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I’m thinking about brewing an IPL/hoppy Pilsner for Memorial Day and seeking a little advice. I’ve been thinking about starting off with a Bitburger base because there is a personal nostalgia factor. It used Perle & Hallertau hops. But I’m open to American or NZ hops. To start with, I’m...

Finally getting to my keezer build. Took my first baby step today. I mirror wrapped the front. The vinyl wrap will give me a reflective surface behind the built in liquor cabinet without having to use an actual mirror. My kid was an invaluable assistant. It was definitely a 2 - 3 person...

Last week I finally got a handyman in to figure out a couple electrical problems in my house. I can do some basic electric but these were weird enough that I couldn’t diagnose it. In my main bathroom, there was an incorrectly wired outlet that wasn’t passing electricity. There was also an...

For years, the only description I read for Comet hops was that it had “an aroma objectionable to some brewers.” But it’s a really pleasant grapefruit-tangerine flavor. I need to figure out how to work it into more recipes.

One thing I’ve never been able to figure out on my keezer build is if there any CO2 refill places between Everett & Bellingham. I see that Sound Homebrew has an exchange program & I could hit it after work if necessary. But I’d prefer something further north.

I need to finish building the dip tube for my keggle. I’m not planning on installing a false bottom at this time. That’s a little further down the road. My question is: can I use dry fittings because the heat will expand the copper pipe? Or do I need to solder them? I’m currently BIABing &...

After two moves and a 5 year hiatus, I’m finally getting serious about brewing again. I’m taking inventory and discovered I either sold/lost/stored my grain mill & stir plate. I’m hoping to finally bring all my storage home in the next month. Right now I’m checking my thermometer calibration...

I bought a house last summer with a lot of fruit trees. The house was vacant when it was time for spraying trees, so I didn’t even try do anything with them last year. The apple varieties I have are: northpole colunade (McIntosh variety), Gala, Honeycrisp, Gala, Liberty, and McIntosh. I’m...

The overheating sensor has been tripping on my electric water heater the past couple days. My original plan was to just replace both thermostats, but then I saw this on the lower element when I went to snap a pick of the thermostat. I’ve found a kit for replacing both thermostats & elements...

With my freezer arriving tomorrow, my next purchase is kegs. I’ve once again come to the conclusion I have to add a 4” collar, which means I’m back on the fence on ball locks vs sankes. My options look like: 1) used ball locks $50 ea. 2) new ball locks $100 ea. 3) new sankes $115 ea. The used...

Finally got a fridge in the new house. But stupid me measured wall to wall instead of wall to trim. It also doesn’t help the fridge cubby isn’t square in the back, where I measured. So the trim is off and the fridge is in. What are my options here? Finish it up Door frame like a wall...

People look at what realtors do and think, “I can do that and save some money.” But really, can they? And do it on a schedule with hard deadlines? My current abode (condo) I was renting when my landlady wanted to sell it 2 years ago. It was a pain in the ass, but I negotiated out two...

I need some advice on building a kegging system from scratch. 3.5 years ago we moved from SLC to Lopez Island, WA, for my work, so we could live near the ocean, and because we all were tired of the cold & snow. We downsized from a 2000 sf house and my wife’s 1000 sf shop to a 1000 sf condo...

I'm back from an 18 month brewing hiatus and I'm starting up with kumbacha. My wife likes it. Besides, our condo on the island is small I really don't have the space for brewing beer yet. (Although, we just bought 1/4th of our condo building and I'm eyeballing the laundry room as fermentation...

Things are finally getting settled since my move. Part of the deal with my wife on this move was that I could switch from bottling to kegging. So I started putting some rough numbers to it. The options I'm looking at are the Edgestar mini-kegarator or 3 gallon kegs. The costs are roughly...

One of the sacrifices I had to make during our move was the fermentation chamber. I had an upright freezer I could ferment 2x 5 gallon brews in. But our new condo has half the square footage of our old house. So the freezer got replaced with the minifridge from my wife's shop. I moved the...

I have two 5 gallon and two 6 gallon glass carboys that I need to sell. Anyone interested? I think i have a couple brew haulers too that I can add if you want a pair of carboys.

Assume for a moment that you live on an island. Not a far away island. Not a big island. You can still get to the mainland in about an hour, more-or-less when you want, but it's a PITA and $50 roundtrip to do with a car. Assume standard shipping rates apply because there's a post office on...

This is a public service announcement so you don't get tricked into buying this AB, brewed the dumb way, attempt at a craft beer ripoff. I've made an agave Hefeweizen and rather enjoyed it. So I thought this "blue agave infused" beer sounded promising. Imagine a Bud Light. Add some...

I've scored an interview for a job in Yakima on the 11th, 18th, 29th. I'm still working out the details of the face-to-face interview but they sound serious about hiring me. Besides being the hop capital of the U.S., what else is worth checking out? I'm planning on having a day and a half...