Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The "M" Word
Ok, so been pretty busy as of late. I got engaged a few weekends ago and have been working with my bride to be on wedding stuff. I miss brewing and need to brew another sometime soon. Reason I bring up the wedding is I had an idea for a wedding favor. I want to brew a Blood Orange Wheat beer and have the label list our names and date of the wedding for the 21+ crowd to enjoy. So, since we're thinking a September 2012 wedding, I have a good long while to try and get good at this brew. I also finished creating my homemade mash tun. I replaced all of the brass parts I had original purchased with copper and stainless steel. You would not believe how hard it was to find a 1/2" pipe tee in copper or stainless steel. Found a stainless steel one online finally and had ordered it. So, once I got back from my work trip last week, I finished putting together my mash tun with the new pieces. So, as a recap. I'm using a 50QT Coleman Extreme 5 rectangular cooler. I took out the nozzle and replaced it with a 1/2" copper nipple, 1/2" ball valve, and 1/2" stainless steel tee (on the inside). I left the original leak protector inside. On the stainless tee I attached a 1/2" copper connector to both sides. I also attached another 1/2" copper connect to the end of the ball valve. Finally, I took a dishwasher hose, removed the plastic and added copper wire inside to prevent from crushing. I secured it all with stainless steel hose clamps. So, when all is said and done, I have a make shift mash tun. After buying brass and then replacing, I could've just bought a real mash tun setup! UGH! So, I only have capabilities of partial mash right now since I only have a 5 QT pot and no propane burner. I also would like to get into using yeast starters, but have yet to really dive into how they work and how to prepare them. Only watched a few videos online. I'm hesitant to start trialing my Blood Orange Wheat until I am at a full All Grain Setup. I guess my train of thought is why try and get good at a brewing style (Partial Mash) if I'm going to be changing it soon anyway to All Grain. I will be going to my local homebrew shop tonight to see the cost of some of the other pieces in my setup and maybe get a partial mash recipe to hold me over for now. It's an expensive hobby to start, but once I have a full All Grain setup, it's just ingredients I need. It will save a lot of money from buying beer. 5 Gallon batch of homebrew, depending on style obviously, is $40. 5 Gallons worth of local good beer is $60. Saving some dough.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)