the therminator showed up yesterday. and here it is, the new setup. just need to warm up some water and do a trial run. need to test for leaks, venturi pump, and chilling. we currently have a false bottom in the kettle but i'm thinking a bazooka screen underneath it would add that extra layer of protection and keep hop debris out of the chiller.

-bake

I have the best friends and family ever... not only did they help me send my 20's off in style, many of them hooked up some really good beers for me to enjoy while on vacation this week.


thanks to bake for the brewdogs, and Mr. Hirase for transporting them.


thanks to CP for the uinta detour with the awesome leia bell label.


thanks to ryan for the family heirloom


thanks to mandy for the unibrou, tripel, big sky, rasputin, and acme. and rob for the big sky, new belgium, uinta, bohemian, and spaten. thanks to roberta for the dogfish, arrogant bastard, and ruination. you're all awesome! and a very special thanks to brynne for taking care of my drunk ass and cleaning up after the party.



on a related note, sid and java were big hits. and for those of you who read this, if you add berrillmaker.blogspot to your iphone homescreen, you get an awesome touch icon...do it!

-kris

the fermenator leg extensions and thrumometer arrived the other day. just waiting for the therminator which is currently on backorder. brewmasters said they expect it to ship out tomorrow. can't wait to do a trial run with the new setup.

on a side note, we tried out sid vicious and javamaker last night at kris' bday bash. i was expecting sid to be a little sweet due to the higher final gravity but it was just plain ol' delicious. javamaker is easily one of the most amazing beers we've ever made and was a huge hit at the party. i think we added the perfect amount of coffee beans to really showcase the coffee flavor and aroma. all of the morning coffee drinkers want to drink it for breakfast.

-bake

just got back from california. their beer selection blows utah's out of the water. i had plenty of time to kill so i went on a beer hunting spree and hit up about 10 different liquor and beer stores. walked out with a ridiculous amount of dogfish head, maui, rogue, and a little something for kris.

here's the breakdown:
Coconut Porter - Maui Brewing Co.
Somer Orange Honey Ale - Rogue
60 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
90 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head
Midas Touch - Dogfish Head
Paulo Santo Marron - Dogfish Head
Olde School - Dogfish Head
Chicory Stout - Dogfish Head
SahTea - Dogfish Head
Pangaea - Dogfish Head
Chateau Jiahu - Dogfish Head



-bake

we got a new look for the new year, enjoy...


i designed the new logo with the idea that it could pull extra duty as a label/coaster/sticker if we wanted. the band in the middle has space for relevant info (og, fg, ibu, abv, etc...) and thanks to baker for linking the picasa album so I had plenty of photos from all the brew sessions for the web graphics.

on a related note, i finally had time to upgrade my keezer... thanks to brynne for the faucets and baker for the handles, wish i had some beer ready to dispense.





-kris

sharp edge of keg + stuck lid = thumb injury. on the bright side, i took out the coffee from the java maker keg and started it on co2. it's got a nose of a fresh brewed pot of coffee that fades into a smooth chocolaty porter finish. it literally made my mouth water and forget about my hacked up thumb that had bled through the band aid. this could be our most delicious porter to date.


coffee infuser from the keg


spent coffee grounds


my bloody thumb...

-kris

abomin-ale snowman's revenge on christmas eve from my snazzy new belgium glasses




kimosabe reload with my step dad, cory, on christmas day- check out that clarity



abomin-ale snowman spotted in the wild

brynne gave me some awesome new perl faucets for christmas, and baker hooked up some pub style tap handles, so my keezer is getting a serious upgrades as soon as I have a free day.

-kris

did some racking yesterday. we moved the esb "sid vicious" to a keg (1.066 - 1.018 | 6.4% abv) and we also moved java maker to a keg (1.060 - 1.014 | 6.1% abv). we dry hopped the java maker with 2oz per 5 gal of coarsely ground coffee beans, which it will sit on for about a week. the disconnects showed up last week, i can't wait to try these babies out.

disconnects!










-bake