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Both options you're looking at are 15 gallon stainless kettles. SsB has more of a bling factor and is likely a little higher quality, but either should achieve their purpose: hold wort. Both have a ball valve output near the base of the kettle, though the SsB kettle has a 3-piece that's easier...

Good luck! I'm headed house hunting tomorrow, and it just so happens that I'll be 10 minutes from a brew store... I may grab some energizer and several packets of 1118. I figure if my beer yeast plus starter is typically around $8, then it's totally acceptable for me to rehydrate/pitch $8 worth...

Any updates on your SG? I totally mis-read your post as 1.005- it sounds like you have a stuck partial fermentation. Did you rehydrate your yeast before pitching? It shouldn't have enough alcohol to overly stress the yeast pitched dry, but it would still be a good idea just for the sake of...

Can't comment on the light, since I use a stainless fermentor. As for the gravity... You're more lucky than I've been- mine stopped at 1.010, but the kit is notorious for getting stuck after adding the sugar pack (chaptalization). I'll give the 1118 a try since I haven't added the fpack yet.

Thanks for the quick replies! For the short version, just read the bold parts. The rest just contains my thoughts/comments. Or the overview at the end. Yeast & Temperature: This is something I keep going back and forth on... Fermenting in the mid 60s will help preserve more of the apple...

I got to thinking, which is never a good thing... But I'm tempted to do an experimental batch of cider. Haven't quite gotten to specifics quantities yet, but so far: Apple juice Saison yeast Oak shavings/dust Frozen/organic morello cherries Honey (backsweeten to taste) I figure 2 weeks...

Sticky tack? I'm not sure how many materials will stick to silicone very well... I know most adhesives won't - they use silicone lining for a lot of resealable labels to avoid damaging the adhesive during repeated use.

I actually did both - a porter and some graff, both set to the same pressure. There should typically be more head on beer, but I took some liberties with the graff recipe and went against the given advice. I may have (translation: definitely) went overboard on the flaked wheat for head...

Step feeding it could work, but EC-1118 doesn't always survive the process. I have a port wine kit that was step fed to raise the ABV, and the yeast tuckered out early at 15-16%, leaving the SG hovering around 1.010. Optimally, you would want the SG to fall below 1.020 before feeding any more...

Just used my BeerGun for the first time on Jan 29 and it went really smoothly. First time setup took a little longer than anticipated while I arranged my workspace, but after that, it was a breeze. Standard approach is to rack onto k-meta and sorbate. You likely won't see much sediment drop out...

I'm just over 7 days into a kit, hit my target gravity range, and was racking over to secondary per instructions when I noticed an oily sheen on the surface of my wine. It isn't white (only noticeable if you catch the light perfectly) and there's still fermentation going on, but could this be...

Noticed an oily sheen on the surface of the wine immediately after racking off the lees. The residue was only noticeable under a light if you caught the reflection; it was not white.

Noticed an oily sheen on the surface of the wine immediately after racking off the lees. The residue was only noticeable under a light if you caught the reflection; it was not white.

Photo for comparison. Without any glare, there was no sign of residue/sheen. Bubbles are off-gassing from active fermentation immediately after racking off the lees.

Racking from primary fermenter over to carboy. No visible/noticeable sheen, but I wasn't specifically looking for it at this point.

Noticed an oily sheen visible only under glare from an overhead light. Photos are from immediately after racking wine to secondary.

I've had my 3 gallon batch of JAOM finished and sitting in primary for about 4 months now with everything dropped out to the bottom. Went to rack it over for bottling last night, and fortunately took a sample first - way too sweet tasting. Per Murphy's Law, my hydrometer took a dive off the...

I love my BrewBucket for pretty much the same reasons everyone else mentioned- easy to clean, shiny, and durable. On top of that, I went ahead and got their FTSs system to regulate temperatures (didn't have the time or space for modifying a fridge). Their products are great, and they tend to...

If it swelled up like that, it means there's something growing and producing enough gas/pressure to damage the box. Try contacting the manufacturer; it seems pretty unlikely you'd have your receipt from back then, but they may be willing to replace it since it doesn't even look like you had...

I'm pushing 3 months in on my batch. The fruit dropped and I'm pretty sure I could read a book through the carboy. A few questions though, since this is my first mead: 1) Racking - The first post says not to rack. I'm fine with that, but I'm pretty sure I kick up this yeast by just looking at...