Some Industrial Espionage

In the process of blogging about other things (and enjoying my first full day with a cable modem), I almost forgot about a slew of photo blogging that's been on the backburner for awhile. I have quite a bit, but may not get to it all right away. I'm going to do one today and call it quits.

A fellow member of my home brewing club held a "brew in", which is a party one throws when starting a batch of home brew, at his home. This was within a few days of this inspiring post over at Molten Eagle extolling the cancer-fighting properties of beer, or, more specifically, of hops, the ingredient that can impart fruity, bitter, or floral tastes and aromas to beer, depending on what kind is used.

Jealous of his custom-made brewing apparatus, I stopped drooling long enough to openly indulge in a fair bit of "industrial espionage" with my new digital camera. Here's a shot of the whole thing in its fully-assembled glory.

That "funnel" over there at the right is the most interesting part. It serves as both primary and secondary fermenter and has a valve at the bottom whose mobile intake allows either sampling or removal of sediment as needed. This entire thing sits In a refrigerator for the duration of the fermenting process and greatly simplifies the racking process. This allowed the brewer to enjoy his hobby even when he used to be on the road frequently for business: He taught his wife how to operate the valve and come racking time, if he was on the road, he merely placed a call to his better half, who would work the valve as needed.

-- CAV