Great Day

sun shinning - check
Helles mash temp and PH targets of 153F 5.35 - check
coffee- check
sausage, eggs- check
RDWHAHB- well it is 8:30am… so soon, very soon.  ;D

How about you?

No brewing for me today, just trying to keep my hands off the 2 batches I have working. It is bright, sunny and beautiful down here this morning though, but cold, cold, cold!

i hear ya-cold but snow has stopped after about 10inches and sunny. going ot be a great day for browns game tomorrow…1st place Browns-who’d a thunk it??? :o

Of course, just shortly after I move away from Cleveland.

Single decoction Helles here in IL.  I know I have stated that I don’t find the need to decoct anymore, but a pro brewer convinced me to give it another try - and his Helles is spot on - I had a couple Thursday night with him.

So waiting to get the decoction to a boil for mash out …

I am drinking some home-roasted coffee after polishing off some rye toast and scrambled eggs with cabot and scallions out of the garden. I’m brewing a tmave pivo and bottling an unseasonable biere de mars. Later I am roasting more coffee and cooking some chili. Busy day but at least it’s all stuff I enjoy.

so the roasting coffee beans-whats the cost per pound un-roasted and whats the process? i’ve thought about it just never done the research yet. much better than buying whole roasted bean coffee?

Nice, similar day here in Florida. Got started real early (for me) around 8:30. Had my celebration beer at 10:30, don’t judge.

Even though i woke to 0 degrees in my non insulated garage in beautiful idaho falls i brewed on for some unknown reason:) Brewing in this type of weather outdoors is not always a good idea for many reasons but we do what we must. After taking my hose out of my tub ( which i had to put it inside the night before for obvious reasons) and hooking up to chill i quickly straightened out the hose while the water was turned on and it exploded all over me and my garage. pretty much turned to ice immediately all over the floor and equipment:) It was nice and sunny though but good hell to cold to brew outside.

FLbrewer wish i was there. I am from WinterHaven FL miss the beach/surfing

Fire going, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen playing on the stereo, no brewing to do so I’m organizing and tossing old crap I dont use. About time to crack a cold one.

Its been a good day, but I went out to start a brew day and discovered my water hoses were frozen solid.  Eh, I’ll do it next week.  It’ll be warmer.

Depending on the varieties it runs around $4-7 per pound of green coffee beans and after roasting you end up with about 80% of the weight due to water loss. Some varieties are more expensive (up to around $25/lb. for Kona) but I am still in the learning phase so I buy cheaper beans I can afford to experiment with.

It’s a simple process. You are just heating up the beans and tracking it by temperature and appearance. I use a popcorn popper attached to a variable router speed control. My technique is slowly improving with it. There is nicer equipment out there but I thought I would learn on cheap equipment before upgrading. I bought the air popper at a thrift store for $6 and the variable control at harbor freight for $20.

Like brewing, it takes some time to develop your technique to the point it is competitive with what you buy at the store but also like brewing it’s the easiest way and cheapest way to get the most customized cup of coffee for your preferences.

Brewed yesterday…

Lit the stove at 0530
Coffee - Dunkin Donuts…bagged
Breakfast - Home Smoked Coho and Blackberries
Bearded Lady Stout - Step Mash hit 5.3 PH (going Raspberry this time)

Cold for Houston but no frozen hoses…

Very good Brew Day…Done in time to take GF to the matinée

Took a little more than 24 hours for my helles to show active fermentation…remember when I first made lagers and pitched at too high a temp and they started within 12 hours. I would have freaked waiting 24 hours in the old days…now I just sit back and know pitching at 46F and waiting is the way to excellence.

Aw, he’s all grown up!  :wink:

Regarding coffee - I also roast my own. For me it’s not so much about saving money as it is about freshness. I drink work-provided swill during the week and my own good stuff on the weekends. I also use the hot air popper method, so the quantities are pretty small. I roast just enough to get me through a couple weekends. If I were buying pre-roasted stuff, it would be sitting in my cupboard getting stale. Green beans last a long time.

I use a wok to roast coffee.  I roasted 2 pounds yesterday which should last a little over 2 weeks.  The challenge I have is controlling temp and seeing the beans through the steam and smoke.  The max I can roast comfortably at one time is about 12 oz.

It’s fairly easy and the results are so much better than a can from the store.

Paul

I take the Browns to the superbowl every day. They’re winners in my book!

I really wanted to brew this weekend, but my IPA wasn’t ready to keg yet. Next weekend…

This weather sucks! It’s like January already…ugh.

I got one of those Behmor coffee roasters for Christmas last year.  I enjoy doing it, but as it turns out it is no more economical to roast my own as to buy pre-roasted coffee from Costco - and I like them both equally.  So I buy the occasional couple of pounds of green coffee to roast, but mostly I drink Costco stuff.

Nice! Why’d you leave? Coming back?