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+1 for aluminum stock pots. They are available lots of places these days for less than a dollar per quart capacity. Stainless looks cool and can be cleaned with the caustic chemicals used in big breweries. But aluminum is just as effective as a cooking utensil for pennies on the dollar.

All good reasons. And Stout has a "short" 7.3 gallon fermenter that measures 25.5 inches. Not sure what happens with an airlock, but you might check.

Blichmann has some really nice-looking fermenters, but I was never able to pull the trigger. I lurked on ebay for a while, even bidding occasionally on a couple of fermenters--until I realized that they were auctioning off "Stout" fermenters for not much less than you can buy a new one...

Sounds like a great plan. And in the meantime, I'm glad your time to boil is less.

Your picture looks a lot like my setup. When I got the larger pot, I took out a wrench, removed the ring, then bent the supporting arms flat (using my vice). That brought the pot down to where the old one sat inside the ring--and so closer to the frame. BTW, if you want a more powerful...

I started with a turkey fryer, too, then moved to a larger pot that sat on top of the ring. And yes, it slowed my boil. So I got out my tool box, removed the ring, and bent the supports until they lay flat. Now the pot sits about as far away from the flame as the old smaller pot did, and all...

Yes. I do it. I just bottle it (in some larger bottles), label it, and use it for a starter.

I generally try and hit my specific gravity target rather than a volume target. So if I have boiled off so much liquid that my SG is now too high for my target style, then I would add water to dilute it. And, conversely, if I missed my target (low efficiency), then I might adjust by boiling...

Did you put the containers in the fridge or just leave it at room temp? I put mine in the fridge and get them down to fridge (38 deg) temp. That may make a difference.

That would be my next step, too. I'd love to hear how it goes for you.

I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from buying a cool thing like a plate chiller (I have been tempted myself!). But my immersion chiller has served me well for twenty years. It is easy to care for (sanitation isn't ever an issue) and it works. If you have a C-note waiting to be spent on home...

I say go for it. True confession: I routinely buy a smack pack, make a starter, bottle a six pack, label it, refrigerate it, then (eventually) use it. I have used yeast stored this way that was two years old and, while there was a lag time in waking it up in the starter, it made very good...

There was a good article about small-batch breweries (some in apartments) in Brew Your Own a while back. Here is the link. Lots of good information there. Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Techniques - Small Scale Brewing

If you are talking about the two coolers with the false bottom (and you just don't want to build it yourself), it will be money well-spent. I built one just like it, and I love it. Of course, even keeping it on the cheap, you will want a 7 to 10 gallon brew pot, a propane burner (to get it off...

Lucky you! I would go with 3 of each kind (one on each end of the bed and one in the middle). Then follow the usual "how-to" guidance about only letting the 3 or 4 strongest bines grow each year. If you want more rhizomes, you will be able to dig them up in a couple years and divide them...

Agree. Fermentation is under way. Whatever yeast you had has increased. Let it go. It will probably be just fine.

I use 5 gallon pots. In fact, I have a suburban yard, and my wife is generous enough to allow my hops climb the pergola, but not generous enough to let them run wild and take over the lawn (a la blackberries). So mine have been pot-bound for years. It decreases the yield, because they don't...

I hope you go ahead and buy some software (I have found it very helpful), but know that reliable calulations depend upon predictable results (for example, how efficient are you at extracting the sugars, what is your evaporation rate, etc). And until you have some data, you are just guessing...

kozydogg-- So, for your money, the recipe/calculations/projections are pretty accurate, eh? Then there probably isn't anything better--or at least not worth the cost. When I started using HBF, I thought "wow! These guys deserve some of my money. I can't believe this is free!" But I...

Got me. I'm open--and perhaps even hoping to be convinced. But I'd like to hear from someone with firsthand knowledge of this thing and whatever they use now on their Mac.