What an AWESOME Christmas- I got a grain mill for crushing grains, so I can now buy bulk :)

Also, this- http://blichmannengineering.com/boilermaker/boilermaker.html It's like getting the Cadillac Mercedes of brew kettles- SO freaking awesome.

So now it's time to get the 3-tier system going- I obsessed all day about how to build it efficiently and so it works.

Also brewed the gluten free batch which actually tasted pretty beer-like.  I toasted some steel-cut oats for a nutty flavor and to give it some mouthfeel, along with quinoa which I hope will also contribute some flavor.  It was hopped with Calypso and Cascade.

Brewed a stout for the raspberry stout- I think I'll be using flavorings for it rather than actual fruit because the though of buying 5 POUNDS of raspberries seems to be more $ than I want to invest.  Maybe I'll split it into 2 batches and do one with fruit and one with berries... I used the yeast cake from SesameStreet Amber and it's fermenting like a champ, just 12 hours after I racked it.

Also brewed the second round of Oxy-Clean, a fan favorite.

Bottled Sesame Street amber and another batch of Rosemary IPA.

What a GREAT day after Christmas!

The Pipeline:

OK, I have Rosemary IPA in the fermenter, along with Sesame Street Amber.

Upcoming are:
Gluten Free (still formulating, and need to get new equipment which isn't contaminated) (update:brewed 12/26/11)
Choc Raz Stout (update: brewed 12/26/11)
Oxy Clean (update: brewed 12/26/11)
Right Rye Red
Raz Chipotle Wheat
Coffee Stout PLUS!
Voodoo clone

Podcasts

My drive is 40 minutes plus, each way, every day. During this lovely commute, I like to listen to podcasts. It's not easy to find brewing podcasts to fill a LOT of time, but...

Brad Smith, the creator of BeerSmith brewing software, does a nice show. The most recent show is with John Blichmann who builds some of the highest quality, fancy homebrew gear in the world. Listening to the show made me want to buy buy BUY! He was the lead engineer for Catepillar machines for 15 years before his homebrew hobby dragged him away. http://www.beersmith.com

Mike Campbell of The Beer Loons has 2 podcasts- one which reviews commercial brews and one which is for homebrewers. http://blog.beerloons.com/

The Brewing Network has many shows, including The Homebrewed Chef, Can You Brew It (a clone show with great guests) and The Session. The session is my saving grace. IT is over 4 hours long, and is frickin hilarious. Sometimes a bit "dude" centric, I still think it's awesome. http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com

There is also Homebrew Talk from the Hogtown Brewers in Arkansas. They publish (almost) monthly. http://www.hogtownbrewers.org/podcasts.cfm

If you have any suggestions for other podcasts which apply to homebrewing and are of sufficient production value to be listenable, please let me know!

New brew idea

Ginger beer. Sounds delicious. In fact, maybe the apple cider with ginger.

The ginger beer can go a couple directions- ginger amber? Belgian ginger? I know I should have done this last month...

Peach Pie in the bottle

Bottled the peach pie today. Actually, de-labeled and cleaned 50 bottles. I have this obsession with collecting bottles. Typically, I bottle into champagne bottles and 1-liter SanPell bottles. I have a couple hundred of them. Far more than I could ever use at one time. Seriously, I need a counselor. Because I picked up 4 more cases this week.

Ok, the beer- had been on the peaches for 9 days, they began getting somewhat pale and some pieces were becoming loose, so into the bottle it goes. This also means it will be ready for Christmas :)

Bottled this batch into mostly small bottles for giving away. Also a swing top pirate bottle, a 3 liter ginormous champagne bottle. The flavor was pretty good, peach flavor apparent. Not sweet enough (1.010 fg) so I added 4oz of lactose, which should give some creaminess and sweetness.

I'm not very confidant in this brew, guess we'll see in about 10 days.

Oh, another in the fermenter!

Oops, I forgot, I also have Sesame Street Amber in the fermenter. It's 4# 2ROW, 3# Marris Otter, 2# Vienna, and 1# Crystal 60.

