Building my Randell

Tangerines and Grapefruit for the testing

The idea of the Randell the Animal came out of Sam Calagione head, the mastermind behind DogFish Head Brewery.  The concept was beautifully simple.  Stuff a chamber full of hops, fruit or bacon (oh damn, I did write bacon) on the liquid side of the keg via tap the line.  This will pack the beer with flavors before hitting your awaiting pint glass.  Now I have to interject a little here about Russian Rivers famous tagline, "No Randell Required" Printed on shirts, pint glasses and bottle labels, a direct stab at Sam's Randell the Animal creation.  Basically stating that Russian River can create beers so floral, that hop back isn't needed.  The best part of this ongoing debate is the fact that Russian River bought Dogfish Head's old brewhouse before the Randell conceptualized.  Whether you actually need a Randell is still up for debate, which is not what this point is about.  I'll just say you can't make a bad beer good no mater what you do to it.

A couple of years ago I bought a Blichmann HopRocket,  (You can read my thoughts here) I really wanted to love the product but I just couldn't recommend it as a Randell.  Mostly due to the sub par design Blichmann did while trying to make the HopRocket a jack of all trades.  (Torpedo and Randell) Disconnecting the device is a mess to say the least.  Once it was hooked, up I loved the concept and flavor additions this gave to almost any beer.  Having the Blichmann as a multipurpose vessel wasn't cutting it, I wanted to create a Randell that I could have available at all times to plug and play on my draft system for under 20 bucks. 

I'm going to reuse my water filter housing and some other parts I have around the brewhouse.  I only ordered one part online.  Taking my used (or new) standard house water filter that some Home Brew shops sell as beer filters.

Tweaking my Brew Tower

I've spent the last couple of days tweaking my brew tower for this weekends brew. Here are a couple build shots.  Basically I am adding copper with Quick Connects for reusing spent hot water from cooling.  I'll get some better pictures during my brew day Saturday.

One valve for each tier on the Brew Tower

Figuring out the total height

Test fitting

Cam-Locks installed on the Counterflow Chiller

Used cooling water can now be rooted up to the Hot Liquor Tank for sparging

Top of the hot water line. 

A New, Colder Chapter

I live in a condo, luckily I have a large 2 car garage on the 1st level that I can brew in and store my Fermentation Chamber.  I also grew upstairs to an extra bedroom that I kept my bottles, sours, flasks and other brewing equipment.  After a talk with my wife about the use of that room we decided that I should revamp the garage in a effort to keep the brewing supplies in one location.

This is my starting location.  Measuring out my needs for storage I figured that I needed 1, 36" wide x 6" tall shelving structure.  Next to that I am putting in 1, 36" wide x 2" tall shelving structure.  Below this, I am going to store my new Chest Freezer.  

My new GE Chest Freezer from Home Depot is really popular on Home Brew Talk. This chest freezer will be set at 50 degrees and also act as a cellar of sorts.  I already moved most of my aged beer (stouts, finished sours, barley wines, meads, etc) into the unit.  

Yeast Starters

By now every homebrewer should be doing yeast starters for their wort.  It is the single best addition to a brewday.  Well maybe besides a controlled fermentation.  Lately, I've been using 2 row instead of the normal DME or Liquid Malt Extract that most brewers use.  The reason?  Its cheap.  About .80 per pound around here.  Using 2 to 4 pounds and creating a small mash, I'll end up with about 10 quart sized ziplock bags full plus my 2, 2000ml flasks.  The bags are frozen and pulled the day before I need a starter.  Once melted, a quick boil brings sanitizes them for my yeast.  (I always add yeast nutrient to the starters for an extra kick.)

Normally this procedure is done on brew day after my mash.  Jeff recommended that I just bump up the recipe and sparge right into a flask, which is a great idea.  (Seems so simple, but I'm a little upset that I didn't think of it.)

Last night I opened the fridge and I was out of wort bags, knowing that I am brewing this weekend I grabbed the extra 3 pounds of 2-Row I have as back up downstairs, my brew pot and headed upstairs.

Is my oven small or my brew pot big?

I did some quick calculations on Beersmith and added my water to get me right about 1.030 wort.  I then brought the water temp up to 153 and added the 3 pounds of grain.

Set the timer for 60 mins and let the conversion begin.  After a quick no rinse sparge, I brought the wort up for a quick 15 min boil.  I ended up with this..

2, 2000ml flasks and one 1000ml flask full of wort.  I didn't have any other vessels open for cooling so I tossed a lot more wort than I should of.  Better planning next time I guess.  

