Recent content by petep1980

Correct. Now that I have it swollen, I am not tinkering with it.

FWIW I filled it with water on Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon it was no longer seeping. I will obviously be leaving the water in now, and topping it off as it evaporates (which is more than I expected). I don't see any reasonable way to "season it" with a spirit. Used barrels were full...

Thanks for the advice. I am going to go ahead and not put the KBS clone in it. I will just fill it with water and spirit it up until I am ready to add something. Then I will have to just check the level of oakiness as I go along. Thanks for the help.

I am getting a new oak barrel later this week. I have seen a gazillion posts about aging in used liquor or wine barrels, but I haven't come across much in regards to new oak barrels. I am sure in various areas these questions have been asked and answered, but I haven't been able to find them...

I went to tap my keg and found out my beer froze. It's been outside in sub-freezing temps in the garage, but I thought it would be fine. I went to tap the keg today and was shocked to found out the entire keg of beer was frozen. It wasn't frozen lines, as I had no lines connected. I am...

I think it's because heat transfer sucks. I have to design conditions for heat exchangers at work all the time, and it's hilarious the safety factors which get thrown into them. But, the labor to come up with accurate conditions is probably more costly than the additional surface area.

When I took heat transfer we had a problem almost identical to what the original poster had. Except the water of the bath was circulating, and we didn't know the surface temperatures of the buckets, just of the far field ambient temperature which was also along with 50 mph winds. We had to...

I'm curious how far you got with heat transfer. Are you in it now? Grad student, professor or heat transfer pro?

Okay, you'll need the conductivity of the wort, water and air. You also need the thermal conductivity of the bucket and the larger bin. You will also need to the thicknesses of the bucket and the larger bin. Finally, the temps of the wort and the air are enough; however they aren't constant...

I forgot to mention chemE's get to work with reactors. Think of a gigantic mash tun. I'd also be tempted to say brewery pay probably isn't half what a chemE makes, or even ME, but probably one-third. EDIT: You'll also get hotter chicks making more money. Your house will be nicer, your kids...

Get a job outside of brewing first. As a chemical engineer you could find yourself doing stuff like designing processes or equipment full of heat exchangers, pumps, skids, piping valves, etc. You'll do things like diagram process and instrumentation diagrams, size heat exchagers, pick pumps...

I haven't brewed in 5 months, and I get the itch almost every week. Then I look at my equipment and my checkbook and I just cannot bring myself to it.

If you're meticulous and into science try non alcoholic brewing.

I hate that it's impossible to find a decent Pilsner. I picked up a 6 pack last night for 9 bucks. I got home saw it was months past its exp date but figured whatever. How did it taste? You know that first bodiless ipa you ever made. About the only appeal was the aroma. Yep it tasted like a...

Thanks everyone for the advice. I feel like a break will help. It's the work I hate. Maybe by winter or spring I'll forget the hassle the entire process is and want to brew again.