In today’s video, our friend Ladik Joe Ermis from HomebrewSupply.com goes through the various kegs that are available on the market and the different grades/qualities they will come in.
Featured Product
Pin Lock Four Pack
These are re-conditioned 5 Gallon Pin Lock, Soda Kegs (Coke style). These kegs have been cleaned and soaked in a hot “Brew Clean” solution, re-rinsed, lubed and re-pressurized to check the seals.
$124.95 Order Now
If you’re like us, you like to start consuming your homebrewed beer as soon as possible and a process that helps achieve that is kegging (and force carbonating in the keg).
While there isn’t a definitive standard that all retailers follow, this should give you a really good idea for what’s available and what you’ll receive, especially if you’re ordering from HomebrewSupply.com or Kegconnection.com
What’s your favorite type of keg? Let us know in the comments below and also let us know what topic or products you’d like us to discuss on a future video or episode of the show!
and we welcome you to the Homebrew Happy Hour … the podcast where we answer YOUR homebrewing questions and discuss all things related to craft beer!
On Today’s Show:
James Carlson from CMBecker International graciously joins me to discuss some questions about determining when a homebrewed batch is ready to consume, and we also take a question about James’ decoction method.
Todd was unable to join us because he, unfortunately, is dealing with an excruciating pinched nerve and is trying to get better from that. I promise that I had NOTHING to do with it despite me challenging Todd to professional wrestling cage matches for many years.
Either way, we hope you enjoy this week’s episode as much as we enjoyed producing it!
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Let us know what you think and enjoy the show!
cheers,
joshua
Today’s show is brought to you by – StickerYou.com , Brand Your Brew with StickerYou: StickerYou’s online design editor allows you to upload and design your own custom, professional-grade craft brew labels in any shape, any size and any quantity. StickerYou: Make What Matters Stick.
Don’t forget to enter our label making contest thru StickerYou (click here). Upload your original artwork for bottle labels, growler labels, kegging labels, or even your a logo you’ve made for your beer! First prize receives $200 in custom printed labels, second prize gets $175 in custom printed labels, and third prize gets $125 in custom printed labels! Contest runs now thru the end of August. Good luck!
A post-Renaissance style, doppelbock was first brewed in Munich by the monks of St. Francis of Paula who came to Germany from Italy in 1627. Due to it being less well-attenuated then the modern interpretations of the style, the original versions were much sweeter. Paulaners, as they have come to be known, would practice long periods of fasting and prayer during religious celebrations such as Advent and Lent, where they would go many days without consuming any solid foods. To help sustain themselves during these periods of piety, the monks of St. Paula used their brewing knowledge to make a higher gravity beer that was richer in nutrients. This led to the monks often referring to this beer as “liquid bread”.
This style first became publicly available in 1780 after the monastery received legal permission, under the name of Salvator, which means “Holy Father” due to it’s sustaining qualities. The term doppel in doppelbock means double in German and was coined by consumers due to it being a bigger and stronger version compared to lower gravity bock counterparts. Sadly, the monastery was dissolved in 1799, but the brewery was saved by coming under control of Napoleon Bonaparte leader of the French Republic. It was then purchased in 1813 by a local brewer named Franz Zacherl. Franz suffered many hard years of legal battles over the brewing rights and was finally given unrestricted brewing rights of the beloved Salvator in 1837. Many commercial brewers that brew doppelbock will give homage to the original Salvator by putting –ator at the end of name, such as Celebrator by Ayinger.
When you look at the 2015 BJCP style guidelines for this style, they state that it should be a strong, rich, and malty lager that can be either pale or dark. Typically, when you see examples of this style, they will be the darker of the two variants. The darker version will have a more developed malt character while the lighter version will focus a little more on hops (still not exceeding the 26 IBUs for the style) and dryness. We will be focusing more on the darker version of the style. The nose and flavor of the beer should exhibit a strong malt character with a slight toasty-ness to it. Some caramel notes present are also acceptable to style. This is optional in the dark version, but I personally like having these caramel notes because it goes very nice when drank with a little bit of dark fruit, along with some chocolate. There also should be little to no hop aroma in this beer and should not be perceived as roasty, burnt or hoppy. Since these are very alcoholic beers the alcohol notes should be smooth and warming rather than burning.
