Recent content by matts

Junior, I like your design. Fans are designed to have air moving over the motor. In your design, the fan motor will get good ventilation for releasing heat. I didn't have a problem with this in my enclosed box, but I have wondered if the unventilated enclosure will shorten the lifespan of my...

Hi Junior, sure thing, glad to help. The first link I posted to start this thread had the link for the smaller fan, but then I found the larger one and went with that. I figured the larger unit would have more torque. Flomaster bought the smaller one and I think it's working for him.

Hi Junior. The rare earth magnets make all the difference. I don't think it will work otherwise, especially once your starter is full of yeast. I used the same 120mm fan as you. It still works flawlessly. Get the rare earth magnets and you're golden. Edit: As for the washer, I don't think you...

I have some GBP from Raj Apte, he did a show on ginger beer plant on Basic Brewing. You guys should check it out if you haven't heard it. (Edit: oops, missed dinnerstick's post on this above.) The plant I received looks identical to the plant on Yemoos. This is the culture that came from the...

gunner65, where did you get the nylon voile to make your bag?

Are your kegs fitting really tightly? I have 4 ball locks and I really have to wedge the 4th one in there. Right now, it's so tight the 4th one is a few inches off the floor. I don't want to cram it. I read somewhere else that recent models of this freezer are 1" narrower than they previously were.

Newbrewer63, that's a nice looking setup. My friend and I are planning a 10 gallon electric setup for his basement and we're researching options. How much have you spent on it so far?

Thinking of brewing Rezac's recipe but adding the steeped tea to secondary (or at kegging) so no spice aromas or flavors bubble out the airlock, kind of like what some people do when making coffee beers. I could still use some black tea via this method and get a little caffeine kick as well. I...

Do you have a recipe made up yet? I brew all organic and get my ingredients from Seven Bridges. Sometimes it's hard converting recipes to what I can find that's organic. Hops are almost always different. Sometimes I have to buy non-organic malts from my LHBS when I need things like rye malt...

Do you think the yeast in this yeast cake would be too stressed to pitch on top of? I'm thinking of brewing up Wry Smile Rye IPA to pitch on top when I rack this.

Hi Denny, my water is pretty hard, 210-320ppm if I remember correctly. Would you still recommend that I add gypsum?

I've read to use foil so the yeast can get lots of oxygen. So yeah, the starter was probably pretty oxidized. I don't know much about microbiology or what produces the oxidized flavors, but are the yeast able to eat and clean up any of those oxidized off flavors with all that vigorous...

Thanks! I feel much better now to know that I didn't ruin all yesterday's hard work :) I'll probably do some decanting on future batches though.

Denny: Oops, I only started making starters recently. I didn't realize they contribute off flavors. Oh well. Thanks for the suggestion Aschecte. I'm going to keep a close eye on it and use your technique if it comes to it. Edit: It was just a 1L stir plate starter, only 20 hours old, so maybe...

I checked it in the middle of the night and the airlock had wort in it but it appeared to have risen and then settled down. I replaced the airlock with a clean one and it was still clean this morning. The krausen is about 1.5 to 2 inches and appears to be stable. I've never had any of my brews...