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Keg aka keggle is the way to go. Place a "wanted" ad on craigslist for $40 bucks. Do a search, there are a bunch of different ways to convert a keg to a kettle (keggle). I prefer the triclover center drain approach. It is easy to mount a hot water heater element in the keg or pot, again do a...

Out of curiosity what is the benefit of one of these spray balls over a pbw soak? Less water usage? I've considered these in the past but always stop because a good pbw soak always seems adequate, easy, and cost effective.

Rtd is much more accurate than thermocouple. You'd also do better to put the sensor in the hlt than on the coil. Edit: auber sells rtd sensor in weldless fitting. Use that in the hlt to control the temp via bcs or pid, put the thermowell in the mash tun or on coil and install an analog dial...

The question is, do you detect a smokey flavor? I have never experienced scorching even using hwd elements to boil a very light cream ale. Maybe it was his imagination. Seriously though, if you are concerned about it then switch to a lwd or ulwd element.

Cold. I believe both heat and light will break down bleach.

I don't know why there is such paranoia about bucket infections. There are two active threads on this topic right now. I think mythbusters should do a show on the myth of the "persistent bucket infection" :p It's simple, take the oring out of the lid, clean everything thoroughly with pbw...

If it is a keg don't bleach it because bleach will damage stainless. If it is glass or plastic then just dump a bunch in, maybe a couple cups worth, you can't over do it. Mixing ratio for bleach is only important if you are using it as a no-rinse sanitizer.

This looks pretty clever. So that's a 3/4" conduit nipple on one side and a wire clamp on the other, right? Can it be found at lowes/HD? From the sound of it the nut that threads onto the conduit nipple is not needed since the nipple itself bottoms out the element base, right? It looks...

Good point, if the beer tastes fine and is not moldy then don't worry about it. RDWAHAHB!

I'm not the paranoid type and my personal experience has given me no reason to change. Buckets, at least those big enough for 5 gal batches, aren't free and I don't care to throw money away personally.

I've used moldy buckets and all sorts of nastiness, I believe the "persistent bucket infection" to be a myth probably stemming from improper cleaning and sanitizing of the bucket - probably the o ring in the lid. disassemble it fully (i.e. the lid) and soak everything with a strong bleach...

If your hose water is warm then do what everyone else does. Use hose water until the wort reaches 100 deg or so, then hook up an aquarium pump/submersible pump in a bucket of ice water to get it that last bit. A siphon won't work for the reason mentioned (outlet must be lower than inlet) and it...

That's a very clever way to make fins out of the pipe. How did you flatten them so evenly? I can't imagine you did that with a hammer. Any problems with wort getting inside the tube and turning into a nasty mess? I need a stirrer for my HLT and am looking for a simple way to make the fan...

I started all grain years ago with an aluminum turkey fryer rig. It worked ok but I would have done differently in retrospect. the 7.5 gal pot is too small. Boil overs were frequent. Get a keg off craigslist and put an electric element in it. 120v 2000watt element will boil 5 gallons. No risk...

I've experimented with PBW, oxyclean, and a oxyclean TSP (sodium metasilicate) mix in an old aluminum turkey fryer pot I no longer use. I've found that, at least at suggested mix ratios, none of the above cleaners pit or damage the aluminum for at least 10-15 minutes. I haven't tried any...

Isn't that lye or potash? I have some sodium hydroxide around (similar properties to potash), it's nasty stuff. Used in soap making and also as the quintessential drain opener. I'd rather use PBW, seems safer. But maybe I'm missing something...

I intended that for the OP. I don't disagree with anything you said. I was just wondering if there was any reason he had to think it wouldn't work.

I've used pbw to clean the lines without issue. What makes you think it won't work? Or is it that you think it would be bad for the line?

Exactly

Well I called a few labs today and will get some quotes on lead testing beer. Perhaps we can do a couple samples from different brewers depending on cost. I may start a new thread if this looks feasible. It would be nice to have some data points instead of speculation.