Recent content by bmckee56

Had mine over 2 years now. I even purchased a spare in case I broke on. Mine is not glass either and I believe it is worth it to have it available on my HLT. A ten gallon HLT (electric) is used off the top tier of my 3 tier system so it makes life easier. Salute! :mug:

I use a 3 tier system and have my filter housing attached to the unit and I use a charcoal activated cartridge so I can fill my 10 gallon HLT the night before a brew session and add in my campden tablet to get rid of all the nasties my filter did not remove. I set up my system with valve...

It has been some time since I checked in on my own thread, so forgive me. I have not made any of the liquid detergent recently however a few of my friends who originally were skeptical about homemade have tried it and found it works quite well. It is funny how times have changed me over the...

Thanks for the info. I also found I can adjust my water profile in BeerSmith2. I just upgraded from an earlier version and look forward to tinkering with modified water profiles. Thanks again. Salute! :mug:

This is the most up to date information available regarding my local water supply. I have never attempted to adjust my water other than using a home filtering unit with a 5 micron charcoal filter cartridge. Can some of you more experienced brewers out there check this info. and suggest some...

So I have been away from brewing for a bit due to a back injury and today is my first attempt at a 100% Cascade Pale Ale using my home grown hops. I have never attempted a single hop brew before let alone one from home grown hops. Using a basic recipe I have been successful with previously...

I have used the 5 gallon and 1 gallon strainer (paint bags) for a while now. Always with pellet hops and have had no issues. Today I am using my home grown Cascade, so it will be the first time using leaf or whole hops in the bag. I made up the PVC fitting with stainless rods to hold the...

I also throw my cleaned cheesecloth into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes to sanitize it prior to using it. This helps to strip away any residual detergent that may be clinging to the cloth. You can also add 1/4 cup of vinegar to your rinse cycle in the washer to strip away detergent...

I have heard many people talk of ripening the milk over night before heating and adding rennet. This allows the milk to acidify properly. Adding to much starter will cause your curd to be to firm, again this is what I have read. I have never made Feta before (actually I am very new to...

I have heard of people using tin cans, soaked chips and a soldering iron inside of a box. The soldering iron heats the chips in the tin can sufficiently to create smoke and keeps the heat down in the box. I have never tried it, but will do so some day soon with my Gouda after it has aged...

Try using a fine metal mesh strainer inverted over top of the cheese. We bought several of these the other day and they are fairly inexpensive and come in many different sizes. You can also add cheesecloth over top of the strainer for an additional level of protection. Your cheese still ages...

Great video! Easy to make and tastes great too! Salute! :mug:

I use a quart of heavy cream and end up with about 1/2lb. of butter (maybe a bit more) and a 1/2 quart of Buttermilk. I use a KitchenAide stand mixer and the first time I did it, I did not cover the bowl with a towel and walked away from the mixer for a few moments. I returned to buttermilk...

If your beer is in a primary or secondary, you will most likely have an airlock on it right? I would suspect that no lacto transfer would make it into your beer if that was the case. Now gas from the beer may cause problems with the cheese, but I would think in most cases the rind will protect...

I am not very educated at this process yet, so my comment is just my opinion from what I have read so far. Moving the cheese pot around during the process is not good because you do not want to disturb the curds during formation. Once the curd is set and you cut, you can of course move the pot...