell I don't even remember what I have on the shelf. Just to prove how bad I am at remembering this kinda stuff, here is my recollection. To the best of my recollection I have...

• 5 - 10 lbs amber liquid malt extract
• 33 lbs of amber (liquid malt extract)
• some steeping grains including (special b, caramel something or other, chocolate, and various other flavors I haven't used before)
• hops...uh..two types of hops I've never used (one pound each)
• yeast...uh...(liquid saison, high gravity, a bunch of dry yeasts)
• two carboys with yeast cakes that I don't trust

Ok, time to whip something up. Session beer with some flavor? Almost tired of that song. Perhaps something hoppy with mystery hops. Eh...probably not a good idea first time around the block with new hops. Maybe something all about the malt. Darker or lighter? Sweet or dry? Big or little abv? OK...got it.

• Session beer at around 4%
• Balanced, maybe push the grain to the forefront instead of hops like I did with the Chinook
  
• Don't care about color, probably will be in the amber range maybe a little darker
• gotta see what kind fun stuff is waiting for me in the steeping grain department
• will have more complexity than the Chinook Ale where I didn't even use steeping grains
  

You know I don't do this on purpose. I guess everybody has their way of operating. I'll twitter the rest of the activity and post the summary later. And now the fun begins...

"What the hell is in my basement that I can brew with?"

Small Breweries: My inspiration...

If you know of other small breweries let me know. Should we call them nano breweries? Thats what Matt, a commenter, called them. I kinda like it.

http://www.twobeersbrewery.com/
http://www.breakerbrewingcompany.com/

Blackrocks Brewery
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/beer/2011/03/video-blackrocks-brewery-in-marquette-mi/

Don't forget Fermentation Friday is all about Spring!

March 27th: Bryon @ HomeBrewBeer.net

Yes, that is this Friday :-)

Cascade Hops Rhizomes delivered...

I dug up about twelve rhizomes of varying sizes and bagged them in ziplocks. In some ways this will prevent the spread of these crazy plants near the trellis/gate in the back. One bag has been delivered and the others will be mailed today. Should have taken a picture or two I guess. Oh well, I was in a rush.

What does it take to open your own brewery?

I can't say I've put any serious research into it, but, the thought does intrigue me. How about you? Is your dream to open a brewpub or brewery someday?

Ok, I've done some research.  Here's a book I bought.

>      The Brewers Association's Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery

Monday morning catchup...

The dinner at the The Farmhouse in Emmaus blew me out of the water. Wow! De Proef, Local 2, Smutty Nose, etc. Maybe I'll have more later on this.

No brewing this weekend. Dunno why I couldn't get it together.

Digging up hop rhizomes today to share with friends. Also scored some swingtop bottles for use when sharing draft beer with friends.

March's Fermentation Friday is almost here. Get your posts ready! Its all about catching the Spring brewing bug.

This one's homebrew related. I promise...

Just checked the hopshoots and they're just a tiny bit bigger today. I really have to dig some up for my friends. Also, depending on my schedule this weekend I'm gonna try and brew. Yikes I almost forgot. I have a beer dinner tonight at The Farmhouse. What was that about the finer things in life? ;-)

It happened again...

Again I woke up early to work out. Hard to believe I would be able to do it twice. Most people would say I'm a night owl.

Lately I have been thinking about the value of things. I guess I am sorting out the important from the not so important. This time in the morning is one of those important things. Nobody is awake except the dogs and even they go back to sleep as this is not their schedule. Peacefulness just might be enough to change the habits of this night owl. How could I miss this time of the day?

I hope this doesn't lead to changing the design of my website to a lighter color.

Fermentation Friday 3/27: Bryon @ Home Brew Beer .NET

And here is the topic.

How will you grow or change as a homebrewer this Spring?

I can think of a few things. One would be to change the way we trim back the hop shoots this year.

Visit Bryon's blog, http://www.homebrewbeer.net to participate in Fermentation Friday. If you don't have you're own blog , not a problem, just leave comments. Participating early or late isn't usually a problem :-)

Spring morning...

sitting in place
light creeping around
bringing color to black and grey

life creeps out
from the ground
from the air
from all around
bringing color to the grey

a feeling of wonder
growing from nowhere
taking over, giving life

a sense of being
and wonder
even fulfillment

I decided to get up early for a workout which isn't exactly my normal routine. Sitting in our sun room watching the light of an overcast day come over us. Thinking about those hop sprouts breaking through the dirt. Listening to the birds and the traffic build. Watching the dog stretch and waiting for my family to waken. Thought I would share it with you.

