This years brew spoon - hop vine with leaves

[Ryan Mooney]

Not entirely happy with it, but it was my first attempt at leaves (and in the round was perhaps a bit ambitious) but that bad I guess. The wood is Walnut from a tree we took down at a friends house a few years back. Probably should have dug deeper for one with less sap wood














And the happy winner (third place ) for some sense of scale

 

[Brent Dowell]

Ryan, Your spoons are a work of art! That one is a beauty for sure!

 

[Paul Douglass]

That's a wall hanger. I think the sap wood only adds to it's beauty. He won't really stick that in brew, well he? Too pretty for use!

 

[Al Launier]

Too nice to use! Hang it for all to see.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

That's a wall hanger. I think the sap wood only adds to it's beauty. He won't really stick that in brew, well he? Too pretty for use!

Yeah the main problem with the sap wood was that it was a bit softer/spongier than the heartwood which made carving it a pain. I actually soaked one piece near the end in CA to stiffen it up enough to get clean cuts.

The winner claimed he was going to brew one batch with it just because

I also did a quick plain brew spoon that I put into the drawing (we have a raffle to help cover the costs that various local shops/breweries/etc.. throw prizes in for). I was going to do most of the work for this one on the lathe but when I chucked it up there was enough of a wow in the middle it wasn't going to work so back to the draw knife and spokeshave, at least I got a workout out of it

 

[Ken Cook]

Very nicely done Ryan if I were to have a tasting spoon, one like either of those would fit the bill perfectly!

 

[Brent Dowell]

As an owner of a genuine Ryan Mooney Spoon, I can tell you they work as good as they look!

I need to put mine to work, very soon. I'm thinking a Mango Double IPA....

 

[Jim Burr]

Having not brewed anything in 15 years...would this take the place of the big plastic monster for stirring wort?

 

[Brent Dowell]

You can use it for stirring wort, but where it shines is in mixing up the mash.

Nice and stout, and just the right length. Used mine today as a matter of fact!


Was going to make a summer blonde, but 'accidently' used munich instead of pale malt, So I'm going to call it Amber and leave it at that.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Probably worth noting that this one is somewhat highly impractical. For a user spoon the functional part is better if it's pretty smooth. You can put a bit of decoration on the handle, but it needs to be something you can quickly rinse off so fewer nooks and crannies is better.

The other thing I do on these is leave the bowl of the spoon fairly open at the end. This allowed me to leave it fairly square so it can get into the corner good, but leaves little unsupported end grain which keeps the strength up. I like a bit of a scoop shape instead of just a paddle because I think it grabs the grain better (that's my theory at least and it looks nice to).

 

[Brent Dowell]

Probably worth noting that this one is somewhat highly impractical. For a user spoon the functional part is better if it's pretty smooth. You can put a bit of decoration on the handle, but it needs to be something you can quickly rinse off so fewer nooks and crannies is better.

The other thing I do on these is leave the bowl of the spoon fairly open at the end. This allowed me to leave it fairly square so it can get into the corner good, but leaves little unsupported end grain which keeps the strength up. I like a bit of a scoop shape instead of just a paddle because I think it grabs the grain better (that's my theory at least and it looks nice to).

Gotta say Ryan, Just like most things, proper tools make a job more pleasurable. The spoon I used today was no exception!

 

[Rob Keeble]

Very cool Ryan. You set a standard with each one. I am all for using things rather than collecting but i can see how mash would clog up on the decorative one.

Inspiring .

sent from s4

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Great work, Ryan. I wouldn't even be able to come close to carving a design like that.

 

[glenn bradley]

That one is definitely a winner. Congrats!

 

[Sayer Fancher]

Beautiful spoons Ryan. Is there a way to purchase raffle tickets or is it just for the members you work with? Still to cold here to start brewing but hope to get going soon and sure could use a beautiful upgrade to the plastic one I now use.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Beautiful spoons Ryan. Is there a way to purchase raffle tickets or is it just for the members you work with? Still to cold here to start brewing but hope to get going soon and sure could use a beautiful upgrade to the plastic one I now use.

That one was just for our homebrew club; we have an expensive cup made every year for first prize and some sort of nice equipment (this year it was a plate chiller) as second so we have a raffle to try to cover the cost of those.. However stay tuned, we're in discussions on things so you never know

 

[Sayer Fancher]

Sounds good, let me know or pm me if your selling them.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

Sounds good, let me know or pm me if your selling them.

Eventually... Someday.. Maybe in a year or two... Right now I have some work complications that make doing anything outside of it complicated if it's for sale or other "outside work".

Honestly they really aren't that hard to do, if you have a handful of tools you can whap out a functional one in an hour or so even with little experience.

The carving is more persistence than skill on my part so if you're willing to spend 20 or 30 hours on something I'd bet most could end up pretty close.