Articles

Should new breweries have a "Dump Fund?" It's becoming more and more common... Whether I'm out trying a new brewery in my town or while I'm traveling... I get excited for the experience, order a pint of whatever sounds good, and take a sip. My brow furrows and my lips make a disapproving gesture. Searching For The Perfect Pint The beer is bad. Usually there's a huge flaw. Often diacetyl, phenols, or acetaldehyde. Sometimes there's not just one flaw; it's the entire beer that's off - from the recipe, to the ingredients, to how it was stored and served. If I close my eyes I might think I'm tasting one of the many below-average (we'll say to put it nicely) homebrews I judge in competitions. Except those are homebrewers. I never say...

1. How did you start brewing? I've been a beer "nerd" and owned a kegerator for many years before I started brewing. I remember one night looking up the reviews on a beer I had purchased at my local bottle store and stumbled across a recipe for this beer on line. It was like a light when off in the room....."You mean I can make something like the craft beer I was tasting?" To be honest I didn't believe it. I mean, we've all heard stories about bath tub gin and crappy beer made from cans of extract, but I'm the type of person that likes to research things before I purchase and I learned that people actually were making good beer at home. Hell, if some were to be believed, they were making great beer. So I talked myself into buying a...

I have been using a combo HLT/heat exchanger since I added HERMS (Heat Exchanger Recirculating Mash System) to my original gravity feed brew rig. A friend had an old keg and wanted something just like mine so I offered to do the conversion for him, essentially duplicating my original build. I don't weld so it would have to use weld-less fittings like those I used for mine; if you have the technology you could swap in welded fittings for those described in this article. Build a DIY Heat Exchanger Step one is to gather the tools and components required. For the heat exchanger coil we selected the same one I had used, a 50 foot, one half inch diameter coil from Stainless Brewing (about $100). We chose heavy duty bulkhead compression...

Hello all, thought I would post a quick write up and a couple pics of my new favorite fermenter. A mash up of two popular designs. I had been using the better bottles with racking adapter and valve for many batches. If you haven't used the racking adapters/valves before they are great, as transferring and taking gravity samples is a breeze. I use these coupled to the 'Out' post on my kegs to transfer after the keg has been sanitized and purged. This really helps minimize oxygen pickup. Then I got a free Big Mouth Bubbler as a giveaway special on Northern Brewer. The big mouth bubbler is great as it has nice graduated markings, is easy to clean, and can double as a nice secondary. Though this did not have the racking adapter I had become...

Living in Phoenix - the Valley of the Sun - I was confronted with the problem of a good way to chill my wort. With tap water coming out of the faucet VERY WARM, many of the standard methods didn't work. After much consternation, I came up with a method that has served me very well. All you need are some paint buckets, copper coil, a ball valve, and a few other miscellaneous screws, fittings and gaskets - all of which you can get from your local hardware/home improvement store for around $25-$30. There are a few advantages to this. First, it aerates the wort very well. I know there are many who use only bottled O2 to aerate their wort for fear of contamination, but I have used this method several times and NEVER had any off flavors or...

Living in Phoenix - the Valley of the Sun - I was confronted with the problem of a good way to chill my wort. With tap water coming out of the faucet VERY WARM, many of the standard methods didn't work. After much consternation, I came up with a method that has served me very well. All you need are some paint buckets, copper coil, a ball valve, and a few other miscellaneous screws, fittings and gaskets - all of which you can get from your local hardware/home improvement store for around $25-$30. There are a few advantages to this. First, it aerates the wort very well. I know there are many who use only bottled O2 to aerate their wort for fear of contamination, but I have used this method several times and NEVER had any off flavors or...

