Recent content by Alan Hogue

Why would you prefer a hydrometer over a refractometer? I have a scale that I think will work. Everything has spigots, so I don't think I'll need to siphon... well except for the kettle which is just a normal pot.

I used to do an ice bath with 5 gallon batches and I didn't like it. To me, any time you have 41 lbs of boiling liquid, the less you have to move it around the better. And yes, the time to get it down to temp seemed too long. On top of that it can be really awkward depending on the size and type...

The kits tend to be a little more basic than I want. I really want something like fermonsters with a wide opening and a spigot to avoid any siphoning (and being transparent is also nice). Also would like to avoid using one of those hand cappers most kits come with. But it's a good point, perhaps...

Ok, so after lots of research and thinking about the comments here, I think I have a setup that should work for me for now. My thinking is this. Since I am looking to work with small batches, say 2.5 gallons or so, in order to have fast iteration of recipe tweaks, I think I can live without a...

Yes, this is something I've been thinking about a lot. Apparently some people get great results without it, but after trying without reliable fermentation temp control for a while, it hasn't worked for me. The new place I will be working in has central air conditioning, however, and I think it...

Hey, I think I get it, I know that a question like this will elicit sometimes drastically different brewing philosophies. I've been doing some fairly intensive research lately, and so many decisions come down to how you weight many different factors. Previously I weighted thrift above...

Yes, what am I thinking. I should get some stone bowls and some grain and let it sit out until there's alcohol in it.

Another question for you, if you don't mind. Do you think that Fermonsters have any advantage over traditional plastic buckets?

What do you use for controlling fermentation temps? I think I'm going to need a fridge or some kind of jacket setup because I live in a rather warm climate.

Wow, that seems cheap for such a setup. I assume you must have done a lot of DIY? The cheapest glycol chiller I have seen is alone 7-800 and smaller SS conicals seem to hover around 700 too. Maybe I just haven't shopped around enough yet.

Thanks all; so many great suggestions here. I am just getting reoriented after living for some years in a place where brewing was not really feasible, so a lot of these products you mention are new to me. Please keep them coming. :) My intention is to have a fairly small setup that I can focus...

I hadn't heard of the keggles, they look great. I'll definitely look into those. I'm tentatively considering bottling with 1l or larger bottles. I think bottle conditioning would be nice, and I would rather put more resources into the brewing side for now.

Thanks, yeah, at this point I know more about what I don't want than what I do. Up until a few years ago I was working with a turkey fryer with a 7 gal aluminum pot, a copper wort chiller and two glass carboys. I was disappointed with the wort chiller. It wasted a ton of water and didn't seem to...

I'm new here and hopefully this isn't an old/dumb question. I have a fair amount of experience with extract brewing using basic equipment, though it has been a while and I no longer have most of that equipment. I would like to set up an all-grain system that fits the following criteria in...