Welcome to my homebrew home on the web. I have been all grain brewing since October 2007, when I brewed my first all grain Bass Ale kit. I had brewed a couple of extract kits a long time ago back in the late 1980’s and discovered that I did not like the amount of work it took to bottle beer in 12 ounce bottles. The hassle of cleaning them was a big pain that turned me off of the hobby for years. One day back in 2007 I was surfing the web for some other reason not related to homebrewing and surfed onto a website that was on the topic of homebrewing beer and kegging in cornie kegs. As I read on, I discovered how easy it would be to brew beer and keg it and not have to mess with bottles at all. I quickly geared up, went straight for all grain and brewed my first kit on October 1, 2007. It’s been a great hobby ever since.
My first set up was for five gallon batches, perfect for brewing all grain kits from the various homebrew supply shops. I used an old aquarium stand I had sitting in the garage for my sculpture. I bought a turkey cooker for my hot liquor tank (HLT) and used a Coleman five gallon round water cooler for my mash tun (MT). The boil pot was something I had to buy, so I went shopping at a local restaurtant supply store and found a nice 32-quart stainless steel pot. On hindsight I wish I had bought the 40-quart pot, as that extra capacity would help prevent boil overs.
I used this brew rig for a couple of years, but decided that brewing more beer in about the same amount of time was even better, so I upgraded to 25-gallon mega pots for a solid 15-gallon capacity. I can brew 20 gallons but it would take some care as the capacity would be maxed out. I built a wooden stand with three burners, gas valves and water pumps and a control panel that I call the BrewDeck. It is based on a brew rig that I saw in a homebrewing magazine. Over time I collected several cornie kegs and installed a kegerator system in an old refrigerator.
My blog, Hangar92Brewery.com, is my homebrew journal. I chose the name because of the good times I have at hangar 92 where I built an airplane, got engaged, got married and had many good times with my family and great friends over the years.
