Recent content by Tidwellc

Just like the mineral oil, I'm kinda scared that would be a nightmare to keep clean. The thermowell seats very well in the lid, but there's really no easy way to take it out without ruining the grommet. That's what I was kinda thinking, maybe both.

I recently built an arduino temperature controller for my fermentation chamber, and am using a PT100 RTD as a temperature probe. It's responsive and it works well. But now I'm starting to question if I can improve it. I currently have a stainless steel thermowell installed in my fermenter lid...

Thanks for the advice! Sounds like I'm good to go. I'll probably forego the spice additions and just see how a straight cider turns out before playing with additional flavorings. Thanks again!

Currently have my first ever cider batch fermenting in primary, so far no issues. But I was unsure of the next steps after it finishes, since I see so much conflicting information out there on this. 5 gallons of apple juice (store bought), Wyeast cider/mead yeast, no starter. I added one...

I went through a few extract kits when I first started, don't remember the brand. I was honestly never impressed. There's nothing wrong with extract brewing and you can make some fantastic beers, but the kits always came out lackluster. I think folks are better off finding a good extract recipe...

How do you sanitize the wort?

As Transamguy77 said, it sounds like you've got an extract kit on your hands. The grainfather and other electric biab systems are for brewing all-grain beer and allow you to mash in the same vessel. Your kit basically skips the mash step for you. I use a different brand than grainfather, but...

Is that what I'm doing wrong?! Just got a kegerator and I'm about 4 kegs into it with homebrew. Sometimes I get a decent pour but most of the time its 80% foam or worse. PSI is good, temperature around 40. Does a smaller ID line with more length help?

It should work just fine. 5500w at 240vac would be well below 30A and you've got a 30A breaker in front of it anyway.

I thought working from home would free up more brew time, but it's unfortunately been the opposite for me. I've been averaging 10-12 hrs a day and a good portion of the weekends as well. The downtime I've had I've been way too worn out to brew. Thankfully I did a quick 5 gal extract batch of...

The what now? edit: nevermind, my browser didn't load the last few replies..

Around ten years ago my girlfriend at the time bought me a Mr. Beer for Christmas because I had been talking about interest in homebrewing. Was real excited, got started with the first batch and the fermenter broke... I just remember it being super poor quality. Anyway, I woke up the very next...

I started with wheat beers. Most people like them and they're pretty hard to mess up. Plus, higher fermentation temps and a little fluctuation really doesn't hurt them too much (at least not like other styles), so I'd say they're pretty forgiving. I would say look for some simple extract...

Welcome from Dallas! Super rewarding hobby, and you're on the right forum. Lots of helpful folks on here. Honestly, if you're careful about sanitation and follow the recipe, you shouldn't ever make anything undrinkable. Like others have said, it's making truly excellent beer that gets trickier...

Unfortunately, I think the M&B system has issues with bad temperature gradients when you don't recirculate. I haven't had any issues with regular barley malt and hulls, just with the wheat.