Yep! that is me...a face for radio
Creating a great Kolsch. One of only 3 beers so far to make it into the Great beer recipe book for a do over.
Last year was fun both Katie (my sister in law) and myself were still very much learning. It was only my third brew and her Second. (the first one together was another pretty good recipe our Imperial IPA
So Rob took the lead but let us each put our touches on it teaching us how to brew the All Grain way.
like this one Tales from the One Gallon Brew or Our Bitter Sweet recipe (which was just Okay)
But we were learning what worked, what did not, the process etc...
Life happened, things get in the way and time flies. So as I saw Memorial day coming around I wanted to make this an annual thing, if nothing else a date we got together and made a beer.
Our first choice (or my "go big or Go Home" choice) was an Imperial Oktoberfest. I found a few recipes (to which a lot of people would say well that is just a double Bock. Well Double Bock or not Imperial Oktoberfest sounds cooler.
Well after looking it over and realizing we needed to let it ferment at about 35 degrees for 7 weeks and the options of buying another refrigerator etc... We changed gears last minute, but keeping with my Go Big ideas I screwed us yet again. I found a Heavy Scotch Ale that had a Grain bill of about 24 pounds. (to put it in perspective our Imperial IPA had 17 pounds and that pushed the limits of our (Rob's) equipment.
Here was the problem. I had already picked up the grain and it was mixed so I could not even cut it down to say a 4 gallon batch at that point. So we all got together went to a couple of brew shops, as Katie and I decided to bite the bullet and get some brew gear that would both help in a large automated system with Robs, let us brew when Rob could not make it and enable us to brew normal size batches without having to load up all Rob's gear every time.
The biggest issue with this brew was the Mash Tun Rob's 10 gallon was not large enough for the grain and water.
So we looked at both getting a larger cooler, a larger pot and all of the hoses connections, pumps that would give us all the options above. Those being this Brew, and future brews no matter the size.
Well we decided on a cooler for the time being. Katie and I would get our own Pot after shopping a bit for the best deal, But we needed our own Mash Tun anyway, so this would work out in the long run.
Well with the best intentions Katie found a great 20 gallon cooler at a going out of business sale. But......
The hole for the ball valve was too long and would put the screen at an angle that would not be the greatest for the Mash.
Our Brew was supposed to begin at 10 am..... Well after a trip to Loews and as I washed everything to prepare it. 2 hours later we had a very nice, very large Mash tun. Now we could begin.
First thing was getting the water ready and Crushing the 23-24 pounds of grain....
And no Brew day would be complete without trying a new beer..this one from Main Street 4202 in Belleville Il Their 2-Hop IPA is a West coast style IPA with Cascade and Legacy Hops. It went down way too easy and could have been a disaster from a too good to not keep drinking standpoint...But We had work to do....
And when I said we had work to do not only were we brewing, Rob brought some tools over to cut a tree down that was growing in some power lines (do not try this at home)
Anyhow...We were ready to Mash in, and thank the good Lord, Rob bought a heavy duty Mash paddle we needed it....
As thick a ratio as I have seen in my short brewing career...
But when we Mashed out we were also able to squeeze out another gallon and a half,
I threw my small pot on a burner and used up all the left over hops I had in the freezer from the past year...
It may taste like crap, or as Rob said it could be a small batch that taste better than the large one.....Either way we got another gallon out of this. Waste not, Want not.
The rest of the Brew went pretty well. This was also the first time I made a Yeast Starter the day before and may do that again as, the airlock was extremely active for 2-3 days.
I put all the beer over into secondary and now we wait.
Meanwhile, Katie and I have purchased a new 20 gallon Brew pot and some accessories.
We plan on making a few clones beers first to get used to the new equipment (the first beer will be Sierra Nevada's Torpedo extra IPA
If we can get it close, we will try one more clone, if it is awful maybe two more
After that, start to experiment this fall. The goal is to brew once a month. If we can go at least every other month I will be happy with that...We will see.
As always this disclaimer I am no expert only a guy who likes to brew and drink beer, these are my opinions and we all know what opinions are like...Yes Assholes...So this is just one assholes opinions, and the way I am learning to brew, my personal journal for the 2 or 3 of you to see. When and if I find the perfect way to brew and can pass that info along I will..But my best advice learn from who you can, your own mistakes, and you are brewing beer...have fun for crying out loud. Cheers and Beers
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