There are many benefits to making a yeast starter, and a plethora of threads on this forum discussing their merits and the techniques used to make them. It was through my involvement in one such thread I discovered that some people consider making a starter in an Erlenmeyer to be potentially dangerous. I hold the view that with correct materials and methods, making a starter directly in the flask is arguably the simplest and most sanitary method one can employ. The purpose of this article is to illustrate this straightforward process, whilst highlighting some important steps along the way eliminating any messy or potentially injurious errors. As with any task, having the right tools for the job is imperative. Let's look at what's...

The idea of sour beer is fairly simple; sweet wort undergoes a spontaneous fermentation when wild yeast is introduced into the mix. This then leads to the production of alcohol and a sour flavor (usually from lactic acid). We can announce this lovely fact today because thousands upon thousands of brewers before us have looked through microscopes, written books and published articles on the subject. But what if we were the first? What if we didn’t have electricity or a microscope or even a way to communicate with the brewers living just a few hundred miles down the road? Thankfully, the ancient peoples of the word were so damn thirsty they managed to figure sour beer out. In Egypt, a kind of yeast-heavy bread was made by the women of...

Picture this - you come home from work and grab the mail. You are excited to see a manila envelope from the coordinator of the homebrew competition you entered a few weeks prior. This is it! You are ready to receive the glowing reviews of your finely crafted malt beverage. You open the envelope and much to your dismay, see your final score of 25. You start reading the comments from the judges, which are brief, nondescript and certainly not helpful. You are left with a feeling of disappointment and confusion. How did they not like your beer, and what can I do about it? This situation, which I will say is becoming more rare due to the hard work of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) and quality judges, has happened to me and...

Picture this - you come home from work and grab the mail. You are excited to see a manila envelope from the coordinator of the homebrew competition you entered a few weeks prior. This is it! You are ready to receive the glowing reviews of your finely crafted malt beverage. You open the envelope and much to your dismay, see your final score of 25. You start reading the comments from the judges, which are brief, nondescript and certainly not helpful. You are left with a feeling of disappointment and confusion. How did they not like your beer, and what can I do about it? This situation, which I will say is becoming more rare due to the hard work of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) and quality judges, has happened to me and...

At the moment I decided to build HERMS I got two kegs and plastic bucket. I decided to use bucket for HLT only temporary, but with time it turned out as cheap and functional solution, it is made from HDPE(High-density polyethylene) which can withstand higher temperatures (120 C/ 248 F for short periods, 110 C /230 F continuously). HERMS works as circulation system: sparge water is heated with 2 x 2kW heaters in HLT which are controlled by PID. Sparge water also maintain mash temperature since wort circulates trough HEX coil in HLT during the mash. After positive iodine test (mashing is over), 1st wort is circulated to BK and sparge water (from HLT) is added to MLT for sparge (I am batch sparger). Then I fire up BK and add FWH if recipe...

At the moment I decided to build HERMS I got two kegs and plastic bucket. I decided to use bucket for HLT only temporary, but with time it turned out as cheap and functional solution, it is made from HDPE(High-density polyethylene) which can withstand higher temperatures (120 C/ 248 F for short periods, 110 C /230 F continuously). HERMS works as circulation system: sparge water is heated with 2 x 2kW heaters in HLT which are controlled by PID. Sparge water also maintain mash temperature since wort circulates trough HEX coil in HLT during the mash. After positive iodine test (mashing is over), 1st wort is circulated to BK and sparge water (from HLT) is added to MLT for sparge (I am batch sparger). Then I fire up BK and add FWH if recipe...

Brewing is a miracle of nature, a triumph of the human condition. Our world is one of exploration and communication, with emphasis paid to the victories of our species. Grain, water, yeast, beer. Through trial and error we have found a way to harness the power of nature and force it to bend to our will allowing us infinite ability to explore the world before us. To be human is a powerful thing. So powerful in fact that we have taken this concept and applied it to our lives in scales never imagined by those that came before us. Just like brewing, medicine has evolved as we sought to answer the questions that compel us all. Why are we here? How do we make it better? How do I live through the ages? Although I won't pretend to know the...

