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I have been considering making an immersion chiller out of half inch copper pipe and was wondering if exposing boiling wort to the soldered joints would pose some sort of health hazard or create off flavors. The increase in volume and decrease in cost seem substantial and my guess is tubing has...

I was at Home Depot today and noticed they only had ten foot sections of flexible copper tubing in stock. I started considering alternatives to copper and found that Summit sells a 25 ft. coil of aluminum tubing (bare metal—no paint/coating) for fuel lines that is 3/8 ID for $17 plus shipping...

I boiled six gallons of water in a brand new aluminum pot for 30 minutes today—it’s a thin-walled pot that came with a turkey fryer kit. As bubbles started to form I was surprised by how many aluminum particles were floating in the water! After I emptied the pot several rags quickly turned grey...

I can borrow an Igloo cooler from a relative to use as a mashtun, but only if it doesn't stain the interior white walls of the cooler. I've seen pictures of coolers in use for this purpose on this site and elsewhere, but I thought I'd ask just to be sure. Do these coolers end up stained from...

I am considering substituting Briess Pale 6-Row for Munton’s Pale Ale 2-Row. Do people do substitutions such as this? If so do I replace one with an equal portion of the other or use the Lovibond rating to adjust amounts proportionally? Finally, if I can’t use Briess Pale 6-Row for this...

I saw a picture you posted of a ball valve with several white washers, a brass threaded tube and brass nuts and was wondering if the washers were safe to use in a boil kettle? I'd like to put a spigot on an aluminum pot and it's too thin to weld. If the washers you are using won't impart a bad...

I picked up a 30 qt aluminum pot/propane burner kit at Lowes today for $25 plus tax. This is the time of year to get this stuff at at discount. If you're interested it might be worth your time to check local stores that carry this as a seasonal item. Good luck.

I found an AG recipe on the Brew Your Own website (basically the only AG recipe I could find on the free part of the site) and have a few questions. 1.) BYO wants a mash in temperature of 170 degrees F. Is this the temperature for the 90 minute period or just the temp of the strike water...

I made a batch of John Bull Traditional Ale four days ago and noticed no fermentation bubbles until 24 hours after the yeast was pitched. Bubbles came out of the trap every few seconds for about 10 hours then stopped. The OG was 1.042 and the current SG is 1.025 (both readings are corrected for...

If anyone has used a Rotokeg could you share any tips you might have on using it? I have one and it has never been used. It has an 8 gm CO2 adapter (I know it uses larger cartridges, too.). How long will the beer keep, etc? I just mixed my first batch of John Bull Trad. Eng. Ale and have...

I have two questions about hydrometer use: 1. I have an old hydrometer that only has two scales instead of three. It has a Balling scale and a potential alcohol scale, but no specific gravity (SG) scale. I have a chart that converts Brix/Balling readings to SG, but this Balling scale...

I was looking through the various threads on making starters and was wondering if anyone has ever tried proofing dry yeast as a starter before pitching. I read that DME can be used in place of brewer’s sugar in the wort as well as for priming. Has anyone ever first boiled a cup of water...