What Have I Done?

So after a rather long layoff from any real progress, I have come to the conclusion that I am in over my head.  Let me explain.  When most people start the wonderful hobby of homebrewing, they begin with a malt extract kit.
                                                           
  A malt extract is basically a can of condensed, unfermented beer with the consistency of caramel, or molasses if you are old.  The brewer simply boils some water, adds the extract, boils it some more, adds some hops, boils some more, cools the wort and adds to the fermenter.  I decided to skip this step.  After all, I have read a book about brewing.  I don't need to subject myself to such amateur methods.  I opted for the all-grain approach.  "Send me your wheat in the mail and I shall brew an ale worthy of kings," I proclaimed.  Well, I was wrong.  It's a little more complicated than that and I just don't know where to start.  So... I just placed an order for a malt extract brewing kit.  The new kit should arrive in a week or so, and then I am finally going to brew something.  What flavor did I order?  Well, I got an amber ale extract that was on sale for $22.  Add the $7 yeast and I'm lookin' at a pretty good deal.  I also included a plastic bucket fermenter so I can have two batches going at the same time.  Two at the same time?  That's crazy.  I havn't even brewed one batch yet.  That is very true, but I also ordered an Imperial IPA 7.5% alc that I am very excited about.  I plan to have this bad boy in my glass carboy and the amber in the plastic.  Two at once to make up for the lack of production I have made so far.  Just trying to keep my fans happy.

On another note, I have had a request to create a how-to post about brewing and maybe a throw in some definitions.  I'll start working on that soon so stay tuned.

I also saw a commercial for East Bound and Down season 3 last night which I am VERY excited about, even though I havn't seen season 2 yet.  I gots to get on that.

Check in soon

Chiller

So here is a crappy pic of my chiller.  It is made from refrigeration tubing from Home Depot.  Basically what this thing does is cools down the wort after it has been boiled.  It is important to quickly chill the wort to produce a "cold break."  If you do not get a good cold break your beer can have what is known as a chill haze.  It apparently does not affect the flavor of the beer, but can make it look less appealing.  So i hook one end of a hose to the fitting, run cold water through the tubing and out the other end, which still needs a fitting to attach plastic tubing too.  Once the cold water is running through, the temp of the copper drops, chilling the wort.  I am excited to see this baby in action.  My inaugural brew is fast approaching!  Stay tuned.

M*A*S*H

Here is a pic of my mash tun with manifold. I bought this cooler on Amazon and if I had seen it in person I probably would not have picked it for mashing. The wheels take up too much space and I had to drill out a hole to attach my spigot. I was trying to save a few bucks but now I wish I just went with the $60 igloo soccer mom cooler. Oh well. I think this will do for a while until I make it big time and can afford a $60 cooler. Its nice to dream...