Recent content by Alchemist

Yeah, Like they used to tell me in the army, complacency kills. You see nothing but high pressure vessels all day, you forget not everything doesn't explode at 25-30 atm.

I am, and my personal mantra for trying anything new is plan, revise, double check, revise, triple check, revise, get a second opinion, revise, get a third opinion, revise, go home, revise, have a beer, revise, sleep on it, scrap the whole thing, start again... I'm just wanted to bounce that one...

I was thinking more double boiler style - big metal tub w/ some kind of stand off so the carboy isn't sitting directly on the heat source. I might just be crazy though, contamination paranoia comes quickly and surprises you at the place where I make my beer money.

... Well, not so much pasturizing, but boiling the fill-up water in a sealed carboy.

Anybody thought of pasturizing the fill-up water right in the carboy? That should pretty much sterilize the bottle and the water at the same time. I'm just kinda hanging that one out there, see if anybody's got any thoughts on it. Gonna start my first brew in a week or two, depending on...

New Guy here, thought I'd drop my 2 cents in. I'm from NY, and the no-smoking laws actually help me quit ('til the Army sent me to Iraq). It always seemed like I'd miss the highlight of the night when I'd step out for a smoke, have to get the whole story second hand. I was clean for a year, felt...

Hello from Upstate NY, I'm a first timer, and I'm kinda hopeing (hopping? hoping? I need a spelling tutor too) to get some advice before I start buying things. I've already got a couple of glass carboys (left in the apartment when I moved in, score!), I just need sage-like wisdom as to how I...