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Hmm steam hadn't even thought of that but it makes sense on an industrial scale. Are the boil kettles jacketed or is it a direct infusion of steam into the wort?

Does anyone have any idea what type of heat sources commercial breweries use? I can see benefits to both gas/propane and electric. I also wonder if smaller craft brewers can use either while the bigger boys always use one kind. Anyone know?

In what direction is it off once alcohol enters the mix? If it is too high it might be more accurately measuring the amount of sugar in the beer and not the density (I believe this would be called the Real Extract). Since alcohol is less dense than water, once fermentation starts the...

I think I remember reading that refractometers are only accurate below a certain sugar percentage (like 25 or 30%). Of course that would be 25 Plato which is like 1.105 SG so I guess that doesn't matter with nearly all beers/worts.

Does it have a light that goes on when you turn the heat dial up? If so that would tell you when the heating element is on. Either way, I wouldn't expect it to ALWAYS be on, so the lowest setting is probably 'off'. Test it out though--at the lowest setting you should be able to touch it to...

I recently opened a 2-year-old bottle of porter made with extract and it was fantastic! It had lost all of the tangy extract taste. Am planning on saving a dozen bottles next time I make that beer. If you are going to age them, think about using larger bottles (22 oz or 750 mL). Things age...

I always topped off my extract and partial mash brews with tap water after the boil. Never had any sanitation problems or off flavors that I would attribute to that. Of course I live in NYC and the water is considered pretty good.

Yes, you would want to account for the dilution of adding your yeast + water mixture into the starter. A 1L flask is fine if you are going to have 500 mL of culture in it. If it ends up being any more you might want to get a larger flask. Hard to say for sure, but it sounds like everything...

It does produce some flavors but they can get masked really easily in my experience. It also is really fermentable so it helps to make a drier final product.

I dunno, with 20% specialty grains that's not totally out of the ballpark. It would make a bit more sense if they were darker, like crystal 60 or something, but you could still have a bunch of dextrine in there. Also, I don't think your aeration method is actually introducing any extra...

Are you oxygenating? What is the grain bill--are you using a lot of specialty malts (Crystal, etc...)?

I agree, pitching it into starters of higher gravity won't hurt the yeast. They'll appreciate the extra sugar. My only major concern is that you are really probably only getting a few cells if you are just skimming the foam krausen. You may have to wait quite a few days to see visible growth...

By my calculations adding an ounce of 80 proof rum to 11 ounces of beer at 5% ABV will raise the alcohol to about 8% in the beer. That won't kill the yeast or arrest fermentation (think of all the bottle conditioned beers that are higher in alcohol than that). Just to be safe I wouldn't do it...

It should be fine to connect to the Line 1 bus. Lines 1 and 2 are essentially 110V lines running with opposite phase. When they are combined they net 220V, but individually they are 110V relative to the neutral. As long as you don't overload your circuit breaker you should be fine.

If by volume gauge you mean the one on the left (to supposedly depict the amount of CO2 left in the tank), it is never accurate. It only measures the pressure of the headspace and not the amount of CO2 in the tank. It will stay at one level until the tank is essentially empty and then drop...

Male plants don't produce cones. They make pollen, which will fertilize all the female plants you have (doesn't matter what variety). The females will then produce cones with seeds, which is considered undesirable. Supposedly these fertilized cones are larger, though. I don't know if that...

It is hard to get honey flavors to come through into a finished beer a lot of the time. You would want to start with a balanced (not too hoppy or malty) simple style like a pale ale (not IPA or APA) or a cream ale. Add the honey at flameout (honey is always sterile as far as I understand)...

I have gotten a significant reduction in aroma when leaving them in for too long. But if taking them out before you leave means they'll be in there less than a week, I would leave them in and then bottle as soon you get back.

How big of a batch did you brew and how big/what kind is your fermenter? In my experience you want to have at least 1.5 gal of headspace for the krausen. Blowoff tube certainly can't hurt though.

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