West Coast Brewer Home Brewing Blog

Month: September 2015

New 14 Gallon Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

 

Homebrewing Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

Homebrewing Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

New Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter!

I upgraded my homebrewing fermentation equipment last week and purchased a new 14 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter.  The model that I decided to go with was the SS BrewTech conical, because it was high quality, had a ton of upgrade options and frankly was the best price out there for a stainless steel conical fermenter.

 

The Conical Fermenter is Available for purchase here

 

In addition to purchasing the base model, I also purchased a temperature control kit. You can get a basic idea how it look by viewing the following image.  Basically, the temperature is monitored via a probe in a thermowell, once the temperature reaches a certain point it pumps either hot or cold water through the stainless steel coin that is in contact with the fermenting beer.

 

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter with Temperature Controller Animation

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter with Temperature Controller Animation

 

The Conical Fermenter Temperature Control Kit Is Available Here

 

I ended up also changing out the stainless steel racking arm, which was the only item on the conical fermenter that I was not 100% satisfied with.  It was not bad, but I felt that the one that MoreBeer offers on their line of homebrewing stainless steel conical fermenters was superior.  In addition to that I also purchased a stainless steel yeast harvester for my homebrew conical fermenter.

 

Conical Fermenter Yeast Havester

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter Yeast Havester

 

The upgraded stainless steel racking arm and stainless steel yeast harvester with sight glass is available here:

 

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter Racking Arm

SS Conical Fermenter Racking Arm

Conical Fermenter Racking Arm

 

Stainless Steel Yeast Harvester with Sight Glass

 

Yeast Harvester

Yeast Harvester and Sight Glass for Conical Fermenters

 

I still need to do a little setup and cleaning on my new stainless steel conical fermenter.  I want to run the temperature control unit into my kegerator so that I can chill the cooling water in there.  As I make progress I will post some followup information!

 

14 Gallon Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

14 Gallon Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

 

This 14 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter for home brewing is currently available for $495 here.  They also have a 7 gallon version for $395.

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenters

 

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter Sale at MoreBeer!

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter Sale

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter Sale

 

Act now and save big at MoreBeer.com!

MoreBeer is currently having a sale on their top of the line Stainless Steel Conical Homebrewing Fermenters.  If you are not familiar with MoreBeer you should check them out.  Not only are they one of the best homebrewing supply outfits but they also manufacture some of the best homebrewing products, including stainless steel brew rigs and stainless steel conical fermenters.  Right now their line of stainless steel conical fermenters is on sale and you can save a bundle while it lasts.

 

There is no promo code needed for this offer and it is valid on their 7 gallon conical fermenter, 14 gallon conical fermenter and 27 gallon stainless steel conical fermenter. These conical fermenters carry a 5 star user rating and are probably the best home brewing conical fermenter on the market.

 

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

Stainless Steel Conical Fermentor

 

These home brewing stainless steel conical fermenters are designed and fabricated in the USA by MoreBeer’s fabrication team of homebrewers. MoreBeer offers a variety of sizes for your homebrewing needs, from 5 gallon batches to above 20! These conical’s are built to last and are made from food grade 304 stainless steel. They also have the ability to hold up to 5 psi of pressure for sealed beer transfers. MoreBeer conical fermenters are built with professional quality and sanitary tri-clamp fittings that are welded in place for a lifetime of use. The have also included a stainless steel rotating racking arm that permits you to adjust where you are drawing beer from on the inside of the conical fermenter. The hatch on the top of the fermenter lid allows you to add dry hops or oak during the fermentation process if desired.  MoreBeer homebrewing conicals are trusted by breweries like Sierra Nevada, Stone and Russian River for their pilot brewing systems.

 

Here are some of the features that these stainless steel conical fermenters boast:

  • 304 Stainless Steel Construction and 1.5 inch butterfly valve
  • Commercial-quality gasket made from durable, food-grade silicone
  • Stainless Steel threadless racking arm
  • Professional sanitary sample and transfer valve
  • Cone removes from stand for easy cleaning
  • Domed lid with 3 inch clover fitting at the top
  • Sturdy lid clamp allowing for 5 PSI of pressure (with addition of CO2 Adapter package)
  • Includes stopper and airlock

 

With the current sale you can save hundreds of dollars on these fermenters!

7.5 Gallon Stainless Steel Conical fermenter $649

14 Gallon Stainless Steel Conical fermenter $699

27 Gallon Stainless Steel Conical fermenter $899

Click here for more details on this limited time promotion on MoreBeer Stainless Steel Conical Fermenters

 

Adventures in HomeBrewing Sale on All Grain Beer Stands

If you are looking to transition from extract brewing to all grain homebrewing and want to do it as inexpensively as possible; Adventures in Homebrewing is currently running a sale on All Grain Homebrewing systems that might be perfect for you.

