BeerBorg

Hello my Borg family been missing you guys.

I finally got enough of my list done to get our contract signed and our house should be listed by next week. The house wasn't in bad shape but I want it spick and span shiny to compete with any new construction. I'll keep finding things to do no doubt but my list is done and I am very happy with how the house will show.

We hired a fellow to help me out with a lot of four handed chores, some painting etc. and it turns out he got a MB kit from his wife 3 years ago. When he found out we brewed he got all excited and we have begun his indoctrination with hours of brewing talk and pipeline sampling. When he remained intrigued BB2 bought him 2 BD Prophesy Ale and a Pale Horse Export and we will help him brew his first beer in a few days.

He brought his 3 year old kit over today and the LBK has the oddest looking spigot I've ever seen, it is tiny and looks quite flimsy; you push instead of pull on this little tab of a tap, the can of HME (West Coast Pale Ale) was swollen on both ends, it had a booster pack that was hard as a rock and the pack of One Step looked like it had been dragged down the road behind a pick-up.
That all went into the trash!!!

I haven't had time to play with a recipe but we gave him an ounce of Cluster hops and I have a few leftover grains in the freezer that I will have a look at so we might steep some Carapils and do a hop stand just to show him what kind of flexibility he has as a homebrewer.

I've given him homework to read JP's "How to Brew", surf BYO, and of course check out THE BORG.

He says all he really wants to make is his favorite BMC so we are going to try and go easy on him if that is possible; BB2 and I are units after all.

Could one of you guys please remind me (Mashani???) about where to get replacement spigots for his LBK.

The plan is for him to come here and we do the brewing, put the wort in his LBK and let him pitch the yeast when he gets it home. I'll get him set up with the frozen bottles/ice chest scenario and he knows needs he to get some PET bottles collected (he got caps but no bottles in his kit) while his brew ferments.


RickBeer and Mashani I'm thinking right off the top of my head, if you would chime in here, I've not dealt with a brand new newb so please let me know if there is a flaw in our plan.

Hopefully I'll have him surfing the Borg and signing up in no time. A new unit assimilated.

It's good to hear from you. I thought you already moved and was on your way to somewhere else.
I've not touched a kit in a long while so I won't comment.....just glad to see you post again!

Beer-lord wrote:It's good to hear from you. I thought you already moved and was on your way to somewhere else.
I've not touched a kit in a long while so I won't comment.....just glad to see you post again!

No I've just been working around the house from dawn to dusk, I am even in the dog house because I missed my sisters birthday last weekend because I wake at 4 am with that list in my head and was thinking of nothing else. I'm trying to convince BB2 that he should be the one to call and explain. He is resisting.

Old style locking spigot if you wish...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tomlinson-Spigo ... 27d73fcb76

I like them better then anything BD or MB sell right now. BD said somewhere here they are updating the spigot, but don't know specifics yet.

Good to hear form you BB!

Glad you are doing well and helping spread the cheer of brewing!

So, when do you move? I don't know if I will have the time, I am moving my sister, but I will be in the Austin/San Antonio area over Labor Day weekend.

@ Mashani - thanks for the link, that must be the one I was telling him about seeing. P.S. Our "Starving Butterfly" Dandelion brew turned out awesome, I can taste the bitterness from the flowers but it also is very floral and we get the "nutty" you talked about. Problem is that that it knocks our socks off on the ABV side. BB2 wishes we could park it somewhere and it would be a Barletwine.

@ JimH - HA HA I totally missed my sisters B-day so I haven't a clue where we'll be on Labor Day but if we are still here I would love to hook up with you.

I may not have much left in the pipeline though it is getting pretty thin now.

Brewbirds wrote:@ Mashani - thanks for the link, that must be the one I was telling him about seeing. P.S. Our "Starving Butterfly" Dandelion brew turned out awesome, I can taste the bitterness from the flowers but it also is very floral and we get the "nutty" you talked about. Problem is that that it knocks our socks off on the ABV side. BB2 wishes we could park it somewhere and it would be a Barletwine.

I've enjoyed all the dandelion beers I've made (all have been Saisons). I'm glad you had a good experience with it too. I socked away a bunch of bottles of my current batch to age - not because it's not nice now but just because I want to see how it changes over time (edit: due to the brett).

Brewbirds wrote:@ Mashani - thanks for the link, that must be the one I was telling him about seeing. P.S. Our "Starving Butterfly" Dandelion brew turned out awesome, I can taste the bitterness from the flowers but it also is very floral and we get the "nutty" you talked about. Problem is that that it knocks our socks off on the ABV side. BB2 wishes we could park it somewhere and it would be a Barletwine.

@ JimH - HA HA I totally missed my sisters B-day so I haven't a clue where we'll be on Labor Day but if we are still here I would love to hook up with you.

I may not have much left in the pipeline though it is getting pretty thin now.

Yeah, not good to miss a siblings birthday! I am sure you will keep us posted. Like I said, I don't know if I will have time, looks like we will be driving from El Paso to San Antonio Saturday, then flying out from Austin on Monday. And my sister has a lot of crap, so no telling how long it will take to unload the U-Haul!

Great to hear from y'all and glad you're settling in.

PM me with your new address and I'll send you a locking spigot. Haven't used a LBK in some time and have some laying around.

Great to see you back

Good to hear from you again, Birdie. Don't make yourself crazy with the fixin-uppin. But I know it can be a hectic thing.

Congratulations on discipling a new brewer. You never know if it's going to stick with a person and become the obsession it has for true Borg members, but it's worth a try. My own brother had a MB kit, but never really did much with it, and the same is true of my nephew. I even gave him ingredients and a recipe for a simple beer, but as far as I know, he never got around to making it. Then there's me, who started with a simple MB kit and that was all it took to get me going hog wild about brewing.

But I think you're going about it the right way. And if he doesn't stick with it, well, you can't blame yourself for that.

All this talk of hooking up.... BB either showing her age or Jim better watch out.


The new brewer I started got a new spigot from Mr. Beer and we brewed the unswollen can of West Coast IPA with new yeast and some hops. Will take a reading and taste today and then cold crash the four LBKs in the freezer till bottling on Saturday.