The final result, Frozen

The wort was then (once cool) placed into quart sized ziplock bags and put in the freezer.  This was the result in the morning.  (above)  The rest was used to create 2 starters for this weekend.  Total cost for everything?  Under $3.00

Big Starter next to my 20 oz Hess glass

Glass Bottle Etching Take #2

A couple of months ago I did a little write up on glass etching homebrew bottles.  Back then I used a cutter from work as the cutting device.  But I did not have the proper sticker adhesive to stop the etching compound from sneaking in under the material.  So while the bottles were "etched" they didn't have the professional look I wanted.  I then talked to my buddy at Anytime Signs about using his cutter for some homebrew bottle stickers.  He was nice enough to come through with a healthy stack of my hop logo reverse cut for etching.

The process is simple, with the additional hope of having friends and family return the bottles instead of tossing them in the recycling bin.  Plus these nice 750 ml 29mm capped bottles are $$$ and just look fucking cool.

I am still on my 1st bottle I purchased off Amazon for $12.00.  It has done about 40 bottles so far. 

Sticker ready for application

Smoothing out any bumps or folds

Original white paper pealed off

Up to here it is all cosmetic, but very important.  I found my logo tended to fold at the very top on the outside of the circle.  This looks minor now but after the etching compound is put on it will travel up that fold and etch the glass in unwanted ways. 

Etching Material on the bottles

All the stickers were put on and leveled for consistency.  I was careful to double check for any bubbles and only did 3 bottles at a time.  This helps with watching for any runs or spots that needed to be touched up.  I let the material sit on the bottles for 15 mins.  (At about the 10 min mark I reapplied the material to cover any thin spots.)   Make sure you cover the area nice and thick or you will get spots that will not etch down enough. 

Finished professional bottles

Washing off the etching material needs to be done quickly with cold water.  They say wear gloves but I did not. (but you should)  I used a old sponge.  Once the bottle was clean I used a peeler to take off the rest of the blue vinyl sticker material.  Then grabbed a towel and dried them off.

Overall this a cheap thing to do if you can located a sticker shop to cut the material.  The rest of the cost is just really time related.

Enjoy

Blichmann HopRocket Updated Review

I finally feel that I am comfortable in properly reviewing the Blichmann HopRocket.  I've used the HopRocket 10 times in brewing as a Hopback and 4 times as a Randel for serving.  This might not seem like a lot, but some brewers only brew once every couple of months.  Lucky, I am not one of them.  Honestly I would of use the HopRocket more but it has its drawbacks.  (I'll get to that in a second).

The HopRocket bills itself as a one two combo.  Having the ability to tie into the serving line of finished beer like a Randel, that Dogfish Head made so famous.   Or hooking into your brewing system to be used as a torpedo, like Sierra Nevada developed.  Once on the market people started to tap into the HopRockets filtering abilty.  Switching out the hops and placing rice, rice hulls or old hops as a filter media to catch some trub out of the wort during transferring. 

The idea is simple, create a stainless steel tube with mesh shields on top and bottom then filling the enclosed area with hops/media of your choice.  The HopRocket is clearly marked with flow direction arrows and a simple clamp ring for opening the bottom for cleaning and hop additions. 

Lets start at the build quality.  The thing is a beast.  The proper construction is a big plus for me.  The stainless is thick, more than my brew pot.  The stainless fittings are also stout.  In addition, they fit perfectly.  Which is necessary when you are moving hot liquid or serving pressured beer for a extended amount of time. 

As a Randel the HopRocket really shines.  I personally do not have any issues pouring or serving once hooked up "In-line" with my kegging system.  It adds a clean fresh hoppy bite.  The additional hop aroma added during the pour is unattainable without this type of addition to the beer "out" line.  Once the keg has kicked we start to run into problems.  With a simple male thread on the top and another male thread on the side disconnecting the HopRocket is a mess.  You have up to 4 ounces of spent hops leafs soaked in beer to dispose of.  Without the addition of a stainless value you will destroy the inside of your keggor with streaming hop filled beer.

HopRocket on my Black IPA

For the HopRocket to be completely effective I need 2 stainless valves and some sort of disconnect(s) added it to my beerline.  Now, I don't want to spend another 40+ bucks for a part that should of come with the original purchase.  (I know that last statement might be a little harsh, but people should be warned at least.)  I have made a promise to myself that I will not use the HopRocket as a Randel until I get the proper fittings to make disconnecting a simple affair.

Using the HopRocket as a Torpedo get interesting.  I can not get the damn thing from not clogging.  My system uses a March pump and since the 1st clog I have tried to develop a way to overcome this hurdle.

