The Beer Journals Est. 1992

Hello, I'm Dean Palmer, and welcome to my site. Although a very different site today, The Beer Journals was started back in 1992 when I moved to Ft Lauderdale/Miami for my first corporate management job. I created a newsletter of stories and photos that was printed and mailed to friends and colleagues, detailing my adventures in South Florida. Once I learned to design web sites I created The Beer Journals Online. After a few computer crashes, and poor backup procedures, most of the original material was lost. The site is now based on my beer-travel and home-brewing adventures, as well as my current hobbies and interests.

I'm not an expert, I don't have a degree in brewing science, I'm a hobbyist, and the intent of this website is not to teach brewing, or to imply that my way is the best way. I do hope that by showing what I have done, and how I do it, might help someone with their process. I brew beer for fun and enjoyment, and I really don't get into the science unless it will be used to prove that a certain method is the best. I will not generally suggest anything that I have not done myself, unless it is something that is well documented and proven as a "best practice" for our hobby.

The best thing I can tell you is to "Keep It Simple." Don't try and re-invent the wheel before you have learned a good, solid, proven, and repeatable process. There are many good books out there to learn brewing, and many great websites such as Brewboard.com, The Northern Brewer Forum, The MoreBeer Forum, and Beer Advocate.

Feel free to contact me any time if I can help you. Also, everyone is always welcome to brew with us! Slainte!

Barbecue

The Brewery V3.0

Above is version #3 of my brewing setup, and I know it's not pretty, but it works great. Brewery Page can be seen here. I brew most of the time on my back porch here in St Petersburg Florida, even through the summer!

The tallest piece is the Hot Liquor Tank (HLT) which is just a keggle that holds hot water. It is heated by a Bayou Classic KAB5 Burner, and has a sightglass and thermometer.

The middle vessel is my Mash and Lauter Tun (MLT). This is where the grain is soaked and then rinsed to create the base for the beer. It has Sabco false bottom . It is direct-fired by one of the propane burners

The far left part is the Boil Kettle. This is where the wort is boiled and the hops are added. this keggle also has a Sabco false bottom to filter out hops and debris. The burner shown is a Bayou Classic SQ-14 which does the job, but is better suited for heating the mash tun, it just doesn't sit on blocks well the way I have them stacked at the moment.

I have built a lot of the things I use, and I have bought a few things. I hope to be able to give information here on those items that have made my brewing easier, and my beer better. If you are interested in learning to brew I will have some great resources listed on a links page. I don't plan on teaching home brewing on my site as there are many great resources out there to get you started. I just hope some of my experience saves other people some time and error. Feel free to contact me with questions or requests for photos.

The Keggles

The kettles are made from scrapped, damaged, and legally-purchased stainless-steel 15.5 gallon beer kegs, hence the name "keggle." I was fortunate enough to have found them at a marine scrapyard! I also purchased some from Sabco.com. Sabco is just about the best place to get a good legal keg, and their Brew Magic Systems are nice as well.

I cut a 10" or 12" hole in the top and install valves, thermometers, and filtering devices as needed. The Hot Liquor Tank (HLT or water tank) only has a simple pickup tube, the Mash Lauter Tun (MLT or mash kettle) has a false bottom, and the Boil Kettle has a false bottom as well to screen out as much debris as possible before racking the beer to the fermenter. My current system is very simple, and does not use electronic controls. This makes it easy to maintain and store in pieces above my garage. Because of our limited space, simple is better, and it makes great beer!

Firepower

I use the Bayou Classic brand cookers because they are readily available, portable, and able to be used for other cooking tasks throughout the year. I use the KAB4, KAB5, and SQ-14.

The KAB4 and KAB5 Banjo Burners are the main ones used in my rig. They have 185k to 210k BTU, but the nicest thing about them is the ability to have a nice even simmering heat when needed, for brewing and for any outdoor cooking we do. This KAB4 shown to the left has been modified with edge supports welded on to keep keggles from slipping off the sides.

Here are pics of the Bayou Classic SQ-14 that holds a keggle well, and is available at many places including Home Depot for about $45. Works as well as the more expensive burners, and is quieter, more powerful, and more efficient than the standard 55K BTU burners. These are rated up to 150k BTU per the manufacturer, but seem to really have to work to get 13 gallons to a rolling boil. Works though.

Chilling Out

Recirculation Pump

To the left is a pic of my pump that I currently use to recirculate the ice water through the IC instead of wasting it like I did using the pre-chiller. The ice seems to last about the same as before however, and I never connect this pump until the wort is below 100f anyway. It's also a nice way to rinse the cooler after lautering. The pump I have is a 1/2HP from Harbor Freight, but I'd suggest the 1HP model as mine is just enough to do the job with a 50' copper chiller.

