Brewer Profile: Jim Donisch

Homebrewery Name: Concessions Brewing

How long have you been brewing? 15 years

What is your typical batch size (gallons)? 5

All Grain or Extract: All Grain

How long have you been all grain brewing? About 12 years

What type of water do you use? Tap Water

Do you make any water adjustments? How do you calculate them? Not really

Mash Process HERMS

Explain method for mash temp control & measurement:

Blichmann Top system that I still haven’t fully figured out

pH – When/How do you measure and adjust? I don’t.

Sparge: Fly / Continuous Sparge

Recipe and Equipment

Do you make your own recipes? Do you use any brewing software/tools? Sometimes. I use BeerSmith

Describe your equipment and setup:
Full Blichmann setup. 3 10-gal kettles, two with boilcoil 240v, 300A electric. Standard ToP March pump with ancillary RipTide pump

Boiling : Do you use hop bags, screens, filters, spiders? Typical boil time?

Hop bags. Typical 90 min

What is your MVP piece of equipment, technique or trick to make your brew day easier, faster or most impacted your beer quality?

Carboy Cleaner. Forget the name….

Fermentation

What do you ferment in?

Glass Carboy, Stainless steel (brewers bucket / conical)

What is your method of fermentation temp control?

Luck


Do you use secondary fermentation vessel?

Sometimes. If using the SS conical, no. But otherwise yes in carboys

Personal History

How long have you been a member of NUBS?

However long the club has been going

How did you find out about the club?

Through the Brew Shop

What is your favorite style to brew, any styles you wouldn’t brew?

Favorite is typically IPA, but really depends on the season. I don’t have the patience for sours or lambics

Have you ever had to dump a batch? If so, what happened?

Yes. First batch on the new system was so badly clogged that I just had to dump the whole thing, get help and start over. One batch recently I almost dumped because of something funky with the yeast but decided to just keep it.

What was the biggest mishap you ever encountered when brewing? (bottle bombs, broken equipment, big messes, etc.)

Clogged pumps etc. but also there was a Bridge Burner clone that I bottled and it never carbonated. After close to four years of hanging onto the bottled I decided to keg and carb. It was delicious.

What has been your biggest challenge as a homebrewer?

Consistency and repeatability.

What has been your biggest success as a homebrewer?

People saying “I would buy this”

What is your favorite part of brewing your own beer?

What else… drinking it! But seriously, I sit at a desk all day in front of a computer, so I like doing something I enjoy that produces a tangible result.

Do you have any other stories, facts, tips, or information about yourself you would like to share with the club?

If you like it, then it’s good beer. I stopped trying to appeal to everyone with wht I brew. If I like it, and close friends and family like it, then it’s good. It’s not all about competition, etc. while that’s all well and good, that’s not why I started home brewing. Oh…. and having anything over 9% on draft is dangerous.