Recent content by Crashola

Thanks all! Your suggestions plus my discovery of Yakima Chief Hops are a godsend for this cheapskate brewer!

Folks: Some time ago I found an online store that sold dry yeast with some cheap shipping. They threw it in an envelope and charged only $1.00 or so to ship. Sadly, I've lost the link and can no longer find the vendor. As a notoriously cheapskate brewer, I would like to track it down again...

Thanks, I'll check it out. That $10 Chinese valve has probably cost me $30+ in CO2!

Northern Brewer has a nice video for a simple Keezer build. It's what I did, with the addition of lining the wood frame portion with some of that insulating styrofoam with the silver foil liner. Here's the Northern Brewer vid...

I recently purchased a ball valve for my CO2 setup to replace a leaky valve. Lo and behold, this one has now developed a leak. Here's the leaky replacement: https://www.amazon.com/Kegco-LH-BF13R07-1-Regulator-outlet/dp/B00DIX5CRW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 Needless to say this...

#2195 -- I can't complain too much though. It lasted me many, many years.

Oh man, it has to be the time it takes to do an all-grain batch. And I always go in thinking that, because it takes several hours, I'll be able to do something else like watch a basketball game. But it never works out that way. It seems like even when your waiting on the mash or the boil...

My advice is to be patient when you are doing all grain. For example, on my first batch I added the strike water to the mash and almost immediately started chasing the needle to get to my mash temp. What I should have done is, after mixing it thoroughly, gave it a few minutes for things to...

It's been a while since I made this, but I need to give it a review. Great stuff! Urquell is my absolute favorite beer in the world. Period. And we rarely get it here on draft. As an aside, the new packaging for the bottles has increased the quality tenfold here in the U.S. But back to...

I just brewed up a batch of this last night. I hit the volume and OG almost dead on, pitched SF-23, and it's fermenting away in my freezer today. I haven't made a dunkel in many years, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this one when it's finally ready. :mug:

My advice to first-time AG brewers -- don't chase the needle in your mash. When you mix the strike water with the grain, give it a few minutes for the grain to soak up the water and for the temperature to settle out. Don't start making adjustments the first second your temps seem too high (or...

Edit. Sorry -- i originally suggested using distilled water. I had the same issue. My wife even described a soapy taste too. Switching to RO water solved my problem.

My buddy and I just brewed a double batch of this on Saturday. It was a joint effort, but it was essentially two five-gallon batches on our respective equipment. It's in the fermenters and looking good. It should be a good comparing the two. For example, his OG was a few points higher than mine.

Lots of great info here. Don't know if it's been said yet, but I do have a "lesson learned" from my first all-grain. When you first mix the hot water and the grain together for the mash, don't "chase the needle" with your temperature. Give it a few minutes to equalize before you start trying...

I use a large spatter screen that's normally used to cover frying pans on the stove. It lets the wort vapor escape, while keeping out all the things that seem to blow around in my patio like cottonwood tree seeds and dog hair.