More rhizomes

We added Cascade and Nugget rhizomes to the hop garden today.

First All Grain

I brewed my first all grain beer last Weds (6/10/08). A few things went wrong, but I think they will be easy to fix. My mash was a few degrees too high, and I think that is what caused me to miss my OG. It was 1.03 instead of 1.05 (aka WAY off). My siphon didn't work well (or at all), and I had to go to using the spout on my kettle. This cause quite a few things to happen, the worst being not getting much of the hops out. I think to fix this next time I am going to use a hop bag. I only got ~3 gallons out of it.

Apfelwein

I made my first alcoholic drink today that isn't beer. It's a German hard cider. All the people on one of the brewing boards I read rave about it, so I decided to make a batch. It's real simple, pretty much just 5 gallons of apple juice, some corn sugar, and yeast. Let it ferment out for a few weeks, and you're done.

Hop Garden Update

Just took the potted hops and planted them in the ground. These are the varrities I have (from left to right):

Tettnanger
Centennial
Fuggle
Saaz
Mt. Hood

Keg and Batch #5 Updates

So I've been going on a shopping frenzy.

Recently I have purchased:
4x 5 gallon Cornelius kegs
1x 10 lb CO2 tank
1x Dual gauge regulator
2x Faucets
All the hoses/connects I need to dispense from 1 keg (eventually there will be a second (and third...) tap installed)
1x Digital Temperature Regulator

Pretty much all I need now is to buy a freezer, and make some beer. Oh, and new gauges for the regulator. That's a long story.


My 5th batch, which I also purchased, will be my first all grain batch. It is a West Coast style pale ale (similar to a Sierra Nevada PA). I'm also planning on making a batch of apfelwein. I'll actually probably make this before I make the pale ale.