New Faucet

A friend of mine bought me a Perlick stainless steel tower faucet for my birthday back in May. I had been having issues with leaks with the faucet that came with the kegerator pretty much since I got it. Both the faucet and elbow shank were original to the fridge and were honestly just worn out. I bought a new elbow shank and installed the faucet on the tower yesterday. It works great! There are no leaks or issues at all. I can control the flow of the beer a lot easier and am in love. I have looked at Perl faucets in the past and thought they were kind of pricey, but I can tell you (even after just one day) they are worth it. When I upgrade to a two-tap tower, I will be getting another Perlick to go with this one to replace the standard faucets that new tower comes with. I really like how simple and sturdy it is. It doesn't have a lot of working parts, which leaves less room for mishaps. The faucet itself is one piece (no moving ball pieces or locking joints on the faucet), which removes a lot of the leaking and pressure issues I was having with the other faucet. I know that standard faucets are a lot cheaper and ridiculously easy to find, but I highly recommend going for a Perl. This thing is awesome!

Until Next Time,
RHSC

Inventory

A while back I created a post entitled "Wish List" where I wrote down all of the items I would like to accumulate for home brewing purposes. The purpose of this post is to basically just take stock of what I have and where I am in the process.

What I Have:

• (2) 6 gallon plastic fermenter 
• (1) 5 gallon plastic fermenter 
• (1) 6 gallon bottling bucket with spigot
• (1) 5 gallon brew pot
• (1) 8 gallon brew pot 
• (1) 6.5 gallon glass carboy
• (1) U-Line Keg-Meister kegerator with single tap tower
• (2) 5 gallon Cornelius Keg with ball-lock connectors
• (1) 5 pound CO2 tank
• (1) growler filler attachment for kegerator faucet
• (1) bottle capper
• (2) hydrometer
• (2) racking cane
• (1) candy thermometer
• (1) bottle filler
• (3) plastic 3-piece airlock
• (2) rubber stopper for carboy airlock
• (1) auto-syphon
• (2) plastic paddle for stirring
• (2) carboy carrier

What I Want to Acquire in the Near Future:

• Outdoor burner/Turkey Fyer with 8 gallon pot
• Additional 5 gallon Cornelius keg
• floating thermometer
• New tower for kegerator with two faucets
• Extra CO2 tank
• 8+ gallon brew pot with built-in thermometer and spigot
• Hop Garden (with some other herbs used in beer)

What I Want to Acquire in the Not-So-Near Future

• Mash tun and hot liquor tank setup for all-grain brewing
• Grain mill for all-grain brewing
• Aluminum grain bucket
• 7+ gallon conical fermenter with stand
• Barley garden
• Temperature controlled refrigerator for lagering

What I Started With:

• (1) 6 gallon plastic fermenter
• (1) 6 gallon plastic bottling bucket with spigot
• (1) bottle capper
• (1) racking cane
• (1) bottle filler
• (1) hydrometer
• (1) candy thermometer
• (1) plastic 3-piece airlock

It's amazing to think how far I've come from the days using a wooden spoon and my 2.5 gallon chili pot. I've also noticed that I don't want newer things just to have more stuff for my hobby. I really want these items because it will enhance my abilities to make better beer. The better equipment I have, the more I can do. And isn't that what this is all about? Isn't this the reason why we all get started with home brewing in the first place? Making better beer? Think about it.

Until Next Time,

RHSC

Irish Red

I brewed this one at the same time as the witbier (see Lemon Wit). I've never brewed a red before, and I really like them, so I thought I'd give it a try. In my opinion, reds can be a perfect compromise of beer tastes. They are not as heavy as super dark beers (like stouts and porters), but they have more flavor and malt characteristics than really light beers (like blondes, goldens, and some lagers). This is a really easy recipe and should hopefully taste really good.

Ingredients:

• 6.6 pounds Light (or English Pale Ale) LME
• 2 pounds Light (or English Pale Ale) DME
• 6 ounces Crystal 40L
• 6 ounces Crystal 120L
• 6 ounces Roasted Barley
• 1.25 ounces Kent Goldings Hops
• 10 grams Irish Ale Yeast

Instructions:

• Steep grains and barley at 150-160 F for 30-60 minutes.
• Add dry extract and hops. Boil for 60 minutes
• At 15 minutes left, add liquid malt.
• After one hour, remove from heat. Cool wort and add to fermenter.
• Pitch yeast. *I used one packet Fermentis Safale US-05. If using liquid yeast, you could use up to 2 packets. You could use White Labs WLP004 or Wyeast 1084.
• Ferment for 7-14 days.
• I will keg with CO2.

OG: 1.064

Until Next Time,

RHSC

Lemon Wit

I really like wheat style beers, especially Belgian wits. I've brewed two citrus wheats in the past (both recipes can be found on my blog), and they both turned out nicely. I decided to go down a little different path this time. Not only did I follow a more traditional Belgian wit recipe, but the citrus flavor I used was lemon instead of orange.

Ingredients:

• 6.6 pounds Bavarian Wheat LME
• 1 pound Flaked Oats
• 1 pound Pilsner Malt
• 1 ounce Dried Lemon Peel
• .4 ounce (11 g) Crushed Coriander
• 2 grams (.06 ounce) Dried Chamomile Flowers
• 1 ounce Hallertau Hops
• 2 packages liquid Belgian Wit ale yeast 

Instructions:

• Put the oats and pilsner in a mesh bag and perform a partial mash for 30-60 minutes at 160 F.
• Remove grains. Add half of extract and the hops to the wort and boil for 60 minutes.
• At 15 minutes left, add the remaining extract. 
• At 5 minutes, add the chamomile, coriander, and lemon peel.
• After 60 minutes, remove from heat.
• Cool wort and add to fermenter. Add water to get 5 gallons.
• Pitch yeast. *I used White Labs WLP400 and Wyeast 3944. You can use two packs of the same yeast, but I am curious as to how the subtle differences will affect the taste.
• Ferment for 7-10 days. 
• I will keg using CO2.

Notes:

The original recipe called for 1.5 ounces citrus zest, as opposed to peel. I went with 1 ounce of lemon peel because in order to get that much zest, you need a lot of lemons. The dried lemon peel is only about $3 at your local HBS. 20 lemons would be a lot more than that. Also, because it calls for unspecified citrus zest, you can substitute oranges if you like. Be careful with playing with the levels of the coriander. Coriander is very strong and putting in more than the 11 grams could really give it a stronger than desired aroma and taste.

OG: 1.043

Until Next Time,

RHSC