Articles

Today I will be giving my opinion and review on a new purchase of mine. I recently purchased a Mini Brew 6.5 Gallon Conical Fermenter. This fermenter is approximately 30" tall and has a 12"x12" footprint. Its very affordable for the average home brewer looking to take a step towards better production, at a price of about $210.00 after shipping costs, I felt this wasn't a bad price for something pre built. Its made of food grade plastic for the tank, and the legs and frame are made of aluminum, so its only about 12 pounds empty. When I received it I was surprised to see it included the airlock and bung stopper. It also comes packed with all hardware needed, including the filling opening cover, two different size ball valves for racking...

Today I will be giving my opinion and review on a new purchase of mine. I recently purchased a Mini Brew 6.5 Gallon Conical Fermenter. This fermenter is approximately 30" tall and has a 12"x12" footprint. Its very affordable for the average home brewer looking to take a step towards better production, at a price of about $210.00 after shipping costs, I felt this wasn't a bad price for something pre built. Its made of food grade plastic for the tank, and the legs and frame are made of aluminum, so its only about 12 pounds empty. When I received it I was surprised to see it included the airlock and bung stopper. It also comes packed with all hardware needed, including the filling opening cover, two different size ball valves for racking...

I remember the day that I said that I want to give brewing beer a try. I was cliping coupons and thinking of ways to save money during the modern day depression (or whatever they are calling it.) I read an article on how to save money in gifts. One of the suggestion was to brew beer. I thought screw giving it as a gift, "What about for my own enjoyment." This began my search in to what the process is. I came upon what seems to have been the guide that I think everyone has glanced over. "How to Brew," by John Palmer. This was a good introduction into the world of brewing. It was easy to understand and not as overcomplicated as many seem to think. Convert wort into fuzzy brew. I will offer what I did because it has began with limited...

I remember the day that I said that I want to give brewing beer a try. I was cliping coupons and thinking of ways to save money during the modern day depression (or whatever they are calling it.) I read an article on how to save money in gifts. One of the suggestion was to brew beer. I thought screw giving it as a gift, "What about for my own enjoyment." This began my search in to what the process is. I came upon what seems to have been the guide that I think everyone has glanced over. "How to Brew," by John Palmer. This was a good introduction into the world of brewing. It was easy to understand and not as overcomplicated as many seem to think. Convert wort into fuzzy brew. I will offer what I did because it has began with limited...

as many of you know, i'm a very active member here on the HBT forums. it's one of my favorite things to do to pass the time between brews. in fact, i enjoy few things more than talking beer with everyone here. one of the more common topics i see popping up on the forums is temp control, or issues with brews due to a lack thereof. one many of these thread i notice myself and others recommending some solid ways to keep temps in check during active fermentation. in this blog entry, i will cover the importance of temp control, my experiences with controlling, and not controlling temps durning fermentation, and offer a good way to cheaply and easily control fermentation temps. the 'Swamp Cooler'. first of, i can't stress enough how...

as many of you know, i'm a very active member here on the HBT forums. it's one of my favorite things to do to pass the time between brews. in fact, i enjoy few things more than talking beer with everyone here. one of the more common topics i see popping up on the forums is temp control, or issues with brews due to a lack thereof. one many of these thread i notice myself and others recommending some solid ways to keep temps in check during active fermentation. in this blog entry, i will cover the importance of temp control, my experiences with controlling, and not controlling temps durning fermentation, and offer a good way to cheaply and easily control fermentation temps. the 'Swamp Cooler'. first of, i can't stress enough how...

I have started to enjoy drinking sour beers but have yet to brew one myself. Logic says to start out with a easy(yeah right), low gravity style first and then move to stronger, barrel aged brews. The Berliner Wiesse seemed to be the perfect choice to cut my sour teeth on. After doing some research I soon found out that not only is there little in the way of historical process information, there are several methods brewers are using to brew this beer. I wanted to share my experience and some of the information I was able to compile from my research. As I started this is my first run at this beer so I am far from an expert so please keep that in mind as you read this article. If you find something that doesn't make sense please don't...

I have started to enjoy drinking sour beers but have yet to brew one myself. Logic says to start out with a easy(yeah right), low gravity style first and then move to stronger, barrel aged brews. The Berliner Wiesse seemed to be the perfect choice to cut my sour teeth on. After doing some research I soon found out that not only is there little in the way of historical process information, there are several methods brewers are using to brew this beer. I wanted to share my experience and some of the information I was able to compile from my research. As I started this is my first run at this beer so I am far from an expert so please keep that in mind as you read this article. If you find something that doesn't make sense please don't...

