South Carolina SC midlands area brewers

[TravelingLight]

Yes thats what i mean. So you just keep a spray bottle and spray everything you need to sanitize? Man i usually keep around 5 gallons of it mixed with distilled water and use that to soak sanitize everything. But i keep it in a pickle bucket from firehouse subs. It smelled like pickles for a long time but it finally went away. The bucket is basically air tight with the rubber seal around the lid. Just wondering how everyone does it

I used to do that (full five gallons and soak stuff) but it got too expensive and I was burning through starsan. The 32 oz. bottle I have now is over a year old and it's not even halfway empty. I don't even do a full five gallons to sanitize a carboy. I just usually do one gallon and swish it around really well. And as long as I have an empty keg, I usually keep a keg full of starsan to push through and sanitize/purge other kegs.

 

[SHAIV]

Yeah i had thought about keeping it in a keg now that i have 3. I keep my 5 gallons for a month or two though. I also dont brew as much as you so it takes me over a year to get through a bottle of star san. I also keep a spray bottle full to spray stuff i cant soak or dont want to soak. I dump it before i make more and then refill it

 

[TravelingLight]

SHAIV, random question I was thinking about and you may have mentioned this before, but have you ever delivered a package that was obviously homebrew related and struck up a conversation with the recipient?

Ever delivered to a lady who answered the door sans clothes??!! I've heard of some movies that make this seem like it happens all the time!

 

[SHAIV]

Lol yeah man. No naked ladies though. Had an old womans **** pop out once but it wasnt pretty lol. Yeah i got a guy i talk to every once and a while on my route. I delivered his picobrew and it was signature required. Ive delivered some pico paks and kegs to him since and i always try to stop by and chat. In the past when i delivered say northern brewer packages they usually werent home. I know theres one guy i have delivered NB packages to but hes never home and another person must have started brewing after christmas but hes never home either i told his kids to tell him the ups man brews too. Lol and theres a guy at my verizon store i deliver to who was wearing a seminar brewing shirt one day who i talk to sometimes. Also delivered a keg to another guy recently and talked to him briefly but wasnt too chatty. Invited him here though cuz i know people are busy

 

[TravelingLight]

Lol yeah man. No naked ladies though. Had an old womans **** pop out once but it wasnt pretty lol. Yeah i got a guy i talk to every once and a while on my route. I delivered his picobrew and it was signature required. Ive delivered some pico paks and kegs to him since and i always try to stop by and chat. In the past when i delivered say northern brewer packages they usually werent home. I know theres one guy i have delivered NB packages to but hes never home and another person must have started brewing after christmas but hes never home either i told his kids to tell him the ups man brews too. Lol and theres a guy at my verizon store i deliver to who was wearing a seminar brewing shirt one day who i talk to sometimes. Also delivered a keg to another guy recently and talked to him briefly but wasnt too chatty. Invited him here though cuz i know people are busy

That's HILARIOUS!! I needed that this morning. Thanks.

 

[TravelingLight]

Man...I had one of the best brew days in months yesterday. Incidentally, it's also the first brew day I've completely used Beersmith for everything. I paid for the "premium" or whatever version of Beersmith like a year ago. But I never took the time to set it up for my system. Therefore, basically every recipe I just used an online calculator for gravities, then calculated all my volumes manually. As you can imagine, it was inconsistent. But I finally sat my ass down and set up all my different mash and equipment profiles in Beersmith and ran with it. And I absolutely nailed everything. Volumes were spot on. Gravity was close enough (est: 1.075; actual: 1.074) that I'd call it spot on. Beersmith where have you been all my life! Oh yeah, right there on my harddrive waiting for me to use it.

 

[Lifer59]

I was always under shooting my volumes and my OG was off. Turns out that I did have my system setup to account for dead space. Works great for me now.
Also has a brew log function to keep track of your sessions which I like.

 

[grandetacos]

I was always under shooting my volumes and my OG was off. Turns out that I did have my system setup to account for dead space. Works great for me now.
Also has a brew log function to keep track of your sessions which I like.

I’ve been putting off getting it but it is about time to pull the trigger.
So I’ve been saving money to stock up and it looks like I’ll be getting a 50lb bag of Munich, Pilsner, and regular 2 row when I return from a trip. So time willing - there will be lots of brewing soon. If anyone is interested in joining on brew day, PM me and I’ll shoot you a message when a brew day comes around. We’re in a neighborhood near the intersection of highway 6 and platt springs.

 

[SHAIV]

That's HILARIOUS!! I needed that this morning. Thanks.

Yeah man, glad i could help. Lol

 

[SHAIV]

I’ve been putting off getting it but it is about time to pull the trigger.
So I’ve been saving money to stock up and it looks like I’ll be getting a 50lb bag of Munich, Pilsner, and regular 2 row when I return from a trip. So time willing - there will be lots of brewing soon. If anyone is interested in joining on brew day, PM me and I’ll shoot you a message when a brew day comes around. We’re in a neighborhood near the intersection of highway 6 and platt springs.

Nice! So youre saying like 50lbs of each?

 

[SHAIV]

Just built my closed transfer from carboy, gas connection. How does it look? theres 4 connectors from the keg post to the tubing. It may look a little silly but it should work well. Lol

 

[Oceangrace24]

It looks like I will probably move from bottling to kegging pretty soon. I need to start reading up on kegging and all the needed equipment. I would appreciate some tips and things to look out for.
I have a side by side refrigerator in my garage that I will probably add a couple of taps to. I don't really have room to add any more units in my garage after adding the stand up freezer last week that I'm using for fermenting.
Where is the best place to purchase kegging equipment from?
I would appreciate some tips and things to look out for.

