Brewing with Blichmann
As Jeff and I started brewing a batch of our Swashchuckler IPA Saturday, we got word from Joel (still under the spell of the Godzilla virus) that our stainless steel conical fermenters had arrived. Well, what choice did we have? We had to go over there, bring them back to Jeff’s, and use them. And they are oh-so-sweet…
Jeff warily eyes the camera.
They packed these suckers pretty well.
The tops were inverted to save space. Smart.
Our first time using the conical. All goes smoothly.
Ain’t she beautiful?
Did you guys have Travis come over to move the full fermenter to the place where it will rest? Truly, a northern He-man would be needed for such a task.
Seriously, had I been there, there would be no way I would leave without that beauty. Poor doll is all full of crappy beer. Tisk tisk.
Kevin, it actually took only 1/4 of a Southern boy to lift that sucker. I had 75% of my strength free to do push-ups and other such manly tasks when carrying the conical to its more permanent resting place.
Travis, YOU’RE full of crappy beer. How about putting your money where your mouth is?
Very nice piece of equipment. Very nice in deed.
Travis and Georgian people: I could totally settle this “beer wars” thing. Both of you need to send me a couple of six packs, and as an impartial arbitrator, this painful time for you all could be put behind you.
You would be judged according to my own beer judging guidelines: color, aroma, taste, and how easy it is to remove the labels from your bottles so that I can reuse them the next time I bottle.
Hmmm, I like your latitude…
Kevin, my only concern there is that you’ve obviously set up camp in Travis’s backyard. But I’d be willing to deal, considering we also got some other impartials on board. Perhaps Ted?
Nonsense, Jonathan. While it is true that I live north of the Mason-Dixon line, it’s more like I set up camp in Ted’s backyard, being in Chicago. Or front yard. Or side yard. I’m not sure. It’s actually like he’s in MY backyard, as my house faces south, and he’s north of me. Granted, that makes the entirety of the Northside of Chicago, including Wrigley Field part of my back yard, but that is, in my opinion, picking the proverbial nit.
Anyway, you would all start out on equal footing. You have all made rash statements about musicians from Canada that were disrespectful of Neil Young.
I can only assume, from this capricious and arbitrary exclusion, that your labels are difficult to remove.
Actually now that I read your post again, you weren’t excluding me entirely. You also weren’t leaving your fate entirely in my hands.
You southerners are a crafty lot.
Well, the answer is simple. Send the beer to me!
My brew club has several BJCP judges, so you know that you’re in competent hands. They’re Californians, so they care little for your silly East Coast squabbles anyway, thus they’re impartial.
Just send enough extra for me to drink, and we’ll be in business!
Kevin,
We are indeed crafty. Some of us don’t even like NASCAR, though we may let on to. And yes, our labels are difficult to remove. Though not impossible â?? I suggest soaking them in ammonia and water for a week.
Brad, you’re in. I don’t know if it will be in this battle or the next, but we need some Southerners-turned-Californians on the board.
Jonathan,
I should warn you… I’m a Chicagoan-turned-midwesterner-turned-Californian-turned-Georgian-returned-Californian.
I don’t quite fit in the pigeon hole.
But if you guys are serious about doing a beer contest, I realized one more thing about my brew club. A bunch of the guys are currently going through BJCP classes to become judges, and I think they’d love the opportunity to do some real judging as a way to get practice before the tests.
[...] conical fermenters. Ever since we bit the bullet and bought 2 stainless steel conical fermenters from Blichmann about a month ago, we’ve spent probably 30 minutes of every day staring at their shiny [...]
[...] first. We could essentially pump the near-boiling beer straight into the carboys (this was before our fancy Blichmann fermenters). But things quickly [...]
[...] House our 2 sweet Blichmann conical fermentors [...]