One common mistake that beginner brewers often make is not adding enough yeast to their wort; a measure of which is commonly referred to as the "pitching rate." The pitching rate is determined by the starting/original gravity (S.G. or O.G.) of the wort and is important for multiple reasons, some of which I will discuss here. It is important for me to not that this write up is not intended to be the definitive guide to pitching rates. My intention is to give beginners a clear understanding of the concepts surrounding the practice and why it is so important to the quality of a finished beer. How it Works Brewers yeast is a one-celled fungus known as "Saccharomyces cerevisiae" (ale yeast) and "Saccharomyces uvarum" (lager yeast). While...

One common mistake that beginner brewers often make is not adding enough yeast to their wort; a measure of which is commonly referred to as the "pitching rate." The pitching rate is determined by the starting/original gravity (S.G. or O.G.) of the wort and is important for multiple reasons, some of which I will discuss here. It is important for me to not that this write up is not intended to be the definitive guide to pitching rates. My intention is to give beginners a clear understanding of the concepts surrounding the practice and why it is so important to the quality of a finished beer. How it Works Brewers yeast is a one-celled fungus known as "Saccharomyces cerevisiae" (ale yeast) and "Saccharomyces uvarum" (lager yeast). While...

My favorite holiday is a beercation – a holiday devoted to sampling the local beers and beer culture of a city. There are so many obvious places to go to, but Europe has a rich brewing history and there are many hidden gems off the beaten beery path. Spain and Portugal Starting in Portugal and ending in Estonia, here’s my first-hand experience of some fantastic and often overlooked cities which serve up great places to drink, as well as interesting microbreweries to look out for. It should also be said, all these cities are full of history and culture which must be explored between the bar hopping! Portugal is the western most country in Europe and a good, yet surprising, place to start our journey. Known mostly for wine, beer was...

The Frugal Brewer A penny saved is a penny earned. -- Ben Franklin When I started brewing, it was a novelty. I wasn't trying to save money on beer. I brewed extract, then partial extract. Then, one day, I was looking at a Northern Brewer catalog and realized how cheap grain in bulk was. That got me wondering how cheaply I could brew five gallons of beer. Though I brew to make the best beer I can drink, I've always tried to also make it as inexpensively as possible. Why not? The following are my thoughts on brewing frugally. It covers only all-grain brewing. I also will point out right now that there are upfront costs required to save money in the long term. For example, a grain mill will help you save money, but the mills...

The revolution sweeping Europe has blossomed in Spain and Portugal as craft breweries have flourished on the Iberian Peninsula. Home brewers who shared their beers with family and friends are being encouraged to take the next step and produce larger volumes of their craft beers so discerning beer drinkers can find delights to please their palates. The craft beer scene in the USA has played a part in the boom on this side of “the Pond”, and it appears the last few years have had the right atmosphere and conditions for people who had brewed a few gallons in a plastic bucket in their garage, on the balconies of their apartments – even a rooftop patio in Barcelona – or just on top of the stove in their kitchen, to take the brave next step...

Editor's note: Come with us as we travel the World of beer all week long. This is the first of several articles full of rich history and great information. Enjoy! Kent is synonymous with British beer. The garden of England’s fertile ground has grown the hops that have come to define British beer for generations, such as East Kent Golding. These hops, with their floral, spicy notes, have been used for centuries in the production of British bitters and ales. Today the region accounts for around 50% of all UK hops. This heritage goes back centuries with the eponymous East Kent Golding having its roots in the Whitebine hop strain, which was introduced to Canterbury in 1737. In 1790 a Kent hop farmer named Golding identified a version of the...

