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I ordered a 1lb dead blow hammer once...recieved a pack of laminating sheets. Customer service was actually pretty good. They promptly shipped my hammer and told me to just keep the laminating sheets. I don't even have a laminater. HF has it's place. I bought a brad air nailer for $20...

Sounds weird, but I use a checklist and it really helps once you get a routine going. I've never (knock on wood) did something like OP, for me it's usually forgeting to pitch the yeast and sometimes forgeting to add an ingredient. Routine and checklists.

Figured someone has tried brewing with a meat product. Having thanksgiving dinner last week I finally cracked into my pumpkin ale. Told my 6-yr old that I brewed it months ago just for thanksgiving. She then said, "Why don't you make a turkey flavored beer?" What made that moment even...

I go to the high end of the style guidelines. I like carbonation. How are you guys using table sugar? I tried it once and boiled it in some water and it turned into a thick syrup. The beer took forever to get any carbonation and still wasn't good. So for now I just keep copious amounts of...

Thanks! Exactly the info I was looking for. I'll tweak the thread lead-in and minor diameter to allow the element to easily thread on.

Maybe instead of saying 'chased' I should have said 'rethreaded'. I ran a straight thread tap through each fitting so they are no longer tapered threads. There seems to be some imperfect/incomplete threads on the water heater element. I'm debating if this is per design (to lock the element...

Do water heater elements normally thread in tight on the last few turns? I have two 1” NPT half couplings that I plan to weld onto my kettles. Noticed by hand fitting I could barely get a turn of engagement between the 1” NPSM heating elements and the 1” NPT couplings. I managed to access a...

I'm contemplating an electric brew stand using t-slot aluminum framing (80/20) The aluminum can handle the heat, but do most people put some sort of thermo insulation...like bricks or something, between their stand and the boil kettle? I'd think the stand would act as a big heat sink sucking...

Hmmm, does sound like oxidation. Bottling process went smooth, no issues there. This was my first attempt at dry hopping. The hops I used were dried, put into a hop bag, vacuum sealed and put in freezer. On dry hop day I cut open the vac sealed bag and dropped the hop bag into fermentor...

Brewed an experimental beer using my own homegrown hops (cascade & brewers gold). Used BeerSmith to develop to an APA style. Did three different hop additions during boil, 2 weeks in primary, then dry hopped for another week. Bottled and primed with table sugar. I sampled some of the...

Got a frankenbatch in a fermenter right now. I ran it in BeerSmith first to mold it around the APA style, but the hops were the variable. I have a mixture of (I think, anyway) Cascade and Brewers Gold hops growning in my yard. They are all intertwined and my theoretical method for...

It's a milestone and I remember doing that as well. I call it 'research' because I normally start brewing at around 6am. Not normally your most socially acceptable time to start drinking.

I'm currently in the same boat. But, you have to start out doing different styles and you'll find one you eventually settle on. For me I think my favorite is cream ales...but in the mean time I have a batch of dunkelweizen and porter to choke down before brewing up another batch.

The more I brew the faster I get...just comes with experience and efficiency. When I first started I'd look at peoples semi-automated brew stands and think, "whats the point, wheres the fun in that?" Now Im contemplating all-grain and found myself sketching up plans for an automated electric...

Midwest has been doing free shipping on orders over $59. Believe it or not, my LHBS has some items cheaper than the online stores.

Seems the actual brewing/bottling part is the chore. The hobby is planning recipes, deciding what to brew next, waiting for the beer to ferment/condition/age, and of course drinking it. My brewing days start about 4-5am on a weekend. Goal being to get my brewing done and kitchen all squared...

A big concern for you right now is why the cat peed in an unauthorized area. Its likely to get worse. Our last cat was 12-yrs old and started peeing in random areas all over the basement. It was a behavioral issue, think he was protesting the dog we adopted. Short of getting rid of the...

I have one of those wing cappers and I was averaging about one broken bottle per batch. Until I figured out why. These things are a compound mechanism. First the "pinchers" come together and only then will the cup move down. The pinchers should just lightly cradle the underside of the bottle...

This has taps coming straight out the door, no tower.

Saw a complete kegerator setup on my local Craigslist. Its a small dorm style fridge complete with two 2.5 gallon kegs, reg, and 10lb CO2 tank. The hang up is its listed around $500. I'm not up on all this, but that seems really high. What do you think?