Recent content by atkinsr

Thanks for the replies. Unless I hear something to convince me otherwise, I think I'm going to go the whirlpool cooler route. Being the semi-paranoid sort, I don't like the idea of having the wort sit for 20-30 minutes for all the crud to settle. I'm thinking I'll do an edge pickup with a...

I think(hope) I've educated myself fairly well on the various separation and cooling methods for my new keggle. All of this education has led to me being afraid of buying the wrong solution... and is starting to hold up the fun- I've broken down my old kit, set this one up, and have to get...

lol! That sounds like exactly the kind of thing I would do! Glad you got it worked out!

Day-yum! That is awesome! I am *so* jealous. I'm getting close to doing one myself and never having used one, I'm a bit concerned about making big design mistakes. I've read the brutus, B3, and Sabco info and like things about all of them.. and hate some things about each. This is the closest...

That makes sense, but since they are multiplying faster, does fermentation *end* sooner?

You can, or you can get a piece of threaded copper pipe and an elbow and be done with it in 15 minutes. I posted a topic today about the location for the ball valve hole is a keg. Somebody was kind enough to include a picture that shows this simple set-up. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes...

Good point. I didn't consider that. For those that don't know, the minibrew is a 2 part system. the conical, and the stand. The conical rests in the stand at the top of the cone, so trying to steer it would make it tip in the stand.

Oxygen, yes, air.. full of mold spores, wild yeast, etc. no. Once it starts fermenting, from that point on, the less exposure, the better.

co2 and ball valve. Very cool idea! I don't know about the hand truck, but was thinking of mounting the base to a furniture dolly. Hmm. More tinkering. woo-hoo!

Thanks for the reply. When you talk about the tube on the outside being lower than the bottom of the pick-up tube, you are talking about the drain tube, not the ball valve outlet, correct? I can't imagine how the valve outlet itself would be lower than the pickup tube. Thanks again!

Top cut, keg semi-polished. weldless fitting, ball-valve, etc. in hand. I don't have the pick-up tube or any false bottom yet. I'm setting these up so as to be completely interchangeable. Can somebody tell me how high above the skirt weld I should drill the hole for the valve/shank assembly...

There's a tool used in winemaking for this (actually, the opposite - it's to de-gas). It's called a stir-mix or a mix-stir. It's about $15-$30 (plastic shaft/stainless shaft), hooks to a drill motor, and if ran at high enough speed, creates a vortex that will suck the entire room into the fermenter.

Fermenters: I have buckets and carboys, both 5 and 7 gal glass. No better bottles. I just bought a minibrew fermenter that I'll be using for 10 gal batches. haven't used it yet, so no comment on that. I'm a bit leery of the better bottles. I'll wait a few years to buy one. 7 gal carboys are...

Thanks for the replies so far! I do not want to split it up into smaller amounts and carry it. One of my main reasons for buying the conical is for airless transfers. from keggle to bottom of conical (trub valve), from conical racking valve into corny keg. A little CO and the beer never sees...

Am I the only person on earth that has been less than happy with their BC? The rubber o-ring of mine is on the roller itself, I'm guessing it's not supposed to be there. The hopper is held to the frame with bolts, but they don't go through holes in the hopper, they go through slots. Twice now...