Recent content by RoadKing

1ST Jar Half gallon ball jar. Brought it to 230 and added DAP. It stalled a bit there, then slowly rose to 275ish, where it rose rapidly to 290. I added 3 cups of water and brought it back to around 227 where I stopped it so it would stay more syrupy, as others stated.

Thanks guys. How do ya like using the syrup?

I want to make an #8 batch of 290-300 of this for a 30 gallon batch of a Belgian strong. I read alot of the thread, but I wanna make sure...Is this 100% fermentable?

Something that I've been doing for many years with great success is, get a whisky barrel planter from Walmart. It's great 'cause they are real whisky barrels. Take the hoops off and seperate the staves. Then I'll sand the staves down to new wood, cut them into strips,( depending on surface area...

Thanks for the responses! I've been reading up on it, and still wasn't sure. I'm a long time beer brewer, and according to yeast calculators, 2 packs is still under pitching for a 15% beer. . I have stir plates, erlenmeyer flasks etc.. but didn't want the hassle of making a starter, and if 2...

Do you guys think 2 packs (no starter) of hot head will suffice in 5 gallons @15%? I'm also hoping it will peter out at around 1.015 /12% , and leave a semi sweet mead.

You probably won't have elements in your mash tun.

A couple things to try..Do not run the pump when mashing in. It will just pull the starchy flour down into the holes and efficiently plug them. Also, don't run the pump for the first 10-15 minutes. Give the starches time to break down into sugar, which will be more fluid. Unconverted starch is...

Please be careful, with that top chamber clogged, the steam in the boiler has no where to go an could explode! I would at least try to get some sort of screen, or even a stainless scrubby at the inlet of the top chamber to keep it from clogging and allow vapor to pass through unimpeded.

I know ya want an opinion on B or C, but I'll make a case for the AAW motor. It is expensive, but it's an easy direct hook up. no searching for other parts to make it work. It is also runs at an ideal RPM. I use it with a MM3 with 2'' rollers and it just chews through grain.

The ridges are smooth so it's no worse than a regular coil. You can also run your sparge water through it and clean it as your sparging , plus it is in the HLT so if ya think its dirty boil water and recirculate through it. We always run hot water through the whole system before mash in too, to...

I just read through this thread and was going to suggest an hour+ sparge. Better late than never. a couple more suggestions...always keep 2 inches of water over the grain bed, and if ya think there is channeling, you can gently stir the top half or more of the mash, just don't disturb the bottom.

A buddy and I put this together a few weeks ago. MM3 Pro and the AAW 180 RPM motor. Hopper holds about 35 Lbs. We typically do 30-40 gallon batches so we only have to fill it twice. It's AWESOME.

Look at THIS

I have never used a cooler mash tun, but was looking into it for someone and THIS OR THIS COMBINATION is what I liked. It's hard plumbed so it can't collapse and I really like the design of the false bottom.