Recent content by RufusBrewer

I am looking to get into distilling. I have an Anvil 10.5 gal model. Looks like the 500 attachment is a good way form me to go. As a long time homebrew er, I have some of the basics in my back pocket. I like the process of reading and learning. I like the science aspect of home brewing and...

There are linear taper potentiometers and log taper potentiometers. If you use one type when the other is required, you will most likely have unsatisfactory results. Verify which type your device needs, verify what you have. There are SCR, SSR SSVR . They can look alike and seem to be the same...

I do 5 gallon batches. I had a 3V gas system. Picnic cooler batch sparge based. Dud they did years. Did gas BIAB for a couple systems. Now I have an electric BIAB and Electric All In One. Love love love electric. BIAB or AIO or 3V electric, which one? Not 3V, easily eliminated. At 5 gallon...

Green garden hose syndrome. I know of some that claim an old green garden hose that has been sitting around, exposed to UV laden sun light will impart horrible nasty compounds into your brew water. Maybe a green garden hose does that. I do not know one way or the other. If so, to what degree? I...

Rehydrating dry yeast. There was a time when a great percentage of homebrewers took it as absolutely best practice to rehydrate your dry yeast. Later I noticed some reps from dry yeast manufacturers started to discourage rehydration. The pushed sprinkling directly on the yeast. They had...

When Michael McDonald joined them they were The Steely Doobie Dan Brothers.

If I wantEd to sum up the last three posts. Unless you really know what you are doing, the impressive volume of harvested yeast is not all that useful. I am not interested in studying to become a beer yeast biologist. Nor spend the time to put such knowledge to use. I will continue to...

I brewed an Alt using Wyeast 1007. I had a terrific fermentation. Short lag time, strong healthy ferment, reached finished gravity in 5-6 days, tastes great. When I saw how much stuff I had in the bottom of the primary, I transferred to a secondary and harvested what you see in the pictures. I...

Interesting I have a contrary opinion about Animals. IMHO The lyrics are pretty sophomoric and obviously borrowed from Orwell. I always thought it was Waters weakest effort. Musically, I find it very interesting. The melodies and the music work well each other. The arrangements, the ebb and...

Vacuum Seal bags seem like my first choice. Assuming you do not mind the investment. The come with the advantage that you can reseal them. so a bag can be accessed, a partial amount removed and deal up what is left over. Mason jars are not bad, but I would feel I had to pack them full to purge...

The dilute ratio of Star San to water is pretty thin. There is almost no StarSan in that bucket of solution. The foam is virtually all air, no Star San solution. So the foam foam looks intimidating, it is a small fraction of almost nothing. It is easy to think of Star San as "poison." But it is...

When you factor in learning curve and time of building your own panel, I do not know how much money you save. Assuming your time has value. Also getting something pre-built gets you up and brewing sooner. Devices like the uniflex might seem expensive at first. But they are packed with...

A circuit breaker cannot protect a device. Anything you put in a breaker must draw less than the breaker trip point. A device that is designed to draw 1 amp but is damaged upon drawing 2 amps, a 15 amp breaker will be happy to supply 2 amps as the device smokes into oblivion.

You are conflating phase and polarity. American 220 VAC is not polarized. Polarized means you cannot swap the orientation of the two (or more) poles. The neutral pole is irrelevant to an 220 VAC circuit. Neither leg is properly described as positive or negative. Each leg is 180 deg out of...

FYI With American 220 VAC, the two legs are equal. Equal in the idea that they have no conventional polarity, no plus, no minus no ground, no neutral. Having said that, do not take that to mean the pay have no voltage. Both legs have voltage, plenty of power. A voltage level the same as your...