Recent content by brewstarke

I'd say your answer is dependent on your setup. What's your flame out/wort chilling system like? Can you chill your whole batch in 5 minutes using a recirc or plate? Or do you cool in an ice bath over night? For IPAs and pales I've been moving my late hops (anything I used to add with less than...

Depending on how much root damage there was from digging them up you could ball them up in something like burlap with a good pile of soil and keep them cut back to push root growth until you get them in the ground. Then drop the ball in as you would a tree without disturbing things as much as...

Looking back at your op pic it looks like you have a mini fridge element in there. Is that correct? Are you running that to keep temps down? I had the same set up for a few years and the only issue I had, which you may find to, was during hot humid periods if I was running the fridge a lot I'd...

Definitely not. Insulation is insulation. You've still moderated any temp swings you would see in an uninsulated area.

I think the foil primarily acts as a moisture barrier. I put the foil inside too, but mostly for easy cleaning if I have a spill or a gushing ferment.

For my first few years with the bcs I had states that were set up for hose changes. Basically just shut down the pumps and looped the alarm. I'd make the changes and advance the state with a din switch. I also had some ladder logic in there that effectively connected a "master" process that ran...

I think you actually may want to have some sort of fish/secondary consumer first in the chain- maybe after a settling tank or something. These consumers will eat the large particles (not sure hops are OK for these types of critters) and convert to dissolved nutrients that the phytoplankton can...

What if instead of hinging the legs, you made each side leg into solid unit (upside down L shape) that acts sort of like a table leaf that pulls out so the weight is bearing on the outside legs and the main middle frame. The top supports would have to be offset I suppose to allow each side leg...

Sorry for the super late reply- Here's a pic of our set up on wedding day. The plan was to build a cabinet around the keezer but ran out of time, so we ended up just hanging burlap around it. Worked out great. Still need to finish that project... We also built 3 other 'bar' tables that we...

I've been brewing in one of those 10x20 car ports with sides for a few years now and that's sufficed for me. It can get a bit steamy in there when it's warm but keeping a side or two open vents it out well. On the cold end, I've only brewed in there once while around 20F and it was chilly, but...

I got nearly all of mine from a landscaper. As I mentioned the pallets used by many sod farms are choice. The ones I was getting were only "decked" on one side so pulling apart was much easier. The wood was mostly white oak and some other softer but sturdy wood that I can't figure out. Someone...

The wife and I built a keezer for our wedding out of salvaged pallets (sod pallets are the best). Originally I was thinking of doing a jockey box, but after figuring the volume of ice needed (wedding was outside at the end of summer) and the logistics of maintaining the ice etc we went with a...

Would you be willing to do a trade? I've got 4 extra 5 gal ball lock kegs. I'll be up in your area at the end of October if interested.