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I don't know why but I'm wound up. I need to unwind. Music helps at times. Miles Davis, Bitches Brew. Michael Franks, love is just like baseball. That works usualy, but right now, the asynchronicity is bothering me. Have y'all ever noticed the gaps? I can hear black holes. They are...

I'm not sure if this is cavitation or a priming problem with my March pump. In fact, it may be neither. It only happens with my BK and only when the wort is very hot, boiling or close to it. During the last 15 minutes of the boil, I attach my silicone hoses from the BK ball valve to the inlet...

I brewed a 1.062 stout on Friday 12/9. After filling my kettle, I drew off the excess wort down to an SG of 1.010 for a final OG of 1.21. I got 4 gallons. I used a clean but not sanitized bucket to collect the wort and stuck it in my keezer at 39 degrees, and there it sits. I'd like to...

I'm going to order a Kombucha mother and make some KT. I keep my house at 67 degrees in the winter and 73 in the summer. The happyherbalist says that Kombucha should be fermented between 74 and 84 degrees. So how do you Kombucha brewers keep your ferment in the right temp range? I...

I'm targeting 1.060 OG for my next brew, which will be an American stout. I will be using Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50. I have one Activator pack manufactured Sept 6, 2011. This will be a 10 gallon brew. I don't have a stirplate yet or an O2 system (will be buying both soon, but not in...

This is a poem by Edgar Allen Poe: The Glory of Intoxication Alcohol und Nikotine Rafft die Halbe Menschheit hin Ohne Alkohol und Rauch Stirbt die andere Hälfte auch Der grösste Feind der Menschheit wohl Das ist und bleibt der Alcohol Doch in der Bibel steht geschrieben Du...

I just bought a new #12 size electric grinder. I mainly bought it for making sausage, but I want to grind some beef for chili. Yes, I know there is the big debate over hand cut versus chili grind, and I don't want to get into that. I usually hand cut a mix of chuck and sirloin, but I want to...

I'm looking to replace the 23 tip jet burners on my natural gas B10 with something more controllable. The jet burners, even with a few holes plugged, don't work all that well for me unless they are close to wide open. The jet burner is OK for the HLT since I tend to run it near wide open...

I've had my 8 tap keezer up and running about a year. I'm low on beer at the moment, only three taps utilized, so it's time for a good and thorough cleaning. My lines are in good condition and I don't need to replace them. I just want to clean out and sanitize my lines from the beer out QDs...

who? Yma Sumac. I honestly don't believe in all of recorded musical history there has ever been any female vocalist more interesting, more amazing, more talented, with a greater vocal range, and more exciting and thrilling to listen to than Yma Sumac. Sadly, the poor dear is dead. She died...

I'm going to dedicate a 3 gallon corny to root beer, and I'm trying to decide how to set it up in my keezer. I've read a couple dozen threads on this topic, and the setup parameters seem to be all over the map. I read about pressures ranging from 20 to 35 PSI and 3/16th ID line lengths ranging...

I've never brewed a Russian Imperial Stout so it's about time I tried one. I would like to try an HBT member's original recipe that nails the style for my first attempt. I brew 10 gallon all grain. What are your favorite HBT member original RIS recipes?

I'm using 3/16th inch ID 7/16th OD beer line from Superprod in my keezer. This is your common garden-variety 3/16th tubing with 1/8th inch wall thickness. The tubing goes on pretty tight over the 1/4 inch tailpiece. I'm securing them with a #145 single-ear pinch type Oetiker clamp. At...

I want to put my CO2 cylinder outside of my keezer and run the gas line through the back of the collar. I want to be able to disconnect the CO2 bottle on the outside without losing pressure to my secondary valves and manifold. It doesn't have to be a quick disconnect. I'm thinking that a...

I just finished building my 8 tap keezer and it's been up and running for about two days. The taps are installed and I've got six cornies of beer chilling down in it right now, but I haven't installed the gas manifolds or hooked up the gas and the beer lines yet. That's all that's left to do...

I just went to the beer store and picked up a sixer of Stone Ruination IPA and a bottle of Chimay Grande Reserve. I'm still in shock at the price I just paid. I almost didn't buy them, but I wanted to introduce a friend to the Ruination, and I just like to drink a bottle of the Chimay now and...

I'm going to try to make some labels for my mead despite the fact that I know little (nothing really) about graphic design or graphics manipulation programs. I'll be using The GIMP. I barely understand it, so I'm sure it'll be a challenge. For a label that is very clear and sharp when...

Does anyone have one of these stainless variable volume wine fermenters like this 100 liter at Midwest, or this 50 liter halfway down the page at Northern Brewer? I'm wondering how well they are constructed and where the ball valve is located on them. Is it a flat bottom or conical? How...

I'm using 750ml wine bottles to bottle five gallons of mead. These are brand new bottles I bought at my LHBS. My inclination was to sanitize them in iodophore, but I was told I could soak them for 20 minutes in a sodium metabisulfite solution that yields 75 ppm of sulfur dioxide, and that any...

Cheese making has now joined brewing, mead making, sausage making, bread making, dehydrating, and canning and preserving in my repertoire of food-related craft pursuits. I'm excited about it. I made some queso blanco last week, and some mozzarella today. I was fairly pleased with the...