Club Old Ale Brew-in

[Bob McGill]

I had some problems with the brew-in plan, but resolved them with Dean today. Here is the current plan, please comment on improvements.

We will brew in three systems. Two will start out with 32 lbs of grain and Dean's (our major pot) will start with 24 (The lesser amount of grain is a system problem, making it difficult to go to other systems):

All will mash in thick at about 150F (I will supply the suggested temperature for the water) for at least 1 hour. Then all will step up to about 158F to improve sugar conversion by hot water addition, recirculation with heating or decoction ( we will decide on brew day). Then all will mash out at around 168F. The main mash will sparge to 8-10 gallons, while the other two will collect the first 2-3 gallons of sparge for the main pot. The goal is that the main pot will end up with11 gallons of wort at a gravity of around 1.0 to 1.1. The other pots gravity for 5 gallons should exceed 1.07, all in the "Old Ale" region. The club will purchase one filter and one bottle of oxygen. Dean and I will assure the sparge water is the proper acidity.

Dean is offering several pounds of Munich malt, and I will give my current batch of British crystal malt.

The plan is that Dean would ferment the brew from the main pot and would have it available for each member to - at his house - pick up 1 gallon of beer the following weekend. They could then treat it as they desire (dry hops, oak (or other wood), fruit, and would agree to submit 3 bottles to the competition next spring (&/or bring them to the club for tasting. This sounds like a unique club event. One of the 2 other beers would be a Christmas beer and the other we can decide on.

I will be in Houston next week and will pick up the Wyeast Dean recommended. I will also pick up some supplemental yeast, some wheat malt, some LME for starters, all of which I expect the club to reimburse me for. My concern is that members do not have 1 gallon jugs. I have several I can loan as well as a couple of 2.5 gallon glass jugs. I can pick up a 4-pack of gallon jugs at DeFalgos if the club feels it important (members should pay, not the club).

I look forward to this event. I have not seen any other club do this and plan on bringing my camera and pen to submit this to BYO. Hope to see all of you there.

[wftm]

Ok, guys, we had discussed this at the meeting, but I didn't want to make a decision because John and Mark were not there, but the discussion was about moving this event from John's house to either Dean's or Richard's. Seeing as we will probably impose on Dean for something else soon, we were thinking about moving this event to Richard's. He has alot of parking and shade. No pool, but it is going to be alot of work, so there may not be time to swim anyway. I didn't want to just move this without getting input so will eveyone who is going to attend please respond.

[Bob McGill]

I don't think Dean would object to having it at his house, since he would not have to move equipment. I don't care where it is; but we will need 3 systems, ending up with 20 gallons of beer. Dean and Richard will supply systems; we need one more. I picked up the yeast Dean recommended, along with a WYeast specialty yeast - Old Ale ( which I found out tonight has some bret character). I will make starters Sunday from LME I purchased. I will smack both WYeast packs early next week unless I here different, and have 2 yeasts ready by Saturday, wherever the brew-in is held. I herd nothing on adjunt grains. I purchased 3 lbs of German wheat and 3 lbs of British medium crystal. Do we need additional grains from Ira. I may have some I can add. I also have all the British hops needed and will help Richard crush the grains next Thursday. I will personally crush the red wheat, since it needs a finer crush.

[bbushmaster]

my truck is out of action at the moment and dont know if it will be back up in time but if anybody would like to come pick up my system it is available for use

[wftm]

I know we have two systems brewing, Richard's and Dean's and I was pretty sure Mark was in. Don't get me wrong. if anyone else wants to come brew, please feel free, and we need to have as many bodies there as possible, but we need to decide if it is going to possible to do this at Richard's or Dean's. The original plan was going to be Richard's but with his surgery, we didn't want to commit him so we went with John Cotton's house. If it is ok with the Beaumont guys, I would really like to do this at Richard's but I don't want to step on anyone's toes, so will everyone please state an opinion one way or another.