Category: Process

Kegging, Process, Thoughts

Process Lockdown Checklist: How to Prepare a Used Corny Keg

Link to the Tracker – Keg Tracking Overview: Moving from bottling to kegging was a snap.  I wanted to go a different direction, and perhaps not spend as much time taking over the kitchen when my beer finally dropped bright.  It was taking way longer than I initially thought, and I was getting inconsistencies in the amount of carbonation from bottle to bottle.  I knew it was a mixing issue, but no matter what I tried, there were always a few that were almost flat, and a few of those that were gushers.  At 12 gallon batches, purchasing carbonation drops were too expensive to take seriously, and I was afraid of getting too much oxygen stirred in when I added the boiled sugar syrup.  I dropped a pretty obvious hint that I wanted kegs for Christmas (uhh, honey? Here is a link to what I want for Christmas, and let everyone […]

Process, Thoughts

Process Lockdown: Equipment List

This post is a continuation of the Process Lockdown: Overview post I put out last week.  We will just call this Equipment List version 1.0, as I am planning on adding a few of fermentation related items and testing hardware during this year. Here is an equipment list that supports brewing and packaging beer in my home-brewery. It tends to be very eclectic, and I have not sourced it from one place. The bio-diesel websites have surprised me with the extend of quality goods they carry for homebrewing.

Process, Thoughts

Brewing Process Lockdown: RIMS Overview

A logical approach to brewing has many steps and categories, including planning, purchasing, execution, process control, evaluation, analysis, reflection, adjustments, and record keeping.  A lot of these categories and steps are combined and intermixed in ways that are hard to separate and think about logically.  A few of them are standalone, and easy to capture and document in a way that makes it easy to further refine and improve.  With a background in unique high tech manufacturing, my experience shapes how I brew my beer. Without drinking too deeply from the lean manufacturing principals koolaid, or from the lean six sigma voodoo, I have learned enough over the years to develop an approach that should apply well to brewing.  For me, the greatest achievement in my brewing is the ability to brew an award winning beer, judged by my peers and by professionals, and to brew it over and over […]