Recent content by StormBird

I hadn't thought about flour.. I was thinking that milling the grains too soon might dry them out and reduce the enzymatic action during the mash. It also gives them an opportunity to pick up stray flavors. But it looks like they will be good, so long as I keep them tightly wrapped in the...

Yesterday, I intended on brewing this weekend and I bought my grain and had it cracked. Stuff came up and I may not be able to brew untill next weekend. The grains (10 lb of pilsner, 1 ln of crystal) are in a brown paper bag. Will these keep until next weekend or should I just take the loss?

Dear friends, My internet search skills must be woefully limited. I am trying to build a 2 tap jockey box and would like to use a chill plate instead of coiling copper tubing. I have searched ebay and all, but I still can't find anything but reverse flow wort chillers. If someone has a...

Forgot to buy yeast nutrient. I've heard you can use raisins... Do I just chop them up and dump them into the primary? or do I mash them in a small amount of water ?

Ok. I've read enough posts.. I just had to try this. 2.5 lbs sugar 3 11.5 cans of welches white grape juice 2 11.5 cans of welches white grape with peach 2 tsp acid blend 2 tsp pectic enzyme 2 tsp bentonite - for clearing Local home brew shop recommended Red Star Montrachet yeast so...

The welches I bought has Vitamin C... Does that count as a preservative?

Is this a wort chiller to cool the wort after boiling or a beer chiller for a jockey box? From some of the earlier posts I've read on this site, it is my understanding that using copper on carbonated beer runs a significant health risk... I don't pretend to understand it myself... I just...

When I go party, if I don't bring a keg, I bring a cooler full of ice and bottles. I'd like to label my St. Pati's day brew, but short of buying the avery wine labels (what a pain to remove) what are my good options? I'd like something that stays good in cold water, but isn't too much of a...

I've been thinking of taking a stainless steel tube and mounting the sensor from the ST-1000. That way I could stick the SS Tube through the rubber stopper like a probe thermometer and get the temp from the center of the carboy. Am I over complicating things again? Has anyone else done...

I'm re-purposing an old full size fridge into a temp chamber for fermenting/ lagering and I'd like to get another 4 feet worth of sensor cable. Has anyone tried extending the sensor wire?

I thought I'd bust out my pressure cooker and try my hand a canning wort in pint mason jars for making starters. I do all grain, so this weekend, I'll just brew an extra gallon. Since the canning process boils the wort, I'll take the wort preboil and unhopped. Somewhere I read that canned...

Hi. I guess what I meant to say was that my impression is that most people seem to be more concerned with raising the temp to a stable warm ale fermenting temperature than chilling to a lager temp. So, I just plug the whole fridge in, instead of bypassing one or both of the internal thermastats?

I've read many of the pages here; but, not all. It seems that most people are just using the controller for heating. But to use the fridge as a temperature chamber do you plug the whole fridge into the new controller outlet box? Seems to me you'd burn out the compressor turning it on/off all...

I look at the LN dewers at work and drool too. However, unless there is something wrong with them, they are SIGNIFICANTLY more valuable for thier intended purpose!!! SIGNIFICANTLY!!! The regulator has a setting that allows a small amount of LN to blow off as gas into the jacket. This...

If I where to buy a bag of whole malted grain, how would I want to store it for maximum life and flavor?