diy

One of my favorite aspects of home brewing is the ingenuity that can be used throughout the process. Some people have the finances to buy the biggest and best equipment, some like me do not. For me, the fun comes in when I can use some ingenuity to come up with a way to do something cheaper and...

Hello all! I'm new to this whole homebrewing thing, and I'm also a starving college student in the midst of his undergrad program. As such, and as someone that highly enjoys the sport of drinking, one night my friend and I decided we should be able to make our own cider for less than $30.00...

The following steps are how I made a immersion chiller for cooling my brew fast for pitching yeast. No need to to pay $100 bucks. Things you will need: Standard head screw driver 25' 3/8" copper tubing (some use 50' and you would follow the same steps) 4 hose clamps 3/8" ID clear plastic hose...

I started homebrewing last year, and as the amount of equipment I used grew, I found the amount of time that I spent hauling stuff up and down from my basement was rivaling the amount of time I spent brewing (not to mention the number it was doing on my back). Additionally, due to my particular...

Living in Phoenix - the Valley of the Sun - I was confronted with the problem of a good way to chill my wort. With tap water coming out of the faucet VERY WARM, many of the standard methods didn't work. After much consternation, I came up with a method that has served me very well. All you need...

This post is addressed to us brewers who are looking to fully integrate kegerators into our homes and move past the beer fridge / keezer aesthetic. I set out to convert a piece of furniture (any piece that struck my fancy) into a kegerator. A good looking final product was key to my significant...

Freezing Starter-Sized Samples of Yeast for Long-Term Storage Written by Brewitt with contributions from HBT members WHAT: The purpose of this article is to summarize what has been learned about freezing yeast by a number of contributors to the thread "Do you know how to make a yeast starter...

I began washing and harvesting my own yeast about a year ago. I got excited and harvested 4 jars from 4 batches in the first month, leaving me with 16 jars of 4 different yeasts. Since I usually brew twice per month, I had a ton of yeast just sitting in my fridge. After using some of this stored...

In the simplest of terms, beer fermentation consists of yeast converting simple sugars into alcohol. There are versions of this process happening all over the world, to all sorts of sugars, by innumerable strains of yeast. What this means for you, is that your local homebrew shop isn't the only...

This is a system that I have been working on for a few months. For those that prefer it, here is a link to the video: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/sids-one-vessel-all-grain-brewing-system-360364/ This system is a modified BIAB system that allows me to brew all grain 10 gallon batches solo in...

If you can solder or "sweat" copper plumbing parts together reliably, you can use that skill to modify your stainless steel brewery too! First, why would we want to do this? While vendors are making excellent strides in engineering better and more reliable weldless components for different...

So, you've decided to move to all grain and are trying to figure out what equipment you need. This article will focus on converting a round 10G cooler into a Mash Tun (MT) for your brewery. This project is an easy one that can be completed in a few minutes and with little effort. There are pros...

Since writing my last article, I have had the pleasure of using the Plastic BMB a few times. After a lot of thought on comparing the glass versus plastic, I think I have a good idea on which I prefer, why I feel this way, and the pros and cons of both. First, I will start with the glass BMB...

If you're like me, you quickly realized that kegging your beer would be so much better than bottling so you went ahead and took the plunge. You bought (or built) a dispensing unit and some kegs. The first sip of the first pour of the first beer was magical. The feeling of pride was almost as...

A couple of months ago, the Glass Big Mouth Bubbler was released. I was so excited that I sold off my glass carboys and purchased a pair of them immediately. I was, and still am, enamored with these things. The ability to stick your entire arm down into your carboy not only makes cleaning...

After using a couple of different liquid yeasts for the first time, I decided that since they cost $6.50 a pop, that it'd be the most economical to wash the yeasts for re-use. And being retired, I can't afford to spend a whole lot on the needed equipment to do so. Enter Giant Eagle and BP. They...

Inspired by HomeBrewTalk members. Thanks to all of those who have posted on this topic. First step; find the refrigerator for the best price. Got mine on Amazon for $169 with free shipping. Next, remove and modify the door. The model that I bought had the interior door panel glued on. I...

For those of us living and brewing in Japan, you know that space is limited and supplies can be hard to find or very expensive. Japan typically has their own way of doing things, and beer servers/dispensers are no exception. Instead of chilling the whole keg, these draft systems consist of a...

At the moment I decided to build HERMS I got two kegs and plastic bucket. I decided to use bucket for HLT only temporary, but with time it turned out as cheap and functional solution, it is made from HDPE(High-density polyethylene) which can withstand higher temperatures (120 C/ 248 F for short...

I've seen several articles on this site about the proper way to slant yeast but haven't found one that shows the process of streaking yeast onto a plate and selecting individual colonies. This is the method I use. It's not flawless and it certainly has room for improvement but it's cheap and...