Kat2

I spent $106 including tax and got this. (BTW, all grains are vacuum packed; only the small ones are not ground!)

38 growler 16 ouncers
A "Barley Crusher Grinder"
45 lbs of Wheat - doubt it's malted
17 lbs of Barley - no idea if it's 2 row or 6
1 lb or so of Dark X --what is that?
1 lb or so of maize
1 lb or so of Ligh X --what is that?
A spare Hydrometer
2 plastic carboys marked Better Bottles
1 open fermenter bucket
1 fermenter bucket with a lid
A very large jub (4 gallons?) with a pour off spout--what is that for?
3 Cornelius kegs that I know are at least 3 gallons and maybe each are 5. haven't pressure tested them but parts are very clean.
A bung.
Bunch of other tubes and stuff.

I've made all grain before but always bottled into reused; I have 2 cappers and lids plus bottles to do a batch.and 1/2. Where I am I am not allowed to do more than a 1 gallon test. Plus it's really hot so the restriction is probably good. (I don't have the space to build an insulated area yet.) I found some wine yeast in my collection plus some hops; should I try what I have or find some beer yeast then do my test batch? Hops aren't that picky IMO--I could be wrong. How funny that this wheat beer lover stumbled onto this mess! Mr. Cocoa says that even with fresh yeast and hops that my grains are toast. Are they? (My farmer friend is KS will send me all the wheat I want cheap once I'm settled.)

Did I do good on my buy or not? Kegs are tight; growlers have new tops.

Gosh, I it seems I'm trying to start a brewing thread...LOL

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Worm_Farmer

Sounds like you got a lot of stuff there. I have a 5 gal beer kit. I know that you can do as little as you want for a test run. I have never used Hops like that before. I usually buy a kit from Williams brewing it comes with all the hops and stuff you need to get a 5 gal batch going. I know the large bucket with the spout is for racking. If you do wine, I know wine takes much longer and needs to be racked quite a few times.

Kat2

I've made beer before but it's been while. (Mr. Cocoa bought a "Guiness kit" which he managed to mess up and it was awful; my 1 gallon wheat beer all grain experiment had many fans! (I doled out those 13 bottles carefully to "relatives" but, in hindsight, shouldn't have given them a drop.)

I have also made apple jack which would put you on your butt but I have never mastered wine. I have grains and wine yeast plus hops here now. Have to go retrieve airlocks from my storage unit. I'll do a search but am wondering if Pasteur Champagne yeast would work for beer or not?

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cincinnana

Took this pic at a craft beers hop farm down the street.
45th Parallel.
Hops are very important.....
Deep roots here.....with the cherries
But with that Apple Jack.. Thats in another state.


.

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Kat2

Once upon a time I grew hops. Not sure what kind they were. I used them to cover the railing on my basement steps. Pretty "flowers" but you had to watch them like a hawk and pull out suckers every 2 weeks or the vines became like kudzu. My younger sister, who was into brewing and beekeeping and all many of "earthy" things, had "select" varieties that topped telephone poles. Very determined plants.

I cannot believe the cost of yeast these days! Hops used to be the deal breaker but no more. Checking out harvesting and washing yeast now. All I want to make is a simple wheat beer with oodles of "girly stuff" like orange rind and coriander. It can ferment hotter but not as hot as here without some accommodations during the summer. Miss my basements very much...

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cincinnana

[quote=Kat2;248746]
I cannot believe the cost of yeast these days! Hops used to be the deal breaker but no more. Checking out harvesting and washing yeast now. All I want to make is a simple wheat beer with oodles of "girly stuff" like orange rind and coriander. It can ferment hotter but not as hot as here without some accommodations during the summer. Miss my basements very much...[/QUOTE



WOW.. across the street was an orange farm and coriander patch.......with a hint of honey.....ymmmmmmm.

These vines are 5 weeks behind the normal spring growth, they would really would be 35 foot vines
Good luck with your brew...

