I’m finally getting back into blogging, after a brief hiatus from pretty much every normal aspect of my life, due to Basic Training, and AIT, and now that I am getting ready to settle down back to a (somewhat more) regular life, have decided to blog about mostly brewing, but some other stuff as it comes up.
As of right now, I am planning on revamping large parts of my brewing process, buying some new equipment, building some new equipment, and doing some cool experiments, and starting a pretty sweet beer cellar if funds and space allow.
The first major purchase/build is looking to be a fermentation chamber. I have all the gear I need for starters (I do need to get a few new flasks, and I will probably get a new stir plate this year too), so this to me seemed the logical next step in expanding my repeatability. I’m looking at something that will fit probably 3 fermentors at a time, with the ability to reach get down to the 30s℉ in the warmest summer months. I’m planning on upgrading much of my system to be able to produce 15 Gallon Batches for making some sours, and extended aging projects, as well as for splitting batched in thirds to compare yeasts.
I’m planning on building a pretty similar unit to the one I built in college, but not nearly as big or ugly. I might even spring for some nice plywood, or just sand down the chip board, and have my lovely wife paint it to look less like crap. Mini Fridge with the door taken off, sealed into a larger box. This time, I will actually add a temperature control unit, and a CPU fan to move air around. I’m thinking I might use 3 STC-1000 units, one to control the overall temperature of the chamber, and 2 to control a heating pad/Brewbelt to raise the other fermentors to whatever temperature I need.
The next big project is going to be a kegerator. I recently bought some more kegs, and am planning on buying (at least) two more so I have 6 total. So far I am planning on having the ability to have 6 products on tap. Ultimately, I want one of those to be a Nitro faucet, and one to be a beer engine (I love Cask ale). The more I look at the options, it looks like the slickest way to add a beer engine is going to be with a coffin kegerator, plus that keeps the regular tap handles slightly more out of reach of my 3 year-old son. It will also give me some bar space to entertain on.
There are some other areas I am looking to expand, but these two are the most immediate. I want to get both a clean and sour solera going, as well as starting a large homebrew bottle cellar with clear and effective labels. I also am planning some serious brewing for next year's holidays (sadly not enough turnaround for anything great this year), as well as some meads and cider.
As for right now, I just need to wrap up the rest of my Initial training, Collect my belongings and family, and move out to my new home, and start brewing up a storm in the next 2 months before my volume gets reset on January 1st. I am planning on revisiting some of my house ‘big’ beers, my Russian Imperial Stout, and my Barleywine, both of which I plan on brewing to save for the end of my first contract with the Army, and maybe I will save enough for the end of my career with the Army. Vertical flight of Barleywine going back 20 years?
In addition to the long term aging of some celebratory beers, I want to do some experiments with long term aging of cork&caged bottles, since there doesn’t seem to be any real information out on the internet about their longevity vs Crown caps.
Well, I guess that's all for now. I’ll slowly start updating what I had/have going from when I left for training, and what happens in the next few weeks, and be sure to update with many pictures, recipes and stories.
Prost!
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