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  • /Posts with tag [ kegerator ]
  • Friday Beer Fun – Spring is Here Edition

    May 25, 2012 Author: Scott
    2 Comments

    With Spring time here in full swing and Summer right around the corner it’s time to take a look at some beer related items that will help you get through the outdoor time of year.

    1. First on the list is a Beer holster, for the hands free action you’ll need.
      http://gifts.personalcreations.com/productdetail.aspx?cobrand=PCR&pid=30029868
    2. Perhaps you’ll be going to some festivals and want your own stylish mug to take along.
      http://www.macgowans.com/products.html
    3. If you want a stein that is a little more geeky, how about a portal stein?
      http://www.gearfuse.com/get-your-own-portal-beer-stein/
    4. If you’re looking to sneak beer into an event, how about a fake beer belly.
      http://www.baronbob.com/beerbelly.htm
    5. Of course, women may want to sneak in some beer of their own.
      http://www.baronbob.com/winerack-winegaggift.htm
    6. Having an outdoor party and want to roll out your latest homebrew? (Holds 2 corny kegs and a 5lb CO2 bottle)
      http://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-KRS-2100-Refrigerated-Beverage-Dispenser/dp/B000HJVYDQ/ref=reg_hu-rd_add_1_dp
    7. With all this beer being opened, you wouldn’t want to litter, so make sure to catch all the bottle caps.
      http://www.likecool.com/Beer_cap_catcher–Accessories–Home.html
    8.  With all that you have going on, you wouldn’t want to lose track of time, so you’d better get yourself a good clock.
      http://www.palletart.com/clock.html
    9. If you’re into entertaining, why not bring your music with you in these perfectly tuned beer bottles.
      http://2d3d5d.com/41817/97878/work/tuned-pale-ale
    10.  And lastly, if you’ve been looking for an impressive way to open a beer, why not use a chainsaw.
      http://youtu.be/KZ-slvv_ZT4
  • Home Brewing – The first batch

    March 16, 2012 Author: Scott
    1 Comment

    Mathew and I brewed the first batch of beer together, and it was a lot of fun. Here are the pictures.

    Having never brewed beer before, I took the easy method of buying a kit.

     

    This was most of what was in the kit, after I washed and sanitized everything.

     

    I now have a water filter at the house, but the first few times I brewed I bought filtered water.

     

    We were using a Brewers Best recipe, the red ale.

     

    Looks red to me.

     

    After the 20 minute steep, we pulled out the grains.

     

    After coming up to boil we added the liquid malt extract (LME)...

     

    And the bittering hops...

     

    Check out that action shot!!

     

    Well, it was our first time and we left the lid on the pot. Too much heat resulted in a small boil over.

     

    With 5 minutes to go we added the aroma hops.

     

    My father had stopped by and gave my brother and me a hand adding the hops in.

     

    He also helped by taking this picture of Mathew and me cooling the wort with the wort chiller.

     

    We were able to go from boiling to 75 degrees in about 10 minutes.

     

    We recycled the water from a cooler filled with ice water.

     

    This did not work well and the newer setup is using a 10" stainless steel strainer and just dumping the pot into the bucket.

     

    Well, that is it for brewing, now it's time for other things.

     

    After a week, we needed to move from primary to secondary fermentation.

     

    Looks like we lost about a half gallon to evaporation.

     

    I no longer use the siphon and instead just put one bucket above the other and let gravity do the work.

     

    We, of course, had to taste the beer at this point in the process.

     

    It was flat and wasn't cold, but we both said, "It doesn't suck!"

     

    Much easier this way.

     

    I did a lot of reading, and everyone said bottling is a pain in the butt, so I bought a kegging setup.

     

    After two weeks we moved the beer to the keg.

     

    I needed to mount the taps on the fridge, which was really easy.

     

    And with the whole thing done, we were ready to drink beer!!!

     

    As of this writing, I'm now on batch six, and LOVING making my own beer.

     

    I no longer use the kits and have started experimenting with various styles.

     

    But I like having two beers on tap!!!!

     

  • Friday Beer Fun – DIY Edition

    March 2, 2012 Author: Scott
    Comments Off

    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

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