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I was making a 4L yeast starter from 1# of DME yesterday. After the hot break there was the usual "hot break trub" suspended in the resulting wort. I really hate the way the trub looks when suspended in the wort while it is on the stir plate, and that got me wondering.... When propagating...

I have been fermenting in un-modified Sankes for a while, and cleaning them is not really that difficult. I do two things to help prevent infections: 1) I use PBW and fill the keg 2/3 full with water. I then place it on my burner and heat it to ~120F. I then use a carboy brush and scrub it...

OneHoppyGuy, Thank you for the great picture, that is really cool! There are half a dozen great ideas going on in that picture! I LOVE the idea of a mechanical "dump". I really should have paid more attention to the rather pervasive practice of having the HLT on top with the Mashtun below...

OneHoppyGuy, "Scary" was not what I was expecting, but I appreciate the feedback. I looked @ your gallery and you obviously have above average knowledge/experience, so I would love it if you would make suggestions on how to reduce the scariness factor. I will say that the setup as...

GrantH, You should really listen to the advice Greenbasterd gave you: I just built one the other day, and I had a ton of problems until I slowed it down. Most PC fans use BLDC (Brush-Less Direct Current) motors, these motors are typically rated in RPMs/Volt. Most BLDC fan motors for PCs are...

My All Grain mashing system consists of two 1/2bbl Sanke Kegs. The "Top Keg" has a drain in the bottom, and the bottom keg is sitting on my homemade burner. The bottom keg has four SS "supports" welded to it to make sure the top keg stays securely in place. I use two "bags" for my grain...

I am BY NO MEANS an expert; this was my first attempt at an American Brown All Grain recipe, and like you, I wanted to keep the grain bill simple. I was quite pleased with it: Recipe First Try American Brown Style American Brown Ale Brewer Fish4Fun Batch 6.5 gal...

Work has gotten in the way of my play time, but I thought I would post a couple of pictures. The first is of the mold/parts/inserts I made for the non-liquid coolant version of the cooler. The TEC is "sandwiched" between two of the parts shown. The mold is shown "assembled" with an insert in...

Good News // Bad News // Next Step. Good News: The simple/cheap TEC set up with just a piece of aluminum and two PC cooling fans cools almost effectively as the liquid transfer version (pump/radiator/fan). It pulls the H2O temp down to ~3.5C (38.3F) at almost exactly the same rate as the...

I am interested in water to define the TEC system parameters. While I am ultimately interested in keeping wort at a specific temperature during fermentation, there are too many variables in fermentation to accurately define what the TEC system is capable of. Once the system is defined, it is...

MC, I would like to thank you for a very detailed and well-documented (series of) post(s)! I have been reading a lot about yeast propagation, storage and handling and this is one of the more practical, "hands on" descriptions of the process that I have read. I have "read" a great deal...

Creek, Thanks for the response! If I forgot to mention it before, "Nice work!". Following are some random thoughts in no particular order. **60F basement & 50F cooler temp** This is a fairly small temperature differential, sure wish I had a basement, LOL. Assuming you had 6 gallons of...

CreekBrewery, Very Nice! If you wouldn't mind sharing some details about your build I would love to know what you have done. Specifically: 1) It appears you opted for heat transfer via aluminum heat sinks as opposed to a liquid transfer system (ie Radiator & Pump). That was my original...

A note to Mods/Admins: I originally posted this thread in the "Fermentation Forum" because I thought that is where it belonged; however, I am not sure this is where it really belongs; it might be better if it were in the DIY projects forums. There are only a few people following it, so it...

mattd2, Thank you for your interest. I will try to take some pictures tomorrow, and perhaps post some spreadsheet data if you are interested, but the 1ft x 1ft x 1ft box actually measures 11" x 11" x 10.75" on the outside. As mentioned all sides are 1" "pink foam" from home depot except...

Ok, here we go :-) The Test Box: 1ft x 1ft x 1ft box with 5 sides made from 1" foam and the lid made from 3/4" foam with TEC/Cold Plate/Fan/Liquid Pump mounted and sealed in the 3/4in foam. 1L of water in a plastic container inside the box. The TEC/PS: TEC1-12709 from China run @ a nominal 12V...

I got sloppy in my excitement and made lots of mistakes setting up my "test box". I compounded the problem by trying to continue by "patching mistakes" one at a time and then monitoring the temperature for a couple hours. At the end of almost two days of this approach I finally achieved 5C...

I was so encouraged by the initial tests, I set the TEC up inside a 1cuft foam box with 1.75L of water (in a container). I put the "cold plate" and a fan inside the box and the radiator/fan on the outside. I sealed it up fairly tight, and fired it back up. The water started off @ 15.6C...

So I guess replying to the thread is the way to enter the contest, lol, count me in too :-) Fish

Everything always takes so much longer than I think it will, lol. Anyway, I have the uController code close enough that I felt it was time to assemble the TEC, Radiator/Pump/Fan and "cold sink", and "fire it up". I am only running the TEC @ 5V (roughly 17W input power). The "cold sink" is...