Beer Blogging - Equipment
Posted 06-09-2009 at 04:44 PM by nutty_gnome
On the subject of home brewing equipment:
Last December I treated myself to a nice Christmas present. The 'deluxe' brewing kit from Brewer's Best. This is the one that comes with the glass carboy, a bottling bucket, and a primary bucket. It also has the autosiphon, and a bunch of other things that I really don't use. This kit is a major step up from the basic Brewer's Best kit I had back in the late 1990s.
To augment the kit, I went ahead and bought a giant white plastic spoon, more tubing for the bottling bucket, lots of Star San (best stuff on earth for home brewing), some dedicated sponges and brushes, a sink mounted bottle washer, a special adapter so I could run a valved hose from my basement sink for bottle cleaning purposes, several thermometers (digital and analog) and a totally sweet Ferrari bench capper which I anchored to an old cutting board I found at a yard sale.
I brew with a 22 liter aluminum vessle that is actually a pressure cooker during summer months when we jar fruits and veggies. I am able to easily boil 4 gallons on the 'super' burner on our gas stove but any more liquid results in a slow weak boil at best. Because I can't do a full boil, I'm becoming a fan of the late addition brewing procress to reduce twang and improve wort color.
Last month I bought a 'vinator' to help simplify the bottle cleaning/sanitizing process. I should have gotten one of these right away. They improve the bottling experience immensely. My only concern/negative comment is that the ball bearings in the vinator rusted after the first use (though they did clean up well).
I am keeping my eyes open for a second fridge. Currently I just leave the bottles in the basement and have to think ahead when I want a cold one. They have to be moved from the basement to the kitchen. This is kind of a pain; I need a fridge downstairs. I will likely not go out and buy a used one one though. My wife says the one in our kitchen is getting out of date/old. We will probably be moving that one to the basement and we'll get a new one for the kitchen. That will be exciting and will open up the possibility of kegging for me.
Next up: bottle cleaning.
Last December I treated myself to a nice Christmas present. The 'deluxe' brewing kit from Brewer's Best. This is the one that comes with the glass carboy, a bottling bucket, and a primary bucket. It also has the autosiphon, and a bunch of other things that I really don't use. This kit is a major step up from the basic Brewer's Best kit I had back in the late 1990s.
To augment the kit, I went ahead and bought a giant white plastic spoon, more tubing for the bottling bucket, lots of Star San (best stuff on earth for home brewing), some dedicated sponges and brushes, a sink mounted bottle washer, a special adapter so I could run a valved hose from my basement sink for bottle cleaning purposes, several thermometers (digital and analog) and a totally sweet Ferrari bench capper which I anchored to an old cutting board I found at a yard sale.
I brew with a 22 liter aluminum vessle that is actually a pressure cooker during summer months when we jar fruits and veggies. I am able to easily boil 4 gallons on the 'super' burner on our gas stove but any more liquid results in a slow weak boil at best. Because I can't do a full boil, I'm becoming a fan of the late addition brewing procress to reduce twang and improve wort color.
Last month I bought a 'vinator' to help simplify the bottle cleaning/sanitizing process. I should have gotten one of these right away. They improve the bottling experience immensely. My only concern/negative comment is that the ball bearings in the vinator rusted after the first use (though they did clean up well).
I am keeping my eyes open for a second fridge. Currently I just leave the bottles in the basement and have to think ahead when I want a cold one. They have to be moved from the basement to the kitchen. This is kind of a pain; I need a fridge downstairs. I will likely not go out and buy a used one one though. My wife says the one in our kitchen is getting out of date/old. We will probably be moving that one to the basement and we'll get a new one for the kitchen. That will be exciting and will open up the possibility of kegging for me.
Next up: bottle cleaning.
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