Home brewing of beer is an engaging and rewarding hobby, I'm fairly sure we would all agree with that, but at times it sure could do with a bit of an image makeover, particularly when it comes to the presentation of the finished product. Home brewing with style When I started bottling in two litre plastic PET growlers I knew that there would be a problem when it came to pouring the beer. For starters the bottle is large and generally requires two hands to lift into the pouring position, also its quite slippery due to the condensation that forms on the outside of the cold surface. Secondly, and this is the more important, the sediment will mix in with the beer as the bottle is tilted, resulting in a cloudy brew. I suppose two handed...

Home brewing of beer is an engaging and rewarding hobby, I'm fairly sure we would all agree with that, but at times it sure could do with a bit of an image makeover, particularly when it comes to the presentation of the finished product. Home brewing with style When I started bottling in two litre plastic PET growlers I knew that there would be a problem when it came to pouring the beer. For starters the bottle is large and generally requires two hands to lift into the pouring position, also its quite slippery due to the condensation that forms on the outside of the cold surface. Secondly, and this is the more important, the sediment will mix in with the beer as the bottle is tilted, resulting in a cloudy brew. I suppose two handed...

Supporting membership discounts are coming to an end soon and I don't want you to miss out. Discounted by 20%, now is the time to support your home for all things brewing! Your generosity goes to a ton of things, namely keeping HomeBrewTalk online, helping us launch new technologies, and of course, all of the giveaways you see all year round, including the HomeBrewTalk 2014 Big Giveaway - the biggest giveaway in HomeBrewTalk history! Follow this link now to sign up for your supporting membership: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/payments.php You can also gift memberships to your friends and relatives on site. Go to their member profile page, then click the Gift Premium Subscription to ______ in order to upgrade your friends! From everyone...

Supporting membership discounts are coming to an end soon and I don't want you to miss out. Discounted by 20%, now is the time to support your home for all things brewing! Your generosity goes to a ton of things, namely keeping HomeBrewTalk online, helping us launch new technologies, and of course, all of the giveaways you see all year round, including the HomeBrewTalk 2014 Big Giveaway - the biggest giveaway in HomeBrewTalk history! Follow this link now to sign up for your supporting membership: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/payments.php You can also gift memberships to your friends and relatives on site. Go to their member profile page, then click the Gift Premium Subscription to ______ in order to upgrade your friends! From everyone...

In this article I demonstrate the design and fabrication of a touchscreen based automated fermentation temperature controller using a combination of commercial and custom hardware and software. I have been home brewing for over 20 years using primarily partial mash methods, but few years ago I finally transitioned to all-grain brewing. While I have been able to brew some great beers, the next logical step to improve the quality and consistency of my brew is to control the fermentation temperature. I recently acquired an old used refrigerator to use as a fermentation chamber, but instead of purchasing a commercial temperature controller I decided it would be more fun to design and build my own. I wanted a controller that has a touch...

In this article I demonstrate the design and fabrication of a touchscreen based automated fermentation temperature controller using a combination of commercial and custom hardware and software. I have been home brewing for over 20 years using primarily partial mash methods, but few years ago I finally transitioned to all-grain brewing. While I have been able to brew some great beers, the next logical step to improve the quality and consistency of my brew is to control the fermentation temperature. I recently acquired an old used refrigerator to use as a fermentation chamber, but instead of purchasing a commercial temperature controller I decided it would be more fun to design and build my own. I wanted a controller that has a touch...

After seeing many threads on this topic I've decided to chime and give my two cents about welding. I am a professional welder, NOT a professional writer. Every time I see pictures of these welds posted in these forums I cringe and would be embarrassed to put my name on them. I know more than most but not ALL, so for you experienced welders out there, feel free to nit pick me at the end! Let's get started. First off, what does a good weld look like and what does a bad weld look like? Well, if it is clean and the same color as the base metal (your pot/fittings etc) inside and out that's a good start. If the weld bead is pleasing to the eye inside and out,your on the right track.Personally I like a bead that looks like what we call a...

After seeing many threads on this topic I've decided to chime and give my two cents about welding. I am a professional welder, NOT a professional writer. Every time I see pictures of these welds posted in these forums I cringe and would be embarrassed to put my name on them. I know more than most but not ALL, so for you experienced welders out there, feel free to nit pick me at the end! Let's get started. First off, what does a good weld look like and what does a bad weld look like? Well, if it is clean and the same color as the base metal (your pot/fittings etc) inside and out that's a good start. If the weld bead is pleasing to the eye inside and out,your on the right track.Personally I like a bead that looks like what we call a...

