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What has everybody got in the works this weekend? I'm starting my RIS - 14lbs Maris otter, 6.25lbs specialty grains, 13.25oz hops for 115 IBUs and a 5.5 gal batch...just getting done with the decoction, going well so far!

So after I put all the money into building this thing I would have been better off buying a chest freezer, but here's what I've got. Big insulated box Mini fridge 1.5" PVC pipe insulated inside of 3" PVC pipe going between fridge and box CPU processor fan controlled by love controller...

Has anybody tried saving an exact amount of wort on brew day to use as priming sugar when bottling instead of corn sugar or DME? Just seal it and throw it in the fridge? I haven't done the calculations to find out how much would be needed, but I know it wouldn't be that hard. I was just...

Sunday morning, my wife gave birth to our first baby, a 5lb 1oz boy. I had toyed with the idea and now I decided that I want to do it - I want to brew a Russian Imperial Stout to age until he turns 21. After brewing the 8-8-8 RIS, although I'm sure my results were different than most, I'd like...

Saturday I intend to make my biggest beer ever, a Big Irish Red with a goal OG of 1.110 or so. I brewed an irish red that I harvested the yeast from, that OG was 1.071. To do a starter for my 3 gallon 1.110 OG brew on Saturday, is it easiest just to make my 900mL starter on the stir plate (I...

So brewing the 8-8-8 RIS on 8/3 (I worked on 8/8), I decided to let it sit in secondary for 3 months before bottling. I'm planning on bottling Saturday but I've been wondering why the airlock is still bubbling once in a while after almost 3 months in secondary. Pushed some air out of the...

After searching for a while, I finally am going to ask...I thought I saw that somebody has used a mini fridge as the ice chamber portion of the SOF and used ducting through 2 holes from the fridge to the fermentation chamber. I'm wondering if this is efficient enough, or if the small area of...

I have built my stir plate with a the minimal setup of switch, potentiometer, and 12VDC computer fan. I was previously using a 9V 300mA power supply but I have stepped up to a 12V 800mA supply because I had issues getting the thing to start every time. I now get a nice big vortex with 900mL in...

I'm under way with my 2nd decoction brew, and I'm again low on the temps. I pulled the recommended volume (maybe slightly less) from beersmith, boiled, dumped back to the main mash, and I came up at least 13 degrees short on the intended rest temp. I had 11.6 pounds grain, doughed in with 18qt...

I've been fly sparging for maybe 10 batches or so, and all I've ever done is use a 2qt measuring cup to scoop out hot water from the pot and dump it on top of a piece of aluminum foil with some holes in it. I see some channelling around the edges, so I started not using it and pouring it as...

So I was nervous doing my first saison as my first brew on new equipment in a new place without my brewing buddy, but I went ahead anyway. Here's the recipe: 9lb 2-row (belgian) 3lb wheat malt 0.5lb vienna 0.25lb acid malt 1lb homemade candi sugar 0.25 tsp black pepper 0.25 tsp...

Well guys, after brewing 20 batches I've finally gotten around to setting up a yeast starter. I had a Wyeast 125ml smack pack of Belgian Saison. Added 83gm light DME and water to make a total volume of 750-775ml in a 1L erlenmeyer flask. Heated to boiling, boiled 10 minutes, cooled in ice...

How many of you guys order hops in the summer to have them shipped? I want to bulk-order my hops and freeze them, but with the temp starting to rise, I'm concerned about the possibly long shipping times and how well the hops will hold up to it. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly...

So after seeing the how-to on building a CFC, I'm thinking I may go that route instead of the immersion chiller. The only reservation I have is the cleaning of it. I would think that flushing with water when cooling is done and then blasting with compressed air should do it, but I really have...

I've been reading on here for a few months, but figured I'd say hello here, even if it is a little late. I'm going to be brewing here in Virginia starting this summer, am currently brewing at friends places in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and it all started in Michigan where I hope to return someday...

I was planning on bottling my 2 batches tonight, an oberon and a red. The oberon was fine, the red however is still producing some very small bubbles and has some collecting at the sides on the top. It was in primary for 1 week, OG 1.062, FG 1.020. Then transferred to secondary for 3...

I have a dilemma. I'm buying my 10 gal beverage cooler to convert to a mash tun tomorrow, and I have me entire design for the false bottom and that, but I'm wondering if I can make a sparge arm that will have a small reservoir that I can refill instead of using a raised HLT (because I have very...

Has anyone tried carbonating in secondary? I read something about this but I'm not sure I would want to try it. When would this even be an advantage over force carbonating a keg or priming the batch right before bottling? It seems like there's too much that would go into it...pressure...