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   1. Another winter brewday

      by goulaigan, 9 years ago in Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

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      Its been a very snowy winter here so far, started warm which means a metric sh!t ton of lake effect snow from Lake Superior. Been pretty chilly for the last month too and Ive been so busy plowing the driveway daily, shoveling the roof, and doing the holidays thing that I haven't brewed in over a month. Pretty rare for me, and the fridge is starting to look a little empty for my liking, so I was glad when I saw it was supposed to be a balmy -1 C today. 
      Concocted up a sort of brown ale like...

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      Made the sleeve myself. Had some metal flashing left over from when I redid the roof on my house, unfortunately it was in several pieces which is why it's so unsightly :)  Don't have a rivet gun, just used small nuts and bolts. It definitely improved my heating time, and now my burner never blows out when it is windy. Only thing I have to be careful of is if the bag hangs too far down over the outside edge of the pot it can scorch, especially if it is soaked with wort. Had it happen when...
      6 Replies
      9774 Views
      goulaigan
      9 years ago
   2. Hop Sock

      by goulaigan, 11 years ago in Hopping

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      So, after just over a year of BIAB and somewhere around 20 batches under my belt, I finally decided to use a hopsock. Brewed a black IPA that I designed and had 7 oz of hops to add during the boil (and 3 more for dry hop), so I decided to do as recommended here so many times and use my BIAB bag for the hops. I think the reason I haven't done this before is I've always dumped the grain and cleaned the bag after the brewday is done, probably due to laziness the first few times and then it just...

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      for small batch BIAB, aquarium media bags are convenient, they come in different sizes to match your use and big box pet stores as well as aquarium shops carry them.
      17 Replies
      28994 Views
      LI Mike D
      9 years ago
   3. My Annual Maple Brew

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      by goulaigan, 11 years ago in Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

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      Did my annual maple brew the weekend before last while making maple syrup.
      
      This year I decided to go for a Belgian Dark Strong ale. I used about 22 litres of maple sap and about 19 litres of water to get my total water needed. I would have used all sap but I have a theory that the sap is somewhat like my well water here, which seems to make a dryish beer that lacks mouthfeel no matter what I do. I used all sap last year in an oatmeal stout and it came out quite thin.
      
      Anyway, mashed about an...

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      Forgot to report that the maple wheat does not taste like maple :nup: I also forgot to prime it with maple syrup like an idiot. Its a decent beer, nothing special really, although I get some comfort knowing I am drinking carbonated tree sap with alcohol in it haha.
      
      I did end up doing the Belgian quad again as well. (all sap, syrup in the boil) And I made sure to remember to batch prime with syrup. Bottled a week ago today, gave it a bit of extended time in fermenter since the OG was 1.1 Ended...
      27 Replies
      24692 Views
      goulaigan
      10 years ago
   4. -20c BIAB

      by goulaigan, 11 years ago in Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

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      Well I had my mind made up I was brewing my Superior Saison (named for the lake I live beside) last weekend. Ice fishing Saturday and brewing Sunday, all OK'd with the boss, everything ready. Unfortunately it was -25c Sunday morning... :shock:
      
      My cutoff is usually -20 since the propane doesn't seem to flow too well at anything colder, but I gotta brew when I can squeeze it in, so figured what the heck. By the time I milled my grain the temp rose to about -20 so it was all good. :party:...

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      Not sure about Australia, but in Canada the law kinda frowns on home distilleries... And I don't really like spirits anyway so wouldn't do me much good... I do love my homebrew tho, and brewing beer in the cold is a walk in the park compared to working on snowmobiles and vehicles out in the snowbank. I can brew almost entirely without taking my gloves off, not so much when trying to pretend to be a mechanic. It isn't pleasant tho when you do take the gloves off to pull the bag and than grab the...
      5 Replies
      6944 Views
      goulaigan
      11 years ago
   5. Thoughts on the importance of stirring during mash.

      by goulaigan, 12 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      Hey folks, just wondering what the general consensus is on the importance of stirring during the mash.
      
      :scratch:
      
      I've got my first 4 BIABs bottled or consumed now, the 5th is almost done in my fermenter, and 6 and seven planned and ingredients in the mail. Looking at my numbers it would seem that, at least for me, stirring during the mash doesn't really effect much, except for the temp.
      
      Now that being said, I really don't have enough brews done, (and none the same recipe) to really make a...

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      I stir at the start to knock out the clumps
      
      I stir in the middle because I want to check the temperature before firing up the element and bringing it back up to temp.
      
