Since receiving my stand a couple weeks ago I had a couple of issues.  First, the freight driver took out my neighbors power and phone lines with the delivery truck.  Ripped the wires and siding right off her house.  At the time it wasn’t funny, but now that everything is fixed it’s a funny block story.  The other issue, the freight company broke the gas line with the regulator.  When it arrived everything looked fine, but when I hooked up the gas I could here it hissing out of the compression joint.  I emailed Kurt at Brewsteel and he had a new line and regulator sent to me the same day.

I very excited to start using this and building it out more, like the Brutus 10.  So far this stand is everything I expected and it has been a great experience working with Kurt.  While it took a lot longer then anticipated, good customer service kept me assured that I would get what I paid for and so far it has! If you’re planning on a stand, I highly recommend working with Kurt. In the end I’m sure you’ll be happy with what you get.

For me, once my day job settles down and I’m not working 16hours a day, I’m going to put that stand to some good use!

Stand is Here, but Work is Ruining the Fun! is a post from: Simply Beer

My trellis is simply a steel wire run between 2 trees that I’ve attached biodegradable rope to and in past years, the hops have taken to June to reach this height.  I suppose with the early spring, added fertilizer and a strong root system, they are more aggressive this year.  Since I’m limited to about 12′ with my trellis because of the location of the support trees, my plan is to grow them horizontally.  I’ve done this is the past, but it was usually towards the end of the growing season, not at the beginning.  By attaching another steel cable 10′ from the first I will train the hops horizontally.  My biggest concern is then having the horizontally growing hops casting to much shade on vertical.

My other option is to let them just fold over and grow down. Another worry of mine,  I don’t want to run the risk of mold or other bugs with too much growth over hanging the original vertical.

Anyone have any bright ideas that I haven’t thought of, keeping it vertical is not an option this year?

The Hops are to Big for My Trellis! is a post from: Simply Beer

Here is a list of Parts:

• Keg
• Flat head screwdriver
• cutter to remove the top of the keg
• Step drill bit for stainless steel
• drill
• 2 adjustable pliers
• orbital sander
• assorted grits of sandpaper
• Thermometer with weldless fitting
• 15″ Weldless sight glass
• weldless bulkhead ball valve fitting
• weldless bulkhead with 90° fitting
• Dremel or file
• 11 3/4″ Sanke False Bottom & Adapter

The first thing you want to go is to remove the center dispensing tube.  To do this you want to release the pressure in the keg with a screw driver.  Then remove the small o-ring that holds the tube in the keg.  With the ring removed you can pull out the dip tube.

Releasing the pressure

Removing the o-ring

Remove the dip tube

The next step is the make it or break change, cutting the top.  You want to make the opening as wide as possible, ~12 inches.  There are several ways to do this.  You can go to a welder and have them cut the circle with a plasma cutter.  Or, check out the many DIY methods online.   For my keggle, my friend Chris used his angle grinder with a jig to cut a nice circular hole for me.  Be careful with this method, it is loud and the red hot steel splinters will hurt… use eye protection!

Cutting the top with an angle grinder

Here is where the DYI keggle build methods start to vary, you have the basic kettle at this point.  Now you can make it as nice and as fancy as you want.  For my keggle I wanted it functional as well as nice to look at.  I spent 3 days sanding and polishing the outside of my keggle so it would look as nice as it will be functional.  First I started with 60 grit sand paper on an orbital sander.  This took all the crud, paint, and other crap off.  But since 60 grit paper is very rough, it leaves a ton of scratches.  The next pass I used 120 grit paper with the orbital sander on the kettle.  This grit leaves even more scratches then the 60 grit, but at the same time starts to smooth out the surface.  The next pass was with 320 grit paper on the sander.  This pass really smoothed out the surface, but there was still a lot of scratches left from the orbital sander.  The final pass, I used 1500 grit wet sand paper and sanded by hand. This really gave the keggle a very nice luster and shine.

