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I bought the hops to make Denny's Rye IPA a while back. I was going to use S-05 for the yeast, then I saw Denny post on another board that Wyeast was going to be coming out with the old CL-50 yeast so I held off brewing it.

I've seen pictures of a block & tackle setup a guy had rigged on a track mounted to his ceiling. As for what I do - have a big breakfast so I can lift it out of the chest freezer and use an autosiphon.

I just sarted using it this weekend so I don't have a lot of experience to go on, but Foam Control (Fermcap-s) did wonders in my boil kettle this weekend. It's supposed to be just as affective in the fermenter. See the current thread "Let's Talk Foam Control'.

I used it for the first time this weekend on a 13 gal boil (in a keggle). It worked as I expected it to to prevent a boilover, but a great side-effect was that i didn't have to keep scraping the hops off the side of the kettle back into the wort! I'm convinced. I'll be using it on all of my batches.

As has been mentioned, having a cooler with a lot of headspace isn't an issue if you preheat it properly. After that the key to maintaining the temperature is - no peeking! Keep the lid closed and you shouldn't lose more than a degree or two over a 60-90 min mash.

If you don't already have it, fermentation temperature control would be at the top of my list - craigslist freezer and a digital temp. controller. You'll have plenty $$$ left over for other things as well...

BY my calculations 100% efficiency on that grain bill at 13 gallons would be 1.064 (1.067 adjusted for temp.), so something is definitely off. It could be the hydrometer. It could be the volume. Has the paper scale inside the hydrometer come loose? I've had that happen before.

I used my Barley Crusher for the first time yesterday. I didn't change it from the factory setting and didn't measure the gap. I got 80% efficiency. Plenty happy with that.

I leave mine dangling about mid-way down, set on 42. The bottom may be a degree cooler and the top may be a degree warmer, but I'm fairly certain that it'll still hold temp better, and cycle less than a refridgerator. IMO, it's not worth sweating that much (as apposed to the temp control on the...

I use a 13 Gal Vittles Vault for my 10 gallon batches. You can get them from pet supply stores, but the price from US Plastics is much better. If I'm making 10 gallons of it, it's usually a smaller session beer, so I don't bother with a secondary. 3 weeks in the primary then straight to keg.

I wish you would have posted this last week. I did a weizenbock this weekend with WB-6. It certainly smells good fermenting. I'll report back when I rack it to the keg. At what temp did you ferment? Maybe that was the problem...

about 1/3 of an 8kg tank = roughly 5-6 lbs. It should be enough for a batch. I get 5-6 batches out of a 20 lb. tank. If you're gonna run out and get your tank refilled do it while the grain is mashing, there's a good hour to kill. Oh yeah, and get a second tank...

If you can fit the 18# of grain + 24 qts. of strike water + 12 qts. of water to get to mashout temps, why do 2 sparges? Just do one and get it over. Also, 18# of grain is going to absorb 2.5 gallons of water or more. By my calculations using the tastybrew calculator, dough in with 24 qts...

THIS will help you get started.

For me, the batch size = the post boil volume. I design my recipes as 6 gallon batches in order to get 5 gallons (give or take a little) of finished beer. I usually lose 1/2 gallon to the trub in the boil kettle, and a little less than that in the primary fermenter. Having said that, in order...

I've been waiting too...:confused: If they don't get back soon I may have to go with these guys.

It looks like crankandstein is now Monster Brewing Hardware. From the new website (same address as linked above)... We have changed manufacturers in an effort to bring you a better product, better availability, and a better value. Monster Mills are coming soon! Completely NEW...

It sounds to me like you did a fine job of preheating the cooler by using water above your strike temp. This is what I do and it works very well. I think the only thing you did wrong was to keep opening the cooler. With that small amount of grain and that much empty air space every time you...

I picked up copies of BYO and All About Beer at the bookstore prior to my family vacation to the beach earlier this month. I thought the All About Beer had more (quality and quantity) content than the BYO. However, I don't subscribe to either so this could have been an anomoly.

I would also calibrate your thermometer in a glass of ice water, then in boiling water. If your thermometer is reading high you may actually be mashing at a much lower temperature than you think, which will result in a much more fermentable wort and a thin bodied beer.