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I know it is possible to refill Soda Stream cartridges from the CO2 tank many of us use for pressurizing corny kegs of beer (youtube), but does anyone know the exact hardware needed? www.co2doctor.com has some equipment, but I'm not sure which of their options is best for this. Thanks

Mine purchased Dec 2014 included the gray rubbery gasket - see picture. Also see the adapter collar I found at Home Depot which fits nicely (with gasket removed), and allows my heavy glass carboys with long necks to be held above the pump, instead of resting on the pump. As you see from the...

I think that the popularity of home-brewing here can be traced back to England in the 1970s when the landmark books of Dave Line (e.g., "The Big Book of Brewing") showed how it was possible to do all-grain mashes at home. This was translated to the US by Dave Miller, for example with "Home...

Here are 2 pictures of the problem (which seems to be sideways for some reason). First image: the carboy rests on top of the pump Second image: the heavy glass carboy leans on the plastic collar, relying on those clips to hold. Any ideas for modifications that make the carboy more stable...

I have just bought the Mark's keg & carboys cleaner. I find it works well for corny kegs, but I have had problems with my carboys. I use pyrex carboys (5-6 galls) that were discarded by a laboratory. Each weighs about 13 lbs empty. When put on the washer, the opening of the carboy rests on...

Thanks for all the replies. Here's a summary of the options of shipping in non-glass containers: 1. Mr Beer plastic bottles. Pros - color and shape of traditional beer bottles, reusable, screw-cap, comes with shipping carton. Con- about $1 each. 2. Plastic soda bottles. Pro - free if you drink...

I'm sure this must have been discussed before, but is there a safer way to ship homebrew than in traditional capped glass bottles? Not for competition, so what about those Coors resealable aluminum bottles or just plastic soda bottles? I suppose the bottling device would have to be modified to...

Are the mash temperatures you give taken from from the initial reading? It is useful to have a temperature reading at the end of the mash too. If you lost more heat than typical during the mash, the actual mash temperature during most of the "150 degree" incubation might be too low for...

Great Job. From the beer point-of-view, I wonder though how realistic it is to propose to start out offering 6 different Fantom beers? Will the Golden, Amber and Brown really seem that different from each other to the typical drinker? I would have thought a lighter-sounding or lighter-tasting...

Seems like the strawberries are a likely source of off-flavors

Well, if you re-circulate till clear with batch sparging, I don't see how you can save much time or effort vs fly sparging. Please tell me how long your batch sparge takes for a 5 or 10 gallon batch of beer.

I agree with the original post in this thread. I love hops, but many American IPAs are frankly overhopped, in my opinion. I think you can have too much of a good thing, and beer becomes unbalanced with too high a concentration of hops.

Just a warning about BYO's Wizard. I don't have it in front of me, but in one article he recommends half an ounce of metabisulfite per 10-20 gallons of water to remove chlorine; it should be half a campden tablet (about 250 mg).

I have always used fly-sparging. I understand the desire to hasten things up (and be willing to use more grain in the process). But in fly-sparging great importance has been put on recirculating wort until the run-off was clear, before starting the collection. In batch sparging this is not...

It seems you are looking for a ball-park figure. To mash at about 66 C (151F), I find I have to have the (strike) water at about 81 C (178F). Of course, this depends on the temperature and material of your mashing container, the temperature and quantity of the grain, room temperature, how long...

Thanks to all for the input. My efficiency was actually what it always has been ~30 points/lb. It's just that the grain was 2-3 years old, so I used extra, thinking the yield would have decreased - but it didn't. I did use a hydrometer, but my mistake was just to glance at the preboil wort...

Will too much sparge water have some negative effect like causing astringency or something? Yes, it will tend to extract more astringent compounds than a lower volume sparge. I do it by taste: when the extract starts to taste like unsweetened tea, it is time to stop. Once I use some maximum...

I ended up with better efficiency than expected in an all grain brew yesterday, so my pale ale would be under-hopped as it stands. I know I should have realized it earlier, but now that the fermentation is underway, I want to increase its bitterness. I know hop extract would work (don't have...