Merry Christmas

 Merry Christmas.

This is my gift from daughter #3 and her new husband of 5 days. They just returned from Vegas after getting married by Elvis. While they may deny it, I know the truth. O.K. focus... In addition to boiling mash, this pot can also double as a lobster and clam pot as is comes complete with strainer. I can see a lobster bake in our future.

36 Quart Boiling Pot

Running two pots will not be happening in future brews with the new gear. There will be no overflow until we get to 15 gal batches. The sensible thing to do is to brew in 8 to 9 gallon batches and to run two carboys. I prefer to leave a little room in the carboy so I don't have to run a blow off tube. Somebody once told me not to stress the yeast because they don't like pressure, and to use a blow-off tube. I'm calling BS because I have yet to have flat beer pour out of a bottle.

Overflow Capacity

Here are a couple pics of the trub rinse. Because there is oatmeal in this batch, it didn't seem to be getting fermented and the yeast looked to be running out of steam. By siphoning off the beer after the active fermentation, then adding fresh water to the primary, the yeast perked up and started bubbling at a good rate. This hack put me back on schedule because I want to be back on track for a 3 week program.

Rinse T+10 min

Without scientific instruments I can't tell if the cloudy white is just yeast or yeast and oats. I suspect the latter. Rye gives a more dramatic definition during the rinse.

Rinse T+2 Days

Sediments

This batch yielded 23 bottles and one pint glass last Sunday. As you can see, someone has been drinking a bunch of Sierra Nevada.

Bottling Day #27

A new Christmas tradition is to have Bloody Mary's with breakfast but I didn't want to start in that early. So I waited till around 11AM and started by sampling the gift six pack from daughter #1 and her husband. Founder's Porter is top shelf. Also having a Founders Scotch Ale which isn't too shabby either.

Christmas Morning Refreshments