Recent content by vettehead99

Thanks for the tip! I didn't know the refractometer readings were inaccurate after fermentation, I'll look into adding a hydrometer to my forever increase brew supplies.

To answer a few questions: - I typically do ale extracts from kits, I don't piece ingredients together. For example, I tried to do a red ale where I measured my OG at 1.046, measured my FG at 1.020. - my latest was a German pilsner, though I used US-05 ale yeast (rehydrated pack): I added...

Maybe the Fermentation and yeast section is better for this, but I need some help and figure it would be good to get the advice of the community. My last 4 or 5 batches have started off great with clear activity of fermentation, but by the time I'm ready to keg (I usually leave it for 25-30...

I second the feelings of inadequacy, I thought I was doing alright with 3 kegs.

Yes! Been a while, but I've had a chance to work with it. My second batch I did a lager, I picked a 3 stage lagering profile. It holds 54F for 14 days, bumps to 62 for 3 days, then ramps down to 35F over 30 days. The chamber did fine for the majority of the profile, however once it got down...

A few weeks ago I made my own counterflow chiller. This was a serious exercise is persistence and frustration, others make it look so darn easy. Seems to work pretty darn well, it only takes one pass to get my wort down to fermentation temp right from the boil temp. This isn't new news, I'm...

I'm running my first brew and so far as noted above I do get some ping ponging with the heat lamp. My insulation job isn't the best, it's evident that after I hit the fridge set point, the temperature drops somewhat quickly (it's cold in michigan!) That being said, I'm quite impressed with the...

I got the fridge for free, so I figured I would try it. A chest freezer may seal better, but for now this seems to be working. I'm testing at 20C, which is a good ale temp, I don't know how well it will hold lager temps. That's another test. I lost connection to the controller a few times when...

I figured I would put up yet another quick fermentation chamber DIY I did over the past couple of weeks. It's a few quick photos and I'm bypassing a lot of the nitty gritty details, but if you want to see a lot more writing, check out the link on my sig. I basically followed the same style of...

Looks good! You don't have any issues with the wood close to the two lower burners on the RHS? I feel like the heat from the boil pots would char the surface a bit. Maybe not...

Hi All, I'm in the process of planning out a 3 tier system and am planning on using wood for the stand. There's a lot of good examples on the forum, however I was curious what people had used to coat the wood for their setups, or if I should even be concerned about it. I have 2 classic...

It's hard to say, some people seem to think so. Honestly, I probably could have gotten by just with a simple computer case fan. IMO, all you need to do is really circulate the air. The neurotic engineer in me wanted to go all out with airflow. I ended up putting in a squirrel cage fan in. Is it...

Thank you good sir! :mug:

While nothing astoundingly new, my keezer is about 95% complete. I thought I would post some images of my build for the audience's viewing pleasure. I'm planning on making custom tap handles later and adding castors to the base. I also put together a CAD model to see how the kegs would fit...

I'm in the process of staining my collar right now. I didn't do any painting, just stain and polyurethane. I got some oak wood covering the inside collar on mine, I'm basically copying the keezer that was on homebrewacademy. It's only got oak on the front and sides. I used 2 coats of cherry...