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Homebrewing Beer

I may have access to a fridge similar to the one below. Is it overkill, probably so. Is it going to drain my power, probably so. But think of the possibilities. I can have an abundance of kegs stored up and on tap at any given time.
refrigerator-commercial.jpg
 
Anyone ever tried this with your brew kettle? I'm intrigued and will probably do it. Right now I'm pouring water into a plastic bucket with markings on it and then transferring to my brew kettle.

http://imgur.com/a/dCvS5
 
^would you drill tap holes or just open the door every time?
For being able to store many kegs I was planning on possibly getting a chest freezer that will let you set the temp relatively high.
 
What time of year do hops sprout? I don't remember when the rhizomes I bought last year broke ground. Note carefully that the pressure washer dude my wife bullied me into hiring last year killed my vines, so I didn't even get to use any from last year's three plants. Really looking forward to this year.
 
dot com said:
^would you drill tap holes or just open the door every time?
For being able to store many kegs I was planning on possibly getting a chest freezer that will let you set the temp relatively high.
Click to expand...
I had planned to drill holes for the taps in the doors. It fell through, as we decided to keep the fridge and get rid of the matching freezer.

jhmd2000 said:
What time of year do hops sprout? I don't remember when the rhizomes I bought last year broke ground. Note carefully that the pressure washer dude my wife bullied me into hiring last year killed my vines, so I didn't even get to use any from last year's three plants. Really looking forward to this year.
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Typically they come up in April and are harvestable by June or July.
 
I cut mine off at the ground as soon as I take the last harvest. No sense in them devoting energy when there isn't anything left to harvest.
 
Popping a few bottles of the pear cider this weekend. I didn't want bottle bombs, so I kind of only half carbonated them. Brewed on 2/1. Bottled on 2/15. It's been bottled a month, so it should be good to go.
 
tsywake said:
I cut mine off at the ground as soon as I take the last harvest. No sense in them devoting energy when there isn't anything left to harvest.
Click to expand...

I'm really stoked to see how they do this year. I've got one year aged compost from my chicken coop ready to go. I'm planning on starting the vines in their existing containers, and then running them up the side of the house to an eyehook in the soffett we use to anchor Christmas lights. Should produce about a 35 foot vine (times three).
 
jhmd2000 said:
I'm really stoked to see how they do this year. I've got one year aged compost from my chicken coop ready to go. I'm planning on starting the vines in their existing containers, and then running them up the side of the house to an eyehook in the soffett we use to anchor Christmas lights. Should produce about a 35 foot vine (times three).
Click to expand...

How does it affect the vine going that vertical? Don't growers usually direct them sideways at like 6-10'? Though I guess that may just be for harvesting ease.
 
Pear cider was a letdown. It tasted vinegary. The ginger beer was a different story. It was freaking fantastic.
 
dot com said:
How does it affect the vine going that vertical? Don't growers usually direct them sideways at like 6-10'? Though I guess that may just be for harvesting ease.
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I've seen quite a few with the setup mentioned above. My vines are in an a-frame pattern, mostly to help with airflow to prevent mold.
 
The Centennials are a little over a foot tall. I was pleasantly surprised to see one of my fuggle plants producing this year as well. I'm hoping to eventually graft some of it into some additional rhizomes. Hopefully the freeze tonight wont completely destroy the existing vines.

Any of you keggers have a keg/carboy washer? Northern Brewer sucked me in with their email this morning and intrigued me.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewery-essentials-carboy-washer-assembly.html

40932_1.jpg
 
Just sanitized the carboys with the new Mark IV. Definitely worth the investment. Brewing an IPA right now, followed by an Irish Red later on this evening.

Just found a stash of homebrew I had stored away and forgot about. Its like Christmas over here.
 
For the first time I had to use a blowoff tube on the IPA I'm primary fermenting. It was recommended, and the batch took two packs of Wyeast, but I still thought I could use my standard airlock. It kept getting foamed up, so I removed it and replaced it with the blowoff tube into a bucket of sanitizer. This has been the most vigorous fermentation of any beer I've brewed yet.
 
I just brewed what I'm calling a "cookie dough cream ale" a few weeks ago. It was at about 64-65F and was slow for the first 24 hours and then it foamed out of control for like 2 days, was glad I always use a blowoff tube.
Currently fighting myself to not open bottles too early.
 
tsywake said:
For the first time I had to use a blowoff tube on the IPA I'm primary fermenting. It was recommended, and the batch took two packs of Wyeast, but I still thought I could use my standard airlock. It kept getting foamed up, so I removed it and replaced it with the blowoff tube into a bucket of sanitizer. This has been the most vigorous fermentation of any beer I've brewed yet.
Click to expand...

My ginger beer was bonkers for 2 weeks. It still bubbled constantly for a solid month. It sounded like a hot tub in my brewery. I've started serving it on ice with a little lemon juice. Fantastic warm weather drink.
 
dot com said:
I just brewed what I'm calling a "cookie dough cream ale" a few weeks ago. It was at about 64-65F and was slow for the first 24 hours and then it foamed out of control for like 2 days, was glad I always use a blowoff tube.
Currently fighting myself to not open bottles too early.
Click to expand...

Do you run the tube directly into the bung, or do you have a double male piece to go into the bung and then into the tube? The only thing I had on hand that was roughly the same size was my racking cane, so I've got it down into the bung and the tubing connected to the other end.


I'd definitely recommend the Mark IV. Better yet, the pump is removable so I was able to use it for my wort chiller and was able to flow twice the amount of water as my previous pump.
 
tube runs from the stopper in the carboy to the sink where it's submerged in a big gulp cup of water
 
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