Recent content by cj8scrambler

I have the Illinois plate: Hmmm. I just noticed that my plates are 2 months past expiration. Where did that new sticker go?

I was looking for a cheap MIG welder last year and ended up getting a Clarke 130EN. I have been happy with it so far, but I only use it occasionally. It runs off a 110V outlet which was a requirement since I don't have 220 service in my garage. As others have said, be sure to get the gas...

I just got an order in from thinkgeek and the catalog shows that you can get your favorite microbe as a stuffed animal. They carry everyone's favorite: Saccharomyces Cerevisiae. http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/plush/6708/

I've been using Perfect Brewing since they opened the Libertyville store. However the last couple of times I went they were short on grain and wouldn't sell full bags (55lbs) of it. They also had a warehouse store in Mt. Prospect, but I' don't know if that is still open. I also go to...

+1 for the brass QD from mcmaster. All my connections already have a full port valve, so an auto shutoff would be redundant. EDIT: Also the lack of an auto shutoff makes flushing the lines/ports easier.

Just caught an interesting piece on the radio about this: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89441573

I can understand where Bernie is coming from. I swear the book Marley and Me was written about my dog. He can be a major unruly pain sometimes, but I still love him enough to name my brewery after him. He was another shelter dog and he was full grown (100 lbs) when I got him.

I made the mistake of eyeballing it when I installed mine. I put it at 8" up from the bottom. It's fine for 10G batches, but when I'm mashing a 5G batch, it's right at the top of the mash. If you're going to be doing both 5G & 10G, then I would suggest putting it a little lower at about 5-6"...

Ricki Carroll's book suggests smearing butter over the cracks to seal them while the cheese ages.

Great idea for the kegs. I did this on a wall of my kitchen. I found out that any flat color paint will work. No need to pay extra for a 'chalk board' paint.

+1 for Scottrade. The regular account has basic research tools. The mutual fund selector tool is good. The stock data is more than I understand. I believe you can upgrade to a 'pro' account and get all kinds of fancy trending data. I've had accounts with ETrade and Ameritrade in the past...

Your right, I didn't think about that. The sealed bottles would heat up faster than the open one. That sounds like the system I saw at Point brewery. This makes me think I can do it using a bath water system.

I finished a batch of sake based on Bob Taylor's guide and bottled it into about 18 beer bottles. He is adamant that it needs to be pasteurized in order to be shelf stable. He recommends pasteurizing twice, once during the secondary and once at bottling. I did pasteurize once while it was in...

I ordered some leftover rhizomes on clearance from morebeer in July last year. Due to the quality of the Rhizomes and the very late start I didn't really expect much. The Tettanger sprouted, but never did much more. The Nugget never showed any sign of life. The Horizon did the best with 2...