PBW weekend update and covert hops spy pictures...

Homebrew, homebrew why have I forsaken thee? 'Cause there's a ton of freakin' cask ale at Yards! I'm not really feeling guilty about posting so much Philly Beer Week stuff anymore. I mean what would you do if you lived near a city that celebrated the existence of good beer with hundreds of events? Yeah, I thought so.

The highlights were the brewery tour with Tom Kehoe, the VIP hour for $10 more which gave us some breathing room and did I mention that there was a ton of freakin' cask ale? Black Ops from Brooklyn Brewery made an appearance with Mr. Garret Oliver himself. My favorite beer of the day was Fullers London Pride. There were bigger beers with more complex profiles, but, the subtle balanced flavors of this beer on cask is just wonderful. Yeah, good food, music, friends, a ton of freakin' cask ale, a keg cleaner/sanitizer/filler machine I'd love to see in action and well... just go next time. I can't really explain it.

Again, I have some brewin' to do. The question is, "When?"

Oh yeah, I was supposed to check those hop plants out. Hold on. I'll run out there in the dark right now. (please wait...OK I'm back...) I'm happy to report THEY LIVE! Check it out. Can you see the hop shoots in the picture? Look for the purple things in the middle. Click on the picture for a closer look. That reminds me. I'm supposed to dig up some rhizomes for a couple people.

Twitter Digest

• 09:35 Listening to The Chieftains, makin' coffee, Yards Real Ale Invitationa later today #pbwl #
• 09:37 got the snow tires off the speed3 yesterday, damn i missed real tires #
• 12:16 at yards real ale inv #pww #
• 12:43 brooklyn black ops @ yards on cask! #pbw #
• 14:04 @ EvilchurchdOc i'm in front of the band drk blue coat bald #pbw #
• 18:39 done wit philly beer week, eats at The Abbaye ahhhhhh...:-) #
• 18:50 so i'm thinking of my next brew #

Twitter Digest

• 09:35 in line for cask ale at friday the firkinteenth @ grey lodge #
• 09:38 woohoo! fridat the firkinteenth #pbw #
• 09:51 arcadia sky high rye on cask rocks #pbw @TGL #
• 11:13 leavin' the grey lodge headed to yards #pbw #
• 12:34 yards smokem if you got em #pbw #
• 13:01 havin a cigar outside @ yards #pbw #
• 15:17 @ nodding head where da funk is kinked :-( #pbw #

Tweets for Today

Tweet Digest

• 21:11 Why isn't it Friday? Sweet sweet Friday. #PBW #
• 21:16 @EvilchurchdOc nice, makes me wish I was pub crawlin' #
• 21:18 shout out to all you Philly folk at pbw! Have one for me! #PBW #
• 11:31 Homebrew...homebrew...I know its around here somewhere...: Several week old yeast cakes in carboys in the fridge.. tinyurl.com/bdyodk #

Homebrew...homebrew...I know its around here somewhere...

Several week old yeast cakes in carboys in the fridge. Hmmm...probably not the best for a new batch. Maybe I'll pick some up over at Iron Hill in West Chester. Or I guess I could use one of the dry packets I have. Choices...choices.

You know I should probably take a look at the hops plants out back. The shoots might be muscling through the Earths crust already. Which means its time for us to think about controlling the bine growth of the Cascades. Last year, too much plant. This year we'll probably cut back the shoots even more severely than last year. We'll probably eat some in the process. Yeah hop shoots are edible. Not sure we have hit the right preparation method yet, but, its fun trying.

I'm thinking sometime next week I'll brew again. Meanwhile I'll be hitting The Grey Lodge for Friday the Firkinteenth and Yards for Smok'em if you Got 'Em tomorrow. A whole day wandering around Philly for beer events! Check out the most current list of firkins at The Grey Lodge. I'm sure its going to be crazy. This will be my first FTF.