Few things are as satisfying as tasting a newly opened homebrew and having it meet your expectations. Even more satisfying is when that beer is from the somewhat unpredictable realm of sour beers. Not all sour beers have to be left up to chance in order to achieve predictable results however, especially when trying to balance lactic acid. Lactic acid is produced when lactic acid bacteria (LAB) converts carbohydrates into lactic acid. In addition to beer, it is also found in kombucha and dairy products such as buttermilk and yogurt. Two strains of LAB are available for producing lactic acid in beer, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus. An entire article could be devoted to the different characteristics of Lactobacillus and Pediococcus, so for...

If you’re looking for ways to maintain better consistency across your recipes every time you brew, you’ll want to look at consistency in your mash rests. Basic rests being Acid (95°F – 113°F), Protein (113°F – 138°F), and Saccharification (beta-amylase 131°F – 150°F, alpha-amylase 150°F – 160°F) . There are multiple other rests, and refined rests within these ranges, but these three are most likely the common ones you’ll come across starting your RIMS (Recirculating Infusion Mash System) or HERMS (Heat Exchanger Recirculating Mash System) endeavors. Due much to the nature of the DIY efforts, and typical small batch sizes of homebrewing, your mash rests can often fall several degrees by the end. This can impact your final body, residual...

When I started brewing all grain a few years ago, I had been spoiled. Spoiled by the pre-packaged extract kits that come with "x" amount of extract meant to give you a specific gravity in "x" amount of volume. This meant that unless your volume was somehow over or you managed to spill half of your extract on the floor, you almost assuredly would end your brewing session at or near your expected gravity. This made extract brewing extremely easy and to be honest, I loved it. I didn't even know that I had to worry about "Target Gravity" at that point. Hell, I'd be surprised if I could have even told you what the term meant, especially during my first few brews. However, my blissful ignorance would not last. When I started all grain...

When I started brewing all grain a few years ago, I had been spoiled. Spoiled by the pre-packaged extract kits that come with "x" amount of extract meant to give you a specific gravity in "x" amount of volume. This meant that unless your volume was somehow over or you managed to spill half of your extract on the floor, you almost assuredly would end your brewing session at or near your expected gravity. This made extract brewing extremely easy and to be honest, I loved it. I didn't even know that I had to worry about "Target Gravity" at that point. Hell, I'd be surprised if I could have even told you what the term meant, especially during my first few brews. However, my blissful ignorance would not last. When I started all grain...

Homebrew Talk is seeking a part-time, back-end developer who is passionate about joining a team dedicated to all things homebrewing and winemaking. Responsibilities Develop, manage and execute a WIDE variety of complex PHP/MySQL/JS/CSS development projects focused on brewing. Assist front-end developer in executing/implementing concepts and projects. Assist in the management of our cloud based (AWS) hosting environment. Handle integration and management of various third party plugins. Analyze site performance and develop strategies to improve traffic by leveraging data from Analytics. Desired Skills and Experience Intermediate brewing knowledge 3+ years developing in PHP/MySQL/CSS/JS 2+ years experience with AWS hosting and a...

The idea to upgrade to an all-electric brewery started 2 years ago after seeing some similar systems on several forums, including Homebrew Talk. I’ve been brewing for close to 10 years now, starting as most did: with extract in a single pot on a propane burner. When I moved to CT, brewing became a bit more seasonal; it was cold enough that I didn’t want to freeze outside while brewing. There were days that would accommodate a brew, but I found myself brewing much less during the winter. So the idea of brewing in the garage was born and electric brewing was the way to do it safely. I also wanted to be able to brew 10 gallon batches when needed, therefore part of the upgrade was getting everything one size up from my current setup. My...

Bray’s one month mead (BOMM) thread had me fascinated in accelerating fermentation as soon as I stumbled upon it at homebrew talk. The entire idea is centered around the fact that mead generally takes longer to ferment, clear, and age because the yeast are stressed to a greater degree than what we normally would see in fermenting beer (or even wine). The reason is nutrients and pH; honey is mostly just sugar, with a bit of pollen and some enzymes, but really, it’s mostly just sugar. It’s also acidic with a pH averaging around 3.9 (about the higher end for an orange, or similar to cherries). To overcome these issues, often (even in beer brewing where the grains generally provide a lot of nutrient) yeast nutrient is added. In mead this is...

