Recent content by dqbco89

Thanks all for the feedback. I ended up getting the full temp control kit from Spike, including the insulated jacket—so hopefully that takes care of the condensation issue. And I have a long, large desk, so I’m planning on putting the chiller underneath it on the side I use the least, with the...

Well I've already pulled the trigger on this and decided to keep the chiller in the same room as the fermenter--so it's a done deal at this point. I agree that this is an expensive setup--and almost certainly overkill for 5 gallon batches. I considered the brewbucket/wine fridge route and...

Ha! Fortunately for me, it's the latter--I've got the best of both worlds. Though I must say, the Spike conicals do make beautiful decor

Thanks so much for the very thoughtful response. As a follow-up, I reached out to the folks at Penguin Chillers, and they assured me that the distance shouldn't present an issue with respect to the glycol temperature--that for most brewing applications they recommend setting the temp to 28...

My wife is very good to me. She and I live in a small, one-bedroom apartment, and she’s agreed to let me ferment beer in our living room as long as I “make it look good.” Fortunately for me, she thinks the Spike conicals look really cool (I’m a lucky guy), so I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting one...

Thanks for the feedback; I understand that whether/not to recirculate is a debate that is alive and well. Are there any recirculators out there who care to weigh in? Has anyone tried this?

Thanks for all the feedback! Based on the responses, I'm leaning toward going over the top--it seems to be the cheapest/easiest option, and it also avoids the spilling problem of going through the lid and the potential bag/basket interference issue of going through the side. Are there any...

I’m persuaded by Kal’s logic (see here) as it relates to temp-probe placement in a three-vessel system—i.e., place the probe in the plumbing of the kettle output of the HLT and MLT and in the kettle wall of the boil kettle. But with a biab setup, where the three-vessels are consolidated into...

I’m currently working on designing a custom ebiab kettle that I plan to buy from Spike and am very conflicted about how to rig up the recirculation return. Having spent a fair amount of time reading various build threads, it seems to me that the options fall into three broad categories, each...