 

[SHAIV]

My chest freezer can be used for fermenting or for my kegs. Dual purpose

 

[Lifer59]

Adventures in Homebrewing usually has sales going on kegs. Pin locks seem to be cheaper than ball locks. I don’t see any difference in the two in the way they function. I have pin locks but ball locks seem more in favor. Maybe more parts for ball locks. IDK. The AIH website is homebrewing.org. Perlick taps are also the favorite but I don’t know why. Forward sealing taps are better I’ve heard but again, don’t know why.

 

[SHAIV]

I think foreword sealing taps means the seal is in the end of the tap body. So less chance of air contaminating the drop of beer inside. I could be wrong

 

[Lifer59]

I think you’re right. The forward sealing is less chance of contamination.
I was wrong about AIH. I was thinking about keg connection. Four pins for 119. Kegconnection.com.
Is everyone aware of homebrewfinds.com. Collection of links to sales and stuff. He has some reviews and other stuff too. He sends an email out once a day with things he has found separate from the website.

 

[SHAIV]

So what does everyone use for their water source? I usually go to the store and buy gallon jugs. Wal mart has them for like 89 cents. Ive been thinking about just filtering my tap water though. Then i guess i would just treat with campden after. Idk if that would be a good practice or not. What do you think? If you use the right filter the campden might not be necessary

 

[Lifer59]

I started filtering a few years back with the northernbrewer setup. I change the filter with a carbon filter from Lowe’s now. I turn the flow way down almost to a trickle to maximize the contact with the filter. It works well for me.

 

[SHAIV]

Do you use your garden hose? Or a food grade hose from the spigot? Some people are specific about that. Where do you hook up the filter to?

 

[Lifer59]

I’ve got a hose bib just outside the garage. The filter setup has clear plastic 3/8” hose to and from the filter housing. Brass fitting screws onto the spigot.

 

[catdaddy66]

So what does everyone use for their water source? I usually go to the store and buy gallon jugs. Wal mart has them for like 89 cents. Ive been thinking about just filtering my tap water though. Then i guess i would just treat with campden after. Idk if that would be a good practice or not. What do you think? If you use the right filter the campden might not be necessary

I have used prepackaged water before but I now have a well with possibly the best tasting water I have ever used IMO. It makes awesome beer and my friends (mostly) agree. I am quite lucky!

 

[SHAIV]

I was trying to figure out how to hook up a filter under my kitchen sink to my cold water. I know they make kits for that which i may end up getting one day but i have a cheap inline fridge filter that im about give up on for under sink install and i guess im gonna put it behind my fridge like i had planned when i got it so i wont have to buy expensive fridge filters. I guess i could T off of that line for coffee and beer. Idk if thats a better idea than getting a hose filter. I think i read somewhere you have to let the filter and housing dry out when not in use. Not a big deal but not exactly what i want to do. Id rather have a full time filter that i can just grab and fill up

 

[Lifer59]

The charcoal filter I’m using is a whole house filter. The only reason to break it down is to keep water from sitting in the filter between brews. It is really easy to set up and take down.

 

[SHAIV]

Yeah i understand that. Then it would just be one more thing sitting in my closet till next brew day lol. Im running out of space

 

[Lifer59]

Have to get a bigger space

 

[TravelingLight]

SHAIV, random question: do you know if UPS x-rays packages going through their system? Domestic packages. Thanks dude. Just curious.

 

[SHAIV]

Lol um, i dont think so. I dont think they care that much. I have heard they get a drug dog to come through sometimes.

Edit also packages come open from time to time. Like mishandled or crushed by other packages. Its not supposed to happen but it does. If every package was packed and sealed correctly it wouldnt happen as often

 

[TravelingLight]

Forward sealing taps are more about them not sticking. The budget taps stick like hell if you aren’t pulling pints often. My first tap was a cheap tap and I ran one keg through it before switching to a Perlick. On my keezer though I switched to Intertap. I like them just as much (maybe better) than Perlick and they’re cheaper.

 

[SHAIV]

I just use picnic taps for the moment. One of these days when i get around to it i may add a collar to my freezer and put some real taps on it but picnic taps work just fine for me right now. I even figured out a way to bottle from the tap, easily, with barely any foam. I have a piece of tubing that will fit directly over the outlet to the picnic tap and it works like a charm. I used to use a spring loaded bottling wand and it ended up cracking the plastic body of the picnic tap. They are cheap enough to replace easily though

 

[TravelingLight]

I just use picnic taps for the moment. One of these days when i get around to it i may add a collar to my freezer and put some real taps on it but picnic taps work just fine for me right now. I even figured out a way to bottle from the tap, easily, with barely any foam. I have a piece of tubing that will fit directly over the outlet to the picnic tap and it works like a charm. I used to use a spring loaded bottling wand and it ended up cracking the plastic body of the picnic tap. They are cheap enough to replace easily though

I also use a picnic tap to bottle. I have a Blichmann gun but never use it. I use a picnic tap with a racking cane and #2 stopper as sort of a redneck engineered counter pressure filler. Works great. I use like 20’ of line on it so I don’t have to purge and turn down pressure.