First off, if you aren’t already making hard cider, you should be. It really is a no brainer, which I will explain briefly here. Cider is cheap to make, easily sourced, hardly any work, and great for those friends who can’t do gluten! Your only materials are Apple cider/juice, yeast, and maybe a few optional adjuncts, so cost can be as low as $20 a batch depending on your juice source. There isn’t an actual brew process, so it cuts a couple hours out of your normal brew day requirement. Just clean, sanitize, mix ingredients and profit! Since you aren’t using grain in this, it becomes a convenient brew to have on hand for friends(or in my case, SWMBO) who don’t/can’t do gluten. Edwort's Apfelwein edwort's apfelwein in progress I first...

Some people say 2016 was an awful year, peppered with celebrity deaths, political hi-jinks, exploding cell phones, and seemingly rampant terrorism. But when all the dust settles there's always Homebrew Talk, and homebrew conquers all. We even got up and running on a new Wordpress platform for the article area, and posted 72 articles this year, but which ones were the best? Let's take a look at some of the top articles from last year that you may have missed. #10: Idiots Guide to Temperature Controllers mounted temp controller Full Article by Justinian Hatfield : Justinian wrote a comprehensive guide to temperature controllers. He covered single and dual stage controllers, digital vs. analog, probe placement, and gave a list of...

The ploughman’s lunch, historically, is pub fare. A plate consisting of: bread, cheese, pickles, and cold meat, maybe an apple, boiled egg, and some butter and, of course, a fine ale. Marketed in the mid-century by the Cheese Bureau of the U.K. as a way of promoting and selling cheese after WW II rationing had ceased; the ploughman’s lunch is thought to have been around long before big cheese put their best Don Draper equivalent on the job. For the purposes of this pairing I decided to “update” the ploughman’s lunch by going further back in history, and borrowing from traditional French Charcuterie boards. The kind one would normally see being enjoyed by avid wine drinkers while swirling and sniffing inquisitively from their glasses...

I've seen this and similar statements posted several times around the forum: "If you don't submit your beer to contests, you don't know if your beer is good". The point they are making is that without having a contest score associated with your beer--OR--a large homebrew club sampling with BJCP judges, you don't know if your beer is good or not. This argument stems from the fact that it may be hard to judge your own homebrew in an objective manner. And if you can't do that, what good is your recipe when it comes to sharing it? Take this as you wish, but those posters are somewhat correct. However, I also don't think you need a BJCP judge at your homebrew club or a high score sheet to tell if your homebrew is good or not. In fact, this...

Moving from extract brewing to all-grain can be like earning a badge of honor in home brewing. Many who started extract brewing have never seen the need to expand into more complicated or exacting recipes, nor have needed that jump to be fair, as many award winning brews are extract-based (or at least partial mashed or include steeping grains). Many of those who have moved, however, have done so more simply through brew in a bag (BIAB). While this method solves most of the nagging issues of extract such as grain availability, fermentability of the wort, and lighter beer color, there is still much to be had by improving the mash in multiple vessel brewing. The remaining benefits of moving to multiple vessel brewing is what this article...

I think the Barley Crusher Grain Mill is still the best bang for the buck at $149.99, well at Northern Brewer anyways, about 10 bucks more than when I bought mine 2 years ago come July. It comes with everything pictured, unlike the expensive mills where everything comes separately. Here it is sittin atop my 5G Lowe's bucket, which seems to fit the base tighter than the orange Home Depot bucket. Mine came with the 7lb hopper, but it can also be had with a 15lb hopper for 20 bucks more. Great for Steeping, PM or AG amounts of malts. It has two adjustment knobs, one on either side with notches to align the rollers for a .039" gap. This gap seems to give a very even crush after 2 years of use. Here's a shot of the adjusters; Left side...