When creating all-grain recipes, whatever program you use will ask to input an efficiency to calculate the OG of the beer. But what value do you enter? In BYO, they use a nominal extract efficiency of 65%. In general people are told that with experience and good brewing practices you should start hitting consistent efficiency values. But what if you brew extremes? It is obvious that brewing a 3.8% ABV special bitter will yield higher extraction efficiency than an 11.8% ABV barley wine. (Note: This is the first article of a series of 3 articles which are geared mostly towards those who write their own brewing spreadsheet, but the info can be very useful for anyone writing who brew all grain) Say you mostly brew beers with an OG range of...

When creating all-grain recipes, whatever program you use will ask to input an efficiency to calculate the OG of the beer. But what value do you enter? In BYO, they use a nominal extract efficiency of 65%. In general people are told that with experience and good brewing practices you should start hitting consistent efficiency values. But what if you brew extremes? It is obvious that brewing a 3.8% ABV special bitter will yield higher extraction efficiency than an 11.8% ABV barley wine. (Note: This is the first article of a series of 3 articles which are geared mostly towards those who write their own brewing spreadsheet, but the info can be very useful for anyone writing who brew all grain) Say you mostly brew beers with an OG range of...

As I explained in the first article, efficiency is defined as the amount of extract present in the wort divided by the total possible amount of extract. This can be divided into different kinds of efficiencies that can be calculated such as conversion, lautering and brewhouse efficiency. Here is a link to the first article. If you are given an efficiency value, you should be able to predict the strength of the wort. Well actually, a software or online spreadsheet should be able to calculate it for you. However, many of you might have realized that you cannot keep this efficiency value constant over every batch you make; i.e., you get a lower efficiency value when making a barley wine then when making an English bitter. This is why in...

As I explained in the first article, efficiency is defined as the amount of extract present in the wort divided by the total possible amount of extract. This can be divided into different kinds of efficiencies that can be calculated such as conversion, lautering and brewhouse efficiency. Here is a link to the first article. If you are given an efficiency value, you should be able to predict the strength of the wort. Well actually, a software or online spreadsheet should be able to calculate it for you. However, many of you might have realized that you cannot keep this efficiency value constant over every batch you make; i.e., you get a lower efficiency value when making a barley wine then when making an English bitter. This is why in...

If you have ever considered supporting HomeBrewTalk.com now is the time. With the release of the HomeBrewTalk 2014 Big Giveaway we have temporarily reduced the cost of both Lifetime and Annual Supporting Memberships by 20%. This is the only time in HomeBrewTalk history that Lifetime supporting membership will be reduced, so if you've been putting it off waiting for your opportunity here you go! If you are already a supporting member the membership will be added to the end of your current subscription, so signing up now will save you 20% for the next year. To sign up, please follow this link. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/payments.php Both the Lifetime and Annual Supporting Memberships come with 2 HomeBrewTalk.com decals! Please...

If you have ever considered supporting HomeBrewTalk.com now is the time. With the release of the HomeBrewTalk 2014 Big Giveaway we have temporarily reduced the cost of both Lifetime and Annual Supporting Memberships by 20%. This is the only time in HomeBrewTalk history that Lifetime supporting membership will be reduced, so if you've been putting it off waiting for your opportunity here you go! If you are already a supporting member the membership will be added to the end of your current subscription, so signing up now will save you 20% for the next year. To sign up, please follow this link. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/payments.php Both the Lifetime and Annual Supporting Memberships come with 2 HomeBrewTalk.com decals! Please...

I enjoy fermenting all sorts of things other than sweet wort, I make Sauerkraut, dilly beans, sourdough bread. The thought of experimenting with the other cultures adrift in my home has always been around, but I never wanted to add unknown cultures to my brewhouse or waste ten gallons of beer. I had been wanting to make a Berliner Weisse for some time, I decided to experiment with the untamed cultures in my fridge. I made a typical 500ml DME starter and dumped in a bunch of juice from my latest batch of sauerkraut, set it on a heat pad and let it go for a few days. My research showed that sauerkraut would have Leuconostoc mensetorides, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus brevis. Not having the ability to isolate the L. brevis...

