Relax...

[mannytheseacow]

Hi Drew,

Yep, PVC isn't ideal. I don't know how bad it is, but that is always somewhere in the back of my mind. I've seen a lot of intense brewing equipment and always had a little bit of awe for people doing that stuff. The first several years I brewed I was using a 5 gallon bucket with a gazillion 1/8" holes drilled in the bottom and hitting efficiencies over 90%. I guy I brewed with in college had this crazy cooler thing with a spiral of copper that was notched draining the whole thing horizontally- I think he spent over $100 building this thing and he was lucky to hit 50%. I'm like SmallHagrid and opt for that KISS mentality!

I haven't tried those dry yeasts. There was only a couple available when I started brewing, though I hear some of the new stuff is really clean. I'm loyal to Wy'east labs. I used to live on Mt. Hood, and call it nostalgia or ego or stubbornness, I think they're some great people making a great product. If I brew often enough I will pitch a second or even third batch onto the yeast cake from the previous batch. At my ripe age though, I really only brew about 3-4 times a year any more. I'm still working on a batch that I brewed last May. The bees knees for me is to relax with a draft at the end of the day on the weekend but I don't consume any real quantities. Very often, that is.

[andrew_k]

forget the dangers ofthe PVC, pleeeaaase get that JB Weld out of there immediately!
it is massively toxic, skin contact alone is vad enough. My partner used to use a lot of it in sculpture, then lookedintoit'scontentsafter getting sick and will never touch it again. Any well cured silicone will be sufficient and less nasty.
sorry for typos, on my phone anddidn't want to risk forgwtting to post this.

[mannytheseacow]

I wonder what Drew is brewing?

How did that wicked dark ale of yours turn out, Drew?

[mannytheseacow]

Anybody brewing on here anymore? I've got my regular pale ale and porter always on tap but just recently strayed a bit for a fall french farmhouse ale:

40% barley
40% wheat
10% oats
10% honey

I just racked it last night and it's already tasting drinkable, even warm and flat. The fermentation is lagging due to the honey but hoping to be drinking it in about 2 weeks!

[DrewInToledo]

Holy cow Manny I didn't see that march post you put up until now. The brew turned out yummy. I have a couple Cornelius kegs so I don't bottle otherwise I would send you a sample. Maybe I can get something to you if I can find some bottle caps.

That farmhouse sounds yummy. I could eat those ingredients for breakfast. It sounds like you don't bottle either?

As for brewing, I have a 5gal batch of cherry wine and 5gals of cranberry wine cooking until next year.
Also, I just whipped up 1.5 gals of mead last week. I never made mead but it seems difficult to mess up. I used about 3.5 lbs honey and tossed in some fresh orange slices, a stick of cinnamon and a clove for flavor. I'll prolly rack into a secondary next week and reuse the cinnamon. I used Montrachet yeast. It was a whopping $0.69 and I added it dry. I'm not seeing much activity in the airlock though. Of course I didn't aireate either, which will happen a little bit when I rack to the secondary.

[matt walker]

Yeah, that farmhouse sounds like it's gonna be good. I might need to find an excuse to wind up in Illinois again before too long here.

[mannytheseacow]

Come on out- fall is beautiful around here and the smoker is going like crazy these days! Plenty of brew stockpiled for the winter. You've heard the story of the ant and the grasshopper, right?

Maybe we can cruise over to Drews and cut a hole in his roof, and pant over his new stove too!

[mannytheseacow]

How soon do you expect the mead, Drew? I might make some this year. I made some raspberry mead a couple years ago and carbonated it in bottles. Man, that stuff was dangerous... Iced down on a hot day on the Mississippi...... Whooeee! That stuff would sneak up on you.

But yeah, I'm pretty much doing the corny kegs these days. Wash one keg vs. 50 bottles. Put some CO2 on it and wait a week.... Perfect for people with short attention spans.

[matt walker]

Dang, just the thought of your cooking paired with a smoker and I'm ready to hit the road right now. If only....

[DrewInToledo]

Matt, I'll meet you at Mannys! Now I'm tempted to get my smoker out. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I've smoked grains for beer, I've smoked raw spaghetti noodles for spaghetti, nuts, cheese, and of course fish and meats. Mmmmmm!

What was that about short attention span? Oh...

Manny, I'm not sure how long it will take? I never made mead before and didn't check the gravity after whipping it up so I've got no measure and I'm too lazy to calculate on paper.
I still have the must in the primary on the fruit. Maybe I should xfer to a secondary to rack it off of the orange? I barely have activity in the airlock. I never had much activity. Maybe I should warm it a bit. It's been sitting around 68° F. I've read lots on contradictory articles... some say massive fermentation occurs, others say it's less reactive. Some say keep it in the primary for months on fruit, others say tannin is released after a couple of weeks.

Either way, I should produce something drinkable which is the goal. I primarily drink to forget alcoholism but if it tastes good that's a plus.