Recent content by Nodak_Brewer

If these were new or slightly new bottles I'd risk it. However, these have been used for about six batches of beer prior to the cider so I doubt they have the structural integrity they once did. I usually don't chance anything over 3 volumes, and 4 is where most 12 oz beer bottles are rated...

I use my cheap amazon refractometer at all stages; before fermentation, during, and after. My hydrometer is collecting dust. Just make sure to get a temperature compensating unit without a specific gravity scale. Get one with just a Brix scale then convert to Gs. To use it during and after...

I would, but I fear for bottle bombs from the capped bottles which are already quite thin to begin with. I was thinking of removing all caps and replacing them with aluminum foil, letting it carb out until flat, then repriming with a boiled sugar solution using a syringe. Or alternatively...

So I bottled my Apfelwein last night using a mix of standard 12 oz bottles. It was about 3 gallons (a little less) at 65 deg. F. Excited to use my new bench capper, I neglected to change the bottled volume in my calculator from 5 to 3 gallons. So I used 5.6 oz table sugar in a 2.8 gallon-ish...

Today I changed everything. My autosiphons are put away for good. My "T" siphon is ornery and banished. The "fill hose with water" approach dilutes my 1 gal batches too much, so it's also out. What's left? Well, I took a nice swig of Svedka and decided to do an old fashioned. In all...

Totally didn't realize how old this thread was. Oops, too much homebrew.

Take a neat glass of bourbon and take a sip. Then add water. You're doing the same detrimental thing if you add water to your JAOM. I actually have a modified JAOM in secondary and it's absolutely delicious after only two months. Please don't dilute!

I constructed an "ugly junk" corona mill setup as seen in the ugly junk mega thread for less than $40. I prefer it over my cereal killer despite the torn husks, which I think would be way too torn up in a blender for anything but biab. [/URL][/IMG]

I have basic environmental engineering coursework for water treatment, but I wish I'd paid more attention! I have much to learn, and for now I will just focus on dilution methods, adding water additions somewhere down the line. Perhaps even a 4:1 ratio of R.O. to tap water, but I'm worried...

Your water report doesn't mention alkalinity or hardness? Hardness is created by polyvalent cations, calcium and magnesium being typical. It's likely listed as mg/L or ppm. They're the same thing. Also, that "cheap" wally world water isn't cheap at all. It's about 450X more expensive...

I'm not ready to delve into advanced brew water science, but I'd like to alter my water a little more precisely for lighter brews, more specifically German beers like hefeweizen, kolsch, etc. My water is very hard and alkaline, and in the past I just split it 50/50 with distilled and tap water...

If I were you, I'd get a good milligram scale and some K-meta powder, not tablets. I do small batches, so it's impossible to weigh out the required amount unless I make a solution and "part it out," which wastes chemical. The powder and scale make it mucho easy. You can boil/aerate out free...

I absolutely love my inkbird. I use it in a chest freezer fermentation chamber, but also purchased the 12" long stainless probe just in case I want to monitor a specific brew. Right now I just have it taped and insulated against a glass bottle of water on the compressor hump. This creates a...

Honestly, simplify the process. Use a single volume, no sparge method or just do a basic dunk sparge. Once you get a good conversion efficiency with your crush, you can make it more complicated. At least you'll have eliminated a variable. I just completed my first BIAB and got 72-75%...

I completed my first BIAB batch yesterday, a little under 2.0 gallons in the fermenter just as planned. I went for a simplified approach. My previous 25-30 gallons were done with a cooler mash tun w/cpvc manifold and batch sparge, and I never really hit my numbers properly and had poor...