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I have my mash system set up with a home made RIMS tube (copper) and it heats about 1F per minute. I have a stainless tube coming from Brewers Hardware and expect that will be more efficient - perhaps 2 or 3F a minute. My question is - how does one account for the step rise between rests...

I've just cleaned off the ball in a ball lock valve. Should I be lubricating it with something before I assemble it? Ian

I want to give 10g the impression of being burbon barrel aged for a year. I've got 4oz of medium toast oak chips. I'm going to soak them in bourbon, then add to the secondary. How much oak? How long do I soak it in the bourbon? How long do I leave the wood in the beer? I'm intending to toss...

I've ordered a nitro tap and regulator - I'm picking up a beergas cylinder. When I dispense my beer with this - do I force carbonated the keg first with regular CO2 or with the beergas No2/Co2 mix? Ian

I've just picked up a kg bag of Superior Pilsen Malt from Canada Brewing Company. Such a good price drop from the Belgian and German pilsen malt that I could not refuse. What sort of characteristics differences should I expect form Belgian or German malts - I'll be using it for Belgian and...

I'm totally sold on dry yeasts now. I've made about 20 batches with the new fermentis and Danstar yeasts - and just started lagering a batch with the new W34/70 Weihenstephan strain. It's great to just pitch and watch. No starters, or oxygenation - great. So - my question - how much flavor...

I didn't cool my wort down far enough. It's sitting in the carboys at around 90F. What should I do? Leave it over night to cool? How does wort like sitting without yeast in it? Ian

I want to coil 50' 1/2" refrigeration tubing for a 10g chiller. Any suggestions on what to use as a form to bend the tubing around? I just can't seem to find anything 10" or so in diameter. It needs to be something with a hole in it or hollow so that I can bend the exit upright piece first then...

Will the 3" stem of a brewmometer reach far enough ino a mash after going through the wall of a 10g cooler? Anyone use this setup? Ian

I want to mount a dial thermometer into my Rubbermaid 10g cooler through a bulkhead fitting. Can anyone tell me if the 3" stem type thermometers are long enough to reach through the wall far enough into the mash to get an accurate reading? I know that there is a dial thermometer with a 6"...

I'm sorry if this has been asked before - but I couldn't find it. I'm working on my RIMS today - what are you using for the wort return into the MLT during the re-circulating phase? Do you go through a sparge arm, or just add the sparge arm when it's time to sparge? Or do you just have an...

Just ordered it from ACE. The bottom is bowed out (convex on the outside) slightly, so it rocks and doesn't sit firmly on the base. I was going to take it back and ask them to change it and order me another one. But do they all do that? - thought I'd check before I send it back. Ian :(

I can't figure what went wrong in my last mash. I probably would have shrugged it off except that it's the first time I tried 5.2 PH stabilizer. I brewed a regular brew I've done several times, that I've been getting 75% efficiency out of. 11lbs of 2-row US malt 12oz 80L 8oz Cara-Pils I...

I'm having a hard time finding a Rubbermaid 10 gallon round cooler. I see them online - but shipping puts the price up too high. Can anyone suggest what stores might have these? Ian

Can anyone who's actually built or used a RIMS help me with some advice. I was going to go with the a short immersion heating element - with the 1" threaded fitting. 1.45kw at 120V. I was looking at what other RIMS builders have inserted their heating elements into, and most use some sort of...

From a philosophical point of view, when is a beer actually born? I've been dating mine from the date that I pitch my yeast - but is that correct? It's certainly not beer at that time - it's just a sugary mass with yeast in it. Is it from the time that I keg it?, or the time that I pull my...

I've bought a couple pounds of hops. They are vacuum sealed right now. Any one got any thoughts on if it's worth vacuum re-sealing them once opened. I don't have a vacuum sealer - but can get get one - but is it cost effective? Does vacuum sealing reduce degradation significantly enough justify...

This is a great site...(US based) Alcohol: Problems & Solutions It has some very balanced articles as well as uncovering the agendas of the neo prohibitionists.

I racked too early. I miss-read the hydrometer, thinking I was at 1.017 about what I expected from my starting gravity of 1.072 - and the fermentation had really slowed so I was happy. So I racked into the secondary, and noticed I was getting a bubble once a minute - ready to leave it for...

I have a recipe that was milled 3 months ago. Can I still brew OK with it, or does something happen to the grain if it's not used right away? Ian