Haganbräu

My first batch fermented in a keg finished and I couldn’t be happier with the results! As expected, cold crashing by simply disconnecting the blow-off and putting the keg in my keezer was easy to do and resulted in no potentially oxygen introducing suck back.

After cold crashing was complete I prepared my serving keg by filling a couple of gallons of iodophor sanitizer and then pushing that out with CO₂, resulting in a sanitized keg with greatly reduced oxygen therein. Continue reading “Fermenting in a Keg Pt. 2”

For a while now I’ve wanted to try fermenting a Cornelius keg. There are several things that make the idea attractive; among them closed transfer, easier cleaning, easier handling of a full fermenter, and safety.

I never really got enthusiastic about trying a keg as a fermenter because most advice on the subject suggested cutting an inch or so off of the liquid dip tube to accommodate trub and I was hesitant to permanently  alter one of my kegs. Recently, however, I found not one, but two sources for replacement dip tubes so I could revert the keg to normal if I wanted, and decided it was time to try the technique. Continue reading “Fermenting in a Keg Pt. 1”

I’m often asked about beer in Russia, and often met with surprise when I say that is actually pretty good. I think the people asking expect me to lament that there is nothing to drink but vodka, or at best some kind of vodka flavored beer, but they’d be wrong, and in fact I’d go so far as to say in some ways the beer scene is better in Russia than America. Continue reading “Beer in Russia”

After my old kegerator died I knew I wasn’t going to be able to replace it as cheaply as I acquired it, (i.e.  free), so I decided I should spend some time researching my options to find the best possible solution to my needs.

When I started all really knew was I wanted a four tap kegerator; everything else was fair game, though I knew also really wanted some kind of temperature controlled fermentation chamber. For years I had been putting my fermenter under the stairs, occasionally using a wet t-shirt to try and cool it a little below room temperature with varying degrees of success.

Continue reading “Keezer/Fermenting Chamber Pt. 1”

One of the features I’ve always missed in my adapted-for-brewing stainless steel kettle was the volume markings that are most purpose made kettles.

Knowing the volume in your kettle is really useful for things like measuring evaporation rate, making sure your volumes are what your recipe estimated, etc. I had a spoon with gallons scratched on it, but it looked awful, and became useless when I replaced my bazooka screen with a custom-made false bottom. Continue reading “Kettle Etching”

It seems like a good idea to start the new blog with the story of how I got started brewing. Every story needs a beginning, right?

I first started home brewing in 1991 while spending a few weeks visiting a friend in Canada. There the VAT (i.e. sales tax) is really high and (the perception is at least) you can save money by brewing your own beer, fermenting your own wine or even rolling your own cigarettes. Continue reading “Origin Story – Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying, Relax and Have a Home Brew”