Recent content by MOSFET

Two things for me: Full boil and all grain. I used to put more stock in liquid yeast, but I've come to understand equally great beer is made from dry yeast, but more styles are available with liquid.

This is exactly what I do every time. I sparge and heat to around 200, then wrap it in blankets overnight. By morning it's around 185, which makes for no tang problems and a short time to boil. Has always turned out delicious, with no difference at all to a traditional brew session. Sometimes I...

I'm in the habit now of mashing and sparging, then heating to around 200F, then insulating the pot, all on Friday night. By Saturday morning it drops to around 180F. I boil, and I'm done by 8:30AM so I can spend time with the family. Works great. No flavor problems.

I use an Atlas pasta maker. Setting 3 is ideal for most grain. I thought it was too coarse but it's real fast and I get the same efficiency as #4. I did my 11th pasta maker batch this morning and it still works perfectly.

Westmalle Tripel clone from "Clonebrews". Great book.

Soak all equipment in a 1:1 solution of undiluted ammonia and bleach. DO NOT RINSE. Combine 6.6lb of malt extract with 2 gallons of water. Simmer gently for no more than 10 minutes. Add ¾ cup Irish moss and finishing hops during the last minute. Meanwhile, bring 3 gallons of tap water to a boil...

I have no problem getting a 6.5 gallon strong boil with my propane stovetop. Natural gas should be slightly better than propane. I have the pot span a front and a rear burner. My main burner is 11,000 btu and the rear is somewhat less. When I used only one burner it was a weak boil, and aluminum...

Great job! I didn't expect knurling to work. Those are very hard rollers and yet hollow. I thought they'd need too much pressure on a lathe. My guy was hesitant to knurl. By the way I think you meant 0.050".

I have one and I've used it on two mashes. I got what I feel are strange results. I actually did an acid rest, and the ph INCREASED both times during the rest according to my meter. :confused: I don't know how temperature plays with the accuracy but I take my readings with a grain of salt and...

I've observed my carboy thermometer during many fermentations. When I cover the carboy with a blanket the temperature rises 5-10 degrees. When I leave it alone simply in a dark room the temperature stays the same as the room.

Sometimes I put my starter right next to the boiler near a bare radiating copper pipe. It's a few degrees higher there.

You can get an autotransformer, sometimes called a variac, on ebay. They use dials to vary the voltage. They are not isolating transformers. You just have to make sure the voltage is correct. UK I believe? And make sure the current capability matches your burner. Simpler solution, get a fan to...

Thanks for the thorough answer! I can't get past saying "signal to noise ratio" whenever I see "SNR". :p

What damage specifically? And, related, how does one know how well-modified his malt is without empirical data? This has always left me disturbed as I am trying to nail down these subtle details. I hate guesswork and generalized assumptions. I have yet to see a scale measuring how modified a...

No, my Xs weren't deep enough. What worked well was milling horizontal lines. After the machine shop did a few lines it was improved, but it was only really good after I machined a few more, but deeper. Definitely be careful because the rollers are hollow! Since few people can access a milling...