October meeting wrapup
Last week we had another cracking good monthly meetup themed around a show-and-tell of the best and worst brewing tech members have purchased. Facilitated by Sam, we covered all manner of items including pH (pH strips bad, pH meters good!), filters, standard gravity readers, scales and the infamous Kegland Hop Bong! See below for links to some of the recommended items.
We also had a surprise guest appearance with Jon from Yakima Chief Hops dropping in. Jon donated a bunch of hops to the club last year, so we returned the favour with a bottle of the SABC x Pirate Life Barrel Aged Strong!
Xmas brew day and case swap
We can now confirm our good friends at SA Brewing Supplies will host club members* for a Xmas Brewday and case swap on Sunday 15th December at their Maria Street Thebarton store just around the corner from The Wheaty. Jon is keen to start hosting regular brewdays at the store which is a great way to see and learn how others brew their beers.
For this inaugural brew day, we’re doing it System Wars style with a batch brewed 3 ways, specifically trying a different chilling method on each system (immersion vs plate chiller vs no chill). At the January meeting everyone we’ll have a three-way blind tasting to see which method reigns supreme.
The Brew Day will also be the location for the annual Christmas case swap. Refer to the previous newsletter and the Facebook event for swapping details. There are less than eight weeks to go so get those brews down NOW. The event is here to join.
It’s an all-day event and we’re working out the fine details including food. if you’re keen to get involved in the recipe and brewing, sing out info@sabrew.com
Summer competition
A reminder that the Summer Comp has been announced and the theme is Wheat. Refer to the competitions page for categories/dates and drop-off locations.
November meeting
Next month’s meeting, on November 20 at the Wheaty, we’re looking into the best practice of bottling from kegs and pressure fermentors. This is timely with the Christmas case swap coming and you can bottle up some of your best as gifts to your drunk uncles.
Brewing tech recommendations
From the October meeting, here is a list of products members use and recommend.
- Carbonation cap: Easily connect gas or beer disconnects to PET bottles. Useful for filling bottles or flushing beer lines. Very useful for getting that last bit of beer out of a disconnect.
- Hanna PH meter: Good quality PH meter at a reasonable price
- Milwaukee PH meter: A more expensive meter that stores the prob in a solution
- PH Storage solution: Highly recommended for looking after your probe
- Kegland Hop Bong: Initially created so you can purge dry hops before dropping them into a sealed fermenter, Mark Lehman showed us a version he uses for adding fining agents to carbonated beer. Very versatile based on what parts you add to it.
*cough cough.. renew your membership
- Nov 20: Club meeting, The Wheaty. Bottle and filling from kegs and pressure transfers
- Dec 15: Christmas bottle swap and brew day!
- Dec 18: End of year drinks and pizzas
- Jan 15: At the Wheaty where we’ll be A/B tasting a certain beer.
- Feb 9: Summer Comp
- Feb 19: A side-by-side comparison of R1 filters and how RO works.
- Mar 19: Frankenchillers!