As many home brewers have no doubt experienced, yeast can be one of the more difficult variables to control in the brewing process. Much like an impressionable youngster, yeast requires just the right conditions in order to thrive and therefore become successful in its efforts to produce something of value. There are many environmental factors that can have a lasting effect on your yeast, most commonly known is temperature and of course, proper nutrients – just to name a couple. However, let’s not ignore the fact that a solid foundation for strong, healthy yeast can go just as far in achieving delicious results. In my opinion, the end game as a parent in bringing up a resilient young adult should be that he or she will grow to be...

I've seen several articles on this site about the proper way to slant yeast but haven't found one that shows the process of streaking yeast onto a plate and selecting individual colonies. This is the method I use. It's not flawless and it certainly has room for improvement but it's cheap and works well for me. What you'll need to do this: yeast source (bottle dregs, old washed yeast) Petri dishes (ideally ones made of tempered glass that can be boiled but I used sterile disposable ones) agar DME inoculationloop (I use a paper clip because it's practically free andI'veseen others use it online) aluminum foil small pot or flask The first thing you'll need to do is create the growth medium. I use the same recipe that Saccharomycesuses in...

I've seen several articles on this site about the proper way to slant yeast but haven't found one that shows the process of streaking yeast onto a plate and selecting individual colonies. This is the method I use. It's not flawless and it certainly has room for improvement but it's cheap and works well for me. What you'll need to do this: yeast source (bottle dregs, old washed yeast) Petri dishes (ideally ones made of tempered glass that can be boiled but I used sterile disposable ones) agar DME inoculationloop (I use a paper clip because it's practically free andI'veseen others use it online) aluminum foil small pot or flask The first thing you'll need to do is create the growth medium. I use the same recipe that Saccharomycesuses in...

Some people bottle, some keg, and some do both. Sometimes there are styles that steer you towards one medium or the other. But sometimes you keg because you just can’t stand the bottling process. That’s all fine and good, and you feel quite content in your decision to avoid bottle cleaning and let's not forget messing around with the red bottle capper. But then you end up making something really great that you want to share, and you’re stuck. Unless you play host and have people over, that great beer stays exclusive to you. It’s like if Leonardo da Vinci kept the Mona Lisa as a bathroom wall decoration and the only people that ever saw it were his poker buddies. Not cool, right? Bottled beer obviously is easier to share, but it’s hard...

It is no secret that the single most prevalent ingredient in beer is water. But there is also an equal if not larger amount of water involved in the making of beer that does not become beer. This would be the water we use for cleaning, sanitizing, and cooling. Like myself, there are many other home brewers who are enduring another of California’s infamous droughts. Virtually the entire state is suffering a serious decline of rainfall that has left many fertile areas unusually barren, many a lake all but dried up, and many electric vehicles unwashed. It's a serious issue and one that we, as home brewers living in the state, must be conscious of when making our favorite tasty beverage. With proper care, and a little bit more attention...

Are you constantly on the hunt for the holy grail of beers? There is nothing like the euphoria of tasting an absolutely fabulous brew. But have you paused to think about the exciting sensations that beer offers . . . beyond flavor? When beer's non-flavor sensations - astringency, body, carbonation, finish and temperature - are out of whack, the beer lacks balance and can even be undrinkable. A brewmaster designs, brews, ferments, and packages a beer with a vision of how sensations figure into the overall experience of the beer drinker. The next time you are evaluating a beer, think about how these physical sensations contribute to your total tasting experience. Astringency is that dry, puckering mouthfeel that you get from beer, and...

