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Hi, Apologies if I should have been able to find this already. I'm trying to design an electric brewery that will work both in the US and in Australia and Europe, so that I didn't have to build separate units for different coountries. At the moment, here in Australia, I'm using a 240V 1900W...

I have a GFCI on my powerboard at the front of the house for the whole house, how do I benefit from having another one next to my brewing equipment, as some people recommend? Is it a scientific, or sub-rational "another wouldn't hurt" thing?

Hi, Here is a wee vid that shows the Watts vent seen/discussed here and on the Brewtroller board as a way of allowing a March (or any other flooded inlet type) pump to prime itself without human intervention. http://www.youtube.com/user/Yergs?feature=mhum (Oh and you don't need the electrics...

A google gave me conflicting information on the question of the right Ph reading at room temperature. Two Questions: 1/ If I cool a sample of my mash to get it to room temperature, or within the automatic temperature compensation range of my Ph meter, is the Ph I want to see around 5.2-5.3 or...

I bought a 150l chest freezer to contain liquid, which I'll use through my Chiller. I will pre-chill with tap water, but then switch to the chest freezer, using a pond pump to move the liquid through the chiller. The night before a brew, I will turn on the freezer on and cool the liquid to...

If you are ramping at greater than 1C per minute in a HERMS setup, what are the design elements that allow you to do it? (Please don't turn this into a HERMS can or can't do step mashing - I've read enough on that elsewhere. I really just want to hear from people who actually do step with...

I usually use Wyeast liquid yeasts, but didn't have time for a starter this time. Thought I'd grab a dry yeast and give it a try - the Safale 04. I'm making a EPA. I've since heard mixed reports - the main issue for me is that it can generate 'bready notes' that many find unpleasant. If they...

I have a steam powered mash system with a PID Controller. These controllers have an autotune function - they will oscillate around a set point and then decide on the appropriate PID parameters. Unfortunately, in an insulated mash tun, the overshoot takes so long to come back down that the...

I like Kolsch. But the wyeast kolsch yeast is a bastard when it comes to flocculation. I like to make large starters in an erlenmyer flask using DME to ensure yeast health in the main ferment. Problem is, with very low flocculating yeast, much of the yeast is poured out and wasted when...

I have read somewhere that after a cerain number of hours, the yeast count of a starter does not increase, but that the yeast are simply tiring and ageing as they complete the starter fermentation. The suggestion was that - I think - at high krausen the starter could be crash chilled to keep...

Bought myself a fridge, and have an external controller for it. But let's say I want to lager at 0 Celcius / 32 F. The fridge's own thermostat would turn the power off, and I would never get to 0. So how do you bypass it?

I recently bought a plate chiller like this one pictured. Not that impressed. It's slow, despite what I read about other users. I wonder if I'm using it correctly. I am using counterflow, with the water running in the direction of the "V" ripples on the plate and the wort running in the...

I'm thinking of buying a plate chiller, and I use pellet hops. I hear you need to pre-filter with a stainless steel scrubby or get a block chiller every time. Kind of sounds like it might be more of a problem than a solution. Anyone using one of these and happy with how it works? How do you...

I have come across the late George Fix's 40-60-70 schedule over the years, and have understood that you can vary the time at 60 Celsius and then at 70 Celsius to adjust the fermentability of the wort. Does anyone have any details on how exactly to go about it? For example, how much time at...

Hi folks. I found some stuff on the mcmaster carr site to make the next incarnation of my steam mashing setup. Problem is, they won't ship to Australia. Is anyone willing to go out of their way to buy the stuff and send it over - at no out of pocket expense? ( I could work out an advance...

Been searching - but I can't find it. Apparently there are some plans for a tippy dump for the MLT on this site??? Please supply a link if you can. Cheers.

(Sorry about the long post, folks.) I have an electric Urn as a HLT. It is too small, and rather than making a new electric HLT, I am considering the following. What do you think? Instead of a HLT, make an electric instantaneous water supply. See the attached diagram. Electric...

Here is a youtube link. This is the steam generator and injector part of my kit. It is controlled by a PID controller, switching the mains solenoid valve you will see. A mash stirrer is used inside the tun when in use. Your comments are welcome.

So close, yet so far away. I have just conducted two tests with grain in my steam powered mash tun. The tun is an orange cooler. I set the PID controller to auto-tune. The auto-tune capability works by deliberately overshooting and observing the response of the system. It see-saws around...

For those getting a little more serious, the need to be able to ferment, lager, and dispense concurrently presents a problem. Essentially this means up to three different temps. Before I augment my chest freezer with 2 more fridges/freezers, I wonder if there is another way. So I'm thinking...