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Check out posts 34 and 35 in this thread by The Pol: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/new-10-gallon-herms-pics-76773/index4.html I built a HLT stirrer using the same parts and it works great. Hope this helps. Ken

I got quick delivery on my Barley Crusher. Money well spent as far as I'm concerned. I love it! I routinely get about 85% efficiency using the factory setting. Good luck with yours! Cheers, Ken

I also use bleach to clean my fermentation bucket, but it doesn't competely remove the smell of the beer. I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen no negative effects of the odor. Cheers, Ken

I use the 6 gal size Better Bottle. Much lighter than glass and won't shatter if you drop it (been there, done that). Works great for a 5 gal batch of beer. Cheers, Ken

Take a look at this rig. Go all the way to the bottom of the page and you'll see that this guy sells the plans. http://www.alenuts.com/brutus.htm Cheers, Ken

I have and its helped me a lot in figuring out how to use the software, which wasn't always intuitively obvious to me. My opinion of BTP is much higher now that I have a much better idea of its features and how to use them. I hope the amount of info on the wiki keeps growing. There are still...

I've dry hopped about 6 times or so. Initially looks just as you've described. I've always added the hops to the secondary and left it sit for two weeks. By the end of the second week almost all the hops had settled to the bottom. I've had no problems with hop debris in my beer when...

Let us know how it turns out! Cheers, Ken

I agree with beer4breakfast. My boil kettle has two 1/2 in couplers welded in. One is for a 1/2 in SS ball valve. I use a pickup tube and false bottom on the inside of this coupler. I only use leaf hops so the false bottom works great for me. If you intend to use pellet hops than you'll...

This is why I do not like to ferment in buckets - you can't actually see what's going on in there. I have had three different batches that did not pass bubbles through the airlock as it was fermenting. Checked for leaks around the rim of the lid and at the grommet for the airlock - never found...

OK. Thanks.

I was hoping that someone would elaborate on aging with oak chips. I hadn't heard of this before. Specifically, Why is it done? How is it done? Thanks, Ken

You da' man. I am envious.

When I was doing extracts, I would heat my water to a boil, then turn off the heat and stir in the extract. Bring back to a boil... no further stirring required. A vigorous boil keeps everything stirring on its own.

That's amazing. I have been checking out that very same heat echanger design. I like the idea of it. All of the benefits of a traditional RIMS heater without the fear of scorching wort on the water heater element. This design doesn't look to be too difficult to build as a DIY project, but...

Yes. I installed a 1500W, 120 VAC heater element purchased at Lowes. I heat my strike/sparge water in my keggle, then transfer it to the HLT. Once in the HLT, the water heater element is controlled by a Ranco 111000 ETC, which keeps it at desired temperature (I used 163F for dough-in and 169...

Yeah, I must admit that, although I began sparging very slowly, I got impatient near the end and upped the rate. That may have hurt some. As for the crush, I left my Barley Crusher on the factory setting (.039 per their web site). Don't know what mill you use Dude, but any feedback on this...

Actually I was fly-sparging, but I elected not to stir the grain bed at all during the 60 min mash out of concern for losing heat from the MLT. Next time I think I'll try stirring the grain bed once or twice before recirculating to clear the wort. Ken

I've been planning this day since last Christmas. It was awesome. :rockin: Been doing full boil extract brews for a number of years using a Sabco keggle. SWMBO got me a MiniBrew MLT for Christmas. I added the MiniBrew HLT, a March pump, and built a stand for the whole shebang. Also bought a...

I've reused a lot of old, dirty bottles too. Always used bleach, just as you did, to clean them. My opinion... as long as they look clean (bright and shiny on the inside) they are clean. You have a number of choices for sanitizing them. I have always used iodophor and have not had any problems...