Stuck Sprarges Begone: Improved Homemade Mash Tun

I previously posted about the construction of my homemade mash tun.  However, I got stuck sparges with my first two uses (one and two).  The culprit, seemingly, was the the piece of PEX I was using to filter the wort from the grain.  It just wasn't porous enough to keep things running smoothly. Rather than drilling a bunch more tiny holes, I decided to take the route praised by many and I used a stainless steel braid from a sink hook-up.  All that needs to be done is the removal of the end fittings (angle grinder) and then the removal of the inner hose.  I found the hose removal to be difficult and finally got it to work while using a vice clamp to hold the hose and a milking technique to remove the braid.  I used plastic T and stainless hose clamps to finish the loop. I joined the loop to a nub of PEX (via brute force), as the PEX fits perfectly in bulk head.  I have used it twice now with great success.  Woo hoo.

Freaking the Funk: My First Homebrew Sour Mash - Kentucky Common Beer

My favorite beers are those that are described as wild / sour. Recently, I was reading about about an  American style of beer, the Kentucky Common,  which is a sour brown ale.  Once I read that it was sour and old-timey (popular pre-prohibition) I knew I needed to brew it. This need to brew the KY Common was amplified recently when I sampled some (unsour) American browns, a style I never appreciated before.  To elicit the sourness for this beer I decided to employ a sour mash. Basically lactobacillus and other micro-critters are just chilling on the grain. and the usual mash and boil technique does not favor their survival.  However, given the right conditions you too can grow your own pot of mold. 

Sour Mash:
I made some wort from 1.5 lbs of grain. I let the mash sit covered over night, sparged in the morning and then threw in 3 oz of uncrushed malt. Since then I've been keeping it at about 90F. These photos (w and w/o flash) are of about 50 hours into the souring.  I think this whitish mat sitting atop of the wort is Lactobacillus culture/colony?. At about only 8 hours in it didn't smell so good. Now, while stronger, it also smells better (familiar) and more like a Berliner Weisse I brewed with a pure lactobacillus culture.

I haven't quite decided how long to freak the funk. I am also unsure if I should throw out the whitish mat, or throw it in with the rest of the unsoured mash on brew day.

2nd All Grain Homebrew: Vienna Lager

Second All Grain Brew.

After some of the *ahem* hiccups with my first all grain brew (cream ale 1/24/10) I went it at a week later 1/31/2010 and brewed my first lager (vienna lager). I upgraded from the seemingly ineffectual pex filter in my mash tun.
This time I used the often lauded stainless steel braid, and after struggling with the pliers and the finger-cuff-like action I switched to a vice clamp with a milking action.

Given my 20 point miss the first time around, I used a grain bill with a slightly higher than style estimated OG. The estimated OG was 1.058. I had no problems with the lautering. I also collected the correct amount of wort this time. Previously I has messed up the volumes somehow. I realize now, that I should really do an actual job of determining the volumes in my kettle and bucket. I am still educated guessing it. So knowing the volumes for real would be smart. I'll get out the measuring stick soon.

For the single infusion mash I aimed for 60 minutes @ 152F. I think it might have ended up starting closer to 150F and then falling during the rest. The pre-boil OG was 1.060. The post boil after I added the water to get to my estimated 5.25 gallons was 1.050. I was 8 points off, but now within the style guidelines. I was quite happy with this improvement.

I aerated via aquarium pump for about an hour and pitched a 1 liter stepped to 3 liter starter of Wyeast Octoberfest 2633. I pitched at 52 degrees.

My recipe:

5.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 44.76 %
3.04 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 27.22 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 26.86 %
0.13 lb Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 1.16 %
1.00 oz Liberty [4.30 %] (60 min) Hops 12.3 IBU
0.30 oz Sterling [6.00 %] (30 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
0.50 oz Hallertau Select [1.50%] Hops 0.8 IBU
octoberfest (Wyeast) Yeast-Lager

My first all grain experiece - I missed the OG by 20 gravity points and had a stuck sparge

I brewed a cream ale on 1/24/2009

Sweet Stout: Revealed

I've been drinking this for while now. All in all its pretty good. Closest to my pre-brew wants for a homebrew.  It might be slightly under carbonated.