Milk Stout Plus Roeselare and Belgian Sour Mix 1

Last week in Western N.Y. was a cold one. I had planned to brew on Saturday but when I woke up it was -10 degrees Fahrenheit according to my trusty kitchen window thermometer.

Being a completely obsessed brewer with a heat source in the Horse Barn Brewer I gave it the good ole college try but it just wasn't meant to be. I ruined a potable hose that provides water to the Horse Barn Brewery from the house. Then the hose spigot was frozen up and I nearly gave myself frost bite trying to thaw it with a propane torch. I went to change the tank and started cross threading the nozzle, when I backed it off gases leak onto and through my gloved hands. I followed the recommend procedures and saved my pinky finger! :)

So I decided to make up for an entire weekends loss of brewing by brewing triple the amount this weekend. I needed something to top off the Bourbon County Stout sitting in my basement. There's far too much head-space in that barrel and the barrel's not mine. I also wanted to start fermenting two new sours to fill a new barrel I was getting third hand for free.

I received a new 15 gallon kettle for my Christmas 2015 and a new 70qt converted cooler mash tun for my birthday 2016 so I had enough equipment to brew the beers side by side. As it turns out this didn't save me any time over pipe-lining the brews, mostly because I forgot to put the bazooka screen in the new mash tun, Doh!

I also found out that I was low on roasted barley and a few other ingredients for my milk stout so had to make some last minute substitutions. I'm far to over confident in my memory which I know isn't great.

All things considered the brew day was a success. I have 12 gallons of sour wort fermenting away and 7 gallons of Milk Stout all of which hit their numbers.

Here are a few photos of this "epic" brew day.