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At my wedding a couple months ago we averaged about five drinks per person over four hours, which was spot on with what most of the venues we met with told us. For every person who drinks ten beers there is someone who has one and heads home early. Granted, you know your crowd better than us...

If you have a plate chiller then either a using a pre-chiller or pumping ice water through the plate chiller are your simplest options. I use ground water (around 70-80F in the summer) pumped through an immersion cooler until the wort gets to around 100F, which takes about 5 minutes. I then...

Welcome to the Heights, I've been in Houston three years and in the Heights for the last two. I'm a member of a couple of the groups just because I keep meeting people from the different groups and getting invited to their meetings/brewdays. The Foam Rangers - Meet at Defalcos Homebrew Shop...

If you want something automated then load cells and/or flow meters are the way to go. Both of those are easily accessible and shouldn't be too complicated or expensive ($100-200) for a set up. Check out this site for some great examples including quite a few part lists...

I don't believe so, but I'm sure it is a matter of personal preference and it certainly wouldn't hurt. Most of the microbes will be inhibited by the alcohol, which is why you would want to add the fruit to the secondary after primary fermentation is complete. Pasteurization doesn't kill the...

Many people have used Blueberry extract and with great success. I know both homebrew shops in town recommend it over using actual blueberries for cost/ease issues. One big upside is that you can add a small amount in the secondary or bottling bucket, taste, add a little more, taste, repeat...

The swamp coolers are a great idea if it isn't too humid in your house, humidity can really lower the efficiency of it. A fridge with a temperature controller would be ideal, not just for the summer, because you can control any day to day temperature swings throughout the year. If none of...

Like most other people have said it is a great way to save some time on your brew day. I've been using a cheap one like this from ebay and I've been very happy with it.

I really enjoy their Rio Blanco Pale Ale. Quite a bit sweeter than most American Pale Ales. It won a gold at GABF for Special Bitter. Lost Gold IPA is a nice, light IPA. The Coffee Porter is well balanced, the coffee is nice and subtle.

In response to the chugger pumps I've been speaking with Mike from chugger pumps over the last few months. I emailed him in early April and this was his response "We sold out of the Chuggers …new ones are I production now …we have made some modifications to the Impeller, HP...

Woah, slow your roll. That type of reason has no place on the forums.

I didn't have too many issues using a step bit, just start with a small bit, go slow and use lots of oil. 7/8 holes typically took me about one minute, but I do have a really beefy drill. Cleaning up the edges took longer than drilling. Using a high quality step bit makes a huge difference...

So now I'm confused a little bit. In this setup either a DPDT switch or contactor with a selector switch is used to allow power to the element but no power is sent to the element or to the PID until the push switch is activated and the circuit is closed. Am I misunderstanding this? If...

Alright, thanks so much for the help everyone. I am planning on going the route similar to what I initially posted, using the contactors and only having one element active at a time. I will most likely use a 4500 watt element in the HLT so when I feel like adding another PID/SSR/Heat Sink I...

Thanks for the clarification about the 80% rule, I misunderstood it before. Now to decide if back to back batches is worth another $150 or so in PID/SSR/Heat Sink/misc. This scope/budget creep came up quickly. Kai, I completely agree and I am definitely beyond using the breaker as a...

Fair enough. At Auber the cost for a 25 amp SSR and heat sink is about $25 while the 40 amp is about $40. $15 won't break the bank. I am planning on the Auber SYL-2352 PID for $45. My biggest question now is if I would like to install a safe start interlock to avoid me accidentally dry...

Passedpawn, I really like that setup. Nice and simple. Wilserbrewer - I typically do 5 gallon batches (start boil at 7.5 gal and finish with 6). If I go manual I will probably scale back to 3500w. Speed isn't a huge issue but anything to shorten a brew day is helpful. Ambient temps aren't...

This looks great, the PID, SSR, Heat Sink and RTD sensor can be got for about $100. All the switches and plugs would have been needed anyway. Not quite as bad as I was thinking. Seems as if people are split on using a 25 amp or a 40 amp SSR and Heat sync for a 5500 w element (draw should...

I am in the middle of designing and building and electric brewery and was wondering if it would be possible to controlled the heating elements manually at either the breaker or my installing an inline switch. This is essentially what I do now using propane, when desired temperature is reached...

What type of water are you using? Making sure you have the right water profile can make a big difference. If you're happy with the water then a little biscuit can go a long way in adding some mouthfeel.