These solutions include:

• Running it backwards
• Using 80% Rice Hulls
• Dropped the total volume from 4 oz to 1oz of hops
• Changed the pressure on the output of the march pump
• Changed my set-up into a gravity feed system.

I know this is wrong, I was experimenting man

I understand Blichmann has an updated cone that will reduce some of the clogging issues which I do not have yet.   So for now I will plan to have a bucket next to my HopRocket so when it clogs I can save some valuable liquid and put it back in my boil kettle.

Do I recommend buying this? Yes I do, even though you will pull your hair out every time you use it.  The additional flavors added are worth the spilled beer, headaches and mess that this device causes. 


UPDATE:  Concern about parts.

Blichmann advertises the HopRocket as stainless steel.  I understand the parts shown do not touch the beer in any way but after a big home brewery tear down and cleaning session I noticed this.  (Above)  the crack and rust.  I have not contacted Blichmann about the above pictures.  I have always heard that they have great customer service.

I sent Blichmann the above pictures and a link to this blog.  They stated,  "they couldn't see the pictures and said this part should not be cleaned with the HopRocket."  Honestly I pisses me off and I can not recommend this product.  The clogging and corrosion are not worth the hassle.  

Thoughts?

Glass Bottle Etching

I have some OCD tendency's and these reflect in my brewing.  I also like to be uniformed in my equipment.  Like labeling the kegs, carboys and taplines.  I really don't know why, but a unpolished corny keg would drive me crazy.

After tossing out all my bottles swearing never to bottle again, (long live the keg) I learned to love sour beers.  This presented a problem.  I hate buying bottles, It's a waste of my hard earned money when I can buy them full at the liquor store.  This kind of competes with my OCD tendancies.  I really want all the bottles to match, I know it is a far fetched idea, stupid non the less.  Knowing that I can't buy a case of The Bruery's bottles, which in my opinion are the best commercial bottles in craft beer.  I need something else to link my bottles together as a whole.  I guess it is my personal way of "Branding"

March Pump/Chiller Cart Build

My current brew rig is a B3 Brewing System that I bought back in 2006.  While this system is great for what it is, adding pumps, chillers and other additions is a little hard due to the small footprint of the tower.  So when I started to think about step mashing, whirlpooling and general circulation to add to my brewing arsenal I needed something else to hold these items.  After buying a March Pump and trying the old "Milk Crate" stand other temporary tables I chose to build a brewing cart.  Small, circle in shape that can house my Chillzlla and my March Pump together. 

Keg Trackers

HomeBrewing is all about creating gadgets to make our hobby better.  For me the simplest of tasks is always the most procrastinated.  Like taking notes on what beer is in what carboy.  Over time I have created logs with the carboy #'s to track cleaning, beer styles and hopping schedules.  The only real thing I have to show for my tracking system is a couple missed dry hopped beers including my IPA hopped Porter currently in the keggor.

Sometimes the best solution just comes to you when you are not really looking for it.  While cleaning our shop I stumbled into a 500 pack of clear shirt tags.  After thinking about the possible work uses for these I launched them over my head into the dumpster.  About halfway in the air my brewing side of the mind kicked in an idea.  Keg Trackers....  With the help of some neatly crafted brewing slips I could wire tie them onto the carboy, then to 2ndary and onto the keg for final storage/serving.  This wire tie idea morphed into using old Cat5 cable that has been striped.  A neat trick a buddy told me about when I wired our new shop.

So the layout was easy, create something that can track all the information that the brewer needs during the fermentation to kegging.  My 1st idea was layout this to the right.

After using the tracker for a couple of months and about 6 brews, I have added a OG and FG area on the tracker.  If I need more information I just pull it out and write on the back of the Keg Tracker. 

I love it so far.  I have lost all the notepads and booklets that tracked my homebrew by keg and carboy #'s.  I try to update this blog for keg information and serving tap numbers but this Keg Tracker is now my ultimate beer tracking system. 

Hopback/Hop Rocket 1st brewing thoughts

My birthday present to myself this year was a Blichmann Engineering Hop Back or Hop Rocket.  The devise can be used either way.  Last night I was brewing my 2nd installment of my Justice Pale Ale Experiment and I got an itch to use it.  Knowing that I have the necessary fittings and hardware in my brewing "junk drawer" I got to work.  After rediscovering all the cool brewing parts I've long forgotten I found the female to female sleeve I was looking for.

Once I had that I got out the Hop Back and grabbed the Glacier Leaf Hops that I bought for it.  The above picture was the hops vacuumed packed from Hops Direct.   

Here is the Blichmann Hop Back on the floor with all the parts clean and ready to go.  Notice the "flow" of the wort is bottom to top.  

