A Homebrew Photo Journey

My homebrew journey began with a 5-gallon starter-kit in December 2018. Many brew days, competitions, and do-it-yourself projects have passed since that first extract, plastic bucket IPA ignited passion. The gadgets have gotten a lot cooler, too. Think I need more.

Chiller and Pump Plank

Blichmann pump and plate chiller upgrade: Poof! A plank that allows me to easily lug these bad boys around as needed on homebrew days.

The tools and hardware. It's time to get to work!

Marking the holes for drilling. I used the base of the chiller and pump as a stencil.

Drilling commences! I drilled 4 holes on each side of the plank of wood (4 for the plate chiller and 4 for the pump)

Time for smoothing out those rough edges with some sanding. It was a beautiful day, thankfully.

Last, I drilled on two handles for carrying my baby around, and then applied the plate chiller and pump. A new addition to my homebrew collection is born!

Isolated Pale Ale

First time using my hop spider, whirlpool port, pump, and plate chiller. Definitely kinks to work out. Still, nothing sweeter than seeing the wort at pitch temperature and directly transferred to the fermenter in less than 3 minutes. It gave me kid on Christmas morning feelings 🙂

Whirlpool Port

Hop-infused beer and no more worries about clogged pumps and plate chiller? Yes, please! Now it’s time for the Blichmann Rip Tide to whirl my brew round and round.

The tools and equipment for the whirl pool project

The finished project, whirl pool and all!

HomebrewCon 2020 Brew-Day

Lee and I brewed up a Brut IPA and our signature Belgian Saison with Smoked Figs and Apricot for HomebrewCon 2020. Due to Covid-19, the competition was cancelled, but we still ended up with some out of this world brews. These photos are mainly from the mash steps. Things got a little hectic during transfer, requiring some quick thinking and disaster mitigation. Thank goodness Lee was there.