      If the mash is supposed to be at 66'C, I fire back up at 64'C which is about 45min in. I'm only using a sleeping bag and a duvet cover to keep the heat in - and they're often cold when I put them on.
      12 Replies
      14518 Views
      tim_n
      11 years ago
   6. Adding fruit juice to secondary

      by goulaigan, 11 years ago in Intermediate Brewing

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      I decided to try and brew a fruit beer. Don't get me wrong here I love a face-puckering hoppy kick in the mouth as much as the next guy, but I appreciate most styles of beer and like a fruit beer once in a while, as long as it isn't sweet and still tastes like beer.
      
      I actually even enjoy a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat once in a while :sneak: , so I decided to brew something along that profile with a simple 45% 2row, 45% wheat and 10% munich grain bill and just a bit of tettnang.
      
      My original plan...

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      Excellent PP, I figured there was a way. I haven't actually used too many of those extra sections in Biabacus since the necessary ones and the defaults are all I have required so far to make what I consider to be some really great and predictable beer.
      
      Your suggestion makes sense and I will follow it if this beer turns out as good as it was on bottling day and I brew it again. Think I still have the containers actually so I could probably play around with my file as it is too...
      
      Anyway,...
      3 Replies
      5561 Views
      goulaigan
      11 years ago
   7. Bridal Chaffon Bag

      by goulaigan, 12 years ago in Bags, Mashers, Thermometers, Kettles etc.

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      After my first two BIABs I noticed the bag I purchased from an online shop here in Canada had a few little holes in it.
      
      I decided to make one instead since this one also seemed a bit too course, so I went to a local fabric shop and asked about voile. For some reason all the different versions of 'voile' they had were made out of cotton :headhit: So I asked about polyester and was directed to something called Bridal Chaffon. Pretty sure they make wedding dresses out of it if I had to guess,...

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      goulaigan,
      
      I never heard of Bridal Chaffon? I just use Shear drapery Material
      
      We (the wife) made a bunch of bags. I supplied my whole brew club with them. The wife made a few dollars for her time! The first bag made in about 2007 still works as a good spare! :argh:
      1 Replies
      3903 Views
      BobBrews
      12 years ago
   8. Recipe Design

      by goulaigan, 12 years ago in Creating Your Own Recipes

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      Maybe I am missing it somewhere, or maybe haven't read enough here yet (did read the first post in this thread several times, and most of the others too) but I am trying to figure out how to actually design a recipe with the BIABacus. I want to brew a Saison, I have a grain list and %s I wish to use, would like an OG around 1.063 and the type of hops and IBUs I want to shoot for, but I have yet to find much info here on how to take all that and get a relible BIABacus file that will get me close...

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      goul, many thanks for your reply above. It's always great to hear that something written has helped. Sorry about my Section B and C errors. I just put an edit in the post so no one else gets confused.
      
      I have nothing more to say because what you have written above ensures me that you have understood everything perfectly. Couldn't be happier.
      
      As for you or anyone else asking and me or anyone else answering questions, all I can say personally is that I like finding solutions to very complex...
      3 Replies
      5758 Views
      PistolPatch
      12 years ago
   9. Maple Oatmeal Stout (all maple sap instead of water)

      by goulaigan, 12 years ago in Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

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      Finally got around to giving this one a go, and took some pics along the way so figured I'd share...
      
      First up, sap collecting...
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      Took a gravity reading of the sap, 1.01
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      Heating my strike sap ;)
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      Mashing in
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      Then lug the thing in the house to keep warm since apparently somebody forgot to tell winter that its been spring for a few weeks...
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      Only...

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      goulaigan,
      
      Good luck. This is my type of brewing. I am not brewing In Style much anymore! Unless it's a competition I brew for the fun of it (and beer of course) brew on experimenters. Of course it best to get the basics down first, but? Let the mind wander.
      6 Replies
      7509 Views
      BobBrews
      12 years ago
   10. My first BIAB

       by goulaigan, 12 years ago in Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

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       Finally got to do my first BIAB this weekend, been planning it for a few weeks now but its been pretty windy, following is my house the first day of spring....
       
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       Snow isnt such a bother but the wind is a pain for the propane burner. Anyway, first step was to shovel a flat spot in the 3or 4 feet of snow on my deck and setup the burner...
       
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       Followed BIABacus, got water up to strike, threw in grain, got a friend to help me bring it inside, threw it...

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       Thanks for the tip, hopefully we'll get some decent weather around here soon and then I will be able to mash outside, when I have to lug the kettle in I only want to do it once, so I figured skipping the stir breaks would save me from reheating... If I can mash outside I can stir and reheat as necessary. Thought I recognized a few CHB names around here :thumbs:
       9 Replies
       9344 Views
       goulaigan
       12 years ago

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