Recent content by countrygent73

+1 on the butternut squash. I just bottled my pumpkin and butternut squash ale and all the hydro samples were delicious!

I think the two biggest arguments against this practice to me, would be; A) it would be very difficult to read the fine print through a carboy. and B) if it were to break, id would break in the carboy ruining the whole batch. but who knows, it might work great!

alright audger, you have inspired me to just build a control panel with a pid, ssr and e-stop. i will probably get a larger enclosure than i need, for when i decide i want a herms and need to have a pump wired in. Im sure i will have a few more questions as time goes on but for now i have a...

thanks bsquared, I wanted to try to avoid as much wiring as possible for safety reasons. I know the johnson is nema 4x rated and i figured i could get another nema rated enclosure for the rear end of the element. Is it really impossible to use the 1500w element? i don't mind waiting a while...

thanks sapperxl, I thought i heard somewhere that the 2000w elements draw too many amps for the temp controller... is that true or just something i made up in my head?

Hey all, I am still trying to design an E-HLT that can run off 120v service and requires no more DIY skills than i possess. Please tell me if you see any potential problems with this setup.

my wife bought me the nostalgia electrics kegerator off ebay. It had a bunch of poor reviews on the internet, but i have had it since february and it has worked like a dream. Like most kegorators it is set up for sanke's and there is just the minor DIY work setting up corny QD's. I think it was...

what would the purpose of the built in thermostat be if not to regulate temp? also, they say one would need a thermometer, not a temp controllor or pid. is it crazy to think i could control sparge water temperature just by the thermostat?

hey duckfoot, Thanks for the reply. I guess the "separate thermometer" is what i was asking about. To rephrase my question: Would the element be connected to the external thermometer and would it shut it self off when the desired temperature is reached, or would the brewer have to visually...

That keezer is awesome! Looks to me like you have 30+ years experience. Keep up the good work.

Hey Folks, For the last year or so i have been brewing with a turkey fryer and a converted coleman cooler. The turkey fryer served as both the Bk and the HLT. While this works, it is less than optimal. What i would like to do is set up a three tier system with an electric HLT. I wanted to use...

With all due respect, if we don't care what one another are doing; how can we expect to learn from each other, and why have we joined an internet forum strictly to discuss what we are all doing? Sharing best practices, is what advances any hobby, trade, or science. As far as the extract vs. all...

Hey hoosier, Maltodextrin is unfermentable and is used to give the beer body and mouth feel. Because it is unfermentable it really wont help you prime. Also, I would recommend never using something in your beer that is unlabeled and your not 100% sure what it is; thats a good way of dumping a...

hey folks, two weeks ago i brewed a pumpkin strong ale for thanksgiving. I plan on making labels for the bottles but i have little to no computer skills and no access to any photo/drawing software. Any ideas as to what to do? i was thinking it would look something like this.

Hey folks, I don't know if this is something that has been done a lot, but i decided it would be nice to check my mash temps without lifting the lid. so this is what i came up with. I placed where i did because i generaly stir in a clock wise direction when i dough in and batch sparge; this...