WBC
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone,
I am new to your board so let me say that first I am an older brewer and have been in 2 brewing clubs and have been retired for a couple of years and so now have the time to brew like I always wanted to. I only had a few items from a few years ago and needed to buy a lot of stuff to get back into brewing. After 1000 dollars I have a fairly nice setup with 1 upright freezer and 1 refrigerator, tapping equipment and 2 beer faucets, corny kegs, 6.5 gallon carboys for fermenting. I brew 10 gallon batches (14 gallon SS boiler with drain) that have been all grain amber ales so far. I use a 1/2 inch 50 foot copper coil to cool wort. I use Ranco controllers now which I really like to control fermentation temps. I used to make up my own controllers using old air conditioning controllers but the ranco controllers are much better and offer much closer control of freezer or refrigerator temperatures. I always dry hop in the primary after fermentation subsides for around 7 to 9 days which gives very good taste and aroma. I always use a starter yeast which I make before brew day or pitch from another previous brew. Using yeast starters makes fermentation start within hours. Sanitation is always first. I have been using Starsan. Warning: do not use Starsan on serving lines or tapping parts as it will attack some plastics and inpart chemical flavors. I learned this the hard way! You have to throw away all lines, washers, etc that become tainted as this can not be washed off. I wrote Starsan about this and they knew about it. Use beer line cleaner for serving lines only.
My next fermenters will be conical because that makes brewing much easier. I will build a small cold storage in my garage and cool it using used refrigerator parts. The inside will have melimine sheets. I do not have enough room in the refrigerators at this time.
I am new to your board so let me say that first I am an older brewer and have been in 2 brewing clubs and have been retired for a couple of years and so now have the time to brew like I always wanted to. I only had a few items from a few years ago and needed to buy a lot of stuff to get back into brewing. After 1000 dollars I have a fairly nice setup with 1 upright freezer and 1 refrigerator, tapping equipment and 2 beer faucets, corny kegs, 6.5 gallon carboys for fermenting. I brew 10 gallon batches (14 gallon SS boiler with drain) that have been all grain amber ales so far. I use a 1/2 inch 50 foot copper coil to cool wort. I use Ranco controllers now which I really like to control fermentation temps. I used to make up my own controllers using old air conditioning controllers but the ranco controllers are much better and offer much closer control of freezer or refrigerator temperatures. I always dry hop in the primary after fermentation subsides for around 7 to 9 days which gives very good taste and aroma. I always use a starter yeast which I make before brew day or pitch from another previous brew. Using yeast starters makes fermentation start within hours. Sanitation is always first. I have been using Starsan. Warning: do not use Starsan on serving lines or tapping parts as it will attack some plastics and inpart chemical flavors. I learned this the hard way! You have to throw away all lines, washers, etc that become tainted as this can not be washed off. I wrote Starsan about this and they knew about it. Use beer line cleaner for serving lines only.
My next fermenters will be conical because that makes brewing much easier. I will build a small cold storage in my garage and cool it using used refrigerator parts. The inside will have melimine sheets. I do not have enough room in the refrigerators at this time.
