Recent content by Wynne-R

When I bottle, I use an autosiphon with a bottling wand. When you start it, it glugs as the beer displaces the air. This happens in reverse when the beer runs out. I combine those samples into a single bottle, cap it, and mark it. I drink that one first because it’s significantly oxidized. Not...

This is a question that won’t die. Check the label. Two ingredients. 15% dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid and 50% phosphoric acid. I suppose it’s possible Five Star added the DBSA detergent as a goof and we could be using much cheaper phosphoric acid. If all you care about is the pH you could use...

Craft beer is much more expensive to make because they use more ingredients and they don’t buy them by the trainload. There are other economies of scale. I can buy a lot of 8+% beers for $11.99. The ingredients are at least twice as much as Bud. No adjuncts, way more hops. Is Bud $6/six pack...

http://www.beerinbigd.com/p/north-texas-craft-beer-events.html DFW is the airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Nobody lives there. Dallas and Fort Worth are distinctly separate. Basically DFW is the dividing line. If you get it wrong, you will offend the local sensibility...

My carboys are in water up to the level of the beer. The temperature of the beer, as measured with a thermowell, is always within 1̊F, even with a vigorous fermentation. You can get some wacky readings when the fermentation is slow due to sublimation. For the two or three days of the...

AlphaOmega has it exactly right. I think you’re taking the wrong voltage, and you really are rocking 240. To put it another way, with your numbers, the efficiency of going to strike was 167%, going to boil was 130%. And that’s with no losses, which doesn’t happen outside of a textbook...

The test strips I have are for total chlorine, they read the total of free chlorine and chloramine. I know I have 3ppm chloramine because the water dept told me so. This is the indication I get from the strips with my tapwater. So far so good. The lowest level on the color code on the...

Carbon works better than advertised to adsorb chloramine. I asked about it when I ordered a replacement cartridge. They sent me some chlorine test strips. They indicated 3 ppm, which is what the water dept told me they add as chloramine. I also tested my years old cartridge, my new...

When I bottle I fill the first bottle until the air is gone from the hose and bottle filler. I add the last little bit of beer from after siphon starts glugging. I mark the cap on that one and drink it first. Since I never drink just one it’s easy to do an A/B comparison. Oxidation at a low...

Readings should always be taken at 25C (77F). Unless a temperature is given, pH numbers are always assumed to be at 25C. If you take the reading hot, it will be a little lower. Hot solutions are more acidic than room temperature solutions. ATC does not compensate for that. ATC compensates...

I think you want the thermometer in the water. During strong fermentation the beer is well stirred by the evolving carbon dioxide. Before and after, the bottom is going to be a couple of degrees cooler than the top. I ferment with a carboy in a water bath, and the temperatures reliably track...

I avoid plastic in my food. Can linings are particularly nasty. They are polycarbonate, made from bisphenol a resin. The FDA says it’s okay, because the chemical companies say so. http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2015/02/no-i-cant-why-im-turning-away-canned-craft-beer In judging we...

Check gravity? Always a good idea. It seems you’re on top of it, with tight temperature control and an awareness of the need to ramp it up after the fermentation is mostly done. Package it when it’s done. Most beers are better fresh. Thank you very much for not referring to a water bath...

Any day you can switch directly from coffee to beer.

I suppose your ammeter is looking for 12 volts to power it. I don’t think 21 VDC would smoke it, at least not immediately. Check your wiring. Unplug that bad boy and look for a short. Use your ohmmeter. As for the voltage, a DC power supply reads a higher voltage than the applied AC...