Recent content by BigCask

Yeah ... lame rant. Why do you care whether folks blog about it or if it's "hip"? Just do your thing. Otherwise you're as bad as "them" (whoever they are) or worse ... -BigCask

I just called the big local liquor store chain, asked to talk to the manager, and asked him if I could buy an empty keg from them. He said, "sure, for the price of the deposit it's yours." While I'm sure some will take issue with this approach, I personally have no problem with it. -BigCask

You don't (necessarily). You can buy new ones for a couple bucks each or so ... -BigCask

Assuming you have the right size stopper ... first try twisting it around a bit til it finds a hold. If necessary, if you dry both the carboy mouth and the stopper it should stick better. Assuming the beer is already racked to the primary, the act of drying (assuming clean cloth) shouldn't...

Doh! I almost froze my fermenting bitter after only 4 days of fermentation. Will it finish? I have a freezer + johnson control thermostat/controller for maintaining fermentation temp, and accidentally left the thermostat out overnight. The beer probably got down to ~40 F. I haven't...

Yah, I don't get it. Why'd your aluminum scorch? If on the other hand, you expected it to scorch .... why the hell would someone else volunteer their equipment for that? -BigCask

Sorry to beat a dead horse ... another point: You'll be asked repeatedly "Is that your homebrew?". You'll say, "no I spent two hours kegging 40 cans of miller light." They'll say "Oh. Hmm....Why?" -BigCask

For the rum and coke I can understand ... But for BMC? This sounds like a lot of work for little payoff. How about an ice chest with cans/bottles on ice .... classic and low effort. Plus, the transfer to a corny can only make the end product worse, not better. I'm just saying .... -BigCask

Ditto woopig's question: If dry hopping in the primary .... do you have to leave it a bit longer compared to dry hopping in secondary? The thinking being that by dry hopping in secondary the circulation provided by syphoning onto the hops may move things along a bit quicker. Thanks BigCask

I have a couple of them .... I've used them several times and they haven't failed me, but the plastic clasp/buckle makes me nervous when carrying a full 5 gallon glass carboy. This link shows a similar style buckle to the one that's used on the top strap of the brew hauler...

Too late to stop you now ... But 72 F is nothing to worry about. If you said you were at 80 F then turn off the football game and get your swamp cooler going. But for a first batch I'd say 72 is about near as optimal as you'd hope to get. -BigCask

I used copper wire (from regular romex electrical wiring) to bind the coils together. Seems pretty sturdy ... -BigCask

I use O-ring lube: http://stores.kegconnection.com/Detail.bok?no=18 Works pretty well... -BigCask

I do think it's real. But I also think there's about 1000 missed shots per succesful shot. That's where my "too much time on their hands" comment comes from. -BigCask

Yeah, cool I guess. Obviously edited to oblivion. It must mean I'm getting old when all I think is "too much time on their hands." Then again, I'll have time this weekend to brew 10 gallons of whole hop IPA. To each his own .... -BigCask