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I have had to streamline brewing due to child and a house remodel. My "brewery" fits in a little shed I built on the patio- 6 X 2 ft. Half of it is dedicated to gardening tools, the other half all my brewing stuff. If it doesn't fit, I don't need it. As for automation, I'm no engineer so I went...

I don't trust the sugar readings. IMO 99% of infection freak outs on this site are false and you sound like you understand sanitation. I don't have experience correcting refrac readings with alcohol- day one I was taught that's a no no so I don't do it. I figure that I've used a hydrometer just...

If you are pumping through the counterflow (and using a high heat pump), you should just recirculate for a minute before turning on the cold water (after flameout). The end of day cleaning should have it "clean" and a minute of very hot wort should sanitize it. Then turn on cold water and fill...

Absolutely. Explain to me the reasoning that a clean, dry surface of scissors harbors 1. A significant load of fermentative microbes 2. Microbes that would/could grow in wort next to BILLIONS of specially selected sach with kill factors and placed in their ideal medium. The dirtiest surface in...

You beautiful son of a witch. You are not alone, together we shall build an army to destroy the frustrated civil engineers of HBT (I have faith that me's and ee's have better things to do with their time than build 1950s era controllers for homebrewing). I too use the Anova. I much prefer herms...

no idea on the effectiveness of vacuum, sounds reasonable but once again temperature will be an important factor. Partial pressure and solubility are impacted by temperature so it's always easier to degas a warmer wine. If you have enough SO2 in the wine, I'd be tempted to let it warm up to room...

another new brewer with an unhealthy relationship with sanitation. If anyone ever told me to sanitize my scissors I would immediately stab them directly in the eyeball. Be reasonably clean and it will all work out.

I avoid these flavors like the plague- confirm that the main culprits are biscuit, victory, and Vienna. Munich and wheat can also impart bread/dough flavor. To each his own on flavors, if you are up for lagering then the Vienna lager style seems like the target you are shooting for. I like this...

Not sure what "pumping the CO2" means. The current technique will work, but if you start and it does not turn pink/bubbly- stop. The key is temperature, I do not degas wine below 12 C. The best way is to use a sparging stone on nitrogen- displaces CO2 without oxidizing.

Fair enough, but I bottle in the neighborhood of 100k-120k bottles a year at work using state of the art equipment and it is still a PITA. I've rebuilt my brew rig many times and regretted plenty of past investments, but I would buy new kegs and keezer annually without batting an eye.

I was looking for a place to post my manifesto- 1. My city tap water tastes good, it's my terroir. In the old days breweries started around tasty springs. Adapt recipes as necessary. 2. Cleaning is largely unnecessary, sanitation is stupid 3. Yeast rehydration conquers many mistakes, but...

My very first batch of beer was 29 gallons - we had access to a really bad ass propane burner (named "the general"). Unfortunately we didn't have access to a decent mash tun, grain mill, or plate chiller. It was a nightmare and the corresponding 300 bottles (that's right, we bottled it)...

LABs also come on your nose and hands so be sure to cut those off before you start. Don't eat yogurt, cabbage, wine, or milk for at least a month before you brew. If you live in the same state as a kombucha producer you're totally screwed. Burn off any facial hair if you've ever tasted a sour...

Don't waste money on CFC unless you want to (let's be honest, 50% of this hobby is justifying buying new shiny things). I swear that HSA is a thing and I've had a beer affected by it, but I decided to listen to the people on here and see how far I could push it. I regularly no chill with no ill...

You compacted the grain bed- I've tried pouring back and forth on two occasions and it did not work either time. My guess is that you don't break up clumps enough. I go crazy with a electric drill paint stirrer in a separate bucket at dough in before pouring it in MLT each time I brew (like I...

I brew HERMs and I'm quite erudite on the subject, I guess you could call me something of a hermaphrodite. I'm 99% sure that pump flow was your problem. 2 brews ago I was stupid (more likely drunk) and decided to open her up to see what would happen- clogged immediately. Luckily I was going for...

I never get infections and I actively try. That's not exactly true because my lack of sanitation means that my "native" ferments almost always get infected by some commercial strain that I've used in the past- they never get funky unless I leave my unchilled kettle outside for days. A quick...

Nothing to worry about. Exponential growth phase. Pitch rates a conspiracy of big yeast.

secondary fermentation in wine means MLF to pros. Racking during sugar->alcohol primary is a good way to stop (or significantly slow) fermentation. A few grams/L residual sugar is desired in a lot of wines so an early rack doesn't mean bad wine, but you are hamstrung if trying to go dry (density...

Maybe for clarification maybe because kits made from extract don't have tannins and can be unstable. Even French-American hybrid red wines self heat stabilize despite the lack of tannins post pressing, the short period on skins provides enough protein precipitation. Perhaps kits are more like...