I like this time at night on HBT

[Thunder_Chicken]

Hmm, has anybody seen a keezer build that used a regular fridge? I'm wondering how that might work. Could I build a stand for it, and lay it on it's back? It seems like that would bork the compressor.

Fridges are a lot easier to get for practically nothing around here then coffin freezers.

Yeah, you generally have receivers to separate vapor and liquid refrigerant that must remain upright. But you could purge the system, cut the condenser and evaporator coils off, turn the compressor chassis and other components horizontal, reconnect the heat exchangers and recharge.

 

[Stauffbier]

Yeah, you generally have receivers to separate vapor and liquid refrigerant that must remain upright. But you could purge the system, cut the condenser and evaporator coils off, turn the compressor chassis and other components horizontal, reconnect the heat exchangers and recharge.

I was thinking the same thing, but that might not be a typical DIY project for some folks. Especially if you don't have a vacuum pump and access to refrigerant.

 

[Leadgolem]

Yeah, you generally have receivers to separate vapor and liquid refrigerant that must remain upright. But you could purge the system, cut the condenser and evaporator coils off, turn the compressor chassis and other components horizontal, reconnect the heat exchangers and recharge.

I was thinking the same thing, but that might not be a typical DIY project for some folks. Especially if you don't have a vacuum pump and access to refrigerant.

Oddly, this had actually occured to me too. It's just more work then I want to go to.

I was looking around today, and realized I've got a mini fridge that will work for a few kegs. I was thinking they would be to tall, but I was defrosting it today and realized I could bend the line for the coolant a little and turn the radiator portion that separates the fridge and freezer sections upside down. That gives me enough vertical clearance inside for a ball lock keg.

I figured I'd get the pieces for a 3 keg system. Then figure out how substantial of a collar I need to build onto this thing so it will accommodate 3 kegs.

This is actually better. I wanted to run 3 soda kegs. Soda kegs should be pretty cold, Somewhere around 38f. I'd want to run sparkling wine/cider/etc... at more like 50f. So two separate units would be better.

I also have another mini fridge that I wasn't even using. I'll stick that on top of the keg fridge for bottles. It's got a freezer section with it's own door that actually works, so the margarita mix can go in there.

 

[Leadgolem]

I got the planters filled and placed. It turns out they took 3 yards of soil a piece. That turned out to be perfect, as it's exactly what I bought. No pictures, it's dark and raining.

Here's a few other things I did today y'all might find interesting.

 

[TNGabe]

Ok LG, it's friggin punkin. Why bother waxing it shut and putting an airlock on it?

 

[Stauffbier]

What's on the cookie sheet?

 

[brewingmeister]

Baked yeasties if I remember correctly.

 

[Leadgolem]

Ok LG, it's friggin punkin. Why bother waxing it shut and putting an airlock on it?

The wax is actually to seal the wound to the pumpkin. The idea being that the pumpkin may last longer that way. The airlock isn't really necessary. The lid doesn't fit perfectly, so the gas from the pumpkin pie mead in it should be able to escape easily enough.

What's on the cookie sheet?

Baked yeasties if I remember correctly.

I put some yeast butter on a cookie sheet last night with a fan pointed at it. That's what it looked like this morning. I'll try something with it later to see if it survived the drying process.

 

[Leadgolem]

Remember when I said my budget for this kegerator/keezer project was 2-300 to start? Well, I just ordered 400 worth of stuff. Which won't quite get me something that will actually work. I still need to factor in filling the co2 bottle and materials to build the collar on the fridge.

That's with using the cheap plastic taps instead of the ones you mount through the side.... Yeah, budget? What budget?

 

[brewingmeister]

How'd you do that? Thought you were hoarding small fridges.

I know you are mainly serving high pressure so beware those plastic taps. I've heard many a lost keg story. Some shanks and faucets would be best. At least put clamps on the line if you go the cobra tap route.

 

[Leadgolem]

How'd you do that? Thought you were hoarding small fridges.

I know you are mainly serving high pressure so beware those plastic taps. I've heard many a lost keg story. Some shanks and faucets would be best. At least put clamps on the line if you go the cobra tap route.

Well, that's what happens when you order 3 kegs, a 10lb co2 tank, and all the fittings and line you need to hook everything up.

I would actually like the 3 tap dispensing tower, but it's like 220 bucks. Yeah, I'll do that later. I did buy clamps for all the lines.

EDIT: I've also got one of those pin lock adapters for soda bottles, and the line and connector that came with that. So, I can play around making soda that way as soon as I get the co2 bottle filled.

 

[Leadgolem]

Now, I'm drinking a bit of wine while zesting 10 lbs of oranges. I was going to use some for a JAOM, but the whole batch of mead base fit in the pumpkin. I guess I'll do some orange extract, some orange zest, and fresh squeezed orange juice.

 

[BrerRabbitBrew]

That's too bad LG. I got real lucky with my kegging setup, I got three corny kegs off craigslist for a hundred bucks and a co-worker sold me a mini fridge kegerator for two-fifty. After the conversion kit I'm still only into it three hundred and eighty dollars. Of course it only has one tap but that's fine for now.

 

[Leadgolem]

That's too bad LG. I got real lucky with my kegging setup, I got three corny kegs off craigslist for a hundred bucks and a co-worker sold me a mini fridge kegerator for two-fifty. After the conversion kit I'm still only into it three hundred and eighty dollars. Of course it only has one tap but that's fine for now.

