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Anyone Else Into Homebrewing?

I'm going to talk the wife into buying a cheap chest freezer tonight. My angle is that I'll use it as a keezer with pigtail taps and an inline temp controller for now, keeping my beer out of the fridge, and she can use it as a deep freeze down the road after I save up for something better. That way, I won't have to bottle anymore.
 
I'm going to talk the wife into buying a cheap chest freezer tonight. My angle is that I'll use it as a keezer with pigtail taps and an inline temp controller for now, keeping my beer out of the fridge, and she can use it as a deep freeze down the road after I save up for something better. That way, I won't have to bottle anymore.

I had the same plans to upgrade eventually. 20 years later I'm still using the good ole chest freezer. Lol. They are tough to beat. So easy to convert it back and forth from freezer and back.
 
I had the same plans to upgrade eventually. 20 years later I'm still using the good ole chest freezer. Lol. They are tough to beat. So easy to convert it back and forth from freezer and back.
The chest freezer is now in my office and the temp controller is on the way. It wasn't hard to talk her into it, but I did get the old "How much money is your new hobby going to cost us?" spiel. I offered to show her an Excel spreadsheet that shows the initial expenses amortized over the next year and how it will save us money. That is when her eyes glazed over and the conversation ended.
 



Batch 3, a brown ale, is kegged and chilling. I popped open one of the bottles from my partial mash a week early, and it was much better than expected. I'm going to brew an ESB this weekend.
 
Batch 3, a brown ale, is kegged and chilling. I popped open one of the bottles from my partial mash a week early, and it was much better than expected. I'm going to brew an ESB this weekend.

Well, if you're like me.............you add a couple kegs, brew a little more.......and a little more..............and all the sudden you have 40 gallons of beer that needs disposed of. Lol. Honestly, I like brewing more than drinking. So, I went to 2 gallon batches a couple years ago. It was easier going through beer when my wife and I were 10 years younger and 4 kids lighter.
 
Well, if you're like me.............you add a couple kegs, brew a little more.......and a little more..............and all the sudden you have 40 gallons of beer that needs disposed of. Lol. Honestly, I like brewing more than drinking. So, I went to 2 gallon batches a couple years ago. It was easier going through beer when my wife and I were 10 years younger and 4 kids lighter.
Yeah, I'm probably a lot like you, lol. My brewing ambitions are far greater than my capacity to drink what I brew. I have room for 4 cornies in my keezer, tops, and even then, drinking them would be tough since my wife doesn't like beer. I plan to do this next batch, then scale back a bit.
 
I am drinking my first homebrewed Belgian Wit right now and holy cow it is good! I've had a few brews since my last post that were good enough to buy, IMHO. I had to share them, just so they weren't hanging around the house. I'm doing a double brew tomorrow. I really like being able to brew beer I know I'll love, while at the same time doing some experimenting.
 



Brews 9 and 10 are in the kegs. One is an Irish Red fermented with Witbier yeast, and the other is one I that doesn't really fit any style. I consider it a Scottish Export, but it's well over 7% ABV. I'm doing a triple brew day on Wednesday, a Biere de Garde, a Stout, and a Blonde. Such fun. I think I know what George W. Bush felt like when he discovered painting, lol.
 
Brews 9 and 10 are in the kegs. One is an Irish Red fermented with Witbier yeast, and the other is one I that doesn't really fit any style. I consider it a Scottish Export, but it's well over 7% ABV. I'm doing a triple brew day on Wednesday, a Biere de Garde, a Stout, and a Blonde. Such fun. I think I know what George W. Bush felt like when he discovered painting, lol.

Time to get your hops in and rooted for next year's harvest.
 
My triple brew day went great. Until I checked my OG on the 1st brew, that is. It was 7 points low. Brews 2 and 3 were 10 points low. I took a look at the spent grain and was not happy with the crush at all. My bad for not checking it first, but I'm not real happy with my homebrew store at the moment. My Stout and Biere de Garde will be acceptable, but my Blonde will end up at around 3.4%. I wanted a session beer, not a Utah beer.
 
My triple brew day went great. Until I checked my OG on the 1st brew, that is. It was 7 points low. Brews 2 and 3 were 10 points low. I took a look at the spent grain and was not happy with the crush at all. My bad for not checking it first, but I'm not real happy with my homebrew store at the moment. My Stout and Biere de Garde will be acceptable, but my Blonde will end up at around 3.4%. I wanted a session beer, not a Utah beer.

Rule #1 for any homebrew store is to offer a consistent crush. That's right above not pricing yourself out of the market with all the online stores who do a great job.
 



Rule #1 for any homebrew store is to offer a consistent crush. That's right above not pricing yourself out of the market with all the online stores who do a great job.

In their defense, the owner wasn't there, his wife was filling in. I know now to ask about the gap setting prior to milling.
 
My Blonde Ale ended up being done after 7 days. It finished at 1.002 (95% apparent attenuation from 3rd generation S-04), and the ABV ended up at 5.25%. I'm drinking one now (kegged and force carbed) and it is terrific. It was exactly what I was going for and is super clean, no off flavors at all. I am baffled, but I am not complaining.
 


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