Sunday, September 3, 2017

Kegerator Project

As I make Pale this afternoon, I'm getting back to work on a kegerator project started a while back.
At first I wanted to have this old fridge painted at an auto body shop.  But when I really got to the sanding last night I realized that there are too many small dents and scrapes to merit more than a store-bought, matte finish paint job.
Here's how it looked before I started peeling stickers and wiping grease and oil off of it.
Phase one of the transformation began last night.
This fridge still works but in case it stops 15 minutes after I get everything done, I don't want to spend much money on it.
I'm not sure if I want to take off the emblem at the top.  If it's glued, that's ok but I don't want to rip it off, only to find a couple of holes in the door I won't like looking at.
After the paint comes a couple of intentional holes for the simple wall tap, a new gasket for the door, a small CO2 tank and some tubing.

Beer people problems.

Whatever.

Good Beer To You.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

More Beer More Problems

Today I decided to make a larger volume of my Amber so that I'll have  some to drink on into Thanksgiving.
I would have doubled the batch size but that would have exceeded the limits of my mash tun.  So I calculated the total volume of grain and mash water that would get me right up to the brim.  I had to thicken the mash a bit to get enough fermentables in the cooler to make 10.5 gallons.
I hit the mash temperature just a half a degree long at 152.5 and filled it.
I could barely get the lid on.  Then as I began to sparge I employed my new screen to catch husks and other solids from getting boiled with the wort.
The primary purpose of this device is to provide a place to add hops during the boil and easily remove them when the chill begins.  It is designed to hang into the kettle but I had to clamp it up high because the total volume of the boil in a batch this size would sink the top of it. and make it ineffective.
It did a great job on the Session IPA I made a couple of weeks ago so I'll make it a permanent part of my process.
On another note I'm working on a business plan when I can.  It's slow going but really instructive.
Good Beer To You.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Stout Grist and a Steam Beer

Just taking a minute to post a couple of recent beer photos.
I made a Stout last week and snapped this before I milled the grain.
And today my Steam Beer is fermenting away at 63 degrees.
That's it.  Carry on and, of course,... Good Beer To You.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

A Fresh Look At Some Old Video

During the day I work with various kinds of video technology.   And today, I found an old video of my beer bottling exploits.
This was just some stuff I shot to familiarize myself with a new GoPro we acquired. 
It's not much, but I cut the shots together to show how I package beer.
I won't be entering this into our local Emmy competition.
But it's about beer so, I guess this is the place for it.
But here's a little bit more.
A couple of things I've done on my day job as a news photographer.


I hope you like them.
Good Beer To You.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

2016 is in the Books, Thank Goodness!!

A new year of family, friends and beer awaits.
I'm ready for it.
2016 was a tough year at our house.  We replaced the water heater, the furnaces and A/C units, the dryer, the oven, and had a major repair on one of the cars.
The good news is that we are running out of appliances that might need replacement without warranty.  If the toaster oven and dishwasher go, we're going to have some problems.
However, I'm at once embarrassed and proud to report that I have made beer 35 times.
Unfortunately, I do not have 190 gallons of beer here at the house, which says something sort of dark about my drinking habits.
I made a couple of batches for my neighbor and gave a lot away but, damn, I should still have lots more in my beer room.
I went through a couple of kegs of Ordinary Bitter.
The session IPA is great, and Sam I Am (a Sam Adams clone) turned out well too.
I developed a Rye IPA that is good but still needs work to become one of my go-to recipes.  The newest Bock is good and my Stout keeps my wife smiling.
I made an Oktoberfest this year and Big B's Special Blonde and Pale 208 are good, as expected.
2016 was good, beer-wise.
2017, I hope will be good for everything else.
We need to buy a car.
Jenny's '97 Accord, the one she had when I met her 17 years ago, is about to fail.
Of, course, I'll get the CRV and she'll get the new car.  That's just the way things work around here.
But all I really care about is that everyone is safe and comfortable.
That's part of the deal when you're a husband and father.
Today, though, I'm celebrating the start of a new year with a fresh batch of Brown Ale.  I harvested yeast from a Pale I racked yesterday and happened to have the grain and hops on hand so, of course, I'm making beer.
This is the beer that won me a Best of Show a few years ago.  When it's made well, it's spectacular.
Anyway, I hope everyone at your house is happy, healthy and enjoys a wonderful 2017.
If you stop by my place for a beer, here is what's available right now.
Plus, Jenny has wine on hand too.
Good Beer To You,...and me.