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Thought I'd throw this out to the infinite wisdom of homebrewtalk! A guy backed into my car in the middle of the night, but was kind enough to leave a note, a first name, and a phone number. He expressed a desire to fix the damage he did. I got an estimate for fixing the body, and the guy...

Has anyone tried Trader Joes Vintage Ale? Its described as a Dark Ale on lees, which I've discovered is a fancy way of saying bottle conditioned, no? Would anyone recommend it? How have the previous year's "vintage" aged?

I just scored a $20, 7-gal glass carboy on craigslist that came with a custom styrofoam shipping container. :ban: I'm figuring I can use it as a insulation jacket. Any ideas on how to integrate a simple thermometer into the sytrofoam to monitor fermentation temp? I'm assuming the small...

Anyone coming through the Reno, NV area looking for a drink should stop by Cheeseburger Island. I believe its a small chain but they have a great beer selection! 40 beers on tap and no domestics! :rockin: I hear the prices are a bit high if you don't go during happy hour though (4pm-7pm and...

My second AG batch, a robust porter clocking in at 1.069 OG, seems to have finished fermentation, but the airlock is still bubbling. For the past 5 days, my hydrometer has been reading at 1.026 at 60F. Yet, the airlock is still bubbling... very slowly. This fermentation was originally stuck...

Black Cat Porter was the first really successful partial mash recipe I created last year, which I now converted to AG via Beersmith. This will be my second AG batch ever, after making a tried and true recipe from HBT last week. Thoughts on quantity or ingredients? The only changes I've made...

I've converted an older round drink cooler into a mash tun. The lid has a vent on the inside that leads out to a tiny hole on the rim. I assume this is for pressure equalization, but am concerned about losing too much heat through it during a 60 min mash. I've noticed that some others on HBT...

After spending some time looking at CPVC in Home Depot, I noticed PEX tubing. I searched the forums, but haven't found any threads regarding using this material as a manifold for my 10 gal round cooler mash tun. With a temp rating of 200 degrees F, this should handle mash and sparging temps...

I'm finally moving into all-grain :ban: after this extract batch of Blackberry Bourbon Porter. What is everyone else brewing this weekend?

I've had my kegerator for about a year now and still can't figure out the beer-out coupler. It is extremely difficult to seat and then even more difficult to take off. I've tried putting on and taking off the coupler with no pressure in the keg, with reasonable amounts of keg lube, different...

I made the Thunderstruck-Pumpkin Ale a year ago and have since started making my own recipes. After thinking a lot about the "tastes of Fall" I'm creating a pumpkin ale with some coco powder and maple syrup. I've got bits and pieces by searching the forums, but still am unsure of the...

Despite the apparent safety of using Iodophor for sanitation I just don't like the idea of it touching my beer. Paranoia? Probably. I've gone with Star San. But without Iodophor, I ran into a problem when I wanted to check my mash for complete starch to sugar conversion. Being an avid...

As I understand from "Brewing Quality Beers" by Byron Burch, two groups of enzymes work best at two different temp ranges (pg 20, 2nd edition) I try to keep my mash in the lower range (140 F-149 F) and then towards the end increase the heat (150 F- 158 F) to give the second group of enzymes...

Been reading up on apfelwein recipes here at HBT. Seems that no one does a boil as you would with wort. Is this because the main ingredient (apple juice) is pasturized and considered bug free? What about the dextrose then? It seems that members are just mixing it with apple juice and...

Anybody have thoughts on using a plastic cooler vs. converted "sanke" keg for making a mush tun? I have already have the keg but wondering what the best solution is for keeping a constant temp through a 60min mash. Can a plastic cooler really hold your mash temperature for 60 min? Do you lose...

Hey HBT, Enjoying the wealth of knowledge in this community. I think I've spent way to much time on the computer since discovering HBT! I'm in the process of moving to all grain brewing research and information gathering has dominated my life the last few days. My excitement for homebrew...