Appalachian Celtic Knot
Arcadia Hopmouth Double IPA
Arcadia Sky
High Rye
Ballast Point Big Eye IPA
Boulder Mojo Risin IPA
Cricket Hill Col. Blide's
Bitter
Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA
Dock Street Hop Garden
Erie
Railbender
Flying Fish Applejack Barrel aged Grand Cru
Gritty's Black Fly
Stout
Iron Hill (North Wales) Biere Noir
Iron Hill (West Chester) Irish
Red
Ithaca Flower Power (pin - counts 1/2 a firkin)
Ithaca Bourbon
TEN (pin - counts 1/2 a firkin)
Lancaster Milk Stout
Manayunk
California Dreaming IPA
Manayunk Oatmeal Stout
Nodding Head TBA
Philadelphia TBA
River Horse Special Ale
Sierra Nevada Stoudt
Sly
Fox Standard Ale
Sprecher Special Amber
St. Somewhere Oak Barrel Aged,
Dry Hopped Saison Athene
Stoudts ESB
Troegs Scratch Beer
Victory
Yakima Twilight
Weyerbacher Echo
Voodoo Wynonas Big Brown Ale
Yards
General Washington Tavern Porter dry hopped with Fuggles

Tj's is fun :-) and other misc stuff...

It all started with a text message. You know how it goes. "Goin to Teresa's Next Door and after that TJ's." I respond something like, "We'll see, got to take daughter to bball game." Text me when you get there."

Hours pass and the txt msg comes in. "Leaving Teresa's Next Door will be at TJs around 8:30" I think about it. Tough call, wife kinda sick, kids getting ready for bed, one throwing a fit...hmmm. My answer is "After I get the kids to bed, we'll see."

Long story short I pulled the trigger and headed to TJ's in Paoli, PA. I had a great time with Tom F., Joel A., Bryan, Richard R., Jeff (the J in TJ's) and Jeremy and Jackie the folks who txt'd me. What a great night :-) Looking forward to my first Friday the Firkinteenth, Smok'em if you got 'em, and the Yard's Real Ale Invitational. Everybody was talking about Philly Beer Week events. Ghaaah!

So, how lucky am I to live in the suburbs of The Greatest Beer City in the world?

Here's a video about Friday the Firkinteenth :-)

Find more videos like this on THE CIRCUIT by LO-FI SAINT LOUIS

Putting a call out to BB2 readers for help with an idea.

As you can tell, I've been fulfilling my need to tinker by making Philly Beer Week event maps. I know it isn't homebrew related, but, it does represent one of the reasons I got into blogging in the first place, tech tinkering. Anyway...

The question on my mind, "How could I use online maps and homebrewing together?" What do you think? Any killer homebrew apps just waiting to be built?

Philly Beer Week, Running & The Brew Lounge

It always makes me happy to hear of good people getting some good props. Bryan over at TBL along with Dock Street Brewery put together a 5k scavenger run. I think I might have to sign on next year. I'll do anything for a beer.

A direct link to the article.

A direct link to the slideshow.

Unofficial Philly Beer Week Maps Updated...

Yes the unofficial Philly Beer Week maps are updated. Check the sidebar over there -->

UPDATE: Removed from the sidebar. Here is the final version.

~Friday 3/6 (kml)
~Saturday 3/7 (kml)
~Sunday 3/8 (kml)
~Monday 3/9 (kml)
~Tuesday 3/10 (kml)
~Wednesday 3/11 (kml)
~Thursday 3/12 (kml)
~Friday 3/13 (kml)
~Saturday 3/14 (kml)
~Sunday 3/15 (kml)

Note: kml links should work with Google Mobile Maps

Thanks to Bryan @ The Brew Lounge
for the list of events. I couldn't put this together without him :-) The official schedule can be found at the Philly Beer Week site.

Yep, I'm here to tell you that it wasn't fun either. I don't have this automated on the server side, so I have to go through all these manual steps every time Bryan updates his spreadsheet. Next year, I might find some way to make it a bit easier. Here's the process I used just in case this kinda stuff interests you.

