Your Beer of Choice? (11 Viewers)

duffman · Apr 1, 2018

Gameface said:
Any of these

I take it those are your home brews? If so, that's awesome! Congrats!

Gameface · Apr 1, 2018

duffman said:
I take it those are your home brews? If so, that's awesome! Congrats!

Yeah I was bragging a bit. My Extra Special Bitter took first in the English Bitter category and 3rd in the Best of Show round out of 409 entries. My English Porter took first in the English Brown Ale category and 4th in the Best of Show round.

duffman · Apr 1, 2018

Gameface said:
Yeah I was bragging a bit. My Extra Special Bitter took first in the English Bitter category and 3rd in the Best of Show round out of 409 entries. My English Porter took first in the English Brown Ale category and 4th in the Best of Show round.

Nice! Been brewing for about 5 years now. Went all grain about 2 years ago, but just follow known recipes. Haven't been Brewing long enough to come up with my own stuff, let alone enter a competition. Any pics of your set up/equipment?

ceramicmike · Apr 1, 2018

chubbyone said:
That NE Sam Adams is actually really great! My neighbor is a regional manager or something for a Boston Brewing. Had some tester cans last fall. I loved it.

Surprised me. The last few Seasonal packs were quite disappointing.

Gameface · Apr 1, 2018

Yeah,

This is my eHERMS control panel that I built

This is a pic of the kettles.

This is the inside of the Hot Liquor Tank.

I'd say there's nothing to be afraid of designing your own recipes. You already have the recipes you've been using, just research what they bring to the table and then add/subtract/substitute and see what you get. Generally better to limit the amount of change from one recipe to the next so you start getting an understanding of what the recipe change did in the final product.

I talk about it like it's easy but I've brewed my ESB many many times. But you'll end up with beer even if you aren't completely happy with the current version.

duffman · Apr 1, 2018

Gameface said:
Yeah,

This is my eHERMS control panel that I built

This is a pic of the kettles.

This is the inside of the Hot Liquor Tank.

I'd say there's nothing to be afraid of designing your own recipes. You already have the recipes you've been using, just research what they bring to the table and then add/subtract/substitute and see what you get. Generally better to limit the amount of change from one recipe to the next so you start getting an understanding of what the recipe change did in the final product.

I talk about it like it's easy but I've brewed my ESB many many times. But you'll end up with beer even if you aren't completely happy with the current version.

Sweet! I figured you had a nice set up. I'll get there someday.

No pumps/automation for me (yet

). I'm cheap. I use the Denny Conn batch sparge method. Homemade picnic cooler mash tun with a SS toilet line filter...

. My hot liquor tank is my old 5 gal extract brewing pot and my stove.

Gameface · Apr 1, 2018

duffman said:
Sweet! I figured you had a nice set up. I'll get there someday.

No pumps/automation for me (yet). I'm cheap. I use the Denny Conn batch sparge method. Homemade picnic cooler mash tun with a SS toilet line filter.... My hot liquor tank is my old 5 gal extract brewing pot and my stove.

Very similar to what I was using before I did this project. I loved it.

Irish · Apr 4, 2018

Gameface said:
Yeah,

This is my eHERMS control panel that I built

This is a pic of the kettles.

This is the inside of the Hot Liquor Tank.

I'd say there's nothing to be afraid of designing your own recipes. You already have the recipes you've been using, just research what they bring to the table and then add/subtract/substitute and see what you get. Generally better to limit the amount of change from one recipe to the next so you start getting an understanding of what the recipe change did in the final product.

I talk about it like it's easy but I've brewed my ESB many many times. But you'll end up with beer even if you aren't completely happy with the current version.

Awesome setup! This project (well, not quite this nice lol) has been on my to do list for years. I still mostly brew with extract recipes, with those being so easy the motivation to kick it to next level has stalled in favor of other projects.