keggle half sanded on first pass

close up of what the 60 grit sandpaper does

Now with a pretty keggle, it’s time to add the fittings.  I highly encourage you to measure a bunch of times, think about how you brew and how you work before drilling the holes.  Once you drill the holes, there is no going back.  You’ve either done it right or you’ve ruined the keggle.   I also want to have a direct fire mash, which requires the mash to recirculate.  In order to run a recirculation direct fire mash tun, I need to have an out valve and an input valve. I will also use quick disconnects to fill and transfer to and from the keggle. So, I need to have the holes drilled as low as possible for the out and as high as possible on on the keggle the in.  The  keg does not go straight up and down at the bottom, so the closest I could get was about 2.5 inches from the bottom and roughly the same from the top.  I drilled 3 holes 2.5 inches from the bottom.  Left was for the thermometer’s bulkhead, the middle was for the ball valve bulkhead and the right was for the sight glasses bulkhead.

ball valve bulkhead added

When drilling your holes here are a couple of tips:

• use a nail or something pointed and make a small dent for the drill bit to grab.  This will avoid the bit “walking”
• make sure you are drilling the right size hole. Measure twice, drill once.
• use a Dremel or file to remove any burs and rough/sharp edges that could damage the rubber gaskets on the bulkheads

The top bulkhead, the input, I set slightly off to the right side.  This is personal preference, for my set up this location worked best.  I also added a 90° elbow with a quick disconnect on the inside so I can easily remove the recirculation part and have it double as a water input as well.

90 fitting added to bulk head

Add the false bottom

With all the part assembled and tightened, do a water test.  Use the keggle as if you would on brew day and make sure you have no leaks.  Once there are no leaks, install the false bottom by attaching the adapter to the 90° uptake tube and screwing it into the inside of the ball value.

It really is as easy as it sounds.  Take your time and you’ll nail it on your first try.

Cheers!

Final Product!

How To Build a Keggle Mash Tun is a post from: Simply Beer

Once you have a couple of shoots that are reaching 12-24″ tall, you should choose the 3 healthiest ones and cut back the rest. The bines in the photo above are about 16″, they are also only 1 week old.  The 3 bines you choose should be wrapped around the trellis in a clockwise direction.  Once you have them trained they will pretty much wrap on their own. (In the southern hemisphere the vine grow counterclockwise. ) Tip: Bines are more pliable on warm sunny days, thus easier to train.

Be careful of the tips of the bines, they are brittle and can break easily.  If they break the bine will branch, you may not want that.

AS you can imagine with these fast growing plants, they need tons of water, but not so much there is standing water.  This will rot the roots.  A drip irrigation system is probably best.  A sprinkler can cause mold growth in some climates and with varieties that are prone to it.

As I said in the first paragraph, this is a commitment.  These plants are aggressive and do need regular care.  For the first couple of months you will need to do the following:

1. continue to train the bines
2. prune back any new shoots, I tend to leave a small bush of shoots at the base a couple inches tall and trim anything past
3. regular watering, hot dry days, everyday.
4. look out for pests.  there are lots, aphids, spider mites, white fly, beetles, etc
5. Watch the Leaves, if they turn color or curl, you could have issues.

I highly recommend the Book the Homebrewers Garden. It has tons of info on pests and treatments.

I’ll be posting more how to’s as my hops mature and the care I give them.

Your Hops have Sprouted, What next? is a post from: Simply Beer

For me there are two things that a Homebrew store must have that I haven’t found at other homebrew shops around me.  First the employees, or at least someone on premise must know how to homebrew and be able to help even the most seasoned homebrewers.  Secondly, the store must have the basics in stock.  What do I mean by basics, base malts, most color malts, DME, a good selection of common yeasts, and chemicals (Starsan, etc).

I was here for the first time a couple weeks ago and this homebrew shop far surpassed my expectations.  Joe, the owner, seemed to have a good knowledge of homebrewing (I was eavesdropping on Joe explaining some stuff to a beginner homebrewer).  After I introduced myself, he began asking me all sorts of questions; What I liked about the store and What I felt was missing. This tells me he cares about his business and wants to make sure he covers the basics but also can cater to the experienced homebrewer.

Overall I was impressed with the store, and will be back for sure!

On a side note, Cask and Kettle will be offering brew on premise some time in the near future.

