Sat Jun 01, 2013 4:55 am
I guess I should come back more than once every 6 years! Man, I'm surprised I've been listening to the BN for that long...
I brew 10 gallon batches using 2 keggles and a 48qt Coleman extreme cooler. Typically doing single infusion batch sparging with a hacked toilet hose thingy for a filter. Mostly I prefer the maltier english styles, although I have been doing more hoppy things like APAs more recently. And I've played a little with german lager styles and want to go much further in that direction with bocks, marzen, etc.
My boil kettle draws from the center with a false bottom, so I use whole hops exclusively, which seems like an uncommon choice. Just how my system evolved over the years from back when hop plugs were the bomb. I chill with an immersion chiller while recirculating in a makeshift Jamil style job. And when the ground temps are high, I either pre-chill or do a closed loop chill through ice water/submersible pump to get those last 20-40F at the end.
I ferment in 5 gallon better bottles. I built the "Mother of All Wort Chillers" a few years back which has worked wonderfully for me. Only problem is it cools but doesn't heat, so if the basement temps are below my target temp, it's hard to get the ramp-up or diacytl rest currently. I'm just about to implement BrewPi. Partially to add heating in an efficient manner, but mostly because it's the geekiest, coolest thing I've seen in years!
I serve into a 3 tap kegerator. Transferring from carboy to keg by pushing CO2 in a closed system.
I think that's my system in a nut shell. It's evolved slowly, but it's been pretty stable for the last few years. Serves me well....
Wactuary
