Ouch....

I decided to rack the amber this weekend. Its looking good in the carboy. Additionally just received my bayou burner, wort chiller, bottle dryer. Dying to brew another batch but probably have to wait until the move to VA is complete
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Brewing up a simple IPA using Summit, Columbus and Cascade hops
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An interesting hop chart I found linked from Great Divide...
http://hopschart.com/
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Very cool.
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bottled this tonight - beautiful color and tastes great. 7.35 abv, surprised me.
can't wait to try this one for real!
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I was going to brew tonight, but I couldn't get my washed yeast to get active. Worst case is that I go get some yeast from the brew shop.
I don't think my procedure is messed up... dunno.
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Yet another air leak ;o( This time it was a main lid o ring. Funny because it held pressure for along time then poof all of a sudden leak. I am finding it is hard to keep track / maintain 12 kegs unless you are drinking every day. Looks like another trip to AHS for co2 and maybe even a 20# container.

Anyone know if you can lay a co2 container on its side and still dispense the gas safely or is there something not good about doing this?

On a positive note I found a source for lbs of hops that I cannot find at ahs. Nikobrew is the name of the site.


mikes
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I think I am going to do a brew day tomorrow to celebrate my Birthday and try to bang out 4 different brews. Scotch Ale, Guinness with a spin, my bruiser berry hef and maybe a bock.
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You should get some Keg lube and put some around all the o rings on the lid.
It helps seal the smallest leaks. :-)
I dont think you can lay CO2 on their side, but ask somone at AHS.
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Finally got my first beer in a keg. Pretty stoked about it! However, I'm still lagering it for a while so I can't really drink it yet. Any input on force carbing vs. cask conditioning?

Image
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I just spoke with my HBS and he specifically told me not to lay the Co2 tank on its side. Apparently the gas can freeze the top and create a leak in the canister if laid on its side.
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You don't technically "cask condition" in a keg. Need a ferkin (spelling?) for that. You can prime a keg just as you would bottles though by racking your beer onto priming sugar and then sealing the keg. Make sure to hit the keg with a quick burst of CO2 to ensure that you got a good seal. Let that pressure off and the yeast will do their thing.

I have friends that force carb all at once by putting a bunch of pressure (20psi'ish) on the keg and shaking it. That is a faster method than putting the keg at serving pressure and giving it a few weeks to reach equilibrium and carb up. Either works. I run the slow method as I typically have my little kegerator full and plenty of time till my next keg is needed. Either way if you are leaving the gas on check for leaks periodically :-)
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Thanks!!!!
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I think I'm going to go with the quick force carb approach this first time. I know it's horrible, but I'm just too impatient to wait another few weeks on this beer. It is killing me! It's my first lager, so it's obviously been waiting a long time to begin with. Now I'm supposed to wait another few weeks for carbonation????? Never gonna happen. I want to pour my first beer from my hand made kegerator already!
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To hell with that....you're coming to Brew Day this Sun. We're making it happen!
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this time it would have worked out better if your brew day was on a Sat. That way i could hit the DMV and Brew day. Guess it'll have to wait until next time.

Just brewed up a coffee stout this past weekend and ordered a lemon weisse and oaked burbon ale for upcoming brews
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Just tasted my Black IPA which is ready for drinking. Came out really well, I like it! My own recipe...
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What hops did you go with? I made one I really liked that was columbus and willamette. Just put 4 rhizomes of each in the ground based on my fondness for that beer.
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my slightly sisorganized notes

8 lbs dark lme (2+14oz early, ~5+2 at 15 min)
1 lb corn sugar (1 min)


12 oz crystal 40L
4 oz Dextrine
4 oz flaked wheat
2 oz smoked malt
12 oz black debittered
4 oz black patent

2 oz millenium 60 min (15.9%)
1 oz chinook 15 min (11.8%)
1 oz centennial 10 min (8.1%)
1 oz cascade 5 min (6.4%)
1 oz chinook 3 min
1 oz cascade flameout

1 oz cascade dryhop
1 oz nugget dryhop


7.74% abv
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Thanks! That's a serious hop bill. Haven't used much nugget, but other than that not a hop in there I don't enjoy.
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