Adventures in Homebrewing Coupon Code

Adventures in Homebrewing Coupon Code

Promotion Details:  Complete 15 Gallon All Grain Brewing System for $1299

Here are the details on this Homebrewing.org All Grain Brewing System.  Adventures in Homebrewing Brewing Rig \ 15.5 gallon all grain brewing system allows you to brew up to 12 gallon beer batches. This homebrew system even comes with one pump to be used on your mash tun. This all grain homebrewing kit comes with everything you need but you can also upgrade your Hot Liquor Tank and Boil Kettle to a 2 weld pot, for installing items like a thermometer instead of a long stem clip on thermometer. This all grain homebrew setup also comes with a 3 burner system.

Here is what this all grain homebrewing system comes with:

  • 1-Two Weld Mash Tun
  • 1-False Bottom and Legs
  • 1- 1/2″ NPT 2″ Thermometer
  • 1-One Weld HLT Kettle
  • 1-One Weld Boil Kettle
  • 1-10″ Flat False Bottom
  • 1- 1/100th March Pump
  • 3 Burner System w/ Regulator and Hoses
  • 1- Stainless Steel Braided Hose
  • 50′ Copper Immersion Wort Chiller
  • Homebrewing Mash Paddle
To take advantage of this home brewing promotion, use the coupon code listed above if applicable and click on the following promo code link:

Click Here for this Homebrewing.org Homebrew Rig Promotion

 

If you are looking for a slightly higher end version of a 15 gallon home brewing rig, they also have a sale going on for their 15 Gallon Ruby Steer brew rig for $2850!

 

Ruby Steet Homebrewing Rig

Ruby Steet Homebrewing Rig

Here are some of the features of the Ruby Street Homebrew Rig:

  • Steel tube frame construction with powder coated finish on frame
  • Includes 15.5 Gallon 304 Stainless Steel Kettles w/ Lids
  • 3 piece ball valves included on all kettles and pump
  • Stainless steel flexible gas lines
  • Propane regulator including 4′ stainless braided hose included
  • Magnetic drive pump included with stainless steel drip shield and stainless outflow control valve
  • All sanitary tri-clamp fittings on mash tun, boil kettle, and pump.
  • Both boil kettle and mash tun include 18 gauge perforated false bottoms and 1/2″ stainless steel dip tubes.

 

 The Ruby Street Homebrewing Rig Sale is available here

 

 

Tips for making a great pumpkin beer!

Brewing a Great Pumpkin Beers

Brewing a great pumpkin beer

 

 

There are two types of pumpkin beers out there, great ones and terrible ones. Brewing up a great pumpkin beer can be easy if you know what you are doing and I have put together a few tips to help you out if you are brewing up your first batch of pumpkin homebrew!

 

1) Most importantly, start with a great base beer recipe!

Pumpkin Beer Recipe Kits are great because they take all of the guess work out of it and the good ones are well balanced when it comes to pumpkin flavors. There are a bunch of great pumpkin beer recipe kits out there including these ones which are two of my favorites:

 MoreBeer Pumpkin Beer Recipe Kit

Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown Ale

But if you want to design your own recipe, make sure that you start with a great base beer that will showcase your pumpkin beer well. I personally enjoy the malty flavor of darker beers for a pumpkin ale, like a nice brown ale.  I also try to keep the ABV down if it will be for a party where people will be enjoying several pints. The following is a great kit to start with, just make sure you pay attention to tip #2.

Nut Brown Base for a Great Pumpkin Beer

 

2) Highly important, DO NOT over hop your pumpkin beer!

Trust me on this, I have made this mistake in the past.  The last thing that you want is for your hops to compete against the pumpkin and spice flavor in your beer.  The hops should just add a very subtle bitterness to your beer. I would recommend an IBU of around 10 – 20 for a pumpkin ale, but it will depend on the estimated ABV of your beer so that it is balanced.  If you use the Nut Brown Ale listed above, you may want to consider halving the amount of hops used.

 

3) This is pretty important too, DO NOT over spice your pumpkin beer!

Okay, so I may have made this mistake in the past as well. You do not want your pumpkin beer to taste like someone accidentally dropped a spice rack in your kettle.  A great pumpkin beer is flavorful but not overpowering.  I will leave the quantity of pumpkin spice that you use up to you, but will give you this advice.  You can always add more!  What I do is add a moderate amount of spice at the start of fermentation and then add the spice to taste at the end of fermentation.  I will slowly add more spices to the fermenter and sample the beer until I am pleased.  Since I keg, I will even sometimes add additional spice to the keg once the beer has been conditioned if I feel that it is lacking in flavor.

