Search results

Stain out the hops from the kettle. You may want to bag the lose leaf hops to make it a bit easier to remove them. Or you could whirlpool.

You will always be able to find replacement gaskets for tri clamps fittings. Specialty gaskets may not always be available as companies come and go. This potential trade war has me worried about Chinese imports. I like spike stuff but I think you made a prudent call.

I haven’t seen many stainless options for years. Didn’t even know kegco offered one. They sell pretty quickly when you can find them used.

Nice!

Where is the temp sensor located? I have my sensor located on the output side of the herms coil just before it returns to the mash. You want to measure your wort temps. The HLT will be hotter than the target temps but what matters is your wort out temps. If your recirculating the water in...

CaCl and gypsum are common additions for most styles. You’ll also need some type of acid or acidulated malt to get the ph inline for light beers. Read the water primer in the brewing science section for a great breakdown of the process

A couple of things to think about going forward. Starters are best built with 1.040 wort. You want to grow a population rather than get your yeast used to higher gravities. I haven’t done the math but I’m guessing you under pitched in addition to using a yeast that doesn’t excel in high abv...

It could be a few things here are a few ideas from Easiest to expensive Dirty coils/bad air flow use a vacuum and gently clean them or get some compressed air and blow them clean Bad thermometer that controls the temps. The unit is low on coolant and needs to be refilled. I’d search...

The problem with the egg is different coagulation temps of the proteins. The perfect temps for whites is 175 and yolks are best at 140. A classic soft boiled egg is made at 147. With a two step process it’s possible to cook a firm white and still have a runny yolk. At work we drop the cold...

Sani clean is a low foam acid rinse that performs well in CIP applications.

That pitch will be used for about 10 fermentations. Most smaller breweries don’t have the required gear, staff or lab services to grow up slants to pitch quantities. Basically it’s a cost basis decision since it’s cheaper to buy yeast than hire a micro biologist and build out a lab.

I’ve been using a commercial fridge for one of my half bbl conicals for a few years now. If you have the space it’s a great solution. I can crash to 33-34 overnight on half barrels. 32 takes another day. A small space heater and a good temp controller and your good to go between 32 and 85...

I built my brewery to handle step mashes. So a rims or herms set up is the best way to go. Direct fire and hot water additions can work if your careful. I’ve done several decoctions and step mashes as tests on different pilsners and lagers. The results are noticeable but not huge. I could...

I have not used ACCUmash. It seems like it’s prepackaged brewing salts that are scaled to hit predetermined water profiles. You can do the same thing easily with RO water cacl gypsum and acidulated malt or acid additions. I’m not sure what they charge for the product but I’m assuming it’s...

Are you on Lake Michigan water? If so you have really good water for brewing most styles. All you’d really need to do is remove chlorine. I know for a fact that pipeworks, off color, begyle don’t do anything more that charcoal filter for chlorine and adjust acid for ph. I brewed for...

Plus one for BSI, a very consistent company

I usually use them as a bittering addition. I have used it as late as 20 min. It’s nice and smooth for that application. I’d much rather use pellet or cryo hops for aroma. Better results imo

Hops/alpha acids didn’t slow your yeast down. I’ve hopped above 140 est ibu’s. Did you have mash high? Have Carmel Malts? Cara? Sugar? There are several ways to play with a recipe to dry it out. Sounds like you made a really good beer. Cheers

You can do that. I did it on my first herms. You just need a way to return the wort to the top of the cooler. A bulk head fitting or the Blichmann auto sparge will work for you

The only reason PBW leaves a white residue is your rinse temp should be the same temp as a the wash temp. Better is subjective imo but if your using PBW cold then I could see why you think that. Oxyclean free works nicely as well. Personally I prefer PBW at 150 degrees for my cip...