Eight entrants entered and Blackyardigan emerged victorious. Joe’s winning schwarzbier had half of the total cast votes. Much shit talking and flaw finding was engaged in and generally folks had a good time! Next year we need more judges 😀

Quick update!

We brewed 10 gallons of Oatmeal Stout. About 4-6 folks who weren’t in the club came out to check us out. Thanks much to FS for donating all the ingredients. The batch was split and WLP007 and WLP004 yeast were pitched into the different 5 gallon better bottles. Look to sample the beer at the club Christmas Party.

Come join TVH as we brew out in front of FermentStation. We will be starting our 10 gallon all grain demonstration around 10am. There will be staff on hand to help you if you are just getting started or considering brewing for the first time. More advanced brewers are welcome to join us to see the club’s system in action.

The club will be having an education oriented brew out on September 10th. Well, it was going to be then, its going to move to the following weekend, either Saturday or Sunday, yet to be determined. We’ll be going through the all grain process in detail. So if you haven’t leapt to all grain, or just want to improve your skills. This is the event for you.

Full information on the club calendar.

There will be a club brew out on August 13 at Paul’s house. Full details on the event calendar.

Hey everybody! We are going to get started around 5-or-6 ish on the 4th of July. Gong to be fairly simple, hamburgers, dogs and sausages on the grill. Bring fireworks if you want. There is usually a lot going off all around my house I’ll have some White Mule and some IPA on tap. Hope to see you there!~Don

The latest BAMO is closed! The order has been placed at FS and it’s time to pay up. Please paypal John Peed at john.peed@elotouch.com (check email for invoice). We’ll keep everyone updated on a delivery date, but assume next week.

More details here.

We had our own BAB a few weeks ago (my primary fermentation is almost done, just a few more days before the crash begins), but the AHA celebrates National Homebrew Day this year on May 7th. Joe’s leading a BIAB demo at our favorite spot. Bring a friend, bring some homebrew, and join us! Check out the details here.

The deadline for entering the sixth annual TVH Home Bruin Cup club-only competition is fast approaching.

Have you entered?  Signed up to judge or steward?

You may enter up until 4:00 PM May 7, but you must register by 11:55 PM May 6.  See Home Bruin Cup VI pages

The BAB was a great success! We managed to brew ~20 gallons of beer and that wort is happily fermenting away. We brewed a pale, yellow, fizzy beer with high wetness factor that should go well with heat, humidity, and bbq. We split the 20 gallons 4 ways with Peed taking 10 gallons and Daniel taking the other 10 gallons.

Batch 1) Normal Lager Fermentation Profile, WLP940
Batch 2) Fast Lager Fermentation Profile,  WLP940
Batch 3) Normal Lager Fermentation Profile, WLP840
Batch 4)  Normal Lager Fermentation Profile, WLP860

Some stats on the system. Measuring volumes was very spotty but I calculated that we hit a mash efficiency of 85%. My preboil volume and gravity were both above calculated values. The boil was quite anemic so I didn’t boil off nearly as much volume as I expected. This put us at 1.041 SG (v. 1.040 calculated). We left nearly 2 gallons of wort in the kettle as far as I could tell. If I had to do it again I would pump out of the kettle, not use gravity.

RECIPE

OG: 1.040
FG: 1.008
Pale Malt, 2-Row (Rahr) (1.8 SRM) 27.0 %        
Pale Malt, 6-Row (Rahr) (2.3 SRM) 27.0 %        
Pilsner Malt (Avangard) (1.7 SRM) 27.0 %        
Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) 15.0 %        
Carapils (Briess) (1.5 SRM)4.0 %

Mash@ 148 x 90min

1oz Crystal [3.60 %] - Boil 60.0 min 4.2 IBUs
1oz Mt. Hood [5.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min 5.9 IBUs
1oz Liberty [3.90 %] - Boil 30.0 min 2.3 IBUs
1oz Liberty [3.90 %] - Boil 5.0 min 0.8 IBUs
1oz Crystal [3.60 %] - Steep/Whirlpool  15.0 0.9 IBUs

The BAB is one of the recurring events for our club. This year we’re using the club’s 20 gallon system to brew a pale yellow lager. Since this beer gets poured at one of the other recurring club events, the pig roast in the middle of summer, we’re targeting something a little more sessionable and refreshing for a hot day. The plan is to try 3 different lager yeasts and 2 different temperature profiles.

Show up at Graham’s house on Saturday and bring a chair, a cup, some snacks and homebrew to share. We’ll have brats for lunch.