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Kat2

I'm still cogitating on my brew. Can't do more than 1 gallon here and it's too hot. I would like to build an insulated fermenting chamber; Mr. Cocoa says that R-29 on the sides would make no difference. I'm not entirely stupid; I grew up where it was really cold and adding that pink stuff made a HUGE difference. Fine, he's right. But if I placed 10 gallon milk jugs filled with frozen water inside, would that help? He claims no unless I mount an AC unit in my box. I need 70 degrees; room temp here is about 88. Ice and insulation do nothing? Being told you're an idiot repeatedly is not fun; I need my own home, badly.

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jeffaroo

Hops are very important. Different kinds will produce different flavors and aromas. some people go as far as blending hops. as far as the yeast goes, go get beer yeast.
if its to hot, make a ale instead of a lager. Ales can be made in warmer weather. if your stuck on lagers, make a water bath with a big trash can in a closet

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Keep shoveling on the potash till the ground bleeds

Kat2

I want to make wheat beer; apparently because it's naturally "fruity" the heat doesn't matter as much. Got any suggestion on hops? I've used Kent and Goldings; my wonderful wheat was made with one of them.

Sadly I lost the recipe that was personally prepared for me by a very dear and knowledgeable brewer at the Grape and Granary in Akron; he knew I was "just playing" so kept the cost really low. (The copy is somewhere in my "papers" box I hope.)

Yes, I really like Blue Moon; he got me there! The recipe I located for a well regarded clone calls for Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hops and I'm not finding that easily. Any ideas for good subs? It also mentions a Chico strain of yeast because that's neutral. I wish I knew what yeast he sold me for my test batch; could have been Munston but probably not.

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jeffaroo

I usually use cascade hops, goldings may work good too

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Keep shoveling on the potash till the ground bleeds

Kat2

So what do you brew and where are you located? (The temp thing is my main reason for asking location but also because it seems you might fit in very well here with the motley crew here. They welcomed this "mot" and will you I have no doubt.)

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jeffaroo

I always brewed ales because of the tempature thing. I live in central Ca. If you want to really get into lagers, they make a gadget that plugs into a fridge to hold a steady temp for finicky fermenting brews. Otherwise throw a trash can in the closet and fill it 1/3 full of water. When your ready to ferment, lower your brew bucket in the water. The water acts as a tempature buffer

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Keep shoveling on the potash till the ground bleeds

jeffaroo

If your not familiar with hops go to a homebrew shop. These guys will sniff hops with you like a weed-hound at a cork-sniffing convention

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Keep shoveling on the potash till the ground bleeds

Funkthulhu

Kat2

You got a hellova haul there! I would gladly pay what you did for what you got!

Have you tried to solve your heat problem by brewing hot? I know some Saisons and French Farmhouse Ale yeasts won't really ferment until they're over 80F, some won't pop until they're in the 90's.

As for the 1-gallon issue, I hear this book is good for small batches of whole grains: Brooklyn Brew Shop's Beer Making Book: 52 Seasonal Recipes for Small Batches: Erica Shea, Stephen Valand, Jennifer Fiedler: 9780307889201: Amazon.com: Books

For your better bottles, you might want to obtain a turkey fryer and set up on a piece of ground or a driveway to boil up 5 gallons of wort.

I'm not sure what a "jub" is, but if you've got a 4 gallon one with a spout, I imagine it is used to slowly trickle in the hot water for the sparge on the grain. We often set up a large Igloo 5-gallon water cooler with a false bottom to do the sparging, we had another container with a tap to slowly dribble in the hot water into the grain. On a smaller batch you can do whole grain with a permeable sock in a 1 gallon insulated container and get plenty and enough wort for a gallon batch.

Sounds like you're getting quite a bit of info on the hops, so I'll wish you good luck! And I suggest picking up "How to Brew" by John Palmer if you have the inclination.

Cheers!

-Erik

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"Ph'nglui musaglw'nanna Funkthulhu R'Omahaea wgah'basjoo fhtagn"
"In his house at Omaha, dread Funkthulhu plants bananas."