Monday, March 9, 2015

Pale For The Keg

My supervisor jacked my schedule this week and I have to work Saturday.  But the silver lining is that I have Monday off and thus, a day to make beer.
I'm going to try one more time, to make one of my old leaky kegs work.  Right now I have to pressurize the beer too much just to get a tight seal.  Then the beer develops carbonic acid, which does not taste good.
Anyway, I cleaned it up and applied a good deal of Keg Lube so it's ready to go.
All I have to do is make a good beer to put in it.
The Pale I'm making today is going well.

I hit the mash well and I feel like the beer will hit all the essential parameters within a point or two.
If the kegging goes well I'm going to finally convert this fridge into a kegerator.
 The draft tower for the top isn't more than $100 and I already have the CO2 set up.
I have been using picnic taps for several years now and I want to make the leap toward being able to get right out of the car in my brewery (I mean) garage and get a beer as I go into the house.
This fridge fits two kegs so I'd like to get a 2 faucet draft tower. 
If these kegs do not hold pressure well I'm going to buy a couple of commercial kegs with Sanke fittings.

 Good Beer To You

Sunday, March 1, 2015

IPAlooza

I bottled my re-invented IPA today and it tasted really good.  I can't wait for it to condition so I can drink it.
There was a bit of trub so I only got 5.2 gallons in the bottles.
Yesterday I finally brewed Moose Highland, my alleged Goose Island IPA clone.
It's a good beer but doesn't really taste like Goose Island.
And with a fresh starter of London ESB yeast, it's fermenting vigorously at 69.5 degrees.
This should yield enough IPA to get me into the Summer months.
Right now I've got  lots off beer at my house.

Oktoberfest,
Irish Red,
Blonde,
a nearly 2-year-old Hefeweizen,
Brown,
Steam Beer,
two English Pales,
a Stout,
Amber,
and six bottles of American Pale.
My beer room runneth over.
I had every intention of entering Homebrew Extravaganza, in Memphis, again this year.  But at the last minute I decided I couldn't afford it.
I hope it was a success again this year, as it always has been.  I miss the fellowship and support of my homebrew friends down there.
Time now to clean the garage, I mean the brewery, and my warm weather fermenting chamber.
Next, I'm going to make a Pale for the keg.
Good Beer To You.