Hop Update

I've recently noticed a bunch of fungus gnats (identified from a google image search) coming out of my hop containers.  I've decided to wait longer between waterings and apply a garlic water recipe I found on the internet (head of garlic soaked in water for 2 days, then strained and diluted to 1 gallon).  I also added chilis to the water because I read that was supposed to repel other pests.  I'll see how it works in a few days.  The plants seem to be doing fine despite the bugs, with the exception of my sickly Cascade.

Full Wort Boil on a Glasstop Electric Range

This is 5.5 gallons of wort that I got to a boil on my glasstop electric range.  After I got the first and second runnings into the kettle I believe my wort was at around 155 degrees F.  With this towel secured around the pot, I got to a boil in approximately 22 minutes.  

When I first started trying to do all grain I had stuck to 4 gallon batches that barely fit in my 5 gallon pot.  I wanted to be able to do 5 gallon batches, but I wasn't sure my stove could get all that wort to a boil.  I ended up buying this 7.5 gallon pot with the self-justification that if I couldn't get the full 5 gallon batch to boil, I could at least do my 4 gallon batches without having so much wort splashing out during the boil.

I was surprised at how well this towel wrap improved the efficiency of my boil.  When I did my first batch of extract, it took me 40 minutes to get a mere 3.5 gallons of wort to a boil from 155 degrees F.  It seems like the towel made a huge difference.  I left a couple of inches between the towel and the bottom of the pot to avoid having the towel burn.  I also watched the pot in case the towel slipped (which it didn't).

I should note that I brought this to a boil with a lid on, which I removed when the wort got up to around 208 degrees F.  I gotten my last two 4 gallon batches up to a boil with the lid on and not noticed any DMS character, so I went ahead and did it on this beer.  This one's still in the fermenter, so I can't be sure there weren't any problems caused by the lid.   

Hops Growing Update

There hasn't been much going on in the hopyard so there hasn't been much to post about.  Everything is still growing bigger, except for that stumpy Cascade (which still looks small and sickly).  You can see the stumpy Cascade on the right side of the photo.  

As mentioned before, I was using the ajustable trellis system described in a BYO article (http://www.byo.com/component/resource/article/1926-growing-hops-in-containers).  Today, I saw that the Nugget plants were reaching the top of my trellis, so I decided to drop them.  I didn't want the bines flopping in the wind because it's been uncharacteristically windy for me this year.  To avoid having lots of slack bines flopping around in the wind, I let the lower part of the bines flop over the edges of my growing containers.  Then, I attached the top of the twine hanging over the bucket to the twine at the point where I had attached to base of the twine to the container.  This allowed me to leave the lower part of the twine hanging loose, while pulling the upper part of the twine snug.  I tried to get a picture of what I did below.

Cheap Fermentation Control Update

These are the pictures of my new modifications to my cheap fermentation temperature control system.  This post will probably not make a lot of sense if you haven't read my original post about this temperature control system (http://greatermonkey.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-cheap-fermentation-temperature.html)  As I mentioned in my last update about the system (http://greatermonkey.blogspot.com/2012/04/temperature-control-upgrade.html), I replaced my cooler of ice and water with a jug in a small refrigerator.  This is the end of the first full day it's been in use.  It's keeping a Belgian blonde at 70 degrees F (didn't want to push it too hard on its first try). 

Here's the fermentation held at a steady 70 degrees.

Here's the fermentation held at a steady 70 degrees

I saw some rope on sale at the hardware store and decided to use it to hold the sleeping bag to the carboy.  This was much easier than cramming the sleeping bag into the tub around the carboy.

This is the milk jug in my refrigerator.  You can see that I've sliced the top open to allow the pump to fit.

This blurry shot shows my hoses and the power cord for the pump going into the refrigerator.  I simply put a slit behind the magnetic strip so that I could lift away a portion of the vinyl between the door and the magnet strip.  You can see the flap of vinyl folded behind the black power cord from the pump.  You can't see it in the picture, but the slit goes around the corner a few inches.  I needed to go around the corner to make a big enough hold for the plug on the end of the pump power cord.  I made the slices a few weeks ago and have found that a little blue masking tape along the slit keeps the refrigerator operating normally when the not being used to chill my fermenter.

I'll try fermenting something a few degrees colder the next time around.

Temperature Control Upgrade?

I've just pitched yeast into an ale using my newly modified temperature control system.  I've gotten rid of the cooler of ice and water and replaced it with milk jug in a mini-refrigerator.  I have the same pond pump set up running water out of the milk jug.  To run the tubing and power cable for the pump out of the refrigerator,  I put a slit in the top of the magnetic strip on the refrigerator door.  I'm starting it off easy with a Belgian golden ale recipe that I wanted to ferment on the warm side, 70 degrees F.

My cheap thermostat controller got knocked over while I was setting everything up and one of the connections I soldered got torn out.  I jammed the wire back into the heat shrink and taped the wires to the  thermostat so they couldn't move.  That was tiring, so I'll add pictures later with an update on the performance of this new system.  If it works, I won't have to plan changing ice packs into my schedule.

Maui Brewing Tour

I didn't post an update on my hops this past week because I was visited Maui for the weekend.  While I was there I took in a tour of the Maui Brewing Company's production facility.  The tour was ten dollars and came with a tasting tray of Maui Brewing's Big Swell IPA, Mana Wheat, Bikini Blond, and Coconut Porter.  They also put in a fifth beer, an Irish Red.   I had tried the IPA and porter at bars in the past and was disappointed.  But after having the chance to try these beers at the brewery, I think the bars must not have treated their beers very well.  The IPA and porter were amazing at the brewery.  I had never had such a delicious IPA in Hawaii before the brewery tasting.  The tour was along the lines of other great brewery tours I've had (Stone and Anchor), but it really warmed my cockles to see a little brewery doing such great things in Hawaii.  I've added some pictures I took on the tour below (I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the brew system and fermenters.)  The price of the tour also came with a wooden token good for a pint at the Maui Brewing pub, which was at a separate location (see below). 

A day after my tour of the production brewery, I visited the pub.  I won't get into individual reviews of the beers I tried, but I enjoyed everything.  I had a glass of the Freight Train IPA and Chinwig English Strong Ale.  Both were very tasty.  The Chinwig got very tasty when it had a chance to warm up.  Of the Freight Train, I have to say it was the very best IPA I've ever tasted in Hawaii.

It was described as a San Diego style IPA at the pub and I think it lived up to that description.  It was one of those great beers that smells like a freshly opened bag of hops.  My visit to the pub made me really wish there was a Maui Brewing pub on my island.

The pub also let me have a tasting of four beers of my choosing for $6 (they told me it would have been $4 for a tasting of the brewery's four main beers that I already tasted at the brewery tour.)  In regards to my hop experiment, the Nuggets put on a little over six inches while I was away; my stumpy Cascade is still looking stunted, sickly dud.

The Freight Train IPA

The Chinwig English Strong Ale

The four beer tasting

Bottle of Jolly Pumpkin La Roja

I drank a bottle of Jolly Pumpkin La Roja a few days ago and decided I should dump my last jar of starter wort over the sediment and see if it grew.  It's looking nice and active today.