 

4) This is kinda important, DO NOT rush your pumpkin beer!

Pumpkin beer is just like every other beer that a home brewer creates, it requires time to properly ferment and condition. If it is 7 days before your Halloween party and you are thinking of brewing a pumpkin beer for it, you may want to brew a Thanksgiving pumpkin beer instead.  Give yourself at least a month.  Make sure your ferment at an appropriate and  stable temperature that is right for your yeast and give your beer time to properly carbonate, clear and condition.

 

5) I guess this is important as well, if you are going to use fresh pumpkin, then use pie making pumpkin, not your sons Jack-o-lantern.

So there are different types of pumpkins out there, the type you carve, the miniature type that is the size of a muffin and the type that you make pie out of.  If you want to go all Martha Stewart on me and use a fresh pumpkin, then make sure that you use a pie making pumpkin and not some little ornamental pumpkin or some giant jack-o-lantern style pumpkin that you got from a bin in front of Walmart. If you use fresh pumpkin, clean and cut the pumpkins flesh into cubes.  Bake those cubes at a low temperature (about 325 F) until the cubes become nice and soft and start to brown.  If you are not an over achiever, I use Libby’s Pumpkin Pie mix and add 2 large cans per 5 gallons of beer.

 

6) Okay, so this is really important, add your pumpkin to secondary fermentation!

There is much global debate in the world on when to add your pumpkin to your brew, in the mash or at fermentation.  I personally add it at the tale end of primary fermentation,  I simply add my Libby’s pumpkin pie mix and pumpkin pie spice to a clean fermenter and transfer the beer onto it.  I allow the beer to complete fermentation for an additional 2 weeks or so and then cold crash for another week before racking to a keg.

 

7) This is not too important, give your beer a cool and festive name!

Some brewers enjoy naming their beer as much as they enjoy brewing it.  If this is you then go for the gold!  If you come up with a good one, I would love to hear it.

 

Adventures in Homebrewing and Homebrewing.org Promotion

Adventures in Homebrewing and Homebrewing.org are currently having a great promotion on All Grain Homebrewing Equipment.

 

Adventures in Homebrewing Promo Code

Adventures in Homebrewing Coupon Code

 

If you are looking to transition from extract home beer brewing over to all grain brewing, you might want to check out the promotion that Adventures in Homebrewing currently has running.  For a limited time you can pick up a homebrewing mash tun cooler and hot liquor tank cooler both for just $179.

 

This package deal from Adventures in Homebrewing  includes 2 Igloo coolers with stainless steel ball vales. One 10 gallon cooler will be used as a hot liquor tank which includes a ball valve and hose for sparging while the mash tun comes with a stainless steel false bottom and  a stainless tube, and ball valve. For more details on this limited time offer, click the following link:

 

Adventure in Homebrewing All Grain Brewing Equipment Promotion

 

Russian River Consecration Homebrewing Beer Recipe Kit

Russian River Consecration Homebrewing Beer Recipe Kit from MoreBeer – MoreBeer.com

 

Homebrewing Russian River Consecration Beer Recipe Kit

Homebrewing Russian River Consecration Beer Recipe Kit

 

About a year ago now, I brewed this MoreBeer.com clone of Russian Rivers Consecration sour ale. It is a fantastic beer, one of my favorites and this homebrewing beer recipe kit really does it justice. After allowing my Consecration to age for about 12 months and then tasting the two next to one another, they are a very close match.

 

This Russian River Consecration Beer Recipe Kit is released by More Beer with Vinnie from Russian River Brewing’s blessing and he actually released his Consecration recipe to them. If you have not had the pleasure of tasting this incredible sour beer, Consecration is a sour dark ale aged in a Cabernet Sauvignon barrel. The beer ages for almost 8 months with currants and brettanomyces. What makes this MoreBeer homebrewing ingredient kit so special is that they provide actual oak chunks from real Russian River Consecration barrels! Where else are you going to find a home brewing ingredient kit with that. They also include two pounds of currants to replicate the original recipe as much as possible.  I have had great success with this Consecration Homebrew ingredient kit and I highly recommend it to any sour beer lover.

 

 To Purchase the Consecration Homebrewing Clone Recipe Kit, Click Here

 

Here is a quick video review of the Russian River Consecration Beer Recipe Kit!

 

If you have any question on this Russian River Consecration clone beer kit, feel free to reach out to me. Happy home brewing!