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I recirculate fairly slowly; perhaps 1 quart per minute through a keggle false bottom. One thing I have found with the recirculating no-sparge system is that crush on the grain matters far more. I started malt conditioning and crushing finer and got far closer to the theoretical efficiency of...

I have a bottom center drain on both kettles. They are the primary drains hooked up to the pumps, and I think they work great. Having another port is not an issue, though. You just plug it up when not in use. If you go slowly with the pump under the mash, there is no issue with sticking the...

I have now set up both of the kegs with a bottom drain. It makes cleaning very nice, and fully emptying the kegs with a gravity feed possible. And yes, if I were to do it again I would flip the keg and use the sanke fitting as the bottom drain. I did not know about that when I built the...

I will try and get some updated photographs this weekend.

Ask as many questions as you like. I have changed the way that I whirlpool and drain the kettle since the photographs were taken. I now have a bottom drain that feeds the pump on the BK. The whirlpooling motion is only used for chilling, not for settling hop material or trub. When it is...

I took the two gallons down to somewhere between a pint and a quart. I actually got to the portion where the temperature starts to rise past 220F. And then I watched it like a hawk. It was the thickness of room temperature maple syrup when it was hot.

The total volume initially goes directly into the BK/HLT. It gets heated to strike temperature, and then I mash in with a portion of that water (usually about 8 of 14-15 gallons). I then leave it at temperature for 20 minutes. At that point I recirculate back on itself until I am free of debris...

I took 2 gallons of the first runnings and boiled it down until I was essentially making caramel. I make caramel quite often as a part of normal cooking, so it was just done by taste and sight and feel, but I know that it took a solid 90 minutes to get where I wanted it.

I recently did my first kettle caramelized scottish ale, and am loving how it is going so far. The depth of flavor is excellent. I could see enjoying it in a stout or other dark beers, and have even seen the technique used for an ESB. So, here is the question: What other styles have people...

The guys at Ska were awesome. They sold me two kegs after contacting them through probrewer. They just stuck fedex labels on the outside of the kegs and shipped them to my door. The Fedex guy was amused. I would not pressurize the vessels. It is not going to get you there any faster than just...

Thanks for the compliments. Where can I find your build? Using cornies was simply a function of them being the most compact and cheapest stainless vessels around. I cut the tops off because I cannot get my arm into a corny keg to reach the bottom, and I wanted to be able to do that for...

$1000 is very possible when using keggles. The system in my signature was less than that, and I am happily using it for every brew I do. What is more, I wouldnt change it a bit.

That looks pretty fantastic to me. I have been following this with great interest as I am looking to build something similar in the next year or so (probably a Joes 4x4). It looks like it is really starting to produce well for you. Joshua

I have a red currant wine that I am working on finishing right now, and have had others from family. They are excellent. In my experience the reds are far more tart than the black currants. Make sure you hold off on any acid additions until you are finishing it.

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Thanks, that is really good to know about the sulfur sticks. I think I will try and cobble together a large steam wand for the barrel and go that route. I would love to be strong enough to shake it, but a 53 gallon barrel is a little big for me. Joshua

It is still watertight.

I have access to a barrel that was used for a single beer. The beer came out clean, but the barrel was then left for a few months. It shows signs of some infection now. My question is: Is it worth cleaning it out and making it a sour barrel with bugs that I pitch? I was thinking about...

I chatted with a Bell's rep a while back about this specific beer. They sour mash only a portion of the beer, pasteurize it, and blend to achieve consistent results. My last sour mash produced a character I did not like. I purged the headspace of O2 using nitrogen, and still had the issue that...

If you do need to add another element, you can get a pair of 4500s run from a single 50A circuit. Sure does make things fast.