Post a photo, any photo

[hardworkin]

Avantjour... looks good. I just bought a 7 cu ft chest freezer to use for a similar purpose. I am making hard cider and I want to carbonate it. My problem is... I have a 20 lb co2 tank and I need to store it outside the freezer. I don't currently make beer, so I'm not currently planning to make a keezer out of mine. I just need it to store my pressurized cornys.
This hobby is soooooo addicting.. I have only been making wine for about a year now and I have progressed this far.

 

[Avantjour]

Keezer CO2 Bottles...

hardworking, That sounds very interesting. I haven't made any hard cyder, only wines and beers.

I started with a 5 # CO2 bottle that I purchased. I soon felt it was cost effective to spend $90.00 on the rental / exchange program for a 10 # bottle at a local welding supply. The refill becomes an exchange for a fresh bottle for around $12.00. No waiting a week to get my personal 5 # bottle refilled. Both of these fit inside my Keezer.

Coopers has an Irish Stout Kit that makes 6 gallons. It's a no boil kit.
At around $30.00 before shipping. One can, Pkg of yeast, 1 Pkg Coopers box # 1, and 1 Pkg Coopers box # 2.

From sanitizing to air lock took 30 minutes.

2 gallons hot water into fermenter, add the Coopers can, the 2 Pkgs of dry, stir. top up to 6 gallons, get the temp below 80 F, and add the yeast. Put on the air lock.

I bottle 1 gallon and kegged the rest.

 

[roger80465]

hardworking, That sounds very interesting. I haven't made any hard cyder, only wines and beers.

I started with a 5 # CO2 bottle that I purchased. I soon felt it was cost effective to spend $90.00 on the rental / exchange program for a 10 # bottle at a local welding supply. The refill becomes an exchange for a fresh bottle for around $12.00. No waiting a week to get my personal 5 # bottle refilled. Both of these fit inside my Keezer.

Coopers has an Irish Stout Kit that makes 6 gallons. It's a no boil kit.
At around $30.00 before shipping. One can, Pkg of yeast, 1 Pkg Coopers box # 1, and 1 Pkg Coopers box # 2.

From sanitizing to air lock took 30 minutes.

2 gallons hot water into fermenter, add the Coopers can, the 2 Pkgs of dry, stir. top up to 6 gallons, get the temp below 80 F, and add the yeast. Put on the air lock.

I bottle 1 gallon and kegged the rest.

But the big question - How does it taste?

 

[Avantjour]

Coopers Irish Stout Kit...

But the big question - How does it taste?

roger80465,

The Coopers Irish Stout Kit that I brewed tastes smooth, like I think a dark stout should taste and is very drinkable. It reminds me of my favorite coffee, Cafe du Monde. It has some chocolate and roasted bitter notes as well.

Is it a Guinness or Murphy's clone?

No, maybe somewhere below or in between.

Being a extract brew it's not close to Guinness as an all grain brew would be.

Guinness is a Nitrogen carbonated beverage, I only have CO2 on my beers.

I and my friends and family like and enjoy it.

The finish is as dry as Waco on a Sunday morning.

Will I make it again, yes. I'm vacillating between an Irish Red or another Coopers Irish Stout for my next brew.

I will probably add cocoa nibs, chicory and vanilla bean...

 

[jswordy]

Have to echo what all have said on Coopers. Good kits, taste great, easy to make and to modify to your individual taste. Really excellent for the beginner, and you can use all your wine equipment to do it.

 

[jswordy]

 

[ibglowin]

This is what happens when you arrive at the airport early and TSA has too much time on their hands and your stuff..... LOL

 

[TXWineDuo]

Mike, how many bottles were left over after TSA took some?

 

[ibglowin]

LOL Yea, must have looked very ominous in the X-ray machine. I bet they swabbed the heck out of it looking or trace amounts of explosives. When that came up negative they had no choice but to open that mysterious looking FedEX shipping package with the WARNING label: ALCOHOL must be signed by someone 21 years or older. Then let's use an entire roll of TSA tape and cover the entire box so it can't ever be reused again..... I love that they leave the little "love note" inside as well. Like we couldn't tell the box had been "inspected" without it. LOL

 

[Boatboy24]

Beautifully seared, Jim. Nailed it!

 

[sour_grapes]

Beautifully seared, Jim. Nailed it!

I agree. Very nicely done.

