Search results

A side pickup tube increased my volume into the fermenter by almost 1/2 gallon over a bazooka screen. After allowing the trub to settle out you'll get a bit of trub at first and then clean wort until the trub pile flattens out. You really want some trub to get into the fermenter, as it contains...

Thought I posted this earlier? Henny Penny told us many years ago that the sky was falling in. Just looked up and it's still up there. Doubt seriously that it will happen in our lifetime.

Here's a link to a video on how to set it up: http://brulosophy.com/2014/08/04/beersmith-tutorial-equipment-profile-setup/ The pre made profiles are templates. You need to modify them as needed.

Retired mine several years ago, but kept it as a backup. You never know when you might need it.

Yep. Just be sure to wash well and sanitize the mason jar and cover it with sanitized foil. I often let starters sit in the fridge for 3 or 4 days when life gets in the way.

Here's a pic:

Find something solid that's a tight fit and put it under the front of the center brace for the glass shelf. If it isn't quite tall enough just shim it. I used an old plastic LME jar and a piece of plastic to shim it with and have had no problem with two 5.5 gallon batches at a time. A piece of...

Had the outlet hose pop off of my IC while not watching. Didn't feel too bad, as it was the first batch I lost in over 10 years of brewing. Picked up a flaring tool and put a bit of a bubble on the ends of the tubing so it won't happen again.

The method Beersmith uses to calculate IBUs can be selected by the user. Tinseth, Garetz and Rager are all options. You may select one by going to, Tools/Options/Bitterness, where you'll find a drop down. I'm not aware of any software that uses any other models. The accuracy of any of these...

I had the best Jalapeño beer ever at Ravenna Brewing in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. It was a very well made Kolsch with just a hint of Jalapeño flavor up front and just enough heat on the back end that you knew it had peppers in it. It was very refreshing to be able to taste the beer rather...

Dry yeasts require little or no aeration. If properly handled and stored, they have everything they need to kick off a healthy fermentation when pitched at a reasonable rate and within their published temperature range. Also, Fermentis no longer recommends rehydration with their ale yeasts...

I don't think you'd have much success bottling from a warm keg. At higher temperatures, CO2 requires more pressure to achieve a given carbonation level and also comes out of solution much more easily as the pressure drops. I'm guessing that the result would be excesive foam and under carbonated...

I doubt that there was enough residual oil left over from processing to cause a problem in the boil. Wondering why would you use a thermowell in your kettle? Thermowells are generally used in fermenters to facilitate accurate temp probe readings in order to control fermentation temps.

Once you've cleaned the keg with PBW, just hook it up to CO2 and the beer line at the keezer and use a pitcher to catch the flow at the tap, You'll have plenty in the keg to do that several times, As for the Starsan, Same routine and a liter of 2 should be more than enough. No reason to recirculate.

I found all of the others at the hardware store, but was unable to find the main seal. Since it floats in a groove it needs to have both the proper ID and OD.

Depending on whether I have multiple packets of a dry yeast strain on hand or not, I will either pitch 2 packets or make a starter. When I do make a starter I rehydrate before adding to the starter wort. Also, I use a pinch of Fermaid-K in the starter and 1/2 to 1 tsp late in the boil just to be...

After a while the fat O ring loses its resiliency and is more prone to leaks, more so with the cleaning solution or water. They will eventually get bad enough that they will leak beer too. If you can't find the seal kits locally you can find them here...

I use either double strength Starsan solution or 2 TBSP of citric acid to a liter of water. Follow same procedure as with BLC, and flush well afterwards. I use PBW to clean a keg and the use the kegged solution to clean the lines. Works as good as BLC and you've already got it in the keg...

Simply flushing the lines with BLC will often just loosen most of the buildup in the lines. Run enough through to be sure the line is full and let it sit for 15 minutes. Run just a bit more through and allow to sit for another 15 minutes. Repeat until the cleaner runs clear when you first open...

Be sure to adjust your yeast pitch as well.