What is your most useless piece of brewing equipment?

[dkeller12]

My 1000ml flask. Have not touched it since I bought it as it is too small.

 

[andrewmaixner]

I pour my hot wort into a copper cylinder, place in cold water, 1 minute later I place my hydrometer in the copper cylinder and accurately read specific gravity one time.

I don't even do that, just stick a thermometer and hydrometer into the same tube and calculate the adjustment in 5 seconds.

 

[edroberts]

I thought something was wrong with that lady... Thanks for the new stuff!

Just kidding of course...

That's terrible. Have you murdered her yet?

LOL... no. Needless to say, I remind her every time I am taking time bottling instead of using those nice kegs.

 

[AnOldUR]

I remind her every time I am taking time bottling instead of using those nice kegs.

Wait . . . out of context this sounds like something totally different.

 

[edroberts]

Wait . . . out of context this sounds like something totally different.

LOL
Nice... in both interpretations. :rockin:

 

[AnOldUR]

Nice... in both interpretations.

Thanks to Yooper, the word "kegs" has a whole new meaning in my brain.

 

[Melana]

LOL... no. Needless to say, I remind her every time I am taking time bottling instead of using those nice kegs.

Wives just don't understand.

 

[masonsjax]

My tap water has high pH 7.8-8.0 using the 5.2 powder as directed brings it down to 6.2 on my digital pH meter each time...either my meter is off or they falsely advertise this stuff but I brewed two batches of magic hat #9 clone recently and only had enough for half of my water the second time...that cost me a large amount of efficiency compared to the first so its got to be doing something for my lighter colored beers.

It does do something, just not what it claims It claims to be magic salt, capable of buffering any grist/water mash to a pH of 5.2. That's not at all what it does. It will only help in a very narrow set of circumstances. No one should be using this stuff except the brewery that had it designed for their specific chemistry needs. Instead, everyone should get their water tested to see what their particular needs are and use software and a pH meter to tailor mineral/salt/acid additions to each recipe. The 5.2 product shouldn't exist as a commercial item being marketed to homebrewers. It causes problems for the majority of it's users.

 

[andrewmaixner]

It does do something, just not what it claims It claims to be magic salt, capable of buffering any grist/water mash to a pH of 5.2. That's not at all what it does. It will only help in a very narrow set of circumstances. No one should be using this stuff except the brewery that had it designed for their specific chemistry needs. Instead, everyone should get their water tested to see what their particular needs are and use software and a pH meter to tailor mineral/salt/acid additions to each recipe. The 5.2 product shouldn't exist as a commercial item being marketed to homebrewers. It causes problems for the majority of it's users.

Any more information or links on this? Could adding it to filtered&softened water potentially drop efficiency from ~85% to ~60%? What would the problems tend to be?

 

[dobe12]

Pretty much anything for bottling. I hate bottling, rarely do, and when I do I do it from a keg/tap.

 

[masonsjax]

Any more information or links on this? Could adding it to filtered&softened water potentially drop efficiency from ~85% to ~60%? What would the problems tend to be?

Throwing a bunch of salt into your brewing water without knowing what you're starting with is never a good idea.

Here's a Google search of this site with links that elaborate on the 5.2 product:
https://www.google.com/search?q=sit...XLS_enUS521US522&oq=site:homebrewtalk.com+5.2

To get started with actual brewing water chemistry, the tips by ajdelange in the primer are an easy, fool proof method to at least get you started in the right direction:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/brewing-water-chemistry-primer-198460

 

[chickypad]

Any more information or links on this? Could adding it to filtered&softened water potentially drop efficiency from ~85% to ~60%? What would the problems tend to be?

Read the last special note in section 2.1 on pH from Martin's water knowledge site. Sums it up nicely.

Edit: link Bru'n water

 

[xzcfzgxgh]

I know its easy to catch the bug and start buying stuff for every situation in brewing and consuming.

 

[Gavin C]

Read the last special note in section 2.1 on pH from Martin's water knowledge site. Sums it up nicely.