OG: 1.072 – 1.112 IBUs: 16 – 26
FG: 1.016 – 1.026 SRM: 6 – 25
ABV: 7.0% – 10.0%
Recipe: “No Bocking Around”
All Grain
OG:1.084 FG:1.020 ABV:8.6%
Batch Size 5.2 gallons
Starting with the base of this beer, I used the Full Brown water profile to help show off the malty flavors of this style. Profile for the Full Brown should be:
When brewing on my Grainfather™ system I use a total of 8.49 gallons of water for this beer. Now I have an RO system but takes a while to make up enough for this so I been going to my local grocery store and buying distilled water.
For the mash I use 6.13 gallons of water and I will add:
Mash for 60 mins at 154 degrees then mash out for 10mins at 168 degrees. This beer requires a 90 minute boil.
Boil Additions:
1oz Hersbrucker (2.75%) 60mins
0.22oz Chinook (13%) 60mins
Irish Moss 10mins
1oz Hallertauer (4.80%) 10mins
Yeast Nutrients 10mins
I used two White Labs German Lager Yeast WLP830 packs. Fermented at 52° for 12 days until it was about 8 points from the target FG, then raised the temperature to room temp (72°) until reaching target FG. Then slowly drop the temp by 5° a day until hitting lagering temperatures. Lager for a minimum of 8 weeks before kegging or bottling.
and we welcome you to the Homebrew Happy Hour … the podcast where we answer YOUR homebrewing questions and discuss all things related to craft beer!
On Today’s Show:
I want to preface this by saying that it just happened to work out that I needed a guest host this week and the absence of Todd and James on this week’s show is not directly related to how bitter I still am at them both for not sharing any of the Schlussel altbier with me and keeping it all to themselves… I know, I know – that seemed pretty bitter and WAAAAY too coincidental, but it’s true. Todd was out of town, James was still at the beach, Joe was running Homebrew Supply and I needed to record this week’s content a week early because, as you’re reading this, I am sitting on the sands of South Padre Island enjoying from Fruh Kolsch or Altstadt Alt (which is an incredible altbier but isn’t Schlussel… but I’m not bitter about it… no, really…)!
Fortunately, for us all, our buddy and long time homebrewer, Jason Chalifour, graciously joined me to help take your questions. Jason, as you may remember, also happens to be a sales executive with Muntons and so I’ve typecasted him as “the malt guy” and, again, he was nice enough to oblige. We catch up with what he’s been brewing, his set up, and we discuss a question on recipe building and choosing a base malt.
I had a ton of fun with Jason and really do hope to have him on again in the near future, especially since I hold grudges for so long and who knows when I’ll forgive Todd and James?! 😉
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Let us know what you think and enjoy the show!
cheers,
joshua
———————-
Today’s show is brought to you by – StickerYou.com , Brand Your Brew with StickerYou: StickerYou’s online design editor allows you to upload and design your own custom, professional-grade craft brew labels in any shape, any size and any quantity. StickerYou: Make What Matters Stick.
Don’t forget to enter our label making contest thru StickerYou (click here). Upload your original artwork for bottle labels, growler labels, kegging labels, or even your a logo you’ve made for your beer! First prize receives $200 in custom printed labels, second prize gets $175 in custom printed labels, and third prize gets $125 in custom printed labels! Contest runs now thru the end of August. Good luck!
These wort chillers are great for bringing your wort down to yeast pitching temps AND they’re super affordable. Definitely a “must have” for your #brewday!
Todd also shows you some handy tips on how to get the most out of your wort chiller by utilizing some simple techniques.
Let us know what you think in the comments below and also let us know what products you’d like to see us review or showcase in a future video!
Jockey Boxes are a great way to take your beer (commercial or home brewed) with you to events, parties, picnics, or anywhere that isn’t your usual home draft system.
Featured Product
1 Faucet Build Your Own Jockey Box! – 8″ x 14″ Cold Plate, one Faucet
This kit allows you to build your own Jockey box. A jockey box allows you to dispense your beer from a keg that is not iced down by having beer pass though the cold plate inside of an ice chest.
$149.09 Order Now
They’re easy to use and, with this DIY Jockey Box kit from Kegconnection.com (shameless plug from Todd), they’re easy to build too!