I made these just a few nights ago. My wife does not like scallops; oddly, her identical twin was in town on a night that my wife was out of town. The twin likes scallops, so I fired up the cast iron pan. Mine came out almost perfectly, but I took them off just a tetch too soon, evidently. Mine looked a bit like the least-well-done one of yours, but I wish they looked a bit more like the one in the lower left of your picture.

 

[ibglowin]

Happy Friday folks!

 

[Petti]

Wine collection off to a good start id say. Orange-raspberry dragonfruit mist
White-CC WE cabsav
White labels- Showcase Grenache Syrah

 

[sour_grapes]

View attachment 25312

Wine collection off to a good start id say. Orange-raspberry dragonfruit mist
White-CC WE cabsav
White labels- Showcase Grenache Syrah

Looking good!!

 

[sour_grapes]

A little Tuscan flavor:

 

[Rocky]

Paul,

I think I may have stood close to that very spot from which the picture was taken. La Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta near San Quirico in southern Tuscany. One of the most painted and photographed sites in Italy although usually from the other side, i.e. the well side. We were guests at Agriturismo Cetaiole which is about a mile or so from this spot. We used to walk from Cretaiole to San Quirico for breakfast or lunch. It was, by far, the greatest vacation I ever enjoyed.

 

[sour_grapes]

Paul,

I think I may have stood close to that very spot from which the picture was taken. La Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta near San Quirico in southern Tuscany. One of the most painted and photographed sites in Italy although usually from the other side, i.e. the well side. We were guests at Agriturismo Cetaiole which is about a mile or so from this spot. We used to walk from Cretaiole to San Quirico for breakfast or lunch. It was, by far, the greatest vacation I ever enjoyed.

Good eye, Rocky! Right on all counts! We photographed this (including the other side) while walking from San Quirico to Pienza this summer. It was, indeed, a fantastic vacation.

 

[Rocky]

Paul, I don't know how familiar you are with that area and the regulations that control it. It is called the Val D'Orcia and is a UN preservation area. That is, any restorations or improvements to the homes or any new construction has to conform to the way construction was done in the Middle Ages. The reason I am saying this is if you were walking cross country from San Quirico to Pienza and passed La Cappella, you may have also passed my dream property if I ever hit the lottery. About half a mile to a mile toward Pienza you may have passed a decrepit property on your right. It had a walled courtyard and was partially a two story structure. The only other distinguishing characteristic is a separate building near the road. The property also has vineyards and olive orchards. I think it would take about $1.5 million to buy and restore it but it would be a dream come true for me.

I don't know if this will work, but here is a satellite shot of the area. In the lower left, you can see La Cappella. If you look toward the upper right, just by the fork in the road, you will see the property to which I refer. http://beta.mapquest.com/search/results?page=0&centerOnResults=1&query=pienza,%20italy&currentLocation=40.158099,-83.0598

EDIT: That did not work very well. It gives you the map view of Pienza. If you are interested, follow SP146 out of Pienza to the northwest and just after the hair pin curve on SP146 follow the second left (south) turn. You will come to the intersection of three roads (and a driveway). The driveway leads to my dream home. Zoom in and switch to the satellite view. Then continue to follow the road to the west and you will come to La Cappella.

 

[sour_grapes]

you may have also passed my dream property if I ever hit the lottery. About half a mile to a mile toward Pienza you may have passed a decrepit property on your right. It had a walled courtyard and was partially a two story structure. The only other distinguishing characteristic is a separate building near the road.

Rocky,
I was easily able to follow your directions on Google maps. Yes, I must have walked right by the place (but I will freely admit that I do not recall doing so). Here is Google Maps's Street View picture of (what I am confident is) your dream house (first picture below). Here is a link that should take you right there (virtually, sadly): https://goo.gl/maps/v1rf6ky5dAK2

Next, I want to say that we can be neighbors! (Oh, if I also win the lottery.) The second picture is a villa just a bit farther west, west of the chapel, that I was taken with. There were a number of other ones that I fell in love with, too.

I am assuming that you may have read "Under the Tuscan Sun." By chance, have you also read "The Reluctant Tuscan"? The latter is wickedly funny as well as being just as entrancing as the former.

 

[sour_grapes]

Although this one may surpass the picture I posted above. This one is east of Pienza, and east of Monticchiello, on the way to Montepuliciano: