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I was at a brewfest recently where someone was serving an esoteric German beer, which they said they had to lager and used honey, and which was deliciously refreshing. I recall the name started with a K, and found descriptions of a "kottbusser" online but thought the name was a bit longer...

In the interests of getting second/third/.../nth opinions and not electrocuting myself or my wife when we brew, I was hoping one of you brilliant e-brewers could give my wiring schematic a once over: It's based off one of P-J's designs. I configured it to have two lines (at 120VAC), one to...

Hey all - Working on a belma/cascade IPA recipe, and would love some input from the hive mind... I've done a number of batches of an earlier version of this recipe, which was far more weighted towards the bitter end with less emphasis on flavor/aroma. I've shifted a hefty portion of the hop...

Hey all - Planning my RIMS system (following P-J's excellent diagrams, namely this one) and was hoping for a sanity check on my parts list... Any wiser minds have additions to the below? RIMS Tube (Brewhardware.com) Heating Element (to be purchased from Home Depot, see below) (from...

Hey all - I'm scoping out the parts list for a RIMS build (so as to gauge cost and such), and can't seem to find any ideally sized project boxes/enclosures. The medium aluminum enclosure from Auber is just a tiny bit too small for my needs (I want to have the PID and four buttons on the...

I'm brewing an IPA in a few weeks for my wedding, and the schedule calls for Belma and Cascade hops (to about 65IBU). I've brewed it twice before, with the second batch currently conditioning (it finished bubbling on Sunday). With the first batch, there was a pretty strong diacetyl smell and...

I'm planning my first brew on a new direct-fire RIMS system (15 gallon kettle doubling as a mash tun with a false bottom, and a 8 gallon kettle used as either a grant for the RIMS circulation or as a HLT for the sparge). I remember seeing a system being described (and cannot, for the life of...

I currently use a 10 gallon (round) cooler for mashing, but am toying with the idea of upgrading to a 15 gallon kettle mash tun. The last brew I did in the cooler (a ten gallon beer at 1.056) required breaking the grain into two mashes. Not ideal. Plus, being able to do direct heating is a huge...

I'm planning my first brewday with a new 60L Speidel fermenter this coming Sunday, and am trying to figure out a few logistics before I pass the point of no return... Namely, the fermenter juuuuuust fits in my 7cft chest freezer that I use for fermentation, but I am a bit wary of the thought...

Has anyone else had issues with their carboys deforming after prolonged use? The base of one of my carboys is significantly (and irregularly; it's not just bulging from liquid, but rather has some parts that are significantly bowed) deformed. The plastic around the temperature strips is also...

Hey all - I brewed BierMuncher's excellent Black Pearl Porter, which ended up a touch on the sugary side (1.024, about .004 of which came from maltodextrin and lactose by my math). Typically I carbonate my beers by putting them under 3x pressure for a day, and then setting it to the serving...

So I realized that throwing two more camlocks on my existing setup would allow me to throw my immersion cooler in my HLT and recirculate my mash through it as a simple HERMS system. But this requires a temperature controller to turn my pump on and off as necessary to step the temperature up...

Apologies if this is covered extensively in another thread (I've read a few but didn't see discussions on point), but I'm waiting on delivery of a selfless whirlpool and trying to figure out the best placement for it on my 15 gallon kettle. I saw one comment saying it should be mounted about 2/3...

So I'm planning to enter one of my favorite beers to-date in the California State Homebrew Competition, but am riiiiiight on the line (stat wise) between an American Pale Ale and an American IPA... Actual OG: 1.062 SG Actual FG: 1.012 SG Actual Apparent Attenuation: 79.7 % Actual ABV: 6.6...

Brewed some batches on June 8 for a wedding that's in two weeks... Yeah, i know that ~8 weeks is still rather "young" for a beer, and cloudiness is an inevitable possibility at this stage. I began cold crashing the batches at ~4 weeks to 1-2º C, and gelatined them when they got down to...

Due to a change in brewing locations to an area with lower quality water, I'm looking into water filtration systems for brewing. The easiest solution, it seems, would be to simply throw a filter in the line coming from my kitchen sink (I'd prefer to use the sink as a water source instead of the...

I'm in the process of cutting new lines for a keezer, and am trying to calculate the proper line length for a nitro faucet. I used to get way too much head on stouts poured from my nitro system (1.5-2 inches, easily), and turning the pressure down gave a better result (~1 inch) but invariably...

Hey all- So I'm building my keezer today, and want to be sure to drill the holes for the shanks such that there's enough room to put a pint glass under the faucets. Except I left my stout faucet at my apartment and won't have time to drive there to measure it. Brilliant, right? Does anyone...

So we bought an all-copper convoluted CFC from Midwest Brewing Supplies, and are getting dreadful performance from it. Even at a trickle from the kettle, with the valve barely open, we're hard-pressed to get 72 degrees (much less the low 60s that all the CFC threads seem to report). Hose is on...

In my search for a good Guinness-clone recipe for brewday tomorrow, I came across a number of recipes that looked interesting. I ended up synthesizing them into the recipe below, and would love some critiques or adjustments! I ended up tweaking it in order to get the OG/FG/ABV numbers closer...