Recent content by HopSing

Doubt the yeast nutrient will do it, but give your pH meter a workout on your next batch. Keep the samples and record what the reading was for each sample. Retest the samples and confirm the reading did not change over time. This will rule out a faulty meter. Also what's the temp of the...

What was the pH of your sparge water? Next batch take pH samples of everything at every step. You could have a contamination (residual cleaner) but as @day_trippr said, it should not impact it that much. One thing you can try is to StarSan after your cleaner rinse. That may neutralize the pH...

@Gadjobrinus Glad you're ok. Been there, done that. Not fun. Cleaning up from that event sucks too. The entire hour it took to pull the stove out to wipe the sides of the range and mop the floor and clean the burnt on stuff from the glass cooktop I kept thinking it could have been much...

Is it possible your sample vessel is / was contaminated? Assuming you're not sampling pH in the fermentation vessel itself, correct? I also use Craft Meister cleaner. It does take a bit more rinsing and you need to rinse with hotter water than you used during the cleaning step, but I would...

I'm doing something similar and it absolutely works. Check the thread I posted here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/chilling-wrap-jacket-does-this-exist.727035/#post-10259624 Happy to snap a few pictures if you'd like.

+1 for purchasing new or at least from a reputable online provider. I've been burned by the eBay and Craigslist route before. On the flip side I'd like to think I'm more educated now as to what to look for. I too picked up a new Kegland keg and they work as advertised. I've also been...

@Bayou Fatma Brewer You may also want to check to see what they charge for the 5 year hydro then do the math of purchasing a new tank and having it refilled and hydro'd vs. getting into their tank exchange program or purchasing a used tank and exchanging it. The tank exchange program has no...

I have completed a proof of concept of this idea using a 50 foot roll of 1/2 inch vinyl tubing, which I "folded" in half and secured with zip ties every few feet to make wrapping it around the outside of the fermenter easier. I use a cheap pond pump in a cooler with ice water and frozen plastic...

I've stored my open hops bags in mason jars with vacuum seal lids for a year or more without any noticeable change to hop characteristics, at least to me. When you pump the air out of the jar, if the hop bag has been opened you can watch it compress much like you would see with a vacuum bag, so...

Wide roll of blue painters tape is great for a lot of things. I use it to reseal the smaller bags of open grains. Also use it to write on labels for 2 liter green soda bottles I re-use as cheap growlers to transport homebrew. Nothing fancy, but it works great. I think I've had the same roll...

+1 for dry erase. I used this peel and stick whiteboard stuff on my kegerator for each tap so I can write in additional info. Works great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CN8QHFW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ~HopSing.

@jambop Brackets added. Thanks for the suggestion. ~HopSing.

I agree with the previous posts, you probably should do something. Although the alcohol in beer will lower the freezing temp, it will freeze around 26F. The insulation of the kegerator will work in reverse, which will buy you some time. I just don't know how much. Putting in a heat source on...

@mscroggi Well done! That was my original design idea too (although I had not thought about using chain link top rail). I was going to build a gantry type crane with a horizontal sliding hoist so after the steamer basket is lifted above the kettle it could be slid over and lowered. It would...

Ah. Are you saying to put in corner braces between the uprights and crossbar to prevent it from racking?