4,3,2,1 the guy crushing the grains said "what is this, Sesame Street?" Such was born the name

Upcoming Brews

I have ingredients to brew in the future, though that may be a while considering the work schedule is pretty grueling this month.

Chocolate Raspberry Stout for Becca

Gluten Free IPA for Chris and Michelle

Oxy Clean

I also need to brew a barleywine at some point and I'm trying to learn how to make a cider that I actually want to drink. It's simple to ferment apple juice, but to make it yummy is elusive to me.

Also, if I can get a Peanut Butter Porter going, that would be tons-o-fun

If you have any suggestions, please comment! I'm up for just about anything

Existing DaH Brews:

11- IBD Porter

12- It's So Citra
13- Bored High Life

14- Kitty Cat Pale

15- Exploding IPA- the Punisher

16- Dad's Stout (38.5 points!!!)

16+ - Raspberry Stout

17- Right Rye Red (bronze medal)

18- Wrong Rye

19- Fat Squirrel (silver medal)

20- Brewer's Pride (they lost to the Cardinals. So did this beer)

21- Coffee Stout

22- Oktoberlaboration (with Sean Jennings at SanTan Oktoberfest)

23- Right Rye Red

24- Rosemary IPA

25- Fat Squirrel

26- Oxy Clean Imperial IPA

27- IBD Porter

28- Peach Pie

29- Right Rye Red

30- Rosemary IPA
31- Sesame Street Amber
32- Michelle's Pale Gluten-Free (brewed 12/26, Bottled on 1/23)
33- OxyClean Imperial IPA (brewed 12/26, Bottled on 1/16)
34- Creme Brulee Stout (brewed on 12/26, Bottled on 1/10)
35- Raspberry Stout (brewed on 12/26, Bottled on 1/10)
36- Klingon Grog (Bottled on 1/10, Bottled on 1/18)
37- Recipe Un-Red (Bottled on 1/16, Bottled on 1/23)
38- Rosemary IPA Extract (Brewed on 1/19, Bottled on 1/31)
39- Cream Ale (Brewed on 1/19, Racked onto Grilled Lemons 1/31, Bottled on 2/6)
40- Portly Squirrel (Brewed on 1/31, Bottled on 2/6)
41- Coffee Stout (Brewed on 1/31, Bottled on 2/6, also Secondary onto oak 2/6)
A- 1.5 oz bourbon for 1.5 gallons
B- 3 oz bourbon for 1.5 gallons
C- On oak (3 gallons)
D- TBD on oak
42- IBD Porter Extract (Brewed on 2/6)
43- Right Rye Red (Brewed on 2/6)

Christmas List

OK, what does an avid homebrewer want for Christmas?

My Honay has allowed me to take over most of the garage to brew. I even installed 2 new electrical circuits last weekend. That's 35 amps of 110 just for beer. Nice deal, eh?

Since I have a great system already (ha!) upgrades are nice:

A LOGO

Another brew kettle with propane burner ($40 at Home Depot on the post- thanksgiving sale...)

Heat Stick (DIY project)

A Keggle (keg converted into a boil kettle... nommmmmmmmm)

A grain mill for bulk grain purchase / crushing (I CRUSH YOU!)

3 gallon better bottles I guess. Glass is nice, but hard to find.

Books: How To Brew by John Palmer,

I'd like to have a nice work shirt with my LOGO on it

Labels with the new exciting logo on it

A "tier" system to work on might be nice. I saw one that was built on a hand-truck (dolly) one time that looked like it would be pretty slick, but I think that a gravity fed, 3-tier system is a nice plan. Pumps just sound like a lot of extra cleaning and headache.

There is something called a "tap-a-draft" system which kind-of "kegs" 6 liters. That would be cool for festivals (though I would actually have to PLAN for something to go to the festival, and... yeah... not so good at that...)

People say- "Why Don't you want a kegging system, Andrew?" Well I look at it like this- I give away about half of what I brew. And I like to brew frequently. So Bottling works fine. And besides, I would need another refrigerator to put the kegs in, then there is the never-ending desire to upgrade the kegging system. More valves, regulators, getting CO2, etc. It's just more headache than I want to deal with. So I can continue blissfully bottling for a little while. Thank you though, everyone!