Mash / Lauter Tun

I feel like my last few all grain brews have been on the lighter side, meaning they were a tad bit watered down for my liking. I think it has something to do with my batch sparging process. I feel that I'm not getting a very efficient sugar extraction, and so I am in the process of making a mash and lauter tun, which I will use to fly sparge.

I borrowed some instructions on how to convert a water cooler from here: How to make a cheap 10 or 5 gallon MLT with a Rubbermaid Cooler. After reading the instructions I decided I wanted a false bottom rather than using the braided stainless steel hose, so I only followed the instructions for assembling the bulkhead.

I bought a 5 gallon cooler from Wal-Mart for 20 bucks, ordered Phil's Phalse Bottom 9" online, and the rest of the parts from Home Depot. The assembly was not difficult. When I was done I filled the tun with water and let sit for 20 minutes, and there was not a drop leaked (Don't forget the teflon tape or your tun will leak)!

I have not yet received the false bottom in the mail, but the 9" bottom supposedly fits perfectly in a 5 gallon Rubbermaid cooler. Then it should be as simple as connecting the false bottom to the barb adapter with a hose and clamps. I still need to buy another pot for sparge water and build the sprinkler system for the fly sparging, and when I do I'll post the details.




P.S. Check out my links to Chris Knight's kegging videos and all grain brewing videos.

Dunkel weiss

Now that my kegerator is assembled, how about some beer to serve with it? The sooner the better so I brewed up a batch of dunkel today using a basic recipe from "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing," modified slightly.


4.0 lbs. 2 row pale
3.0 lbs. Munich
3.0 lbs. American wheat
1/8 lb. Black patent
3/4 oz. Hallertau boiling
1/4 oz. Hallertau finishing
1.0 tsp. irish moss
Wyeast Bavarian Wheat 3056

60 minute boil. 3/4 oz Hallertau at beginning of boil. 1 tsp irish moss at 50 minutes. 1/4 oz Hallertau at 58 minutes. Ferment at 70 degrees F. 7 days in primary. 7 days in secondary. Put in cellar at 55 degrees F for a few days if you want the yeast to settle before racking into the keg.

Rauchbier

My friend Pete and I made a smoke beer over a month ago and it's time to bottle! We used a Kölsch yeast and it is currently hiding away in my lagering room (the downstairs bedroom). We stole a taste during the last racking and it was incredible!



Here is the recipe we used:

5.0 lbs. pilsner malt
3.0 lbs. rauch malt
1.0 lb. biscuit malt
0.5 lb. carapils malt
0.5 lb. munich malt
2.0 oz. spalt hops (boiling)
2.0 oz. saaz hops (finishing)
1.0 tsp. irish moss
Wyeast 2565 - Kölsch

-- sidenote : take a look at my kegerator pics!

Dry Hoppin !

I just added 2 ounces of 2006 Centennial hops to a Bell's Two Hearted clone that I brewed with my cousin Jason and buddy Pete.

Frankenstein

I had been doing a lot of brewing lately, and it turned out that I had enough spare grain from previous batches to piece together an abomination... frankenstein !

0.5 lb Carapils
1.0 lb Two ro Pale
1.0 lb Rauch Malt
2.0 lb Belgium Biscit
1.0 lb Belgium Aromatic
0.5 lb Caramel 20L Malt
0.5 lb Munich
2.0 lb Liquid Dark Malt Extract

2 ounce. Kent Goldings