Edit: link Bru'n water

Thanks for the link to the bit about ph5.2 stabilizer. It's going in my trash when I get home. I have been blindly using this product for the last 5 or so batches. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[timpoulsen]

Worst investment, sight glass. The free stick with a mark on it works just as well for the little I pay attention to it.

 

[oogaboogachiefwalkingdeer]

I like my sticks too. Got one for each kettle.

 

[fuzzy2133]

I can add 5.2 to the list now as well. I was very uneasy about the 5.2 when the owner of the LHBS was telling me about it. I even kept asking him if he was sure and has he used it? Got nothing but yes and it works great...
Great guy but I think he might be falling behind in some areas.

 

[schematix]

my 2 blichmann burners. went all electric!

 

[pcampo]

I know im going to get a lot of gripe for this, but other than 5.2 stabilzer, i dont even touch my pH meter anymore. i dont want to spend another 80 bucks on a new eelctrode for the third time. So I just get everything right on Brun water and use pH strips.

 

[JimEb]

My large strainer. All it does is clog up and makes messes. I since just dump everything in the fermenter. It settles out by the time I rack and I've been satisfied with the way the beer turns out.

Also, (I'm sure to catch some flak here) but honestly my hydrometers. I haven't used one in a long time. I boil up the beer to the recipe and it sits in the fermenter 2-4 weeks, regardless. A gravity reading is nice and all, but I dont need it nor would I do anything with it when brewing extract kits.

 

[dmboiler]

my 2 blichmann burners. went all electric!

I'd be happy to solve at least half of your problem!

 

[andrewmaixner]

My large strainer. All it does is clog up and makes messes. I since just dump everything in the fermenter. It settles out by the time I rack and I've been satisfied with the way the beer turns out.

Also, (I'm sure to catch some flak here) but honestly my hydrometers. I haven't used one in a long time. I boil up the beer to the recipe and it sits in the fermenter 2-4 weeks, regardless. A gravity reading is nice and all, but I dont need it nor would I do anything with it when brewing extract kits.

Don't you get curious to calculate the actual ABV?
Hydrometer readings led to me discovering that
1) my thermometer was mis-calibrated, and therefore
2) I was mashing too high, and therefor
3) my dry stout was only 3.5ABV instead of 5.5

Though I guess that can see how its optional when doing extract, if doing grain it can be pretty important.

 

[masonsjax]

I only use my hydrometer when experimenting to test out a tweak to my process. I can count on one hand how many times I've used it in the last 200 or so all grain batches. When your process is second nature and you hit the predicted numbers every time, dozens of times in a row, it becomes a useless exercise. I'm not trying to brag or anything, it's just how it went for me and honestly, I don't care enough about the ABV to worry about measuring. If I were to miss by a point or two it's not going to affect my life one bit. I do understand though how some people would want to track every detail of every batch, I just cant relate

I do find the science of brewing fascinating, and I research a lot, but my personal approach to brewing is an artistic one, somewhat loose in many ways, strict in others. Whatever works

 

[Talgrath]

My beer bottle brush. It came with the starter kit I bought like three years ago, never used it once. If there's a bottle with something stuck in it, I just recycle it; after all I'm going to buy more beer giving me more bottles, the only effort required to get a new bottle is removing the labels (and there's barely any effort in that).

 

[MaxStout]

Carboy brush. Never had to use it for removing crud from glass carboys. After I rack out of it, I give the carboy a couple quick rinses to remove the big chunks, then dump in 4 or 5 scoops of unscented Oxy cleaner and fill to the top with hot tap water. Let it sit overnight, empty and rinse a few times, then drip dry. Always spotless.

 

[GHBWNY]

Carboy brush. Never had to use it for removing crud from glass carboys. After I rack out of it, I give the carboy a couple quick rinses to remove the big chunks, then dump in 4 or 5 scoops of unscented Oxy cleaner and fill to the top with hot tap water. Let it sit overnight, empty and rinse a few times, then drip dry. Always spotless.

^^^ same. After emptying my carboy, at the very least, I immediately hot water rinse it several times and turn it upside down. Can't imagine having to brush/scrape crud out of it.