edpaffjr.comI’ve chronicled my adventures with homebrewing before, and I am ready to get back into it after taking more than a year off! Over the last year I’ve accumulated all sorts of new equipment to help with the brewing process. My family also got me a brewing kit from Listermann to really get me motivated.
This past Saturday I brewed a batch of American IPA using my new ten gallon “turkey fryer” setup. I thought for sure it would be impossible to boil over with this setup but I almost did the unthinkable. Luckily I was able to throttle down the burner and barely avoid disaster.
Outdoor Brewery
I also used my new wort chiller for the first time, and I must say that this should be at the top of every new homebrewer’s list. I was able to cool 5 gallons of boiling water to 70 degrees in twenty minutes or so. I don’t know for sure how long it took as my digital thermometer ended up breaking or at least in need of a re-calibration.
Overall it was a successful and fun day of brewing and the beer is now busy fermenting in the closet. Next up, besides brewing more regularly, would be to create a fermentation chamber out of an extra chest freezer.
An inspiring post, you’ve driven me to fire mine up this weekend. I’ve had a kit sitting in the closet for over a month, need to brew it. (Also an American IPA if I remember…)
One (cheap) thing I’ve been using are paint strainer bags from Home Depot. They have small and large ones. The five gallon ones will fit right in the pot, then you can just lift them out when you’re done, get rid of all the hops etc.
That sounds like a great idea. I’ve been using the tiny bags that comes with the kits, but I’ve been reading that better results are had when the grain/hops can float freely in the water. I’ll have to get some of these strainer bags. Thanks!