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www.huckfinsbeerbuzz.com

Finishing up!

Well the first part went very well, but the finish went south fast. I used whole hops and they clogged the whole works. The nozzle on the new pot clogged up and then the regular racking cane was too short and clogged up as well! I ended up pouring the wort out of the brew kettle into the two fermentation buckets by hand. Once I leveled them and added enough water to get to 5 gallons, one was diluted more than the other so I guess I now have two batches in one!.

I use a hand held food processor to aerate the wort and the hops leaves wrapped themselves up in the wisk and blew the beer all over the kitchen...oops. The fruit flies are going to be happy.

Well, it's in the buckets and ready to ferment. I know what I need now to do this better.

Wish list:
Wort Chiller
15 Gallon SS Conical Fermenter
Another 20 Gallon pot
Another Banjo Cooker

Guess I'll have to put them on my Christmas list.

Good news though on storage, I went to Lowes and got a small wire rack that I configured to hold all my equipment. When Liz saw it she said maybe you could make that into a brew sculpture...hmmmm. Gonna have to think on that.

Next Step

Finished the mash and the sparge. Checked the specific gravity and it looks like I didn't get a great efficiency for my first batch. It should go up when the water boils off, I will check again after the boil. The Wort looks great, nice and dark! The grain bed didn't clog up and the wort all drained out into the buckets. All in all, I'm pleased with my first time. We will see how it tastes in a couple of weeks.

All Grain Brewing

Starting my first all grain batch today. I'm going to make Jeff's Big Ass Ale version V since it's pretty familiar to me. Boiled some water in the pot to make sure it was clean of all the manufacturing oils. Used a beer calculator to figure out the strike temperature. It calculated perfectly! 163 to 158 after mixing in the grain. Waiting now for sugar conversion.

Best Beer in Roanoke, VA

Best Brew Pub, Awful Arthur's.

They have 6 beers on tap. It is made at the Towers location but we usually drink at the downtown location. It's closer and I like the atmosphere better. The Towers location makes non-smokers sit in a weird restaurant area. We don't care about the smoke but have some friends who won't go to smoking restaurants. Also the Downtown location has a better bar for watching games and such.

Best tap bar, Blue 5.

Blue 5 has 16 good beers on draft at all times. They also have good food and good music. The bartenders and servers are nice and attentive, more so at the bar. They usually have at least one of my favorite beers on tap, Dogfishhead 60 minute IPA. They swap some around and seem to have something new every couple of weeks.

Home Brewing

My old brew pot.



My New brew pot. From Austin Home Brew Supply.


I have been making beer for a little over two years. My first batch was a malt kit I purchased at Snowshoe Ski Resort during their annual Brews and Blues event. I quickly started to go to partial grain beers where you steep some grain at certain temperatures and then sparge (rinse with hot water) it. After that you add malt and boil the wort (pronounced Wert) for an hour or more adding hops and flavorings at various times during the boil. Then you quickly cool it add yeast and let it ferment for at least a week. Tomorrow I plan to make my first all grain batch. my wife purchased a 20 gallon brew pot with features that will help the process. I will post as it unfolds.


This was my first attempt at putting pictures up...please bear with me.

South Street Brewery

Charlottesville Viginia's South Street Brewery is a wonderful place. Any brewery with a beer called Satan's Pony is my kind of place. We tried the J P Ale, the Satan's Pony Pale Ale, and the IPA. All were very good. I liked the J P Ale best and purchased a growler and a couple of logo glasses to take home. My brother-in-law has my good growler so I needed a replacement anyway.

They have twin servers behind the bar so after a few beers it can be kind of confusing. They switch back and forth seamlessly it's like your server is twice as fast.

I had the Goat Cheese Pastry appetizer and it was great. The guy sitting at the bar next to me bought one for dessert after he saw mine. All the food looked good that we saw.

We were there twice one early in the evening when it was slow and once after the concert when it was packed. Service was great both times.

I highly recommend this place.