The kit comes with everything you need besides the cooler. In our experience, you can pick these up for pretty cheap at any sporting goods store or a Walmart near you. Online options exist too (Amazon) but we haven’t found the pricing to be much different and we like to get hands on with the cooler before purchasing. We’ve always used standard Igloo or Coleman but would love to hear what you’re using and what coolers you’ve found work best for jockey box builds.
Follow along with this totally non-click-baity titled video and see how easy it actually is to make your own jockey box and start enjoying your beer on the go!
Brew days are our favorite days and in this video, we’ve left out fancy electric system to go back to our all grain brewing roots with this easy to use Cooler Brew 10 gallon system!
Featured Product
Cooler Brew All Grain Brewing System
Starting your all-grain homebrewing journey has never been easier nor more affordable! This Cooler Brew All Grain Brewing Equipment Kit is the perfect way to brew your best beers and perfect your own personal recipes.
$227.17 Order Now
These 10-gallon “Igloo” style coolers have been turned in to durable mash tuns and hot liquor tanks (HLT)! This is a great system to begin your all-grain brewing journey because it allows you to learn and appreciate the process of making your own beer.
While this video does cover the basics of an all-grain brew day, we want to hear from you so let us know if you have any questions or comments on using the Cooler Brew system.
Believe it or not, some of the most frequently asked questions we receive in our inbox are from people wanting to know the differences between the two styles of homebrew disconnects, “ball lock” and “pin lock”.
In this video, Todd Burns from Kegconnection.com breaks down a very basic overview showing you the differences between the styles as well as the most common varieties of each style using the very popular CMBecker disconnects for his visual aid.
You can see every disconnect offered at: https://www.kegconnection.com/disconnects/ Remember to make sure that your disconnects have the CMB or “Made in Germany” stamp on them or you’re probably being sold cheap imitations!
If you there is a product or piece of equipment that you’d like for us to go over in a future video, let us know in the comments below or you can email me: [email protected]
and we welcome you to the Homebrew Happy Hour … the podcast where we answer YOUR homebrewing questions and discuss all things related to craft beer!
On Today’s Show:
James is at the beach but Todd joined me to talk recent brew days, MY upcoming beach trip ( insert smiley face here) as well as take YOUR questions on home brewing beer!
Specifically, we discuss some best practices for a listener who is wanting to “future proof” her brewing set up but still be practical and not break the bank. We also take a question from a listener who brews extract recipes only and isn’t sure how important it is for her to be taking gravity readings throughout her brew day (Spoiler alert: you SHOULD be taking readings!).
It’s always blast hanging with Todd!
We want to hear from you!
If you have a question that you’d like us to discuss on a future episode, please click on the “Submit a Question” link at the top of our website or you can now call in your questions via our questions hotline @ 325-305-6107 and leave your message after the beep. This is a friendly reminder that, if we choose your question for a future episode, we give you a $25 gift card to that episode’s sponsor!
Let us know what you think and enjoy the show!
cheers,
joshua
———————-
Today’s show is brought to you by HomebrewSupply.com! HBS’ has all of your favorite recipe kits, fresh ingredients, and homebrew equipment in stock. Homebrew Happy Hour listeners can visit HomebrewSupply.com and use the promo code “HHH” to receive 5% off your order.
(Discount can not be applied to products that are drop shipped including, but not limited to, products by Spike Brewing, SS BrewTech, Brewer’s Edge Mash & Boil, and more. See website for details)
Dusseldorf Altbier, True to Style All-Grain Recipe Kit
Altbier (old beer) is a wonderfully complex beer that is brewed in Dusseldorf, Germany. Locals consume this magical beer by the thousands of barrels per year. Having a malty, biscuit and/or light caramel flavor with a dry finish makes this a very special brew. So, enjoy a glass or two imagining your’re in the atstadt on a spring day enjoying a truly local German beer!
$35.95 Order Now
James from CMBecker International shows us his non-traditional way of using a decoction mashing method for adding flavor to his fan favorite altbier!
James does this 3 times for his altbier and it is the same process, just repeated three times. His goal with the decoction is to achieve that delicious dry maltiness finish known to the altbier style. Decoction mashing is also used to achieve the crisp, dry maltiness characteristic of German Oktoberfest and other continental lagers.
Have you ever used decoction mashing during your brew day? Let us know in the comments below!
