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The last batch that I brewed before today was an Irish Red kit which came with Nottingham dry yeast. I rehydrated that yeast and oxygenated the wort with bottled oxygen and a stone. For some reason it took that batch something over 56 hours to start showing any signs of fermentation. I...

I monitor my fermentation temps by securing a folded patch of bubble insulation to the side of my bucket with a bungee strap and placing the probe of the STC-1000 between the bucket and the insulation. This seems to be the most popular of the accepted methods. When preparing my shop for...

The only other time I had two different beers in my fermentation fridge the first one, a stout, had already been in the fridge for a week and visible fermentation activity had slowed down considerably. So when I added the second beer, a brown ale using a different yeast, I simply moved the temp...

Well, it finally happened to me. Northern Brewer Dry Irish Stout extract kit. Used the dry yeast option (SO4) this time due to hot weather shipping. I know I overfilled the bucket a bit (less boil off than expected). But I have done that before without incident. Guess I have a bit of...

I actually have no real pressing need for a second temperature controller. I bought the second STC to keep as a spare in case the first one gave up on me. But I decided to go ahead and build the second controller which makes it an even better spare, instant replacement with no wiring to do at...

I recently built a 24 place bottle washer. It was a fun project and the end result works even better than expected. But in my case it seems to be more of a solution looking for a problem than anything else. I rinse my bottles as soon as I pour them. Come bottling day I rinse them again...

I think I completed this today. All the testing was done before final assembly and I want to give the poly urethane on the wood a little more drying time. It worked great yesterday just sitting on the bottom of the sink. I know the pvc pipe is only rated for 120 degrees Fahrenheit but so...

Anybody know if this thing is safe to use as a fermenter? It is a portable eye wash/shower station from the 80's. The eye wash part was removed and I used as a camp shower for a while. There has never been anything but water and/or eye wash solution in it. If nothing else I'll use it for...

This is the second time thay I have brewed the Williams Brewing Stout extract kit. My original gravity was 1.050 with both kits just as the instruction sheet predicted. The sheet predicts a final gravity of "1.024 or less". The first kit came in very close at 1.021. My second batch using this...

When my wife started making wine I decided I might as well try brewing beer as I do not drink wine. So, I ordered myself a basic brewery kit from William's Brewing, a propane burner and a 40 quart stock pot from Amazon. After welding extended legs for the sq-14 burner and installing a...

I threw this together, mostly from scrap, while on "light duty" recovering from minor surgery. The switch cover plate was the only new purchase. The switch controls only the pump and is protected by the gfci outlet which is always hot (not switched). I think I will like this better than...

My situation is a little unusual in that I have been studying, building and buying equipment for about a year before I was actually able to brew a batch of beer. There were health issues and a move. I have posted some of my diy projects here in the past. Yesterday I finally got around to my...

In preparation to start brewing in my garage I have started accumulating knowledge from this site as well as putting together my brewing equipment. Based on the recommendations of many to many on this and other sites I purchased a Bayou Clasic SQ14 burner. Based on my 64 year old back I cut up...

I'm still awaiting the arrival of the 50 foot immersion chiller that I ordered after the 25 footer that I made proved to be less than adequate. With that and my sump pump for recirculating ice water I should be able to find the confidence to start my first brew even though the summer temps are...

I am getting setup to brew my first extract kit. I have a Bayou Classic SQ14 which I modified with wind and heat shields as well as longer legs. For a kettle I am planning to use a 40 quart stock pot in which I have already installed a weldless ball valve, planning to start out with full...

But I have been reading and getting ready to give it a go. I have purchased a basic kit and taken advantage of some of the DIY articles here. I found an old coil of 3/8 inch copper tubing that had been laying around for many many years and I manged to mangle that into an immersion chiller like...