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I... wait... I'm beginning to think that perhaps, just maybe, I would rather spend countless hours hunched over my sink/tub filled with water alone, putty knife clenched in my waterlogged, now arthritic claw, cursing the gods that inspired some boneheaded clown of a packaging-designer to use...

Yes. OxyClean really does help that much. When I first started brewing, I cleaned 200+ bottles by soaking them in the bathtub overnight filled with super-hot water. The labels came off ok, some even floated off, but it took some scrubbing with the rough side of a sponge on some to get all...

Yeah, the volume marking on the brew pails are notoriously inaccurate. Get yourself a proper measuring cup of a decent volume and use that.

My SWMBO isn't much of a beer drinker, but is in all aspects my brew partner -- she helps rack, bottle, brew, and keeps the logs and works out the maths on the formulas (she's a math geek *grins*). She is a trained baker by trade, and by love... it's her passion. Homebrewing tweaks the same...

The ones I make are found in this thread: Spent Grain? Make Your Best Friend Cookies! Read it through, as there are some useful tips as the thread goes on. The spent grain will start to go off after a few days in the fridge, so if you don't use it right away, you can freeze it for long...

I'm here in Austin, so I pop on in AHS whenever I need something. The shop is huge and well stocked, they just moved to a new location a month or so back and expanded their storage space exponentially so they keep a ton of everything on hand (I was offered a tour on Saturday... reminded me of...

+1 for composting it. Like Yooper, I keep the grains for dog biscuits too... or if I have too much spent grain in the freezer, I chuck them in the compost as well. The trub does, however, make the compost heap smell like the inside of the Harlem Globetrotters laundry hamper. I'm just sayin'.

Best advice I've seen around here regarding hydrometers: buy a spare, because it's not a matter of if, but when it will break. I know that doesn't answer your original question, but I thought I'd mention it, especially since it's a 2 HR round trip for you to get a replacement.

Just thought I'd add a little footnote to this thread. Brewed a Wee Heavy yesterday with a 2L starter to pitch. Got a little overzealous with the de-gassing wand and whipped so much air into the carboy that I had a thick, frothy head that completely filled the remaining headspace. Had to add...

+5 Wee Heavy 11,215 + 5 = 11,220

Rather than going straight to the napalm option, maybe give OxiFree a shot -- it's the prevailing substance used 'round these parts to soak labels off... not the only one, but certainly a community favorite. It's likely cheaper than wallpaper remover, less caustic, and is less likely to cause...

Sadly, I can't claim it as my own concoction. It was the mini-mash kit from AHS found HERE. It did turn out refreshing and delicious, and went exceptionally well with spicy boiled crawfish.

5 each: - Belgian Golden - Kolsch - Oatmeal Stout - EdWort's Haus Pale Ale - Orange Blossom Mead Total: 10,821

Count me in for 5. 3026

Friend of mine worked at a 7-11 in Dallas many-a-year-ago, and he said that the only difference between the hot dogs and the sausages on the rolling cooking/heating rack was about 8 hours of time. Eeeew.

Seconded! How water is the key. I also use 1OZ of OxiFree (OxiClean minus chlorine, dyes and perfumes) per 4-5 gallons of hot water and have never had a problem with label release (most just fall off, and even the stubborn foil tops on Negra Modelo bottles peel off easily), haze or head...

Get an el-cheapo electric engraver and set it to it's lowest setting. Get a gallon pitcher (with volume markings on it), and fill your new carboy up a gallon at a time, marking the carboy with a sharpie at each gallon level (pro-tip, if you're marking a 6+ gallon carboy, be sure to mark it at...

Dang! Innuendo overload!

The shaft fits through a drilled stopper with some room to spare, so you just drop a stopper on the shaft and pop the stopper into the neck when you stick the paddle in and hold it there with a little downward pressure. The stopper keeps it from banging the glass, it gives you great control...

I was talked out of the plastic handled version by another customer at the AHS. He said that if it's something I was going to use a lot, then I'd just be back to but the one with the SS handle after I snapped the plastic one, leaving the bottom half in the carboy... just like he did. *grins*...