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Use some handyman's best friend to stick fix the towel tight around the bucket's sides as well. You want the damp towel pressed right against it for maximum heat transfer. When you touch the damp towel with the fan blowing on it, it should be very cool. Science is a wonderful thing.

In general, Crystal / Caramel malts can be steeped because the starches have already been converted. Most base malts need mashing to convert their starches to sugars and won't do much for you if steeped. John Palmer's book has a section on this and you can find an online version at...

Definitely sounds like a stuck fermentation. Others may be able to provide better insight after knowing the yeast type pitched. How long did it ferment? Maybe it isn't finished. I would probably repitch with a very alchohol tolerant yeast to try and get it started again. If you did bottle...

I believe most chest freezers cool from the walls of the freezer itself; not like refridgerators that blow cold air. Because of that, you would have to build a seperate chamber in the freezer with insulation board or something and then heat in that. I don't know about the controller, but ppl...

Just let it be and you should be fine. I have seen explosive fermentation with some yeast, and after the airlock starts bubbling, it might nearly stop after less than two days. I still see a bubble escape the airlock every 10-20 seconds for a couple days after that at which time the yeast are...

I think it will usually work like 3bls said, but I would only do it in a case like he mentioned (where time slipped away and you couldn't finish the batch). Personally I think it would take nearly as long to reheat from the fridge as the 20 minutes I delayed my boil for steeping. I...

No, I used the swamp chiller approach to reduce the temp a bit in the past. Here is a deluxe redneck version of it: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/temperature-control-budget-77158/ I now built an enclosure out of insulation board and connected it to an old small freezer. Temperature is...

I have never tried steeping the day before, but I have heard bad things about mashing the day before and boiling the next day. It can easily go bad in a hurry. I heard that you can sometimes get away with it, but eventually you would end up throwing out a batch. Steeping would be similar, but...

I just used a 12V computer fan wired with a power supply that came from some kind of battery charger or cordless drill (you know the little 2" square cube type). Just make sure it is rated for near 12V and can handle the current draw of the fan (mine is 13.5V 220 mA if I remember correclty). I...

They have a motorized roller mill now. I can mill 10lbs. of grain in a couple minutes. It takes longer to locate and weigh grain than it does to mill it now.

Haven't been to one of Siciliano's parties yet. SWMBO only gives so many passes / year and that hasn't been one of them. Seriously though, those type of things usually become a challenge in finding someone to drive me there... because I know I absolutely couldn't drive home.

New to the forum here (after a bit of lurking on occasion) and have been brewing almost a couple years now. Only took a couple of extract batches before diving right into all-grain. I get my grain at Sicilianos in Grand Rapids and love the huge selection of craft / import brews there. I've...