Unfortunately, though this beer is in glasses . . . it's not technically "ready" yet. But that doesn't mean we can't test it out anyway. As you may remember, Stephen and our neighbor Shelby are brewing their own beer (to catch the first scenes from this adventure, click here). But what you see above is Hop Scare I.P.A. and a oatmeal stout -- both in their infancy stages.
The two even made their own kegerators so we can drink in style when these babies graduate from secondary fermentation! Stephen's particularly proud of his: The Admiral (which is really an old 1950s or 1960s refrigerator left to us in impeccable condition by the previous owner of our home).
And it doesn't only LOOK cool. It actually works, too! Which begs the question: Is anyone else out in blogland looking to brew their own beer? Would you be interested in instructions and guides? Tips on creating clever kegerators. Etc.? Let us know -- because we'd be happy to write up all the juicy details once we make entirely sure our brews have been successful. Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.
Of the two, Stephen is especially proud of the oatmeal stout. He steeped espresso beans in it . . . and from a taste-test yesterday, he got the flavor notes down almost perfectly. Not too bitter, not too strong. And the color is definitely there . . . with a rich body to boot!
And if you're looking for some beer review -- you've come to the right place! Be sure to check out other tasty Thirsty Thursday posts from weeks past.
- Blue Point's Toasted Lager
- Scenes from Home Brewing
- Shipyard's Blue Fin Stout
- Saranac's Rye IPA
- Saranac's Maple Porter
- Dragonslayer by Middle Ages
- Bear Republic's Racer 5
Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!
11 comments:
Yes! Please post the steps!
I've always wanted to brew my own beer but was never motivated enough. I lived in Portland, OR and had micro brews galore at my disposal. I have since moved to Canada and am missing all my micro brews; I'm tempted to try to brew my own.
I concur! More knowledge of the beer process would be great!
you're making me thirsty on this thursday. beer brewing tips would be cool and I love the Admiral. Very clever.
Oooh do you ever order from Midwest Brewing? It's not far from our house, and they have some really cool stuff. You should make a coffee stout in the line of Surly's Coffee Bender.
That keg fridge is VERY cool. We already have a BeerTender, but don't show my hubby that fridge or he'll find some place to squeeze it into this apartment! lol.
Bre @ http://theredbungalow.blogspot.com
LOVE the kegerator! That is so freaking cool. Well done. Can't wait to come over for a taste test!
Hey, everyone. Stephen's already working on several posts -- 1.) a list of everything you need to start 2.) instructions on how to make a kegerator 3.) FAQs, etc. So, keep an eye out!
And Lindsey! We can't wait either. We're going to have a brews and backyard games party. Maybe Memorial Day weekend? Will you be around? (Of course, we want to see you before then, though!)
this is the coolest. i'm glad to hear that the "pre-tasting" shows promising results :)
Ahhhhhh, I totally LOVE the blog, and it's one of the few I consistently read, every post.
But: The Admiral makes me cringe. Aesthetically, it's gorgeous, but for people watching their budget, it's a nightmare. Old fridges are notorious energy sucks, and for many, replacing them with a modern Energy Star fridge, or a chest freezer, will be paid for within a year of electricity bills or less.
You already have most/all of the hardware, but the Admiral is gonna sink yer ship, so I'd strongly advise a newer appliance. Many local utilities will even pay you $20-$50 and come pick up the old fridge for recycling, and the buildout of a new kegerator is fairly straightforward.
Separately, while my current (chest freezer, three tap) kegerator also uses those standard forward-venting faucets, be sure to pluck them off and clean them regularly, in at least very hot water, or preferably BLC (Beer Line Cleaner) or PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash.) Especially with the higher residual sugars in many homebrews, they can clog easily with sweet sticky gunk, and be difficult to operate (to the point of breaking off handles. Yes, I know from experience.) A big step up is rear venting faucets, like Perlick (or Ventmatic, if you can find them.)
The entire system should be semi-regularly cleaned with BLC or a similar product, at least every third keg or so. It's amazingly easy to develop your own "house flavors" which are actually, well, funk.
Sorry: don't mean to lecture. But start watching your electricity bills, and see if you can honorably retire The Admiral!
Dan,
Thanks so much for the info and your concern. But we're one step ahead of you. We're not plugging this baby into the wall. No, no. We're going old school and using it, instead, as a giant cooler. We keep it around 55 degrees (slightly colder) by using ice packs that we replenish daily. May not be the most flashy solution, but I did my research online and found out all about the energy suck . . . we certainly weren't going to go there for the sake of it looking cool.
We'll definitely check out the cleaning supply suggestions you provided. Thank you so much for that. We are super new at this whole process, so we can use any help we can get!
And no worries about "lecturing" -- it's all from good intentions. :) But it's all good. We've already pulled the plug, so to speak. The Admiral is simply a shell of his formal self.
Hi Ashley,
Beautiful solution! I've been doing this a long time (and worked in a homebrew supply shop and helped build up a lot of kegerators for people), and I never would've thought of it myself. And I guess since you're running your regular freezer anyway to keep re-freezing the ice packs, it's basically zero cost. Love it!
I also love your serving temperature of ~55, which as I'm sure your research has indicated, is good cellar temp for most styles. Just keep in mind that CO2 goes into solution better, and stays there better, at lower temps (which is part of why so much draft beer is served WAY too cold.) So when you're calculating volumes of CO2, it's generally easier to force carbonate at lower temps, and also to pour a not-super-head-y beer at lower temps.
Happy to help, if I did/can. One of the things I love about the homebrewing community, real and virtual, is that it's 99% incredibly friendly and helpful. But there's also a lot of mediocre and plain wrong advice out there on the interwebs. So, take anything I and others say with a grain of yeast. (Poor re-working of the cliche, I know, but I couldn't think of anything better.)
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