Pump Vs. Water Valve Timer

Okay so if you haven't heard, we have a problem in Hermann, Mo with the drip irrigation system.  The pump being used creates a siphoning effect after it turns off and will continue to water.  We have all seen the pictures of the setup.  The water barrel is above the hops on a small hill collecting rain water.  Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this?

I have been doing some searching and this is what I have come up with it.  Please look it over, and let me know if you guys find anything about it that could be a snag in the plan.  I suggest we just use gravity, and get rid of the pump and use this for $24  at Home Depot.  Picture below:

Here is the description from the site:

The best time to water is right at sun up to prevent disease. Do you want to get up at 5 AM to water everyday? This timer allows you to set the time you want to water, up to 3 times a day and up to 2 hours each time. Never over water again, simply set and forget. Program to automatically start and shut off. Works with low pressure drip and soaker hoses. Set to water while you are away or at night. On/off to use like a faucet.

• Never over water again, simply set and forget
• Program to automatically start and shut off
• Works with low pressure drip and soaker hoses
• Set to water while you are away or at night
• MFG Model # : 3015V
• MFG Part # : 3015V

Let me know what you guys think.  We can't have these hops drying out.  We need a plan ASAP!

New On Tap

Hey guys,

Let me know if you like or dislike the new group I added in the What's On Tap section.  It is the Reserves.  I figured we could take stuff that is really no longer on TAP, so to speak, make a count of what we have(kegs can be estimated), and date it.

I also made a change to the Calendar.  You will not see it unless you go to edit the calendar through the official Google Calendar website and not through the blog website.  When you see it, tell me if you like it or not.

One more thing, what do you all think about adding a guestbook to the site?

-Matuz

Hermann, Mo, Der Brauer, and Good Times

Just got back from Hermann, Mo where I started the day meeting up at Der Brauer's farm to inspect the barley, hops, irrigation system, and well, who am I kidding? Of course I went to Tin Mill Brewery!

First off, pictures of the hops at the farm:

Glacier

Kent Goldings

Willimette




Now the hops aren't "going wild" and huge, but they are for sure getting a root system established.  I believe the same could be said about mine that we just planted this year at Irish Rover's.  According to Irish Rover, his 2nd year hops are higher than him right now and budding as you can see in the previous post!  The following picture shows the hops that were shown to Der Brauer by a friend that we hope to either harvest or transplant.  They are wild and growing on a hillside, where a brewery used to be BEFORE prohibition...can you pick them out in the foliage?  We are not sure what kind they are, but hopefully that will be figured out in the near future...

Now for the barley!

Der Brauer and Matuz's Wife inspecting the green barley.  When it turns brown, it is time to harvest!

Done with the hops and barley, off to Tin Mill Brewery....

Equipment made in and shipped from Germany, along with all the grains...

And finally, Der Brauer and I contemplating how to become brewmasters...

In the spirit of the German town Hermann, "Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalt's!"

Until next time, Hermann, Mo...

-Matuz

Garden Update

Nugget and Sterling hops are growing fast. As shown

Nugget

Sterling. Should be able to twine in the next couple of days.

This is the Cascade at about 6 ft.

Fruits of labor. (Note the Odie ghost in the background)

Pear Wine Re-racking Video

Recorded last night (on 5/13/2010), this is Matuz and I (Antonio) takin' care of business.

Brainstorming on Pineapple Orange Wine

After racking the wine last night, videos to be posted later after editing, Antonio and I were discussing the open air space in the carboy.  The next time we rack it, we need to get rid of it, and I would like to do that sooner than later.....next week?

The way I see it, we have three options.

1. Rack it, and then fill the space with a purchased wine of similar taste and qualities.(Blending, but slightly loosing the homebrewness of the wine.
2. Rack it, and fill with water.(Dilluting with about a half gallon of water)
3. Rack it in to 5 individual gallon jugs, each with airlocks.

What do you guys think?

We may also have a stuck fermentation on the Pear Wine since it only dropped from 1.030 to 1.028 since the  last time I racked it. Antonio, if it is okay with you, I would like to add some Yeast Energizer, not Nutrient to the wine, about 1 1/2 tsp.  And see what happens.  I can't imagine that the temperature is too high since the Pineapple Orange fermented just fine.

Summer is approaching, gentlemen, and soon Der Brauer will be back in the STL area.  Be sure to post brew dates, harvest dates, and anything else in the Calendar.

Cheers,

Matuz

Rhythm and Brews Festival

Last summer I noticed a beer festival that took place at the Tin Mill Brewery in Hermann but I didn't hear of it until too late. I don't want to make the same mistake this year. The event is at Tin Mill Brewery on Sat. June 19th. It features midwest microbreweries and live music and costs $20.00 if you purchase tickets online. I thought it would be a blast to attend if it works out for your guys' schedule. And of course we could crash at the farm. Here is the link http://www.tinmillbrewery.com/rythym-brews-festival.asp

-Der Brauer

Brewing update

Let us congratulate Matuz on his union in marriage. Unfortunately/Fortunately it was with a woman and not a brew.

Lessons to be learned from the weekend:

1. The experience proves we can serve, beer, wine on a large scale event. The Hefeweizen was absolutely a crowd pleaser(as all 10 gal were emptied) and all we were left with was 5 gal of Witbier. I have to say we had plenty of people who knew our homebrew but I think many people trying homebrew for the first time enjoyed it.

2. Preparation of kegs is a necessity. As with the kegs at the house and at the wedding reception, I have concluded that the kegs need forced pressure for a week in a chilled environment(20psi). Basically they need to be hooked up to CO2 for a week. This helps fuse the beer with CO2 and provide a head. The beer had carbonation, but as the keg tap was flying all night, the beer could not recuperate and appeared flat. Preparing will help with this. Case in point- I am drinking the Bock and Dunkelweizen right now, each with a frothy head and great lacing. When I first tapped them, both were flat.

Hops update. Matuz's Sterling and Nugget hops have poked out last week and are leafing. The Halletau has not grown in two weeks and is starting to fade. I am thinking of trimming and letting new branches grow. This happened last year, and I am beginning to think this hop variety may be hard to grow in this area. On the bright side, the Cascade has two strong growing vines, one of them at least 5ft tall. At this pace its growing about a 1ft per week. Pray for stability and the appearance of cones. I will have pics once the weather improves.

3. I love homemade wine. Can wait for the next two batches!

The Kolsch was finally secondaried after three weeks! It was fermenting on the lower end of the temp scale which I assumed would slow the fermenting. However, there was plenty of yeast slurry on top when I opened the carboy. The smell and appearance seem on schedule with last year's batch. Hope to have it bottled Sunday. Anyone who can help is welcome.

Hopefully all of us can get together before Matuz's honeymoon to bottle the lagers which have been aging for months. I had a quality control sample last month, and I'm not going to lie, that once you taste them you are not going to want to go back to commercial lagers.

Wine Update

First off, let's all welcome Antonio back into the great state of Missouri!!!

Just a real quick update, the Pear Wine is at 1.030 when I racked it on Saturday.  I tried it, and it smelt like alcohol, but it had a sweet taste, but it is not done fermenting.  So we'll see what happens.

The Pineapple-Orange Wine is still fermenting at 77F, with no end in site.

Now most white wines are fermented at around 64-68F, but at the apartment it is at 77F.  What this will do is hopefully bring out some of the more complex tastes.  We shall see.