Brewing Activities (2020)

How do you JUST build a can seamer during Covid? I mean did you machine the parts? Did you have access to used inventory? I’m curious. I’m a maintenance mechanic by trade and used to work for PepsiCo in one of their bottling/canning plants. So this is up my alley.

 

Wanted to post some of my dried Hornindal Kviek yeast I top cropped on Saturday.

 

Big fan of Voss. How did you go about harvesting/drying?
Also dig the white ankle sock. About to put on the New Balances?

 

Thanks.

sprayed down parchment paper with Star San on a cookie sheet. Spooned the gooiest of yeast on top onto the tray. Put On top of book shelf open to dry. Not worried about anything out competing the kveik.

 

Cool. I was thinking of spreading it out on a sanitized silpat and putting it into a dehydrator set on low. Let us know how it works out for you.
Not as much worried about home use, but I think that the Hornindal strain may be the best bet for work stuff (Tepache!), since it reportedly has a pineapple-like ester, and the bread yeast I've been using hasn't been ideal. (what I have on hand)

FWIW, I wear New Balances as my non-work, non-heavy duty shoes.

 

I’ve had success with the method I’m currently using before. It usually make a vitality starter with it on brew day.

 

I got everything I needed between ebay, amazon, online homebrew shops, and my basement. I do have a small metal lathe that I used to machine a few parts. Oh I also learned how to anodize aluminum in the process (via YouTube). Every part you see in that greenish color are the ones I made and anodized.

I started by buying an old can seamer on ebay for $100. Home canners have been around since canning was invented. They are designed for standard metal cans so I had to make some mods to make this work for the modern aluminum can.

I set out to make my own rollers but once I found a source online I purchased those.

Pretty much everything else I had lying around my shop, mainly the motor and the materials.

Plan A was to automate the seamer, but in the end I built a stick shift. I may add some automation as I learn to use this one.

I'm guessing I have about $300 sunk in this project.

 

Kegged the Pope AK Mild sugar experiment today. Uncarbonated beers below.
Left: used store brand organic brown sugar
Right: used Becker's Invert Syrup #2

1.047 --> 1.003. That Lallemand NEIPA yeast really attenuated these guys. The esters that were so prominent of my day 4 tasting have faded considerably. Still, maybe there is something there. If you like using dry yeast, maybe worth investigating this one.

I perceive the Becker's beer to have a little more body and the brown sugar beer to be a little more cidery, and perhaps a little drier and less rich. Given the color differences, hard to know if this is simply my biases at work.

As much as I wanted to support the company that brought invert sugar to homebrewers, I am scratching my head asking if it matters all that much. The differences are subtle. Often in my experiments, if I find beers close to each other, I will blend them in the receiving keg and call it one batch. I kegged these separately, to see whether carbonations amplifies or dampens my perceived differences in the beer.

 

Kegging a gluten free Cream Ale. Finished super dry at 6%, so a little more bite than intended. Also soft crashing the Citra/Mosaic NEIPA.

 

Today I am brewing an imperial stout(5 gallon) that i will age on Oak cubes soaked in Jim Bean Black and will actually be bottling this batch . Grain Bill will be:
8lb 2 row
6lb Munich
1 pd Roasted Barley
1pd Crisp Chocolate
1pd C60
8oz C120
4oz Special B

Will be hopping with Willamette at 60minutes

Fermenting with S04 or US-05 ( havent decided); suggestions welcome.

first beer with oak and spirits. Hoping will be smoothed out by September and October for the cold months.

 

Brewing a mesquite smoked porter today. It's based on Ranger Creek Mesquite Smoked Porter, which they no longer produce. They posted a homebrew recipe way back, but have since taken it down. Luckily, I entered the info in BrewCipher. Here's what I came up with:

Grains:
57% Maris Otter
23% Mesquite Smoked
7% Brown
3% Pale Chocolate
3% Flaked Oats
3% Black Patent
3% Extra Dark Crystal

Hops:
First Gold 25ibu @ 60min
Glacier 9.4ibu @ 20min

Wyeast 1968, cause that's what I have on hand.

 

I really dig pairing Black Patent with smoked malts. The char ups the impression of smoke.

 

Drinking a Rye IPA, prepping to bottle a Vienna SMaSh with Centennial and Chico yeast
Cheers all

 

05 if you want it dryer, my choice is Nottingham . Ferments well and I like the taste better that 05 in a I,peril stout.

Not a 04 fan, but if you like it sweet, 04 would be my choice.

Seems like a lot of Munich, never used that much before.

Good luck

 

Agree with @MrOH , and,,, I have a pal currently smoking some marris otter with maple wood and yes, black p in gonna be in the grain bill.

 

Andorian, Gorn, Talosian, and The Robot, all waiting for a taste of your brew, it seems.

 

Not beer, but I made tepache for the first time and it came out stupendously well—on its own and mixed 50/50 with a light lager.

 

Imperial stout chugging away with S04

 

Impromptu ground hop ipa leaning on cascade Columbus and nugget for hops. Gonna dry hop with nugget as well.