• How to Make a Beer Glass from a Beer Bottle

    Over the weekend I saw this clip on how to make a beer glass from a beer bottle:

    Beer Bottle Pint Glass – D-I-Why Not from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

    I may have to try this myself at some point.  I’ll post the results if I do.

  • How to Make a Pumpkin Keg

    Looking to make use of the pumpkin this holiday season for something other than a jack-o-lantern?  Why not use it as a keg for your favorite seasonal beer?

     

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    Source: http://on.aol.com/video/how-to-make-a-halloween-pumpkin-keg-517471794

  • How to Say ‘Cheers’ in 50 Languages

    Ever been out drinking and needing to say cheers to the foreigner at the bar?  How about traveling abroad and meeting new people in new places and being in need of saying cheers to toast the new fun?  Now you can.  The fine people over at matadornetwork.com have put together a great guide on how to say cheers in 50 languages.

    Cheers!!

    Cheers!!

    A-E

    Language Spelling Phonetic Pronunciation
    Afrikaans Gesondheid Ge-sund-hate
    Albanian Gëzuar Geh-zoo-ah
    Arabic (Egypt) فى صحتك: (literally good luck) Fe sahetek
    Armenian (Western) Կէնաձդ Genatzt
    Azerbaijani Nuş olsun Nush ohlsun
    Bosnian Živjeli Zhee-vi-lee
    Bulgarian Наздраве Naz-dra-vey
    Burmese Aung myin par say Au-ng my-in par say
    Catalan Salut Sah-lut
    Chamorro (Guam) Biba Bih-bah
    Chinese (Mandarin) 干杯
    gān bēi
    Gan bay
    Croatian Živjeli /
    Nazdravlje
    Zhee-ve-lee /
    Naz-dra-vlee
    Czech Na zdravi Naz-drah vi
    Danish Skål Skoal
    Dutch Proost Prohst
    Estonian Terviseks Ter-vih-sex
    F-M
    Language Spelling Phonetic Pronunciation
    Filipino/Tagalog Mabuhay Mah-boo-hay
    Finnish Kippis Kip-piss
    French Santé /
    A la votre
    Sahn-tay /
    Ah la vo-tre
    Galician Salud Saw-lood
    German Prost /
    Zum wohl
    Prohst /
    Tsum vohl
    Greek ΥΓΕΙΑ Yamas
    Hawaiian Å’kålè ma’luna Okole maluna
    Hebrew לחיים L’chaim
    Hungarian Egészségedre (to your health) /
    Fenékig (until the bottom of the glass)
    Egg-esh ay-ged-reh /
    Fehn-eh-keg
    Icelandic Skál Sk-owl
    Irish Gaelic Sláinte Slawn-cha
    Italian Salute /
    Cin cin
    Saw-lutay /
    Chin chin
    Japanese 乾杯
    Kanpai (Dry the glass)
    Kan-pie
    Korean 건배 Gun bae
    Latvian Priekā /
    Prosit
    Pree-eh-ka /
    Proh-sit
    Lithuanian į sveikatą Ee sweh-kata
    Macedonian На здравје Na zdravye
    Mongolian Эрүүл мэндийн төлөө /
    Tulgatsgaaya
    ErUHl mehdiin toloo /
    Tul-gats-gAH-ya
    N-Z
    Language Spelling Phonetic Pronunciation
    Norwegian Skål Skawl
    Polish Na zdrowie Naz-droh-vee-ay
    Portuguese Saúde Saw-OO-de
    Romanian Noroc /
    Sanatate
    No-rock /
    Sahn-atate
    Russian Будем здоровы/
    На здоровье
    Budem zdorovi/
    Na zdorovie
    Serbian živeli Zhee-ve-lee
    Slovak Na zdravie Naz-drah-vee-ay
    Slovenian Na zdravje (literally on health) Naz-drah-vee
    Spanish Salud Sah-lud
    Swedish Skål Skawl
    Thai Chok dee Chok dee
    Turkish Şerefe Sher-i-feh
    Ukranian будьмо Boodmo
    Vietnamese Dô /
    Vô /
    Một hai ba, yo (one, two, three, yo)
    Jou /
    / Dzo
    Moat hi bah, yo
    Welsh Iechyd da Yeh-chid dah
    Yiddish Sei gesund Say geh-sund

    Source: http://matadornetwork.com/

  • Chilling Your Wort: The Low Flow Water Option

    Starting the process of chilling the wort at 7:29pm.

    Previously I posted a link about chilling my wort using ice in the article Going Green with Your Wort Chilling Process.  Based on some feedback I received I wrote the follow-up article The Greenest Wort Chilling Process I Found.  That second process works fine, but I prefer to pitch my yeast right away instead of having to wait several hours.

    As reddit user rotomd quoted from Palmer’s book in the reddit comments of the second post:

    At the end of the boil, it is important to cool the wort quickly. While it is still hot, (above 140°F) bacteria and wild yeasts are inhibited. But it is very susceptible to oxidation damage as it cools. There are also the previously mentioned sulfur compounds that evolve from the wort while it is hot. If the wort is cooled slowly, dimethyl sulfide will continue to be produced in the wort without being boiled off; causing off-flavors in the finished beer. The objective is to rapidly cool the wort to below 80°F before oxidation or contamination can occur.

