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Both my HLT and MT have 1/2" ball valves with barbed nipples threaded in, and I use 1/2" i.d. silicone tubing to transfer. I've never timed how long it takes to fill the mash tun, but its definitely less than 5 minutes to mash in, or sparge, etc with around 5 gallons of water. Like any...

I run my mash/sparge water into the bottom valve on the mash tun like you're describing. It works well for my set up and, especially with the sparge I feel it helps stir up the grain bed as it fills. It does seem to have more of a tendency to leave an air pocket in the hose, which you have to...

Yeast nutrient is not "necessary" for most beer fermentations. As others have said though it will help produce a faster, healthier fermentation. And that = better beer. I started using yeast nutrient in about my 3rd or 4th brew and never looked back. With the Wyeast product, the cost is...

I had the same problem with my sight glass. I used to brew and clean everything up to the point my kettle full of oxyclean soaking. Usually I would let that sit overnight and clean/drain the kettle out the next day. A few months ago I got busy, it sat for 4-5 days and I found that I had a...

After I wrote the post I kind of told myself I was probably waaaaaay over thinking this... So thanks heferly for bringing me back to sanity! suzanneb - I am most likely going to use 2 kinds but still ironing out the details. One will definitely be ancho peppers either dried or roasted. My...

3 weeks ago I brewed an Imperial Stout with 6 oz of cocoa powder @ 5 min in the boil. I am planning to rack it soon and give it the "Mayan Cocoa" treatment of vanilla, pepper and cinnamon. There is a nice chocolate aroma and flavor in the beer already (although if needed it can sit on some nibs...

That is the mill I use, I will try to get a picture before I go to work in the morning. Its a very basic flat base and hopper that I made from bits of wood I had left over from other projects. I just set it on a bucket when milling, but plan to build a cabinet at some point.

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the least flocculent cells are also the highest attenuating ones that stay active and finish things up when most of the culture has dropped. The idea is that if you harvest at fermenting temperature, you are leaving a larger percentage of these high...

If you clean with PBW after use, then a quick rinse + sanitizing is all you need before the next time. No need to use the PBW twice for each time you use your equipment.

about 12.5"

After every brew I fill the mlt/kettle with cleanser and after a short soak, drain it through the valve. They are usually visually clean at that point, but if I see any residue I use a faucet brush as others have mentioned. I take the valves apart about every 4 months or so for an overnight...

Thanks Calder, that is the information I was looking for regarding the yeast cake. I will siphon some of the cake out when I rack the beer off. I probably won't get exactly half but it will get me closer to the correct amount. I tend to agree that MrMalty is pretty accurate from what I've...

Damn, that's quite the blow off!! I had one go a little crazy on me lately that I had made a nice big 2L starter for, but it pales in comparison to that, lol. Thanks for the feedback guys I'll go for it on the porter yeast cake! I'm excited for this brew!

I also have a couple kegs where the poppets don't easily come out. I simply take the post off and boil the post/poppet together and have not had any infections.

Now that's taking Kegel exercises to a whole new level!

I love big stouts and have been wanting to brew one for awhile so I've decided to take the plunge this Sunday and brew up something in the 1.100ish range while I still have a good 6-8 months for conditioning before wintertime stout drinking weather rolls back around. As a happy coincidence...

A sanke keg works great for fermenting 10 gallon batches. If you don't want to watch Craigslist, call some breweries - they will sometimes have decommissioned kegs around to sell.

I have a copper dip tube with 2 unsoldered connections and have never had an issue with losing the siphon. The only problem that being unsoldered has presented, was the time I knocked one of the connections apart stirring with my spoon while chilling... I dipped my entire forearm into sanitizer...

I believe your conversion is backwards... You would use more grains than extract. the .6 conversion rate you mention is for going from grains to extract. The other way around is something like 1.25 as much grain to replace extract in a recipe. If you have 11 lbs of pilsner malt, I would use...

That is what I use for aerating. I have a stainless stone that I got from the LHBS and boil it before each use. I just don't trust anything other than heat for sanitizing those miniscule pores. In my experience the starters will foam up after a couple hours with the pump going. Once the foam...