Mash Tun Bottom Drain Upgrade

While recently riding shotgun on a brew day for a friend, Chris Stephani, I was intrigued to see that his mash tun utilized a normal half barrel keg, and had a bottom drain, based on the normal tap port of the keg used upside down. He has a flat silicon custom for that connection to a normal 1.5" TC. It drips just a very small amount, and I think he really wants to redo it, but it works. And best of all, it uses a very efficient bottom drain that leaves no lost head space or dip tube through false bottom. I was enamored...

Brewing - Dark IPA

It was LONG over due time for me to replenish my long gone favorite house beer, my beloved Dark IPA. I was quite frustrated with myself for letting it go so long, especially since I had been working from home all summer due to some crazy disease or something. It was not rational or reasonable that I had let things get so far out of control. And, so, with a couple weeks off to bleed down my extensive time off before retiring, I resolved to have a brew day!

Blog return from the dead!

Well, after *many* years of not updating my Blog or brewing page, I've decided it is time for some updates! Oh, I've still been brewing; just more like a well oiled recipe book with little changes. I'm now retired from my day job as a DRAM/NAND Flash Electrical Engineer working for Micron Technology of almost 26 years...and one of the things I wanted to toy with was growing my brewery scale (or at least seeing how to make it better). I'm still not sure to what end...

New SS Brewtech Half BBL BME Fermenter

Today, I finally got a respectable half barrel conical fermenter. I went with the SS Brewtech Brew Master Edition. This represents a huge investment (nearly half of what my full setup cost), but I think it is going to be worth it.

Tour - Troegs and Appalachian Breweries

I just got back from Washington D.C. and a quick trip up to Harrisburg, PA, where I visited Troegs Brewery and Appalachian Brewing Co. Troegs Brewery was a fairly small operation, a lot like Rogue Brewery, but the tour was a blast. I really liked John, one of the brothers that started the brewery, and his tour. Had a great tasting and lots of fun.  Images available.

Ventamatic Beer Faucets

I have a 4-faucet beer fridge that one person (well, one working person...) simply can not keep used enough for conventional faucets to not get sticky and freeze up with old, dry, sticky beer. Except for this new faucet, called the Ventamatic Beer Faucets. It is basically the same as the perlick faucets and they close from the back where the beer is. So, nothing should stick and get gummed up. After using two of these for a couple months now, I can say, these things are awesome and if you have sticky faucets, I would heartily recommend you try some of these. I think Santa is bringing me two more for Xmas!

Tour - Moab Brewery

I know it has been a long time since much has been put on this page, but I have still been busy brewing. I'm going to try to get some of my latest batches up on the site soon. I just got done fermenting 10 gallons of fresh cider (it tastes like crap and smelled REALLY bad, so I hope it turns out...I doubt it will...bummer). I just got back from a trip to Moab, UT. I tried some of the Derailleur Red Ale from The Moab Brewery, and I'm in love. I have to find a way to clone some of this!