Recently purchased a 40 quart pot and I'm glad I did. St. Paddy's day (my anniversary) my wife went to work (3 hours). So, since I was home, I figured I might as well brew. I decided to make a Guinness Foreign Extra stout clone. It turns out that the preboil volume was about 4.5 gals. That would've been cutting it closer than I'd like in a five gal pot.
The people at Austin Homebrew held a gun to my head the other day. I ordered 5 of the $20 kits (just to take advantage of the free shipping, of course). I should NOW be set as far as beer kits are concerned for a couple of months....
I got 15 gallons that will be ready to go and 15 to make. 5 more kits would put me well ahead of my current desires for beer--I need figure out what I want to make. What kits did you order? I kind of want to put a 3rd tap in the kegerator for guinness, but I seem to be loving the ales too much, but a 3rd tap may happen.
You should download Mr. Beersmith for a 21 day trial--I may start my own recipes
Walt, Here are the five I ordered: American Pale Ale, English Pale Ale, IPA, Porter, Summer Irish Ale (not anniversary). That last one sorta snuck in there. I ordered the porter because I heard them talking about that in, "The Quiet Man" on St. Paddy's day. I've got 80 gals waiting in the wings. I don't want to start getting tempted to brew more until I start using the kits I've got.
It sounds so tasty. 80 gallons your nuts. I got 10 in the kegorator (i need to learn how to spell), 5 in secondary (Texas Red), and 5 in primary (british IPS). I made the Belgium white (AHS) that they all rave about. Very good, much like Hoogarden. I kegged the Heiniken clone, which tastes like a lager (pretty good). I hope it ages well. I only lagered it for 2 weeks in a fridge. I really screwed around and did not know what the hell I was doing. It is pretty clear too. My Plan is to have 2 kegs, 2 fermenting, and 2 kits in the wings, I have to keep the taps flowing. I am slowing down my consumption so it shouldn't be too bad, but I expect to be drained during get togethers. Bottling is also an option, as is a 3rd tap. I plan on getting 2 more kegs.
Walt, I must have gotten all dyslexic, I have 8 kits = 40 gallons waiting. My order from AHS is scheduled to be delivered today, about 60 pounds worth. That means it's somewhere between Horseblock Road and here. Sometimes this hobby is like crack...
the drinking was killing me. So I have slowed down, and now I am not giving away anything because it's kegged. I don't really want to bottle unless I have to or it's a specialty beer--yeah, like crack. Atleast I have calmed down, and my wife isn't quite looking at me like a lunatic because she know's I am making good beer. Check out ommegang brewery, I am a big fan of their farmhouse saison. All they make is Belgium beers. I am going to ck them out this summer, oh yeah and cooperstown too. BTW: Heiniken clone is tasting better and better. I think saison might be my summer beer.
Side Note: My 4 year old calls the UPS Driver the "Beer Guy," and yeah he helps me brew!
I know how you feel. Summer is on it's way (doesn't feel like it lately) and it makes it easier to drink more. I think I'm keeping a good balance between drinking and brewing. The wife doesn't always think so though! I'll have to see if No. Shore Bev. has Ommegang. Does the beer distributor (Beer Warehouse?) out near you have a good selection of singles? I hate buying a six and finding out they aren't that great. I had a Blue Point RastafaRye that was really excellent. It's good your son likes to brew with you. My kids are 19 and 16 and could care less about brewing, much less helping me out. I went to J&R's last Sunday night and had the Hofbrau Maibock. It was pretty tasty. Just finished brewing my Bud Amber Ale. A little less than four hours start to finish, including taking everything out and putting it all away. I originally had a job in East Meadow today, but that got cancelled. Now that I'm done brewing, there's no shortage of work around the house.
I have not seen Ommegang down here. Thrifty bev. and the Bev. in W.River have decent singles. They both have good 6's. I pretty much have stopped buying beer. I went into thrifty to check for ideas. I think the problem is that beers sit/get dusty and loose some flavor. Blue Point Spring Fling I liked--it also is a rye. I have to look more into rye's/brew one. I think they require some prep. of the rye. My problem is to brew or not to brew tomorrow. My stock is heavy, but I feel brewing may get in the way of me getting crap done around the house in the spring.
Brew Times: Extract with some grains (25 min soak) ~3 hours
Mini Mash 4 Hours
Linear Mode