• dowload Brew Lounge's google spreadsheet as Excel file (thanks Bryan!)
• put columns in correct order, combine some columns with forumulas
• make sure records show in proper chrono order
• split into 10 diff days
• export into 10 tab delim files, one for each day
• use http://batchgeocode.com to create KML files
• give KML files new names so Google Maps doesn't use old cached ones
• make sure the KML files are saved in unicode for Google Maps
• use Notepadd++ to change pushpins and remove some quotes from the 10 files
• upload to website
• test
• change sidebar HTML to reflect new links (URL to Google Map and raw KML file)
• Then you realize you screwed up and have to redo the whole thing. Sorting is a PITA.

So what does this tell me? There's probably an easier way. I guess I would try to automate it if I did it more often. You know, I should probably check to see how http://beermapping.com does their stuff.

Whew, glad that's done.

HB101 Q7 What book do you recommend for beginners? (via Brew Dad)

This marks the seventh part of a multipart series of posts about the fundamentals of homebrewing. Sure there's books, web pages, pamphlets, kit instructions, forums and all kinds of resources about brewing beer. Why cover it again here? I don't know. Why does your grandpa tell the same stories over and over again? Maybe it has to do with how we do it. Again, the question should you choose to weigh in is...

Q: What book do you recommend for beginners?

This Homebrew 101 question is brought to you by Brew Dad :-) Thanks Brew Dad! So tell us. What books are good for beginners?

Now that is a hammer!

PhillyBeerWeek.org's map of Today's events...

Check it out. I wonder when they added this?

Today's Events on a map. Brilliant!
http://www.phillybeerweek.org/map_daily.cfm

Nothing for mobile yet. That's a tougher nut to crack. Mine works, but, you still have to type in a URL.

:-)

Unofficial Maps for Philly Beer Week: Some things to know...

For those of you who are not as interested in PBW I apologize for this non-homebrew rambling about Philly Beer Week, maps, cell phones and pint pushpins.

I have been spending some time trying these maps out (check sidebar). Here's what I'm thinking...

• They're already out of date compared to Bryan's spreadsheet and possibly the PBW website. Hopefully I'll fix that soon. How out of date? Not sure really. Just remember to double check with the event host regarding time and date. Also check the Philly Beer Week official website.
• Mobile iPhone: The maps sorta work on the iPhone. In the mapping app you can type in the kml URL (see sidebar) and it will load all of the pushpins. I don't have one, but, it worked on a friends.
• Mobile Blackberry: It actually seems to work better on the Blackberry using Google Maps Mobile. This is not the same thing as the Google Maps on the web. Using the Gmap mobile app type the KML URL into the search box. You get a master list of all events, street view were available and the nifty pint pushpins.
• Google Earth: The desktop software will also load the kml file and likely allow you to have lots of fun flying from event to event.
• Web: This is the easiest. Just click on the links in the sidebar and have some fun.
• Web: Try saving the maps to your maps. You can then update it as you like.

Did I forget something? If anybody else has an experience to share, just leave a comment.

Enjoy Philly Beer Week!

Unofficial PBW Maps: Google Mobile - Maps support...

If you can run GMaps on your phone you should be able to get the un-official Philly Beer Week maps on your phone. It works on my Blackberry. Check my sidebar for kml links. In Google Mobile maps type the kml link into the search. Why? You get...

• a list of all events for that day in (mostly) chronological order
• street view where available
• you can click "get directions" to a place
• there's probably more, but, I'm outta time...
  

Go check out the Philly Beer Week website from the official schedule.

Beer Wars - I like the trailer.

Unofficial - Philly Beer Week Daily Maps

These maps may not be accurate. Use at your own risk. Official schedule at the Philly Beer Week site. The first items in the list are either daily or all day events. After that you'll find the chronological list of events for the day. Enjoy!

Edit: You can save the data to your own account. So, you could save all those events to your own map. Then uncheck all the events you are not attending. Tada! You're very own set of maps with only the events you are attending.

NOTE: LINKS MOVED to the sidebar!

Look in the sidebar for the most recent links. I'm trying to only have one place to update them.

Beer Wars

So what are we thinking about this? It seems kinda interesting.

http://beerwarsmovie.com/

I'll be your Homebrew helper.

Check out this post at The Simple Dollar about brewing your own beer and how much it costs.

For anybody visiting via The Simple Dollar I'm a homebrew blogger who likes to teach. If you want to learn how to brew email me beerbits2@gmail.com. I'm always trying to teach more people how to brew :-)