For a 3 tap setup I don't think I'm doing to bad. It isn't money I'm going to regret spending, it's just costing me more then I wanted.

 

[Leadgolem]

 

[brewingmeister]

It always costs more than you wanted.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Brewed a "Session IPA" (SG1.046). Made 8 gallons. 5 Gallons are fermenting with my house yeast slurry, and 3 Gallons are with a package of hydrated Mangrove West Coast yeast. Its not a fair comparison, but 18 hours later the slurry is going crazy, and the is very little visible activity from the Mangrove. I've heard their yeast tends to lag, and I am fermenting at the low end of their recommended scale. I can't wait for the side by side taste test. The house yeast is a mix of Notty, US05, WP001, and other yeast that I believe are common to the chico strains. By guess is the Mangrove's West Coast Ale should be similar. Either way, 8 gallons will certainly be welcomed to the pipeline.

 

[snaps10]

If you haven't seen this, you really need to watch it. It should be required watching for anyone who brews. Documentary by the Discovery channel.

"How Beer Saved the World"
[ame]http://youtu.be/PdwYjFnFoJU[/ame]

 

[Leadgolem]

I bought some blackberry flavored commercial moonshine. Yeah...It's 100 proof. I drank 1/2 of a wine glass worth, and I'm pretty drunk. On the up side, the horrible headache I had isn't so bad anymore.

 

[Stauffbier]

I refuse to try commercial moonshine until I get the chance to try the real thing. My city isn't exactly the kind of place you would find real moonshine, so I don't suppose I'll be trying it anytime soon, unfortunately.

 

[petie]

I refuse to try commercial moonshine until I get the chance to try the real thing. My city isn't exactly the kind of place you would find real moonshine, so I don't suppose I'll be trying it anytime soon, unfortunately.

El Paso isn't really known for its shine. Lol. If you ever drank the real thing made by someone who knows what they're doin you'll never want commercial stuff. This I can say is the facts.

 

[TNGabe]

El Paso isn't really known for its shine. Lol. If you ever drank the real thing made by someone who knows what they're doin you'll never want commercial stuff. This I can say is the facts.

Of course if you've ever drank the real thing by someone who doesn't know what they're doing, you'll never want to drink again.

 

[Leadgolem]

I refuse to try commercial moonshine until I get the chance to try the real thing. My city isn't exactly the kind of place you would find real moonshine, so I don't suppose I'll be trying it anytime soon, unfortunately.

El Paso isn't really known for its shine. Lol. If you ever drank the real thing made by someone who knows what they're doin you'll never want commercial stuff. This I can say is the facts.

This is midnight moon blackberry. It's very good. It is not as good as real moonshine, but it's actually not that far off. I was surprised by how good this was.

 

[Leadgolem]

If you haven't seen this, you really need to watch it. It should be required watching for anyone who brews. Documentary by the Discovery channel.

"How Beer Saved the World"
...

I just finished watching this, it's an interesting documentary. I would say it's definitely slanted, but still interesting.

 

[Leadgolem]

I'm about to rant about my Mother. I do love her. I just want to just occasionally want to hit her repeatedly with a battleship. You've been warned.

rant
Why doesn't my mother understand that on the one day of the week I reserve for myself I want to be left alone? I don't care where you want to go. I don't care what the friggin garden's doing. I don't want to spend over a freaking hour discussing what to feed my siblings when they come to visit in January. I want to be left alone. I want to watch something on tv that's ridiculously childish. I want to drink. I want to play stupid pointless games. That's it. That's all I want to do. Why? Because I need to relax so I don't go insane. leave me the frig alone you idiot!
/rant

 

[Leadgolem]

Oh, I kinda changed my kegerator plans. I've got family coming to visit in January. Since most of them don't drink I'll run 3 kegs at high pressure for soda. I plan on getting a second 4 way distributor in the future, with the shutoff valves, so I can run either soda or beer/wine in each keg. I was thinking about it, and I can run a line externally to carbonate 2 liter bottles. With that setup, I doubt I'll want to run more then 1 keg of actual soda at a time. The net result of that is that I don't think I'll actually want more then 3 kegs. Most of the time I would be using 2-3 of them for wine/beer/cider. Then doing homemade soda in regular reused 2 liter bottles....

Yeah, I'm so that may or may not make any sense.

 

[Leadgolem]

Emjay, are you around? I've got a migraine, I'm drunk. Mostly because I have a migraine, and if you know what I can take with the alcohol I'd be grateful if you'd tell me. Once in a while, I'll take the following cocktail:

acetaminophen 500 mg
aspirin 650 mg
caffeine 200 mg
Shots, 3...or more.

I'm thinking that's likely to dissolve my liver though....

 

[Leadgolem]

Emjay, Mr pharmacist in training, please let me know. I'm in pain, and don't want to damage myself with something that seems like a good idea when in pain...

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Leadgolem - try something with magnesium in it. If you have a Mg supplement, that might help. Also hydrate. A multivitamin might help as your migraine might be triggered by a deficiency in something. Reasonably liver-friendly approach.

Warning, magnesium can have a laxative effect in largish, so the combination of excess alcohol, magnesium, and water intake may keep you toilet bound for a little while.

 

[TNGabe]

Sounds like you've already put a hurtin on your liver tonight LG. Acetaminophen is probably a bad idea.