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Love the syringe solution - elegant.

Having gotten used to brewing my beers with as little O2 pickup as possible during fermentation and transfer (closed system, mostly IPAs), I'm now thinking of brewing a chocolate stout and part of the process I'm considering involves pouring some chocolate extract into the keg prior to...

@tracer: Yeah, it is that article where I found the brewer's blend nibs and also the bit about blending regular with pale chocolate malt. I'd heard in plenty of other places where chocolate malt does not impart chocolate flavor per se, rather it enhances the perception, whatever that means...

Already done a ton of research on this over the past couple years and I’ve managed to cause a train wreck in my head with all the possibilities. Of course, I want that one perfect solution – you know; the one that doesn’t exist – to maximize the chocolate flavors and aromas in my stout with the...

I'm limited to what'll fit in my 10-gallon vessels in my eHERMS setup and I'm looking to brew an Imperial Stout. I can comfortably mash grain for most of the gravity points I need (want) and will use LME and some dextrose for the remaining gravity points. I've worked it all out and am happy with...

So then would it be safe to say with a smaller grain bill, one could benefit from a thinner mash? I'd been setting all my styles to a 1.5 qt/Lb ratio.

That's a good point but in my case, I upgrade the profile to correct for issues during a brew and rename that new profile, and am sure to include that new profile when brewing that beer again to ensure my changes are in there. My old versions of this brew still have their respective "old"...

I'd thought of that but I also see that it just pushes the OG number way up. That's where I'm getting stuck - what could be wrong with the setup (equipment profile, or...?) that the recipe in BS2 tells me I'm going to get a 1.048 OG as desired but my final runnings are way low? Just for this one...

I use an E-HERMS setup and normally set the kettle element to 80% for the boil which gives me a nice rolling boil. Not “jumping out of the pot” vigorous, and certainly not a gentle roll. I’ll call this a hard boil. For me, a soft boil would be a low rolling boil just above a simmer – gently...

I know I’m missing something – likely something obvious – in my setup. I do 5-gallon batches using Beersmith2, build my water from RO, use a 3-vessel electric HERMS with 10-gallon Boilermaker G2’s, and ferment in a 7-gallon SSB unitank. I’ve created equipment profiles for each style I brew –...

Were there a lot of hops used? Perhaps even from a previous batch? I ask because hop debris (or any debris, for that matter) can stick to the poppet spring inside the keg connectors. I've had this issue with irresponsibly hopped IPAs but never any other style. That said, if you did this...

I think you nailed it when you said "we can so why not". Some of the things we can get away with on the homebrew scale are just not cost effective on a commercial scale, and some things just flat work differently depending on scale so yeah; why not.

I cannot say whether this concept translates to a larger scale system as I only have experience with a 5-gallon batch system so I'll defer to those with experience on larger systems. What I do know for sure is the quality of the "hop experience" improved in my IPAs as soon as I more tightly...

For some styles it can make a difference such as a NEIPA, and some highly-hopped IPAs - even a very small amount of O2 can lead to premature staling. Since I began paying more attention to minimizing O2 in my process - especially in dropping hops post-fermentation - my hop aroma has lasted much...

I gotta agree with Vale71 - I did a fair bit of research before settling on what I have now, as there were quite a few comments on the difficulties of having only a 1.5" valve to get through. If you are limited to a 1.5" TC port, you could use a 1.5" to 3" adapter-spool and use a 3" TC...

Yeah, I had only checked NB's prices and freaked! So the others are lower - that's good to know.

Looks like a good time to explore yeast ranching, no?

Just looked at one of the larger on-line brewing supply sites and the prices for liquid yeast are up quite a bit. What gives? I know it's been maybe 4 or 5 months since I purchased liquid yeast but from a LHBS - my last on-line liquid yeast purchase was probably a year ago but I remember the...

The way I drop the hops is after several purge cycles, I release the pressure prior to opening the 3" butterfly valve. I haven't dropped hops under pressure so I cannot speak to that. Regarding how long to leave the hops in there depends on several variables - but for my system I wait until...

Well, I done did it - I built me a Hop Dropper. Used it on my last IPA and it worked flawlessly! Thanks to all for your input. ...and yes; there is a second PRV down on my blow off arm - I ran a Tee at the end and put a 1.5" TC cap having a standard PRV and Gas In post. Tested all PRVs prior...