Search results

Hi PhillC, Yuri, et al; Coming across this two years late, but wondering if any progress has been made? Did those Freescale pressure sensors work with your Arduino? Has anyone come up with a working "Digital site glass"?

hey Rhoobarb, Did you ever do that side-side compare w/Kostritzer? That is what I was shooting for in my Scharzbier, which I'm drinking now. It turned out very good, but too much of a chocolate note and none of that subtle coffee thing I get from Kostritzer. I just modified my grain bill to...

Great input/disussion gang...thanks. Had no idea about it, so just found the original thread about the BMBF ("we don't need no stinking beer gun") Cool. I'll probably use this after I get over my "natural vs. forced" carb experiment. I'm close, as the three kegs I've done have been awesome...

After fermenting nearly 5 weeks, my Helles Boch Lager seemed ready to go. I decided to bottle 2 six-packs, keg the rest, because keg is convenient for home, bottle is portable to share. Plus I want to compare flavor of forced carbonation in keg to natural carbonation in bottle. This is only my...

Ouch! I like to keep a spray bottle with Starsan solution in it - always at hand. It lasts about a week before it gets this icky greyish color, then I dump it and make fresh. Spray that stuff and let is sit for 10-20 seconds before you insert it into your precious brew, bro! :-) It may be...

Whoa! Granted, I've only done 8 batches, but have yet to get anywhere close to that uber-violent fermentation frenzy of yours. How much/what yeast did you pitch into what kind of recipe? I've been just adding a single smak-pak or a single packet of dry yeast to my beers. I get down to the...

got it...thanks. Now what about this? Thought/idea#2: Has anyone used a refrigerator in a “Son-of-Fermenter” configuration? - For freezer section, let freeze as normal. Whatever built-in thermostat for the freezer keeps it at the appropriate “water-freezing temp”, as normal. - For main...

“Son-of-Fermenter” chiller made: works great! Love it. But need more space and want to lager, so… Bought Ranco controller, currently cruising Craigslist for a fridge. Thought/question: Since Ranco turns entire unit on/off, doesn’t seem like both freezer and fridge sections would maintain...

Last weekend, I just jumped from extract/steeping grains to partial mash, using DeathBrewer's method - tres cool!! I made a stout recipe and my efficiency was higher than the guy at my LHBS thought. Using the calcs from "Designing Great Beers", I determined I only needed 3 of the 4 lbs of DME he...

late noob comment. Based on the topic, and advanced level of the posters, I"m calling this thread "Crash of the Titans".:)

Maybe 'cause I"m a noob, and because I just built it, but I"m still diggin' my recently completed "son of fermenter" chiller. $80 total, weights maybe 8 lbs empty. I have the thermostat set for 66, and wort is rock solid at 68 (ambient room temp 80). Almost no electricity. Also geeking out on...

According to book “Designing Great Beers” DME lasts longer on the shelf without going “off” and darkening in color. DME has higher odds of being fresh than LME. DME has a higher “extract potential” than LME. I’m still a noob, but getting decent results...

I hear ya on the wort temp. My test run only had "simulated wort" (starsan in a bucket) so there was no fermentation. My altbier may be cooler because fermentation just started? Or maybe the little strip/stick-on thermometer on the side o' my plastic primary is off? I'll peek in on it again...

I just completed the "Son of Fermentation" Chiller, and it rocks! I spent about $80 in materials, but bought all new (except fan & wall wart laying around). In my maiden voyage test I used only 2 1-gallon ice jugs. It quickly brought the temp from the ambient temp of 79F to 62.5. I had 5 gallons...

Newbe tip from a newbie. We made a "two-stage" immersion wort chiller. Basically two separate copper coils. Once goes into a cooler, with 2 bags of ice. the other is immersed in hot wort. Garden hose feeds stage 1, coollng it thru the ice chest, then goes to "stage 2" coil, immersed in wort...

Thanks all for quick replies. This site (and its members) are tres cool. Revvy, this and your other posts have been hugely beneficial. I am over it...that was easy. SG = 1.013. Before I popped the lid, I had bubbles every 40 seconds. This Nut Brown has been in Primary for 7 days, and the...

To know when to transfer to secondary, or bottle, most say, "check the SG 3 days in a row...if it doesn't move, fermentation is done, and you can move to secondary (if thats your thing) or to bottle". My secondary is a glass carbory, but I'm still using a plastic bucket for my primary and...

Great info...thanks! this reminds me of the swamp cooler technique - nearly free, and works well. I'm going to my LHBS today to get ingredients for my 3rd batch, and will try this technique. Say, what about the lid for that glass jug? Do you put a fermenation lock on it? seal it?

I'm a newbie too, and learned from some of the advanced posters here that dry yeast doesn't require a starter, though many recommend rehydrating dry yeast (put it in warm, sterile water, let sit for 15 minutes, stir and let sit for 5-10 minutes) before pitching. Some of the advanced guys...

Thanks Yooper, After reading replies and pouring through other posts (plus my OCD kicking in) I reengaged the swamp cooler (slowly) & brought the temp down 8 degrees. Yeast spent from 11am Tues thru 5pm Wed. above 72, and did a 68 to 77 back to 68 in 3 days.(It's not a stupid mistake...its a...