I enjoy fermenting all sorts of things other than sweet wort, I make Sauerkraut, dilly beans, sourdough bread. The thought of experimenting with the other cultures adrift in my home has always been around, but I never wanted to add unknown cultures to my brewhouse or waste ten gallons of beer. I had been wanting to make a Berliner Weisse for some time, I decided to experiment with the untamed cultures in my fridge. I made a typical 500ml DME starter and dumped in a bunch of juice from my latest batch of sauerkraut, set it on a heat pad and let it go for a few days. My research showed that sauerkraut would have Leuconostoc mensetorides, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus brevis. Not having the ability to isolate the L. brevis...

It is with great pride that I am announcing the launch of the HomeBrewTalk 2014 Big Giveaway! With 28 sponsors participating this year, and 94 prizes up for grabs, this is the biggest contest in HomeBrewTalk history and your odds of winning have never been better! Up for grabs are a 30A BCS Control Panel w/ 2 Complete Elements from Electric Brewing Supply, a brewery immersion course teaching you how to open your own brewery from Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery, a Complete Jockey Box Set-Up with 2 New Kegs from Keg Connection, and much, much more. Please follow this link for rules of entry and to get entered: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f168/homebrewtalk-2014-big-giveaway-459192/ Forum entry is limited to supporting members of any level...

It is with great pride that I am announcing the launch of the HomeBrewTalk 2014 Big Giveaway! With 28 sponsors participating this year, and 94 prizes up for grabs, this is the biggest contest in HomeBrewTalk history and your odds of winning have never been better! Up for grabs are a 30A BCS Control Panel w/ 2 Complete Elements from Electric Brewing Supply, a brewery immersion course teaching you how to open your own brewery from Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery, a Complete Jockey Box Set-Up with 2 New Kegs from Keg Connection, and much, much more. Please follow this link for rules of entry and to get entered: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f168/homebrewtalk-2014-big-giveaway-459192/ Forum entry is limited to supporting members of any level...

This is your last chance to enter the SpikeBrewing.com conical ferementer giveaway. SpikeBrewing has donated a 12.5 gallon conical fermenter, a great prize for every brewer, and I don't want anyone to miss out. Here's a link to join. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f168/spike-brewing-12-5-gallon-conical-fermenter-giveaway-451800/ Forum entry is limited to supporting members, but we do accept mail in entry which are added to the giveaway thread as soon as I receive them. Here's a link for more information on supporting memberships. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/payments.php After signing up for a supporting membership your access to the giveaway thread, and upcoming giveaways, will be instant. If you would like to get a mail in submission to...

This is your last chance to enter the SpikeBrewing.com conical ferementer giveaway. SpikeBrewing has donated a 12.5 gallon conical fermenter, a great prize for every brewer, and I don't want anyone to miss out. Here's a link to join. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f168/spike-brewing-12-5-gallon-conical-fermenter-giveaway-451800/ Forum entry is limited to supporting members, but we do accept mail in entry which are added to the giveaway thread as soon as I receive them. Here's a link for more information on supporting memberships. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/payments.php After signing up for a supporting membership your access to the giveaway thread, and upcoming giveaways, will be instant. If you would like to get a mail in submission to...

Good Enough To Eat I never thought I would say this, but some of the craft beers that come out sound good enough to eat...at least for dessert. I am reading in Beer Pulse that Well's and Young Brewery has created Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale. And to be perfectly honest it sounds delicious. It doesn't stop there, I remember one person raving about how delicious chocolate beer is. I thought to myself why not just have chocolate and skip the beer middleman? (or middle women). But what is the fun in that? Whole New Flavor Concepts Craft beer is not just redefining combinations of flavors, but whole new flavor combinations that take real imagination to even consider. There is everything from ice cream flavors to ice cream beverages with...

Good Enough To Eat I never thought I would say this, but some of the craft beers that come out sound good enough to eat...at least for dessert. I am reading in Beer Pulse that Well's and Young Brewery has created Sticky Toffee Pudding Ale. And to be perfectly honest it sounds delicious. It doesn't stop there, I remember one person raving about how delicious chocolate beer is. I thought to myself why not just have chocolate and skip the beer middleman? (or middle women). But what is the fun in that? Whole New Flavor Concepts Craft beer is not just redefining combinations of flavors, but whole new flavor combinations that take real imagination to even consider. There is everything from ice cream flavors to ice cream beverages with...