A little over a year ago I jumped into this awesome hobby of homebrewing. Now, twenty some batches in, I’ve moved from extract to all-grain, gotten a temperature controlled fermentation chamber, a handful of kegs, and all sorts of other fun gear. What I hadn't done, was enter a competition. Sure, the local homebrew club had some monthly comps that I brought a bottle or two for, but I hadn't gone ‘public’... yet. I was only 3 batches old last year when my Local Homebrew Store (LHBS) had their second annual people’s choice "brew off" that coincided with our community’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. It was a short affair that was well attended, and people who hadn’t purchased tickets were frustrated that they weren’t allowed to enter, because...

***READ BEFORE CONTINUING: This is not an Inkscape tutorial. There are already a ton of these across the web that will explain the software better than I can. This is a guide to developing ideas, layouts, and graphical components of a label.*** What is the first thing you notice when having a beer? You notice either the bottle it comes in or the tap handle it’s being poured from. Both of these are given a face using labels. Labels give your beer an identity. They say “you aren’t just drinking a beer, you’re drinking my masterpiece.” And if your beers don’t turn out great (like some of mine), they still leave the drinker with something to remember. Fortunately, label designing doesn’t have to be difficult. You can create professional...

I recently had a chance to brew with the professionals at a local brewery. They were brewing on a SABCO Brew-Magic (15 gallon) system that they use for their weekly small batch releases. The brewer explained the components and how they all worked together. The wort would circulate throughout the mash process and that the temperature would be kept constant by an electric heater that was in the circulation loop. And, the re-circulation helped with the efficiency and the clarity of the wort. The price tag for a system like this is way out of my price range, so buying one was not an option. It didn’t take long for me to start putting ideas together to build my own RIMS. My quest began to put something together that I could build cheaply and...

Here is my comparison of a few wort chiller types and brands. Chilling your wort after you’ve finished the boil serves a number of purposes. There’s the scientific aspect of how chilling it quickly causes certain protein strains to form and precipitate out, and there’s corresponding studies of why that’s a good thing. Another key purpose is that once your wort gets below about 140F, it’s no longer hot enough to kill random stuff that floats into it. So the sooner you can get it down to pitching temperature and get it sealed up, the less exposure risk to wild yeast. The final reason, though, is important whether you are an organic chemistry nerd, a germaphobe, or anything in between- your time. The quicker you cool it, the sooner you’re...

Unless you were fortunate enough to have an experienced brewer bring you into the world of home brewing, odds are your first batch was on a very basic setup. For me it was a partial extract batch brewed in a borrowed stockpot, on the gas stove-top of my old college house. A simple yet effective (well let’s say good enough) setup. However, after a few more batches I wanted to make my beers even better and more consistent. That’s when I stumbled across The Electric Brewery. I immediately fell in love with this beautifully thought out electric brewing system and how every component was explained in detail in the DIY section. It was a 3 kettle setup, with 2 pumps, quick disconnecting hoses, and a gorgeous control panel that was at the heart...

I started homebrewing last year, and as the amount of equipment I used grew, I found the amount of time that I spent hauling stuff up and down from my basement was rivaling the amount of time I spent brewing (not to mention the number it was doing on my back). Additionally, due to my particular setup, I found myself with the desire to move my brew pot during brew day (my faucet for chilling is in a common area and my equipment basically blocks traffic) which proves to be a difficult task with 10 gallons of hot wort in your pot. For all these reasons, having a brew stand on casters would be very helpful. The idea was that this would serve both as a cart for moving equipment as well as a stand for my brew pot. Before starting, I had...

I started homebrewing last year, and as the amount of equipment I used grew, I found the amount of time that I spent hauling stuff up and down from my basement was rivaling the amount of time I spent brewing (not to mention the number it was doing on my back). Additionally, due to my particular setup, I found myself with the desire to move my brew pot during brew day (my faucet for chilling is in a common area and my equipment basically blocks traffic) which proves to be a difficult task with 10 gallons of hot wort in your pot. For all these reasons, having a brew stand on casters would be very helpful. The idea was that this would serve both as a cart for moving equipment as well as a stand for my brew pot. Before starting, I had...