    Going back to the comments from reddit regarding the first post there was another option for chilling wort that I still wanted to explore.  It was stated that the wort could be chilled by simply running the water from the garden hose through the wort chiller.  I thought this would be a waste of a lot of water, but some others stated it wouldn’t.

    reddit user javabrewer stated it could be done using only 15 gallons:

    More like 15, in my case. And I save the water in a bucket and my 10 gallon cooler to wash things out. 5 gallons (the hottest runnings) goes into a bucket with PBW for washing gear, 10 gallons goes towards rinsing out the MLT.

     

    I open the faucet very little and run it for maybe 20 minutes. Any longer than that and it’s diminishing returns. Any faster than that and water streams out of the connectors.  Also, I stir the wort frequently. This is probably the best way to make the process “green”.

    reddit user zymologist had a similar statement:

    I just run my wort chiller from the faucet in my basement, straight into the washer. I can cool a 5 gallon batch down to 70F with almost exactly the amount of water it takes to do 1 large load of laundry.  If I don’t have any laundry to do or just have half a load, I use the remaining lukewarm water to wash my equipment.

     

    I didn’t blast the water, I ran it pretty slowly to avoid overflowing the washer. I also stirred vigorously every few minutes.

     

    My object is to have the water flow just hard enough to fill the tubing/chiller completely so you get maximum surface area for cooling, while running it as slowly as possible so it has the maximum amount of contact time with the wort. It does slow down my process, but it’s worth it to me to not waste the water. I also stir vigorously and often, and “precool” my wort chiller by immersing it in a cold tap water bath, which I later use to clean my chiller/other equipment.

    reddit user sailorh echoed the statement that low flow water and stirring are the key points:

    Most people seem to run their faucet at a low pressure. In my case, my copper tubing is pretty narrow but 50′ long. That gives a fair amount of surface area to chill and only a bit of water needs to flow to carry out the heat. Stirring and moving the chiller around also makes a big difference. You can feel the outgoing water get a lot warmer as soon as you start moving the chiller around. I usually chill 5 gallons in about 10 minutes, maybe less.

    It was time to test the low flow water theory and see how well it worked.  Last week when I brewed beer my brother and I used the low flow water method and we were able to cool 2.5 gallons of wort in 35 minutes using 10 gallons of water.  Here are the pictures for the test.

  • I Have Brewed Too Much Beer

    I was thinking about what I was going to brew this week when it dawned on me, I can’t brew beer this week.  Not because I don’t have time.  Not because I couldn’t go to the store and buy supplies.  I can’t brew beer this week because I have no where to put it.

    You see, I have gone a little nutty with the beer brewing.  I decided to see what would happen if I brewed 5 gallons beer every.single.week.  5 gallons of beer is about 2 cases and a 6 pack of beer, but you drop some volume during brewing, so we’ll just say 2 cases.  That’s a lot of beer.  I can do a keg a week (with a little from my friends), but it’s not the norm.

    Currently I have 2 kegs of beer in the fridge, and 4 buckets (5 gallon each) fermenting.  I have no more kegs, I have no more buckets, I have no room for more beer.  6 weeks straight of brewing have finally brought me to a place of rest.

  • Friday Beer Fun – DIY Edition

    With Spring coming soon it’s time to start your list of Spring projects to do.  Here are a few DIY beer related items that you might want to consider in the coming months.

    1. The first thing you’ll need is a beer mug, so why not make your own.
      http://www.instructables.com/id/wooden-beer-mug/
    2. You’ll need someplace to drink that beer, so why not build yourself a bar.
      http://www.brandozines.com/bar/


    3. You’ll need some beer to go with the mug and bar, so why not brew your own.
      http://www.homebrewing.com/how-to-homebrew-all-grain.php
    4. When the beer is done you’ll need a place to store it, so it’s time to build a kegerator.
      http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Homebrew-Kegerator
    5. Of course, maybe you’re looking for a non-conventional beer dispensing method, like a fire extinguisher.
      http://benkrasnow.blogspot.com/2009/03/thirst-extinguisher.html
    6. If you’re into bottling instead, you’ll need to make some labels.
      http://labeley.com/
    7. Or maybe you want more than just a label, how about a whole 4-6 pack setup?
      http://www.myownlabels.com/boxes-and-bags/PBC/
    8.  If you’re like me, you have kids around a lot, so you should have some beer for them, too.
      http://bakemeaway.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/butterbeer-universal-style/
    9. You could also have fun treats for the adults.
      http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-beer-popsicles-at-124457
    10. And lastly, while everyone is hanging out enjoying everything you’ve made they will surely be using your Wi-Fi.  Time to build a Wi-Fi booster.
      http://www.dalimunthe.com/2011/08/how-to-make-wi-fi-booster-using-only.html