Recent content by fiat84

Great blog, very educational.

Made a stir bar by using a bolt with a nut threaded on the opposite end to counter balance so it looks like an "I---I". Then wrapped the bolt/nut in plastic vapor barrier. Took a heat gun and melted the plastic and while wearing gloves just rolled the bolt smooth into a cigar shape. Attached...

Made a stir bar by using a bolt with a nut threaded on the opposite end to counter balance so it looks like an "I---I". Then wrapped the bolt/nut in plastic vapor barrier. Took a heat gun and melted the plastic and while wearing gloves just rolled the bolt smooth into a cigar shape. Attached...

Agree those faucet mounted jet bottle washers dramatically speed up cleaning/rinsing of bottles. Along with the Bottle Rinser (Sulfiter) thing for cleaning solutions/sanitizer. Both of these gadgets make bottling much faster. Note we have single handle pullout sprayer so could not use the...

Had a 2+ year old bottle of washed Wyeast 1084 yeast from a friend with only about 1/8" white yeast on the bottom of a clear Corona beer bottle. I had topped it up with distilled water, capped it, and put in my beer yeast fridge. Sunday night 6PM made a 1.038SG 1L starter from 2 bottles of...

Not Windsor but Wyeast 1968 at higher temps for more esters and dominates the kit flavor. Day 1 April 28, 2011 - Dark Ale kit + Mexican Cerveza kit to 24L OG=1.044, washed wyeast 1968 yeast. Pitched at 70F, brewed warmer 71-73F, Day 17 May 14, 2011 bottled FG=1.012 = 4.12% alc = 72.73%...

FYI, brew Wyeast 1028 at 68F and did not think I would like the mineral water profile but turns out it is my favorite yeast after aging two months. One of my brew pub frequenting buddies tried my 1028 brew and loved it so much he thought it was better than any brew pub beer he ever had. So yes...

FYI there are two types of coriander seed: 1) indian light green, football shaped, lemony taste - better choice and used in brewing Hoegaarden from the Thirsty Traveler TV series. 2) western brown, round, soapy taste Make a tea from crushed indian coriander seeds then add the liquid only...

Last week used a 13 month old washed Wyeast 1968 successfully. For the first time used home-made stir plate with a glass coffee pot, siphoned off 2L of wort and added the washed yeast. 22 hrs later the starter smelled very yeasty so pitched at 70F, 12 hours later(40 total) there was some...

Another option is to use only a 5V power supply/USB which reduced the fan speed enough to vortex. Did not work with the full 12V molex computer power supply connection to fan molex(no splicing) as that spun all three 80-120mm fans 1350-2600rpm I tried too fast. Glued a big washer to the fan...

Read some Coopers guys state a few commercial brewers use their ale yeast. Some home brewers re-culture their commercial bottle ale yeast which is more estery than the dry ale yeast packs. Saved this technical post at http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25776&start=0 Coopers...

USB port's are 5V so using a USB cable cut off one end then spliced only the red and black wires to a 80mm 2300rpm fan red/black wires and its working fine am getting a small vortex. No luck with the full 12V connection as that spun all three fans 1350-2600rpm I tried too fast. Will hopefully...

Have used the same washed Wyeast 3944 Hoegaarden wheat beer yeast at least six times and counting now over the past year. Never noticed anything bad with subsequent brews, the 3944 yeast needs higher temps 76F+ to get the Hoegaarden flavors, it is comparatively mellow at 68F. The yeast...

Tip on Siphoning: raise the source vessel up higher if your having issues this easy solution has always worked for us. When the distance is too short then yes the siphon can slow, stop, or be very difficult to start. Practice with the different height distances using water first and this also...

Have made the white can Original Series Coopers Stout a number of times with the kit yeast + 1KG dry malt instead of other sugars and it will turn out fabulous. Google "Ditch's Stout" for verification on the impressive quality. In my last Coopers Stout batch I used the highly reviewed Wyeast...