Why the Ice???

Here in Florida the tap water is rarely if ever cold enough to chill our wort down to pitching temps. To get colder water we need to either recirculate ice water with a pump, or pre-chill the tap water as it goes into the immersion chiller. The recirculation pump has proven to be the best method, and doesn't waste as much water.

This pic shows my pre-chiller in a cooler full of ice, to cool the hot Florida tap water before going into the main immersion chiller inside the keggle. The pre-chiller is just a 3/8" copper immersion chiller like the one that goes into the keggle.

Unfortunately this is not an efficient way of chilling the cooling water. The recirculation pump in a bucket of ice works best. You run the tap water through the immersion chiller until the wort is down to ~100f, and then connect the pump for the ice water to bring the wort topitching temps. This is the most efficient way to chill your wort in hot Florida weather!

Grain Milling

Below is a picture of grains crushed at .037 in my BarleyCrusher mill. I'm still fine-tuning my crush, but I've got it to a place where I don't have any whole grains, and I'm also not making too much flour. This is a place I'm looking to improve my efficiency a bit more. I'm at a consistent 80% efficiency per Promash Software, so I can't complain.

Fermentation

Here in Florida our weather is hot most of the year, and keeping your house cool enough for even making ales can be impractical. A solution to that is a dedicated refrigerator or freezer with an external temperature controller. With this setup I can ferment any type of beer, at any time of the year, and it can even be set to cool based on the temp of the wort for ultimate accuracy. There are cheaper methods, but no others are "set it and forget it" like this.

Also in my case this has to be a part of our dining area, so other solutions just are not visually acceptable.

Shown above is our set of 15 gallon Cornelius keg fermenters. One is used for primary fermentation, and the other is the secondary fermentation/conditioning tank. The black and silver tape you see is to secure the temp sensor to the keg for stable readings. The oval thing below is a dehumidifier. Once the beer goes into the fermenters, all transfers of the beer between fermenters, and between fermenters and serving kegs is done with a closed system and CO2 pressure. This is to limit any exposure to oxygen to prevent oxidation of the beer and also possible exposure to contaminants. The photo to the right shows the fermentation fridge with a Vittles Vault fermenter and a few corny kegs which was my old process before buying the twin 15 gallon stainless kegs.

Kegging

Once the beer is made, you need a container. Kegging makes home brewing wonderful. You can always bottle a few, but kegging is much less work with the same or even more consistent results than bottling. The investment can be a bit more, but it pays off! Now, every day at my house is a keg party.

Here are photos of beer being racked from various containers to kegs. I use the same basic CO2 system to move the beer into the keg that I do when racking between kegs. In this case I purge the keg with CO2 before starting and leave the purge valve open so that the incoming beer purges the gas out as it rises. As mentioned before, the CO2 pressure used here is very small and there is little danger of the glass breaking as the tops will fly off (and have) long before the glass breaks. The CO2 is also left on through the entire process so that the airspace in the fermenter is replaced only with CO2 and not with air from outside.

Serving

Here is Kegerator #1. It can hold 4 of the 5 gallon homebrew kegs, and serves 3 of them at any time. I can add a 4th tap if needed, but 3 seems to keep pace just fine. It can also hold commercial kegs if needed. All the hardware is stainless steel, and the faucets are the Shirron/Ventamatic forward-sealing type. Each keg has a separate regulator for serving at different pressures, or force-carbonating.

It is made from a Frigidaire freezer, and the temperature is now controlled by an external controller instead of the factory thermostat. The collar is made with a frame of regular 2x4's and it has a red oak trim panel. The original lid is simply remounted to the collar, and the collar is sealed to the freezer with some foam tape.

Other Stuff

The Vittles-Vault containers use the Gamma-Seal Lid system, which has a rubber gasket between the lid mount and the bucket which is not visible, and another seal between the actual screw-on lid and the mounting rim. To make sure this hidden area gets clean when you use this lid system for fermenting, you should remove the lid mount. This was not a thought of the people who designed the system, so I simply made the holes like you'd find on regular bucket lids with a drill, being careful not to drill through anything but the outer rim. Then with a utility knife I made cuts downward. This allows the edges of the lid to flex and be able to release from the bucket. After breaking the first lid after repeated and difficult removals, this was a good fix!

The Gamma-Seal lid systems are great for dry storage in buckets and such, but are clearly not the best for fermenters and liquid storage. I would advise against using them ,or the Vittles Vault containers for fermenting in unless you really have to use a single container. Just buy two regular fermenting buckets or carboys and be happy.

My email address is Dean_Palmer@jabil.com