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I'm finally getting around to updating my bar to complete my basement finishing project. Had the last week off, so I began making what will eventually cover the chest freezer. My plan is to have it be a walk up bar, where the kegerator is against the back wall and surrounded by nice cabinetry. It will take some time, but wanted to share what I've accomplished so far.Here is the original bar. I started by putting casters under it so I can pull it out of the cabinetry to change kegs, etc.Next I made the front from oak ply and oak 1x4sThen I made a rail by shaping two 1x4's and gluing them together, then much sanding. I shaped the bigger cove by dragging the 1x4 across the table saw blade using multiple passes and raising the blade each time. Something I've never done before, but am happy with the results (considering how much I'd have to spend to buy the rail premade) And here is what it will somewhat look like assembled. I plan to use a dark finish to match the floor of the basement. I am waiting for my new drip tray (which will be flush mounted) to arrive before I can go any further. Thanks for looking!Jeff

Pretty good.....

TA DA!httpss://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s320x320/396214_322815277764418_100001078441563_908719_513447938_n.jpgMolBasser

Well he is old

My only qualifications are that I am a biochemist, I am interested in the technical aspects of brewing, and I've been drinking German beer in most corners of (West) Germany for 40 years. I'm not sure if I can add anything that hasn't been said, though.

As a scientist, that paper is the presentation of a hypothesis, perhaps a literature review, but it is impossible to evaluate since there is no data presented to support the hypothesis. Formatting it to look like a scientific paper is a bit misleading. It doubt it would pass peer review, which is almost always required for a scientific paper.

I wonder which DO meter they are using, since they usually have an upper limit of 120°F. I didn't see that noted and your materials and methods have to be identified to evaluate a claim. The fact that this goes against established practices means that there is a higher threshold of evidence required. Science works that way because there is such a large body of evidence that this is not required.

I actually use a lot of the techniques they cite. I don't worry about others. I question worrying about inletting water when the malt itself is full of oxygen, for eample. I'm sure that German breweries try to minimize oxygen, but I doubt they are adding sulfites.

Concerning the short shelf life, German breweries are often fanatical about getting their beer to taps quickly, like IPA brewers in New England, because they feel that beer starts to lose flavor as soon as it is made. Shortening the time to tap is one rational for rapid Lager fermentation schedules. They are also obsessive about tannin, which is my pet hypothesis, along with freshness, for what could be a big part of that subtle, elusive malt character famous in some beers. I suspect that those using the Augustine's yeast have figured out that yeast strain is part of that, too.

But I am not in the camp that believes it takes magic to get that quality. I know there are a lot of mediocre Lagers in the US, but I've had some spectacular ones. Notch Pilsner and von Trapp Helles are great commercial examples that I have been able to have fresh. I think I've made good examples of German styles and Caveman made a Pilsner that I thought could stand with some of the best I have had (I have no idea how many Pilsners I've had in Germany, maybe less than 25, since they aren't as common as Helles and Export).

Sorry to be so long-winded,

All I can tell you is I sold 2 three gallon kegs recently - $65 each.  Fives aren't worth nearly that from what I hear.

 

If you can store it for a while I would suggest you do so.  I quit for a long time and wished more stuff had been saved.

Murphy's FTW

AG beers?When you start using words like bright and crisp, water would be my first guess.

*insert slow clap*

I'd probably go higher on ibus. At least 60 on a beer with that much malt.

I use sanke kegs all the time for fermenters.  Here's what I do and some tips.

 

1) Removing the ring and spear really isn't that hard once you do it a few times.  Plenty of Youtube videos will show you how.

2) Spray clean best you can.  One of those plastic canes with the cap and holes on the bottom you can hook up to your sink works great.  Gets most of the solids out just with hot water.

3) PBW or cleaner of your choice soak gets all but the most stubborn residue out.

4) Carboy cleaner (carboycleaner.com) you hook to your drill gets the rest of the job done. 

5) Get a small mirror to stick inside and really inspect everything well.  A carboy brush should knock out the last bit of residue you may find.

6) Cut the bottom inch or so of the spear off.  This helps when racking and leaves behind a bunch of great yeast to harvest.

7) Boil it to sanitize.  I put the spear inside the ring and put into the keg when boiling.  All that steam sanitizes the spear.  Be sure you leave a gap and don't create an explosion!

8) Chill and rack your beer like any other fermenter.  Drop the spear in and put the ring back in to seal up.

9) Use any sanke coupler you like for ferment.  Just remove the check valve on the gas side, and seal off the liquid side (I use a nickel inside the beer nut but you can buy valves to open/close).  Connect line of your choice on gas side and place in sanitizer.

10) ferment.  Witness the lovely bubbles in your sanitizer

11) When you're near the end of ferment you can disconnect the coupler, thus bunging the fermenter, thus getting some free CO2 into your beer and I find it helps drive yeast to bottom.

12) Closed transfer!  No doubt you can figure out the plumbing (same as tapping a keg, just run liquid to corney keg).

13) Harvest your yeast.  Just remove spear and flip the keg over and capture in vessel of your choice.  Another nice thing here you can use heat to sanitize the keg opening.  I use a small propane torch.

 

No light issues, no glass breaking, closed transfers, and relatively cheap compared to buying conicals.  I've been doing this for years without infection issues.  This is no different then learning anything else about your system - you figure out how to clean and inspect properly and will gain confidence as you go.

 

If you need photos I can find time to provide what you want.

He told me so and left me the stuff to make his favorite beer this morning.  Today Ill be brewing a Citra Wheat.  Thanks Easter Bunny

 

Extract brewing is fairly low intensity compared to AG. More like cooking. Throw the ingredients in, cook it up and you're done. Well, something like that.

Absolutely. One of the reasons we make our own beer is so that we cam make what we want to drink.

You bet! And after that keg just kicked I need to brew some more beer I want.

I think it was easy to misunderstand what they were saying as an attack on 99.5% brewers. It was easy to read their ideas as: "You've been doing it wrong and if you can't understand 'IT' then hey, your tastebuds suck and so does your beer."

 

I was removed from the Advanced German brewing forum but had stopped reading it altogether due to all of the "It" discussion. The tipping point for me was when someone was claiming that they had found a way to get "IT" by mashing at ~10+ different temperatures. Sounded like the mash would take you hours to complete. All I could think was that real German brewers would be laughing their asses off if they heard that crap.

 

Maybe it has some merit even if all that comes out of it is brewtan being used to make better beer. I've spent a lot of thought on uncomplicating my brewday but still making good beer. There was a time when my brewdays were so long that I was ready to give it up and I'm not willing to go back to that.

Not me! I've been bugging the heck out of these guys so I can learn stuff. I don't mind learning from my mistakes, but I'm also not so proud, so I ask lots of questions. I enjoy the camaraderie that I've found here.

I do in fact enjoy malt.