Recent content by zakleeright

I didn't like the limitation of those ocsys 3-way valves in that you can only go from input A to output B, or A-to-C. The manual 3-way valves can go any-to-any, and have all three open for easy cleaning. Mated to a rear window wiper motor from a bone-yard Chrystler (Cherokee or similar), via...

yea...did the starsan-bubble test to determine it was coming from around the seal. I Starsan'ed my hands, ran them around the keg where the seal contacts, re-seated the lid, and went from 8 to 10PSI, and it sealed...Thanks for the tag. I'll look around for some of those thicker o-rings. Cheers

Four kegs, all set to ~25 PSI to force-carbonate. Days later, carbonation achieved, reduce to ~8 PSI...Mmmm...beer. Just because kegs don't leak at 25 PSI, doesn't mean they won't leak with only 8 PSI pushing against the seal...recheck your keg's lid seals after reducing pressure, *******...

+21 on the RO...then .75grams/gal calcium chloride...all is good

I went from 5 to 15 to 25-gal vessels. It is only incremental additional time to brew double or triple the beer....and what's wrong with triple the beer!? :-) Even with my 25-gal electric pots, I can still do a 6.75-gal. boil, resulting in a FULL 5-gal cornie keg. There is no added complexity...

right on Elysium...if it helps I've used both Daniels and Beersmith (currently beersmith...easier) and the results have always been as expected. and especially agree with your sentiment of "great beer...not good beer"...thus the other metrics suggested as having far greater effect on the path...

This discussion all points to something I read a while back, on the topic of "precision" vs. "accuracy". There are so many variables in what the label on the bag of hops tells you the AA's are, and how many IBU's you can suck out of that bag during your process. You are using calculations that...

that gravity was very low. Are you fairly confident that you had the right amount of grain for the recipe to hit your target volume? As long as you track your efficiency with each brew, you learn what your system will do. then beersmith (or whatever) can help calculate recipes for you. if you...

What is the motivation for not simply using a PID and an SSR? They work beautifully, the fuzzy logic learns your system and nails your target temps every time for mashing. For boiling, set to "duty-cycle" mode and you get the exact "roil" you're looking for.

cool, Adeering. Please post if you move forward on that project...I'd be interested in hearing if the heat transfer from radiation/thru bottom of carboy is enough to efficiently cool/maintain 5-6 gallons of wort. Would you put place an insulated box atop the aluminum plate, such that the plate...

My buddy and I brewed 15 gallons of a blonde ale, and in one of the (5-gal)carboys, he shoved two XX LARGE strawberries, unbeknownst to me. I'm glad I tasted it before I went off on a rant, because it was DAMN good. It had a strawberry aroma, but the actual taste was subtle enough to still taste...

I've been looking at conicals, and recently found this article, about making a conical chiller out of some Peltier devices. If you're into the DIY thing, this looks like a cool option, even if you're not fermenting in a conical...maybe could wrap a sheet of thin metal tightly around a plastic...

Back on the yeast issue, I have made a few Alt Biers (and stouts, Ryes, IPA's, etc) using S-05, and tasted true to style. I have done a few side-by-side tests by brewing 15 gallon batches and using three different yeasts, and as long as the yeast isn't a major flavor component, the S-05 is...

We always used an oxygen tank and stone to get O2 levels up before pitching and have had good results with both ales and lagers, assuming we had properly spun up our yeast to the right pitching rates. I recently heard about a technique the big boys use if the yeast over-flocculates in the...

My brew buds and I built 25-gal all-electric systems, using theelectricbrewery.com and other sources as inspiration. Then upgraded that to 55-gal, allowing us to do 1-barrel batches. Its a sweet system that enables you to nail your targets with repeatability. For 25-gal, (18-gal batches) we used...