The Beer Nerd - what are you drinking / brewing thread

Mrs. Beer:30 and I are in London for the next five days. Had a couple of these before we even made it to our hotel...



... and one of these in the pub at our hotel...



We have all the makings for a great trip.

 

If 5 goal batches are your goal I'd go with 10gal kettle. It'll give you the option of doing some pretty high gravity batches with plenty of headroom to contain the boil overs. I typically do 5 gallons and use a 7.5 for lower gravity and a half barrel keggle for higher gravity or bigger batches. Bigger is always better - to a point. 10 gal batches don't take much more time and the fill 2 kegs at once.

No idea on brands - I use an old Turkey fryer or a keg for my boils.

I always have used coolers for mashing. My main one is a 10gal round igloo.

 

I’m thinking 5 gal is all I’ll ever do just because I won’t likely bottle and I probably won’t have that many people over to drink the home brew anyway and I don’t really want to sit on a lot of beer for too long.

 

Tough call man, I did the same thing but scored on almost an entire used system with 15gal morebeer kettles that I currently use. I started with a 8gal kettle that I would mash and boil in so I can't comment on a cooler MT. I'm not a fan of plastic so I personally wouldn't go that route but they seem to work great for people.

It's pretty awesome brewing 11 gallons that you can split into two kegs and it's the same amount of time on brew day as brewing 5 gallons. But, that will depend on how much you drink/share. I love my single tier, 3 vessel, direct fire system w/ pumps.

Just as important, if not more, is how you plan on fermenting and controlling the temps during fermentation. So add that to your setup goals if you haven't already.

Scour the interwebs for a used system, peeps are always getting out of the hobby so be on the lookout first for used.

 

I think 5 gal batches is probably fine for me. I just don't drink enough, and don't want to drink that much, nor do I have the means to share it with people because bottles aren't that cheap and I wouldn't get them back to refill anyways. So I think a 5gal setup is probably what I'll shoot for.

As for mashing everyone I know uses the 2 cooler setup for a "hot liquor tank" and "mash tun" and their beers turn out fine. I wouldn't be opposed to having a dedicated mash tun though. There's just so many damn things to choose from.

I will likely just be storing the carboys while fermenting in my downstairs closet. I suppose I could store them in the garage in a large water tub and monitor the temperature, but I won't be buying a dedicated freezer/fridge to ferment in.

 

Suck it up and buy this. Pocket change bro

 

If only I had a place to store such a contraption....

 

@uhplifted

I can't add much to what people have already said but if space is tight you could always do BIAB, which is what I do. But if you go that way get a 15 gallon pot.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/biab-brewing-with-pics.233289/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/forums/biab-brewing.244/

Very minimal in equipment.

Also I highly recommend a way to control fermentation temps.

I use a chest freezer now but for awhile I used a coolbag: https://www.morebeer.com/products/c...MI_d_n8YCf2wIViKDsCh28fgJjEAQYBCABEgID6PD_BwE

and some frozen water bottles and that worked pretty well.

Pretty low tech compared to the spike system above.


I'd also say craigslist is your friend for homebrew stuff. Lots of people get into the hobby then bail and sell all their stuff.

 

Space isn’t a huge issue. I’ll have room to do a regular HLT and mash tun type setup with the coolers. I’ll look in to the bag though for fermenting, not too pricy.

I checked CL earlier and didn’t find anything but I’ll keep checking back

I also can get 20% off at the homebrew store

 

It's crazy to me that people buy these $5k and up automated systems to brew 5 gallons of beer WTF!

 

Just invite me over more often, we can solve that.

 

I don’t drink during the week anymore

 

Because they can.

 

If I had the money to blow on an automated system I totally would.

 

I mean I get it, I love all the gadgets that come with the hobby, but to me the automation takes away from the craft. I enjoy the hands on aspect of it all and just pushing buttons on brew day would take away from that satisfaction. But of course to each their own and that's just my opinion.

 

Nice Alvarado Street Brewery
Cheers
We had a couple of there TIPA's enjoyed with our girlfriends
Really great Triple IPA and girlfriends

 

Ah, day drinking

 

Our second full day in Londontown...

Took an all day bus tour out of the city to Stonehenge and Bath today, which was pretty cool. Had lunch and a couple pints in an old pub in Bath...

My wife's cider on the left and a Fuller's session IPA on the right...



I followed that up with a Castle Rock session IPA...



Good brews!

 

Dogfish, homemade pizza, and johnny cash. Typical Friday. Happy memorial day weekend
Cheers.