You know that brilliant idea that pops up in your mind while you're drinking a pint of your favorite beer, at your favorite pub? Yeah, that's it, the one about going around the country - heck, even other countries! - visiting and having a taste at all of the breweries along the way. Factually, what started out as a mere drunken scheme whilst in an equally drunken stupor has since become reality. Just recently, I have been sending out press invitations to microbreweries and brewpubs in the grand, renowned Montreal region... And to say the least, the response has been and still is astonishing. So astonishing that I've had to keep a tight agenda ever since. Indubitably, Quebec has in recent times developed quite the knack for "home-grown"...

You know that brilliant idea that pops up in your mind while you're drinking a pint of your favorite beer, at your favorite pub? Yeah, that's it, the one about going around the country - heck, even other countries! - visiting and having a taste at all of the breweries along the way. Factually, what started out as a mere drunken scheme whilst in an equally drunken stupor has since become reality. Just recently, I have been sending out press invitations to microbreweries and brewpubs in the grand, renowned Montreal region... And to say the least, the response has been and still is astonishing. So astonishing that I've had to keep a tight agenda ever since. Indubitably, Quebec has in recent times developed quite the knack for "home-grown"...

To help us kick off the New Year right, Spike Brewing has donated a 12.5 gallon conical ferementer to be given away to one lucky winner from our community. This great fermenter would benefit any brewer's collection. For forum entry you must be a supporting member. Here's more information on those subscriptions. Your donations are greatly appreciated as it help us put together community events, such as all the giveaways you've seen over the past year. To enter enter please follow this link. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f168/spike-brewing-12-5-gallon-conical-fermenter-giveaway-451800/ If you're not a supporting member you may still enter, and your odds of winning are just as good. Please contact me for details for mail in entry. Thanks...

To help us kick off the New Year right, Spike Brewing has donated a 12.5 gallon conical ferementer to be given away to one lucky winner from our community. This great fermenter would benefit any brewer's collection. For forum entry you must be a supporting member. Here's more information on those subscriptions. Your donations are greatly appreciated as it help us put together community events, such as all the giveaways you've seen over the past year. To enter enter please follow this link. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f168/spike-brewing-12-5-gallon-conical-fermenter-giveaway-451800/ If you're not a supporting member you may still enter, and your odds of winning are just as good. Please contact me for details for mail in entry. Thanks...

Note: This is the second article in a series of 3. The link to the first one is here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/take-the-guessing-out-of-efficiency.html In this article, I will explain how to calculate extract content of wort and sparging volumes. Conversion efficiency, as previously explained, is the amount of starch sugars that were converted to simple sugars divided by the total amount of available sugars. It should always be higher than 90%. I will be using 95% conversion to estimate the brewhouse efficiency. The separation of sweet wort from spent grain is a physical parameter that will be taken into account with lautering efficiency. Grain absorbs 1.56L/kg (.748 qt/lb) of liquid which will not end up in your wort.Let's...

Note: This is the second article in a series of 3. The link to the first one is here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/take-the-guessing-out-of-efficiency.html In this article, I will explain how to calculate extract content of wort and sparging volumes. Conversion efficiency, as previously explained, is the amount of starch sugars that were converted to simple sugars divided by the total amount of available sugars. It should always be higher than 90%. I will be using 95% conversion to estimate the brewhouse efficiency. The separation of sweet wort from spent grain is a physical parameter that will be taken into account with lautering efficiency. Grain absorbs 1.56L/kg (.748 qt/lb) of liquid which will not end up in your wort.Let's...

Not sure what prompted it but last fall I became absolutely bitten by the bug to have a true pull of British ale. For years ESB has been a regular in my line up, and a favorite of those who found their way to my basement pub. I found several articles here on Homebrew Talk that built on the 2006 BYO article using an RV "Rocket" water pump. The posts were really helpful, and now inspired, I set course to build my own bit of Britannia from scratch. Attached are two pictures of the finished work. Some of the things here that are different from other postings I saw: I doubled the volume per pump. The posts I had seen all used a single pump and required 10+ pumps to draw a full pint. I wanted something that provided more of a long pull...

Not sure what prompted it but last fall I became absolutely bitten by the bug to have a true pull of British ale. For years ESB has been a regular in my line up, and a favorite of those who found their way to my basement pub. I found several articles here on Homebrew Talk that built on the 2006 BYO article using an RV "Rocket" water pump. The posts were really helpful, and now inspired, I set course to build my own bit of Britannia from scratch. Attached are two pictures of the finished work. Some of the things here that are different from other postings I saw: I doubled the volume per pump. The posts I had seen all used a single pump and required 10+ pumps to draw a full pint. I wanted something that provided more of a long pull...