3 oz of Glacier Leaf Hops ready to go.  On a side note the device is rated to carry a max of 4 oz of leaf hops only.  Due to clogging concerns I went with 3 oz.

Here is the Hop Back ready to go next to the Glacier Hops with the necessary Homebrew glass shot.  BTW it is a 1/2 glass of my 1st Justice Pale Ale recipe for inspiration.   

Here is my set-up with the Hop Back installed.  Note that I F*cked up and installed it upside down but the flow was correct.  On Brewing Network's Forms "Tasty" a IPA homebrewing trendsetter has some different thoughts on this.  I really need to take a look at all aspects of the "use" of this.  I if you want to read the posts on this Click HERE.


Now the problems I ran into using this product.  Remember that this was used on a "whim" and I really didn't think the whole process through.  


After the boil, I had the device installed and I could not get the boil kettle's ball valve 100% open.  I think it was at about 60% open.  This hindered my pumps flow rate.  

 Here is a picture of the valve hitting the Hop Back.  I have a couple idea's on how to overcome this....

1. To get a longer female to female fitting.  The one I have is 1.5" long.  I would need at least 3 to 3.5" 
2. To change the flow of the Hop Back. 
3. To create a mounting plate or ring for the Hop back to sit in.
4. I think that I opened the valve to fast off the boil kettle and compressed the hops to the screen.  

Bottom Line the Hop Back worked great for trub removal.  But with my slow flow rate, I was pumping for on hour.  Which is way to long for the people with a March Pump.

The trub on the batch with the Hop Rocket had little to no trub when the wort settled.  My 2nd batch of the night (Justice Pale Ale #3) without the HopRocket had the normal amount of trub when settled.  I have a picture from my cell phone that I will upload in a couple minutes.

Overall for $100.00, I am happy with the 1st testing....now to have a beer and test the Hop Rocket or randell side of the product.

UPDATE #1

With the initial trouble I had while using this product, I took a different direction and I have focused on using this as a Hop Back/Randell. 

Here is the hopback with the top open and ready for some Glacier Hops.  I have just poured the 1st beer into my tasting glass to compare the differences. 

Here is the Hopback in the chest freezer all hooked up and ready to roll.  The size and the attractiveness of the unit is really noticeable in this picture.  I do need to upgrade the plastic male to barb fittings into stainless steel.  For now this set-up is holding great. 

UPDATE #2

This is strange, I've heard of using a Hopback will increase the amount of foam in the pours, so with that information I added a longer output and lowered the pressure.  When I pour a beer I get a great pour with the correct amount of head on it.  1/2 into the pour I get a bubbling sound and a drop in pressure.  After that I hold off on the pour and let the pressure rebuild. Then I complete the pour.  This is a normal occurrence for now.  I really need to play with the pressure on the CO2 tank. 

My Stir Starter

This has been a year of looking at all aspects of my brewing.  I have learned a lot about myself during the process.  With that, my beers are getting better and more balanced.

One goal of mine was to make a stir starter for my yeast.  After looking online at the various homebrew forums I choose to order one from Stirstarters.com  I heard good things from the online community.  I also have a local homebrewing friend that has one of them.


Personally I really like making my homebrewing gadgets but sodering is not my strong point.  And I opted for the premade plate. 


I got the plate in about 5 days from the time I ordered.  It did ship from Michigan if I remember correctly.  The stir plate was well made and very basic, which is all I need for the task at hand.  After talking with Danny I decided to use the method he uses which is based off of Jamil's.  (Mr Malty)


We used a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. 
1/2 cup of DME (light)
1 pint of water.


I brought the water to a boil and added the DME/Nutrient.  I then put the pot in a ice bath to cool the liquid.  Once cooled I added it to my 2000ml flask with a clean stir bar.  I also added a loose foil top to the flask.


I then turned it on and went to sleep.  The next morning I put the starter in the fridge with a airlock for brewing later in the week.

Automatic Keg Cleaner

Cleaning Kegs is a important job for every homebrewer.  I got together and made a small and cheap keg cleaner that works great.  To see a build and parts list look under Homebrew pages Or click here. 

Blichmann HopRocket

So today I bit the bullet and bought a Blichmann HopRocket also called a Hopback.  I will have a full report coming ASAP when I get the device.  For now here is a quick video about it's uses.

UPDATE #1  Today I got the HopRocket.  My 1st impressions are that it is built very well, and about the size that I expected.

More to come

Brewing Gadgets Page

I am currently working on a Brewing Gadgets page that will show all of the little items that I have made for brewing related jobs.

This is a slow job but I am excited to be working on this page and getting the pictures together.

Lewy