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For me record keeping is the key. I have a computerized check list that I force myself to update with each new beer before every brew day. I then systematically go through it during each step of the process. Almost all of my mistakes are from relying on my memory and then forgetting a step...

I realize that there are people that learn best by taking classes and there are people that learn best by reading and self study. For me, it was by far the most time efficient (not to mention less expensive) to just pound through a couple thorough textbooks. For $20 and about 4-5 hours of...

My boil kettle has markings for volume but they aren't very accurate. I made myself a ruler with an aluminum rod that I marked at each 1/2 gal level. It is very accurate and more accurate than the kettle markings. There is no reason that a ruler can't work very well if you make it carefully.

I have the same fermenter. I have done a fairly similar process although I do all the dry hopping in the fermenter and then do a pressure transfer to the keg after fermentation and after the second dry hopping. This means that I only had to open the vessels exposing them to some O2 twice...

The other trick I use is that I save a couple gallon milk jugs and freeze a couple blocks of ice in my freezer before brew day. When I start my boil, I throw those into the cooler water to start cooling it down before I throw the ice cubes in. This reduces my need for ice cubes although I...

In terms of chilling, I would rather brew in the winter in Wisconsin because I can use snow. I do use my garden hose and the outside faucet and just drain the water out of the hose (by gravity) and store it in my attached garage. I wouldn't really need to use the hose for the first 10 min of...

I would start purging your keg with fermentation CO2. I pressure ferment in my All Rounder (usually at just 12 psi or so) with my spunding valve on the fermenter. I then attach a Star San filled keg to the back side of the spunding valve with a hose to the gas line of the keg to force the...

I agree with others that this is a whole process issue and not a simple tubing issue. I would go back and look at everything in the process. I would consider pressure fermentation in a sealed fermenter, purging the Star San filled kegs with fermentation CO2, then pressure transfers and storage...

I don't quite understand this if this is your main reason for switching. I use a 5 gal Igloo water cooler for my mash tun and can easily make just about any beer in a 5 gal batch without any problem. I could also just buy the 10 gal version but have never found the need. There are probably...

I ordered some of these from Amazon. They are very nice and pretty strong magnets.

I have no idea how anyone could get through life without a good cordless drill irregardless of home brewing. Forget the cheap Harbor Freight crap. Just buy a nice cordless Dewalt or Milwaukee drill. You will use it for the next 30 years to fix stuff.

Just buy a cheap TDS meter (amazon, etc.). Then you can test it fast and get a pretty good idea what is in it. I buy cheap 4 gal jugs of RO water and it tests at a very low mineral content on my TDS meter which allows me to use it as virtually distilled water and add Mg or whatever is needed...

I weigh my two 2.5 gal kegs filled with Star San and then have them on my postal scale as I fill them with a closed transfer. I stop when they reach the desired weight and then switch over to the other keg. It works perfect. It doesn't even need to be that accurate.

The advantages of pressure fermentation for me are - 1. can ferment at higher temperatures which is probably most useful for lagers or in the warmer summer months. 2. Faster fermentation especially when fermenting at higher temperatures 3. Less risk of oxidation as it is a completely...

There is no problem pressure fermenting that recipe or that yeast especially at very modest pressures like 12 psi. In fact, there is no style of beer that I wouldn't ferment now under modest pressures like this. I haven't found any downside at all except maybe a little extra cost. If you can...

I don't think that will work. You need a higher CO2 volume. As an avid cyclist, those cartridges work well for a single use on a bike tire to achieve fairly high pressure in an emergency but only with the pretty small volume of a bike tire. If I would purge a fermenter or keg, I would add CO2...

Every time i do a gravity reading with my hydrometer tube I waste 8 oz of beer (about 1 cup). There is only 128 oz in your 1 gallon batches. If you do 3 gravity readings trying to time your bottling perfect, you just wasted 20% of your batch. You can't check gravity with a hydrometer...

That is an Ale and an Ale yeast. If you are going this far with a pressure capable fermenter you might as well get a spunding valve and ferment it under pressure. You can read the pressure charts although I would probably just dial it in at 12 psi or so for fermentation. I would ferment it...

Nothing really to do with home brewing.

The other option is to just give it enough time to ferment and don't worry about checking gravity. The beer needs time to mature anyway to be at its best. I leave my beers sealed airtight in the fermenter for 10-14 days and quit checking the gravity during fermentation years ago.