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  1. micraftbeer

    Advice on how to enjoy homebrewing over the years without becoming an alcoholic.

    I've got two thoughts that don't seem to be touched on here. Both are things that I didn't consciously do for consumption reduction purposes, but looking back, they did just that. 1. It's OK to pour beer out. In my younger days this would be sacrilege. But if I make a beer and it doesn't...
  2. micraftbeer

    Are my hops still good

    As with most things in life, "it depends" is always the safest answer. The first "it depends" is what you're after with your brewing. If you're focused on repeatability, or figuring out what to change for your next recipe, then freshness matters. As @day_trippr teased, there's actually...
  3. micraftbeer

    Spring 2024 Corny Keg Giveaway

    American Pale Ale
  4. micraftbeer

    OG difference on tilt vs refractometer

    I love my Tilts, but I never believe the value they give me. So let me be the first amongst many to say the Tilt is more about understanding fermentation progress and when fermentation ends- rather than reading an exact gravity.
  5. micraftbeer

    All NEIPA recipes taste the same

    I'll chime in with my NEIPA experiences. Continuing with the theme here, I think if your hops are all in the "fruity" family, swapping one for another probably isn't going to be significant. For me, that's perfectly fine, because that's the flavor I'm going for. Instead, I've worked on my...
  6. micraftbeer

    Keg gaskets

    Here's a collection of my experience and practice: 1. EPDM on the lid o-ring. Best for keeping oxygen out and biggest surface area for oxygen ingress. However, I did have one keg that somehow had a slight bend on the lid and needed one of those oversized o-rings, which was silicone. I...
  7. micraftbeer

    Rye Malt Giving a Beer Haze?

    Based on @Gary25 experience, combined with mine, it seems maybe there's an interaction based on dry hopping in Rye beers. My super-hazy Rye IPA had 6 oz of dry hops in a 5.5 gallon batch, and a "non-hazy" Wyeast 1056 yeast. Gary reported no haze with no dry hops. Maybe that's the connection.
  8. micraftbeer

    Brewzilla Gen4 Discussion/Tips Talk

    I'm planning to go back and gather my run data in a more logical fashion. I did a bunch of experiments just with a batch of grain and tweaking controller settings. It always takes me awhile to figure out how to find it, but I love that RAPT keeps a record of every brew session. And since I...
  9. micraftbeer

    Brewzilla Gen4 Discussion/Tips Talk

    @rtstrider I have the same setup as you. Here are the temperature anomalies I've come across and how I've dealt with them. 1. I heat the strike water without BT sensor. I'll turn on the pump to recirc water to make sure the whole volume is at strike water temp before mashing in. I run it...
  10. micraftbeer

    Trouble Shooting Low Mash Efficiency Spike Solo 20g

    I agree with above observations based on 1223 and cat picture, the grain husks are too intact. I would add to this that I see the bulk of your grist is Golden Promise malt. I don't brew a lot with that, but I do know those grains are extra difficult to crack. I think the kernel size must be...
  11. micraftbeer

    Flow control valves

    I always do the "set it and forget it" method as well. One week will cut it if I'm super anxious for the beer and can convince myself it's not that bad. In reality, it's not good enough and I need 2 weeks. I'd say you've got another week to go.
  12. micraftbeer

    Brewzilla Gen4 Discussion/Tips Talk

    Yes. The first pass rollers do not adjust, they're always at 0.050". The second set of rollers are the ones you can adjust. I tried different settings looking at grain crush and mash efficiency and I ended up with 0.033". And don't have any stuck mash issues with that.
  13. micraftbeer

    Flotit

    Taking in everyone's legitimate firsthand experience, here's how it seems to sum up: 1. If you use your floating dip tube to dispense from a keg, you can probably get away without a filter on your inlet as long as you let any floaties settle a bit before you start dispensing. 1a. You probably...
  14. micraftbeer

    Flotit

    Hi. I'm the infamous, suspicious HomeBrewFinds review author. I did try hanging different things on the float to keep the end down. I couldn't find the right combination. It was either too heavy or too light. And as I was looking for different things to hang on it, it just became this...
  15. micraftbeer

    Trying to figure out why my beers haze during fermentation and don't clear during crash

    My memory has this phenomenna occurring with pressure fermentation when I did split batches with & without pressure. The only picture I could find is the below. Which doesn't show a massive difference, but the pressure fermented beer had a bit more haze and such it glowed a bit more as light...
  16. micraftbeer

    Trying to figure out why my beers haze during fermentation and don't clear during crash

    I noticed some haze when pressure fermenting. I'll go see if I can find pictures from when I compared a batch I did with/without pressure.
  17. micraftbeer

    How did I do for this CO2 tank

    In my area, Airgas is loads cheaper per lb with the 20lb. Now that you have the tank, I'd just keep swapping out there. It seems to last forever hooked up to my keezer. I also have a 10 lb for purging kegs and such around the beer area, and a 5 lb for mobile usage. These two guys are cheaper...
  18. micraftbeer

    Converting to 3 Kettle Advice

    From experience. But really everything electric. When I was brewing with propane my records and process were much more variable. I have found that eBIAB vs. 3V RIMS (I have never brewed with HERMS) that there are two things that drive my length of brew day: 1) 120V vs. 240V, and 2) My recipe...
  19. micraftbeer

    Converting to 3 Kettle Advice

    I think it's how you calculate "brew day". Or maybe if you're poor at multi-tasking and you wait until you've fed wort to the fermentor, before cleaning your mash tun. But from start to finish, the things that take time are: 1. Heating strike water. Systems with delay start auto-timers...
  20. micraftbeer

    Converting to 3 Kettle Advice

    I do a lot of equipment reviews, so I've had my hands on, and brewed with, a lot of different things. Advice from that in random tidbits: 1. Spike makes an awesome kettle. Indestructibly tank-like. Downside is it's heavy as crap. Washing 15g kettles over the years taught me they're just too...
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