I've been brewing off and on with various levels of focus, excitement, and regularity over the last 15 years or so. Over the years, my tastes have swung between sessionable low gravity stouts to hop overdose IPAs and all the way back. I've had a kegging system for a long time and have often considered splurging on a nitro tap, but the cost associated with the special tap and special gas always kept me from pulling the trigger on something that I'd only use on some of my beers. Over the last few months, I've found myself drinking nitro cans or nitro tap beer more frequently and day dreaming about replicating that pillowy head, silky mouthfeel, and the cascading waterfall in the glass that proceeds them. It should be of no surprise that I...

I've been brewing off and on with various levels of focus, excitement, and regularity over the last 15 years or so. Over the years, my tastes have swung between sessionable low gravity stouts to hop overdose IPAs and all the way back. I've had a kegging system for a long time and have often considered splurging on a nitro tap, but the cost associated with the special tap and special gas always kept me from pulling the trigger on something that I'd only use on some of my beers. Over the last few months, I've found myself drinking nitro cans or nitro tap beer more frequently and day dreaming about replicating that pillowy head, silky mouthfeel, and the cascading waterfall in the glass that proceeds them. It should be of no surprise that I...

Ready to take the plunge into creating yeast starters but don't have $75 to spend on a stir plate? Below you'll find instructions on making a stir plate from items you most likely have laying about the house. Free Salvaged Parts List: Super Glue - (The normal stuff sitting in your desk drawer works great.) Computer Case Fan - (From any computer, even that 1980's one sitting in the garage. A 80mm or 120mm will work.) Old Computer Hard Drive - (Any size, older the better, doesn't have to be functional. Once again, the drive out of that 1980's computer sitting in the garage would work great.) Thick Cardboard - (I used the backing from an old picture frame.) Old Cell Phone Charger - (Any carrier for any phone, around 7.5v, one you don't use...

Ready to take the plunge into creating yeast starters but don't have $75 to spend on a stir plate? Below you'll find instructions on making a stir plate from items you most likely have laying about the house. Free Salvaged Parts List: Super Glue - (The normal stuff sitting in your desk drawer works great.) Computer Case Fan - (From any computer, even that 1980's one sitting in the garage. A 80mm or 120mm will work.) Old Computer Hard Drive - (Any size, older the better, doesn't have to be functional. Once again, the drive out of that 1980's computer sitting in the garage would work great.) Thick Cardboard - (I used the backing from an old picture frame.) Old Cell Phone Charger - (Any carrier for any phone, around 7.5v, one you don't use...

Yeast rinsing has been covered countless times inpodcasts, YouTube videos, and a number of websites. I have been rinsing yeast with very good success for several years. I seem to follow the same practices as shown in all of the above outlets. Over the last year, I have started to switch out my glass carboys for the Better Bottles due to the weight saving and the safety of plastic over glass. I haul my carboys to the basement to ferment in the fridge I have set up with temp control. Overall, I have been happy with the Better Bottles even though they are a little on the small side. One of the advantages I have just figured out is the use of the Better Bottle racking adapter to harvest rinsed yeast. As with most instructions out there I...

Yeast rinsing has been covered countless times inpodcasts, YouTube videos, and a number of websites. I have been rinsing yeast with very good success for several years. I seem to follow the same practices as shown in all of the above outlets. Over the last year, I have started to switch out my glass carboys for the Better Bottles due to the weight saving and the safety of plastic over glass. I haul my carboys to the basement to ferment in the fridge I have set up with temp control. Overall, I have been happy with the Better Bottles even though they are a little on the small side. One of the advantages I have just figured out is the use of the Better Bottle racking adapter to harvest rinsed yeast. As with most instructions out there I...

I've been posting about this topic a lot lately, it seems that many brewers want to harvest yeast from some of their favorite commercial breweries. some really good craft breweries bottle condition a few of their brews with what seems like a gift to us home brewers. Rogue and Bell's are the two that immediately come into my mind when it comes to an easy harvest. for this blog, i'll be demonstrating how to harvest yeast from 4 bottles of Bell's Amber Ale. my wife and i both love Bell's beer, quite a few of their offerings are regulars in our home. First off, you'll want to get yourself a 6 pack of the beer you'll be harvesting from. make sure you know the beer has enough viable yeast, and that it's the strain you seek. many breweries...