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Has anyone continued to use one of these? I noticed there is a decent selection offered on Amazon, but they all seem to expand to 1/2" diameter past the initial barb connection. I'm guessing this is to make the filler tip/spring easier to work with. Seems to me this is going to increase the...

I feel like I'm being asked to have an ultrasound on my wife to determine my child's gender. :) If something is going to make it come out with two heads or three arms it would be good to have warning, but I'd prefer to taste it and see how it goes from there. If you are in South Central...

I've tried a few mash outs with the dunk water temp up there but never noticed a difference. From what I've been reading about BIAB mash out is superfluous in most cases. So dunk sparging at the same temp as the mash should keep tannins from being a problem? I just did my first batch with the...

There are numerous ways to deal with high bicarbonate levels. I'm trying dilution along with acidulated and dark malts to see if I can reach a good mash pH without more direct chemical manipulation. Mashing thicker (than full volume but still thinner than a 'normal' tun/sparge ratio) means less...

Forgot another question that popped up. I saw a few references to 1.2:1 as a good ratio for a brew kettle. Consensus here in another thread was that number was picked arbitrarily by Blichman. I kind of like the evaporation rate of my .8:1 kettle letting me use more mash/sparge water while...

I've been using a cobbled together BrewinaBag system for close to a decade now. I like the minimalist equipment approach, but the amorphous bag shape inevitably results in a mess. I came across the big baskets online and figured it was a worthy upgrade for hot side equipment. Ordered it and then...

That site is a worse mess than Amazon- some of the pics show one with hooks at the top, others show no hooks but a screw on cap. How do you know what you are ordering? Sounds like you got the first kind. Any idea what kind of mesh it is? When I've looked around most have used 300 microns, a few...

With the widespread bastardization of the term 'hop spider', not sure what you are talking about. I'm guessing this isn't the bag from a 'proper' hop spider. Is it one of the smaller mesh tubes or a large mesh basket like Beermeister32 posted above? Was the wort around the bottom overheated and...

As another twist on B. above, I'm thinking if the 300 microns is restricting fluid flow, those tiny pockets between the kettle and the mesh created by the thickness of the basket frame are at risk for scorching. I can always hope for a psuedo-decoction effect I guess. A test run with the legs on...

A: So no concern in a plain kettle, and only needed otherwise if your basket is pretty much an exact match for the ID of the valved kettle (in which case you couldn't use a thermometer port with or without the legs). B: Only relevant when used as a basket for mashing and needing to apply direct...

Does using lead in items like this save money or time for the manufacturer? Is there a way for the consumer to easily test for it?

Why do the baskets have the legs on them? If the basket was on the bottom wouldn't it heat up with it's contents at the same rate as the kettle?

If you use something like a brew bucket, what do you do to control airflow? I tried a nylon mesh bag from my BIAB setup that fit snug around the sides, but there were fruit flies inside when I checked on it. A regular airlock setup won't work because you need free air exchange, right? How about...

Going to the title of the thread, at what point does a mass of fermenting apple juice transition from a 'starter' to 'fermented cider'? Do i go by % of fermented sugars, airlock activity, or what? I initially started with the smack pack in 2 gallons of cider, thinking i would pitch more in a few...

I have a number of reasons not to sulfite, primarily that i've found it superfluous. Ive done 8 batches over the last 2 years, with numerous varying factors at each step, using nothing but sanitized equipment and store bought yeast. All of it turned out very drinkable. Using the demijohn, i'm...

I have 2 gallons or so of cider that i pitched a smack pack into 2 weeks ago, in a 6 gallon carboy. I am going to press more cider and want to combine it with this. After two weeks of fermenting, what do i have to watch out for with the yeast? I think i have 3 basic options; 1)dump or siphon...

You can (in order of increasing difficulty): a)freeze some cider from the original batch, thaw and add the proper amount at bottling; b)save some apples, press and add the proper amount of this cider at bottling; or c)monitor the SG of the fermenting cider very closely, calculate how many points...

I think these are very distinct aspects of genetics. Animals of different hair color/patterns that mate usually produce some sort of blend of features. If you grow 2-row next to 6-row will 50% of the seeds be 4-row? The number of seeds a single stalk has to produce likely influences the the...

I thought it was pretty widely agreed that 2-row made better quality malting barley, 6-row would only be preferred if you needed the diastatic power to convert adjuncts...

Do you know if your neighbors treat their lawns with any sort of pesticide/herbicide that could affect your barley? Looks like you might want a small buffer of space or another plant back there...