Iron Kettle 2019 – June 15th
Traditionally the Iron Kettle competition is centered around a special, secret ingredient that must be utilized in the beer. It will be slightly different this year, but we’ll get to that in a bit after going through some of the general logistics.
Brewers will need to arrive and be setup before a the 9 am start, at which time kits will be distributed and recipe formulation can begin. If you are brewing as a team and planning on doing a 10 gallon batch, be sure to let us know so we can have two kits on hand for you and your brew partner.
Each brewer or brew team will need to submit a recipe sheet to the organizers, with target style, ingredients, hopping schedule, and any additional notes. If you plan to split the batch and use different yeast, or do different dry hopping (using only the hops provided), make sure to make note of that, or so submit separate sheets to reflect this. If changes to your recipe need to be made while brewing, see the organizers to update your sheet. You will have approximately 30 minutes to review ingredients, have a good long think about it, and wrote out and submit a complete recipe that you’ll be brewing.
This is a fun event to brew as a team with another club member or a friend who has been interested in seeing what this brewing thing is all about. Ingredient kits will be provided for all participating current club members, so if you’re brewing with a non-club member and requesting an additional kit for them, that cost will be covered by them (or you, if you want to be really nice). If you happen to have a system that can handle larger batches, you can even do a 10 gallon batch so you each end up with a full fermentor (or 15… 20… 25… depending on your portable system and number of friends).
Beers brewed will be judged at the Summer Picnic in August, for bragging rights.
Kits
The all grain kits (no extract) will be provided at no cost to participants, and will contain more than enough malt and hops to design and brew a recipe.
Yeast
Please bring 2 yeast strains for each kit you’re brewing. If you and a partner are brewing, you’ll receive two kits, and can each bring 2 strains. Should you choose to split the batch, each could be fermented with a different strain. You do not need to pitch on site, but you’ll need to declare your yeast strains on your recipe sheet prior to the kits being distributed, and be honest about what strains you’re using.
Water
You will all use the same water. Don’t bring your own. If you do, we’ll use it to water Dave and Becky’s yard.
What You Bring
Whatever you use as your all-grain brewing set up. The gear you need may include but isn’t limited to:
- Burner
- Kettle
- Mash Tun
- Propane Tank
- Fermentation Vessel (Carboy/Bucket)
- Cleaner and sanitizer
- Aquarium Pump/Oxygen Stone/Oxygen
- Chiller
- Grain mill
What is Provided
- Each brewer will receive a kit for a 5 gallon all grain batch, including malt and hops.
- The club will provide a simple grilled lunch around midday.
What you cannot bring
- Your own water. We’ll all use the same water.
- Any ingredients or additives, including fining agents or water adjustments.
WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR!
If you’ve read this far, you are probably considering taking part in the Iron Kettle. Great! I did say that the secret ingredient part was going to be a bit different this year, and you’re probably wondering what that cryptic bit meant.
This may be one of the more challenging Iron Kettles, and will happen with a pretty significant twist, enough so that we decided that if you are thinking about doing it, that you deserve a heads up.
The secret “ingredient” this year will not be what you MUST use, but instead, what you CANNOT use… Information.
All recipe formulation and brewing at this year’s Iron Kettle must take place without use of any of the following measuring and calculating devices: Scales, refractometers, hydrometers, thermometers, calculators, or brewing software.
The extent of your access to measuring and calculating devices will be: Volume measurements and a timekeeping device.
Wait… I have questions:
So… no measuring devices?
Other than volume measures and a way to keep track of time, nope.
Well… how will I know when my water’s hot enough?
Good question. How did brewer’s know if the water was hot enough before they had thermometers? Practice at home with your thumb and some 150F water next time you make pasta.
But… but I can’t brew without running it through Beer Smith, etc.!
Well, that’s not really a question, but sure you can! You get some water hot, throw some crushed grain in there, wait a while, drain it off, bring that to a boil and throw some hops at it! Cool it off, and put some yeast in. Wait a few weeks… BEER!
Well… I’d still rather do some calculations, just to make sure I have things right…
Well, I suppose you could write down formulas if you’re able to do them with a pencil and paper (or in your head).
How about iodine to check starch conversion?
Very tricky of you. I’m going to say no.
What about when I get it home?
If you have a tricked out fermentation chamber, or even just a stick on thermometer on the side of your fermentor, we’ll say temperature regulation measures are allowed. Probably in our best interests come time for the Summer Party if the Iron Kettle beers weren’t all fermented at 95F.
Can I bring my own water?
No.
This all sounds fun, but I’ve never brewed all-grain/don’t have a portable system. Can I still take part?
Yes! It will likely mean teaming up with someone else to be able to do the mash and/or boil.
Sounds good, how do I sign up?
Email me, Ryan Bell at spiderwrangler@gmail.com. If you are brewing with a partner, make sure to let me know the total number of kits you’ll need (1 kit per brewer). If you want to brew, but will need to team up with someone, let me know, and if you have the ability to brew a 10 gallon or larger batch, and are willing to have someone team up with you, please let me know.
When do I need to let you know by?
Iron Kettle will take place on June 15th, so we’re setting the signup deadline to be by midnight June 8th. That will give me a chance to make sure that I can order in all of the necessary ingredients in time.