Saturday, February 26, 2011

What to Store Beer In?

So we've finished an excellent homebrew, now the question is what what do I store it in?


Bottles

Pros - Everyone is used to bottles. They're cheap and reusable. They come free with many types of beer. Easy to sanitize. Reliable. Easy to Transport. Come in a variety of sizes.

Cons - They are a pain to fill. They take up quite a bit of room to store. They must be clean (note this is not the same as sanitized) and are really difficult to get hard crud out of. They can break.

Kegs

Pros - Easy to fill, you have beer on tap, easy to clean, small storage footprint.

Cons- require a larger financial investment, require dedicated fridge space or a kegerator, lots of auxiliary parts (hoses and such).


Those are the basics but there are plenty more pros and cons to each type. What else can you store beer in? I'm looking for any great ideas way outside the two normal listed above. Wooden cask like the Brits? Old clay jars like the ancient Egyptians? What does anyone think of a two gallon or so stainless vessel for the fridge? You could condition and carbonate in it or just run some CO2 to it like a keg. I'm thinking it might be a fun experiment if I can find the right container for a proof of concept.

Friday, February 4, 2011

Homebrew Record Keeping

Our brew logs have slacked off, way off. To the point where we haven't been writing a single thing that we've done with homebrewing down. It has gotten to the point where we've brewed enough to where processes have started becoming second nature. But we recently brewed a Belgian Trappist style beer that ended up being one of the best beers we've ever brewed. I mean almost Chimay good from winging it! One happy accident i must admit. No documentation on it what so ever. How do I brew it again? Where do I start?

It starts with keeping better records. This is where the blog comes in. I want to document everything I do in regards to home brewing beer and put it here. Not only to keep records but maybe even get some feedback as well. From recipe formulation to process and beyond.

Delicious unfiltered homebrewed Belgian.