Joe Verzi, Owner Cask & Kettle

Clean Bright Store

Brew on premise

New Homebrew Store in North Jersey, Cask & Kettle Homebrew is a post from: Simply Beer

One Step Closer to the Brew Steel Stand is a post from: Simply Beer

Hoboken Volunteers 3rd Annual Chili Cook-Off & Homebrewing Contest is a post from: Simply Beer

(Formulas were obtained from Realbeer.com)

so if take the formula:

cal per 12 oz beer = [(6.9 × ABW) + 4.0 × (RE - 0.1)] × FG × 3.55

OG = Original Gravity (1.048 in the example)
FG = Final Gravity (1.010 in this example)
ABW = Alcohol By Weight
RE = “Real Extract” (RE, in °P) is a measure of the sugars which are fermented
OE = Original Extract (The sugar content of a wort/beer is typically expressed as extract in degrees Plato)
FE = Final Extract (or apparent extract)

To calculate the calories first you need alcohol by weight:

A = (OE-RE)/(2.0665-.010665*OE)

However before we can do this we need the Original Extract (OE) by using the OG in points (basically the 3 numbers after the decimal place)
points = 1000 * (SG – 1)

OE = 0.258*(1-0.0008*Pts)*Pts + 0.003
OE = 0.258*(1-0.0008*48)*48 + 0.003 = 11.9114544

FE = 0.258*(1-0.0008*Pts)*Pts + 0.003
FE = 0.258*(1-0.0008*10)*10 + 0.003 = 2.56236

With the OE and FE we can now calculate the RE (Real Extract) for the A (Alcohol) part of the equation.

RE = .1808*OE + .8192*FE
RE = .1808*11.9114544 + .8192*2.56236
RE = 2.15359095552 + 2.099085312 = 4.25267626752

Now the OE and RE have been calculated we can figure the Alcohol by Weight.

A = (OE-RE)/(2.0665-.010665*OE)
A = (11.9114544-4.25267626752)/(2.0665-.010665*11.9114544)
A = 7.65877813248/1.939464338824 = 3.948914130137563 (% by weight)

The Alcohol by Weight (NOT ABV, Alcohol by Volume) is about 4% and the Real Extract (RA) is 4.3 we can calculate the calories in the beer

cal per 12 oz beer = [(6.9 × ABW) + 4.0 × (RE - 0.1)] × FG × 3.55
cal = [(6.9 × 3.948914130137563 ) + 4.0 × (4.25267626752 - 0.1)] × 1.010 × 3.55
cal = [27.247507497949185 + 4.0 x 4.15267626752] × 1.010 × 3.55
cal = [27.247507497949185 + 16.61070507008] × 1.010 × 3.55
cal = [43.858212568029185] × 1.010 × 3.55
Cal = 157.253621162668643

Just how do You Calculate the Number of Calories in your Homebrew is a post from: Simply Beer

One pair of gloves was a thin pair of texture latex gloves, to give my hands a bit of insulation.  The second pair, an extra large pair of waterproof gloves.  The two of these together left me with nice dry hands and allowed me to clean 8 corney’s in a 25 deg January chill.

Sometimes it is the little things that make the difference!

The Best $8 I’ve Spent in a Long Time is a post from: Simply Beer

This book was a very simple read, easy to understand concepts and language that was clear & concise.  I was able to read the book in several hours, one day of Jury Duty.  The book is  divided up in to four basic sections, Hops, Herbs, Malting and Recipes.  I got the most benefit from the hops sections since that is what I was most interested in.  There was tons of great information from planting to harvesting, soil minerals to pest control.  I was looking for information on pest control & treatment, pruning and soil care.  This book covered all with good detail.

Admittedly I skipped much of the Herb section, but it has lots of great information on how to include different herbs in your beer.  The malting section was very interesting; I knew the basics of malting but this book had good detail about how to do it at a homebrewer level.  The only thing I found missing from that section was smoked malt.

The last section which I skimmed, was a collection of homebrew recipes.  On the surface it appears to do a nice job of incorporating may of the ingredients/techniques described in the book.

A good book for me and would also say a Great book for the homebrewer looking to make a start of really putting the “Home” in homebrewing,

Book Review: The Homebrewer’s Garden is a post from: Simply Beer