After about two years of not brewing a batch of beer, kicking off the dust is both a literal and figurative statement. Yesterday I washed out both the carboys that we'll be using for the primary and secondary fermentations. Since the soak required some water between 100 and 160 I also busted out the brew kettle to make sure it was clean and ready for action.
I also recently acquired a cooler so expect to see some modifications on that into a mash tun. The nice part of this is it will allow for some all grain recipes to be made. In my opinion, when using extract recipes it's like buying half your dinner made at the store. Since you get your malt from the mashing process, buying it feels like cheating. That said, until you have the set-up, you're going to have to be ok with brewing with extract kits.
Below is a nice video of how to convert a cooler into a mash tun. While I haven't fully done a conversion yet, I'm very much looking forward to it.
I also recently acquired a cooler so expect to see some modifications on that into a mash tun. The nice part of this is it will allow for some all grain recipes to be made. In my opinion, when using extract recipes it's like buying half your dinner made at the store. Since you get your malt from the mashing process, buying it feels like cheating. That said, until you have the set-up, you're going to have to be ok with brewing with extract kits.
Below is a nice video of how to convert a cooler into a mash tun. While I haven't fully done a conversion yet, I'm very much looking forward to it.
More to come as we approach our first brew day.
