am i the saddest brewing addict?

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pokerswazi

am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by pokerswazi » Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:05 pm

christmas day was brewday for me, i know, a bit sad... my wife had to work so we celebrated today instead.
everything that could go wrong went wrong during my brew but in the end i came out with a good wort which has now started bubbling away. when i've sobered up (tomorrow or the next day) i'll post a report and some pics.
right now, back to the drinking and the wii...
merry christmas all... :D

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Jim
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Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by Jim » Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:38 pm

That's what I call dedication. :=P

I was wondering if we'd have a Christmas day brewday. :wink:
NURSE!! He's out of bed again!

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Stonechat
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Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by Stonechat » Fri Dec 26, 2008 6:49 pm

Probably not the saddest. I haven't brewed since Tuesday 16th December and won't until Tuesday 30th December, a two week break, a bit scary.

There are 14 cases of empty bottles in the garage. GW's Beer Engine needs start up :oops: :oops: :oops:

Invalid Stout

Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by Invalid Stout » Sat Dec 27, 2008 4:02 pm

Imagine trying to brew and cook a Christmas dinner at the same time! That would surely test the fanciest and best organised domestic kitchen.

Anyone ever tried left-over Christmas pudding in the mash? ;)

pokerswazi

Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by pokerswazi » Sun Dec 28, 2008 3:15 pm

right... here is the sober version of what went on on christmas day...
my dad was my brewing assistant for the day who is a kit brewer but had never seen a.g. done at home. he also took the pictures.

recipe:
single infusion mash at 66c
5.25kg pale malt (everything i had)
500g crystal malt
76g first gold hops (7.5% AA) 90min ---- = 50 EBU's
20g first gold hops 10 mins
1 whirfloc tab 10 mins
20g first gold hops at boiler turn off

at this point i had the brew penciled in my book as "Santa's strong bitter"

i mashed the grain for 90 min and then got ready to fly sparge. heated the sparge liquor and filled the insulated sparge bucket
Image

then i set up my 3 tiers and started the run off. i didn't even fill my jug of first runnings when the mash stuck... problem no.1 i blew up the pipe, my mash bubbled but still no run off. eish... so i decide to stick a sparge bag in another bucket, tip my mash into there and try again. this is my first stuck mash and so 1st attempt at trying to fix it...
Image

i thought i'd just try and sparge straight out of this bucket but had to stop when i realized that the liquid was running over the top of the grain and down the sides, ie, no sparge... damn. problem in the mash tun was the manifold had come away from the tap, whole tap was clogged with grain. after a quick clean i got it all back in the cooler box, this time the manifold held in place by some shot glasses from the kitchen.
and away we go... some time later, things are back on track...
Image

great, everything sorted, small mishap overcome, back on course. the boiler is filling and is now on, great. at this point i kick the boiler tap, it comes loose and my precious hot wort starts spilling onto the floor. after a quick rescue mission, we get the wort into another bucket, fix the tap and return to sparging. at this point my dad is questioning me about why we bother with a.g., kits are so much easier... and i have the mutters... "santa's strong bitter" is renamed....." a nightmare before christmas brew"
finally we get the boiler filled with clear sweat wort and await the boil.
Image

thats it, just a boil now, what could go wrong (apart from possible boiler tap malfunction, which i have accounted for by placing my bucket of excess wort, which is waiting to be added to boil after some evaporation, under the tap). i weigh out the hops and when all the foam has subsided i chuck them in. they start to roll around when i notice an inch long black object rolling with the hops, when i manage to catch it and get it out for inspection i find that it is a piece of rubber, looks like from a car tyre. lovely.... :evil: this can only have come from my compressed block of hops, not happy... glad i got it at the beginning. my dad is now convinced, a.g. is way to much trouble... from this point on everything did in fact go smoothly and i got 23l of clear wort at o.g. 1057.
here i am, alone in the cold now, supervising the boil. dad is challenging my mother-in-law to rounds and rounds of bowling on the wii, "brewing is a silly waste of time... and cold..." he says...
Image

whew, all done. cooled, gravity read, now just for the yeast. i open my yeast container to get my sachet of so4 and what do i find... nothing but 1 lonely sachet of safbrew t-58, oh my god. how could i make that mistake. should have checked ingredients before i started, i have to just use the t58, have no idea what it's like or whether it will taste good. as far as i know this is for euro style beers, and was gonna try it in my next kiwi weisse... in it goes anyway. the beer is once again renamed to "car crash christmas bitter"...
all i can do is hope for the best and get on with what i should have been doing all day, drinking my beer...

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Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by BarnsleyBrewer » Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:25 pm

Nice pics, your kitchen set-up looks like I was brewing for years...Wife hated it, she said it stunk the house out. "BITCH"

I do it all in the shed now, bit tight but get by without any interference! :D
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pokerswazi

Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by pokerswazi » Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:11 pm

we have a lovely garage at the bottom of the garden with a perfect sized room for a brewery but sadly no power. thats where i'd brew if i could. we rent the house so would be a waste for me to hook it all up. what looks like our kitchen is in fact a great conservatory, so pretty good too. doesn't really get in anyone's way...

BarnsleyBrewer
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Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by BarnsleyBrewer » Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:01 pm

pokerswazi wrote:we have a lovely garage at the bottom of the garden with a perfect sized room for a brewery but sadly no power. thats where i'd brew if i could. we rent the house so would be a waste for me to hook it all up. what looks like our kitchen is in fact a great conservatory, so pretty good too. doesn't really get in anyone's way...
I'd buy a good quality extension lead to get power to the garage. :D
"Brewing Fine Ales in Barnsley Since 1984"
- - - - - - - 40 years (1984 - 2024)- - - - - - -
Pints Brewed in 2024......... 104
Pints brewed in 2018.. 416
Pints brewed in 2017.. 416 - Pints brewed in 2016.. 208
Pints brewed in 2015.. 624 - Pints brewed in 2014.. 832

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Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by awalker » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:04 pm

pokerswazi wrote:we have a lovely garage at the bottom of the garden with a perfect sized room for a brewery but sadly no power.
Thats why gas was invented :wink:
Fermenter(s): Lambic, Wheat beer, Amrillo/Cascade Beer
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awalker
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Re: am i the saddest brewing addict?

Post by awalker » Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:06 pm

Invalid Stout wrote: Anyone ever tried left-over Christmas pudding in the mash? ;)
I have split a stout before and did a DJ worth in secondary on top of a *NEW* xmas pudding for one.
It picked up the spices nicely and had some very subtle flavours
Fermenter(s): Lambic, Wheat beer, Amrillo/Cascade Beer
Cornys: Hobgoblin clone, Four Shades Stout, Wheat Beer, Amarillo/Cascade Ale, Apple Wine, Cider, Damson Wine, Ginger Beer

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