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I had a full 20 lb tank empty itself in my garage a few weeks ago. I was in my house when the rupture disk blew - I figured out pretty quickly what it was. I opened the door to pull the tank out (it was still venting) and put it outside. I got short of breath pretty quickly even with the doors...

pvp, The thing that bothers me about the product description (and I just gave it a quick skim) is that I don't see a BTU rating. I'm not sure that little guy has enough power to cool down a conical during the really active part of fermentation. Then again, I'm not sure how much you need, but I...

Count me in too. I think I'd prefer tethered to a computer to keep the cost down. Seems like a fair compromise.

This is what I use: Barb to MFL - http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_220_285&products_id=480 Keg post adapter - http://www.chicompany.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=376_1_3_260&products_id=1145 Keg post -...

Jay, Those are sweet! Much prettier welds than my crappy soldering. To the folks buying these yeast harvesters - I added gas-in and liquid-out posts to my lid. I did this so that I could fill a jar with Star-San, attach it to the conical, and push the Star-San out under CO2. That way, I could...

h22, I'd pass on the chlorine reader - you can buy a lot of Campden tablets for $50. Just get rid of the chlorine/chloramines. That may not be the problem that you are chasing, but they do cause awful flavors. Just drop in a half tablet per 5 gallons of water, stir, and know that you now have...

Negative bicarbonate is OK. It's your pH that matters.

durbacher, I had one yesterday - quite tasty! Obviously, it has been aging for a while and I intend to let it age some time more before I really get into it. As I stated above, I completely overshot the og. I ended up with an off the scale Imperial. I tried bottling this brew but I couldn't...

That sounds like classic chlorine effects. I assume you are using tap water - are you using Campden tablets to dechlorinate? They are very effective and act instantly. Chlorine or chloramines leave a plastic or bandaid like flavor. I understand that some infections can do the same, but start...

Yooper is right (as usual) about the sulfate levels. I wouldn't shoot for 300 ppm on the water. I sent some Pliny the Elder off to Wards back in November. The report came back with 160 ppm sulfate in the finished beer. I don't know how much you'll get out of the grainbill if any, but I'd keep...

Never mind. My comprehension skills are poor at this time of the morning.

Ah! There's your problem. I'm guessing that it doesn't balance because you're using average values. With the data that you have, you probably won't get a balance - unless all the ranges were small. Given the variability, I'm not sure how useful that report is except to tell you that the...

I think you can boil your water. This will drive off CO2 and chalk will precipitate. At least I think that's what'll happen with your water. Then you just let the water cool and rack the water off of the chalk. I really have no idea how much alkalinity that'll get rid of though. I'm sure someone...

I emailed Kimmich a while ago when I saw that YouTube interview. I asked him about his recommendation for pH. Surprisingly, he responded pretty quickly - as expected, he was talking about pH at mash temperature not room temperature. Anyway, brew this both ways - at 5.1 at room temp and 5.4 at...

Thanks everyone! I wasn't really concerned about it - I didn't have much choice but to use it and it worked great! I guess I could have bought a bigger kettle, but a few drops of Fermcap is cheaper and easier. My question was really why folks are all paranoid about head reducing agents but...

Yes, I know what it is. What I don't know is what happens to it. It's good at preventing foam from forming - so it's good at preventing boil overs and good to use when making starters (to keep the krausen down). Why does it settle out during fermentation? Do the yeast pull it out (it passes...

All, As I struggled a few weeks ago to cram wort for a Pliny the Younger clone into my slightly undersized kettle, I realized that I needed help to prevent a boil over. I grabbed my Fermcap, added a few drops to the kettle, and the boil over was prevented. But it got me thinking. I see folks...

If the LHBS doesn't stock calcium chloride, try a grocery store. Look for Ball Pickle Crisp if your grocery store carries canning supplies. I found some at my local Orchard Supply Hardware store.

Jammin, I thought the contract brewing through Firestone Walker was only in early 2015 so I'm not sure that's the cause. I could be wrong. I was at the brewery a couple of weeks ago and got a couple of 12 packs. They weren't bad at all. I have had some pretty poor ones in the past though so I...

Neptune, I'd try changing things around to see if you can isolate the problem - swap which keg is hooked up to which faucet; swap the lines that connect the keg to the faucet; swap which disconnect is attached to the lines. Seems like if you went through such a process you could narrow down the...