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I will relax and have homebrews with family when they arrive. And it is going into small 1 gal carboys as secondaries. Hopefully soon, I need the ferm chamber free for a brew day!

I do get gnats and fruit flies. But it is in a sealed fridge, and it is winter when they are less active so I think that part is okay.

Looks good to me, but I am a hop fiend. I do not know much about Saaz, but isn't more of a low AA pilsner type hop? For my IPA I like piney, citrusy flavors, so I go heavy on the Citra and Simcoe. Just make sure you dry hop some too, to get the flavor and aroma and not just the bitter.

I am thinking the cap. The headspace should be at or near atmospheric pressure with the air that was in there. So, in my logic, CO2 does not have to fill the entire headspace, just increase pressure enough to overcome the airlock, and gradually the co2/air ratio will change. I just don't want...

First, happy thanksgiving! I have 2 gallons of cider down right now for the SWMBO. It is in a 5 gallon carboy in my new wine fridge/ferm chamber. With a five gallon carboy there is not enough room for an airlock, so I put a 2-port cap on the carboy and ran a piece of tubing to an airlock...

I think you left out a 'not' I had never heard that, but it makes sense. I have never boiled with a lid. But I could see using one possibly after the boil when cooling if you are doing a water bath or can get the lines for your chiller under the lid. Do you think it would be an issue then?

I needn't have worried. This morning there was a little more activity, and I could smell the fermentation when I opened the chamber. When I got home from work there was a good inch of trub! That stuff took off like a rocket!

There are yeasts, bacteria and mold indoors too. While I have not done an outdoor boil yet, part of the reason to boil is to kill the nasties, and hopefully all or most of the ones that land in it too. This is also the reason to cool it and get it in the fermenter and sealed ASAP. If you...

My second ever homebrew went to a charity event and came up flat. I over shot my og, and I think the yeast gave up in the bottles. However, the hop balance and maltiness were splendid IMHO, and I received lots of compliments and many people coming back for more. That may have been the 10.5%...

My second ever homebrew went to a charity event and came up flat. I over shot my og, and I think the yeast gave up in the bottles. However, the hop balance and maltiness were splendid IMHO, and I received lots of compliments and many people coming back for more. That may have been the 10.5%...

Any burner that uses fuel will release carbon monoxide. No scent, no color, deadly. Your body adsorbs it like oxygen, but can't use it. Essentially you slowly suffocate, but due to the confusion/dizziness caused by lack of oxygen, you don't realize it. Don't burn inside!

Put down two gallons of cider (in a 5 gallon carboy, talk about headroom!), fresh from the orchard Sunday night. Added a bit of brown sugar, hit a gravity of 1.054 (after heating to ~170-180 for 45 minutes). Cooled, pitched Danstar BRY-97. There was about 24 hours of lag before I saw any...

This one was super cheap. The paint on the burner smoked off with nasty fumes when heated. So yes, I would rec. a burn in run.

Yep, about 2 inches too short for the airlock. If you look at the right side, its only an airlock on the tube :)

She Who Must Be Obeyed!

What uniondr said is good. Go ahead and mark your carboy in 1 gallon increments (even to the quart if you want). You may only be doing 5 gallon batches now, but being able to use it to measure in a pinch is good. No worrying about it in the middle of a boil or something else hectic. I do...

So, I scored a free, unused cheap turkey fryer (it was a gift to a neighbor about 5 years ago and she never used it). It is a 30L cajun injector. The burner build is cheap, and the pot is aluminum, but it will get me started. I have never used a propane burner like this before though so I...

So, I found a $50 wine fridge on craigslist yesterday. Score! It has an adjustable thermostat, but no readout. On max it gets down to ~45-47, so if I want to lager or cold crash I will have to rig it up, but for general fermentation, I am in love! That is the SWMBO's 2 gallons of...

Oh indeed. I was more worried about the resultant mess. They will be in a thick cardboard box or a plastic tub with a lid when carbing up. I do the same with my beers, except I put the bottles in 12 pack boxes then cover it all with a heavy blanket. The last thing I want is anyone injured...

There is no rush on this as I have a month or more before bottling, but I just put down some hard cider for my girlfriend. We have some clear swingtop bottles that are french and originally held some sort of sparkling lemonade. My question is, will these hold up to the pressure of...