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In Irvine, I like Steelhead Brewing Company, a brewpub near UC Irvine.

I recently started doing BIAB, and if anything it is easier than extract ... except: 1) Thermometers. I hate them. Digitals are not reliable in a warm wet environment. Have more than one thermometer handy so you can double check. 2) With extract you can usually skip the starting gravity...

I recently brewed a similar beer (not entirely on purpose) so I'll give you my two cents: 1) Personally I like stronger beers. 2) I'd never again use Cascade hops with a dark beer. At least for me the flavors didn't work very well together.

Most no-chill brewers move the wort to the fermenter while it's hot enough to kill bacteria and then seal the fermenter. Moving it after it's partially cooled then waiting overnight to pitch isn't ideal, but isn't really worse than many historical practices (google "Steam Beer"). Most of the...

Interesting. I have a Hanna pocket meter that I use for my swimming pool, and the batteries that came in it (ordered directly from Hanna) were nearly dead and starting to leak. Once I replaced them and calibrated with the new batteries it has worked great, but it sounds like they really need to...

Love how the shipping is more than the mill, still the final price is pretty reasonable.

The Tygon b-44-4x (USPlastics and a few other places) doesn't have the plastic taste, but beer in the lines does seem to oxidize noticeably in a day or two. Ultimately, if you're sensitive to the taste, best thing is just to dump the first ounce or two.

They do this periodically. I've no idea where they get their supply of kegs, but when they get a truckload they advertise on CL until they are all committed, then make a couple of stops through So. Cal. (usually at a Walmart parking lot) and have people come pick them up. If I recall correctly...

There's no joint there. The leak is somewhere under the rubber, and just finding a path under the rubber to that point. First thing I'd look for, is that the rubber didn't get in the way of tightening down the post properly. If there is an actual leak in the tank, which seems pretty unlikely...

Do you know how old the stuff is and how it's been stored? I'd smell and taste the grains before using them, once crushed, they can go stale in a month or two or three. I've no idea how to evaluate the hops or the LME.

One thing, Lawnmower beer is not made using actual lawnmower. Also, there's not a big problem using ball locks and pin locks, you just need separate connections. Bad thing is you can't fill one with beer, then sanitize the lines using the other one.

If in doubt, Walmart carries Oxyclean Free (at least ours does).

Google: [refractometer beer calculator] and you will find several. Not sure what formula any of them use.

Hey!! In Escondido, I'm within a short distance of Stone, Lost Abbey/Port, Green Flash, and newcomers Mother Earth and Iron Fist. Except for Stone though, these are all tap rooms in the breweries. What we really need are more and better Brew Pubs. That's one thing I really liked about...

In San Diego, it's rare to find anything on craigslist for less than what I would pay on the internet. I've yet to see a keg fo less than $40.

Nowadays, the major perpetuators of the idea of secondary fermentation are the homebrew equipment sellers, who's premium and advanced kits always include a secondary fermentation carboy; not because it's needed, but because it allows for a bigger sale. The way it's advertised, it's easy to see...

Conventional wisdom used to be that racking to secondary improved the beer in various ways. Lots of scientific reasons were given. Blind tastings have pretty much shown this not to be the case...

A lot of good beer is like that. My local Chilli's has a bad habit of serving Stone Pale Ale in a frozen mug. I hate that. If I didn't want to taste the beer I would have ordered a BMC Light.

Funny how there are so many ways of doing things. I normally save 100 ml from my starter and use that for the next starter (pour off most of the liquid first). My understanding is that there is less mutation than when collecting from the bottom of the fermenter.

There is plenty of free software and it's pretty much indispensable for putting together or modifying recipes. Extract as well as AG. I've been using BrewMate lately, and while there are things I could criticize about it, it really does the job quite well.