You know you're a home brewer when?

[unionrdr]

Lolz. Kinda like Bill Cosby,200 MPH. He said when you buy that car,they automatically give you 12 speeding tickets. He has since sold the dual supercharged Cobra. So maybe with this one you get 12 DUI's?

 

[fuzzy2133]

See, THERES your problem! Lol.

That thought occurred after the fact. A beer probably would have caused me to rack to bottling bucket first and then realize I forgot to add the sugar.

 

[Psycotte]

..... when you are buying kegs for a draft system you don't own and a keezer you have yet to even conceive of.

Always thinking bigger.

 

[rklinck]

You see mosquito netting for a Pack n Play and think: "see having a baby doesn't need to get in the way of brewing."

 

[unionrdr]

When the more you brew,the more you "research",the more styles you like & the harder it is to get to rebrews. Then you start brewing seasonaly. then you start to think," I really need a couple of tables,one for secondaries,one for bottling". Then you realize you NEED a temp controlled fermenting cabinet to match the room's wood. Then you realize that you now have more bottles then you can fill,& start seeing fancy commercial bottles from around the world that you like. Then you see that you have a whole seperate large box full of said bottles you'd like to swap into rotation. Then you realize you've bought nearly every concievable gadget to make brewday/bottling day easier & quicker. Then you see your fermenter stand reaching critical mass once again. Ooooh noooo,please God help me!
I think I need more room...
http://[URL=http://s563.photobucket.com/user/unionrdr/media/PICT0001_zpsfe41a19c.jpg.html] [/URL]
The bottom of the fermenter stand;
http://[URL=http://s563.photobucket.com/user/unionrdr/media/PICT0004_zpsef5e6404.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[Cheesy_Goodness]

Funny how all you need at the beginning is a kettle, carboy, bottling bucket and a siphon.
I'm getting to the point where I NEED another bucket or two

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah man,it ain't easy bein cheesy! I had to toss the Ale Pail since the lacto infection. gunna get another bucket like the bottling one. 7.9 gallon shorty with an Italian spigot I already have. Plus the Better Bottle is 6 gallons,so I can do 3 batches at a time & still have a seperate bottling bucket!

 

[insanim8er]

Funny how all you need at the beginning is a kettle, carboy, bottling bucket and a siphon.
I'm getting to the point where I NEED another bucket or two

Man, I skipped all that... I did one 5 gallon extract and bottled it. After that, I went fully all grain with kegs. I also find killer deals on Craigs list, so I don't buy the cheap stuff.

I just sold all my glass carboys (like 14 of them) I'm fermenting in 1/4 sankey kegs with spudning valves under pressure. No more glass/plastic for me. I LOVE fermenting in the kegs.

Now it seems like i'm taking up LESS space than before. Carboys took up way too much space, and you can't stack them or lay them on their side...etc.

I have (2) 1/4 kegs as primary, and (9) 1/6 kegs as secondary or long term aging. I also have like (10) 5 gallon corny kegs and (4) 3 gallon kegs.

I also upped my game to being able to do 15 gallon batches, but I've only done 10 so far... I got a great deal on a Blichmann boilermaker 20 gallon. That thing is a beast and takes up space, but it fits nice in my spare bedroom closet on a shelf.

The closet has both of my 10 gallon rubbermade tuns, The boilermaker kettle, all my odds and ends, 3 minifridges. Two are used as temp controlled fermentation chambers. One is a Sanyo I converted into a dual keg kegerator that I'm thinking about removing the door insert to be able to have 3 taps (one being a 3 gallon).

I have just about all my stuff in that one tiny closet except for kegs and the 160 flip top bottles I have (and never use) Those are all down in the basement on a nice little shelf.

I don't understand why people think they have to stick with extract when they live in small apartments. I just managed to organize my stuff smart. It's not even a walk-in closet.

 

[insanim8er]

You know you're a home brewer when you find awesome deals like this on craigslist and you feel like it's christmas!

Now I just need those Ventamatic faucets I asked for for christmas, so can get my portable kegerator built.

 

[yewtah-brewha]

When your at a friends house, they offer you a budweizer, you taste it and start finding the faults with it!

 

[yewtah-brewha]

You know you're a home brewer when you find awesome deals like this on craigslist and you feel like it's christmas!

Now I just need those Ventamatic faucets I asked for for christmas, so can get my portable kegerator built.

nice! how much did you pay for that eye candy! lol

 

[insanim8er]

nice! how much did you pay for that eye candy! lol

Well the breakdown was

$60 per 3 gallon keg. They're practically brand new.
$20 for the tap rite regulator plus the paintball adapter
$10 per co2 canister. Their hydro is good 'til 2017
$10 for both keglove insulation sleeves plus the ice blankets
$5 for the 3 way gas manifold

I just bought two of the same exact kegs too. I got the best price I could find @ $200 shipped. They were on sale. Now they're even more expensive. Kind of wish I didn't get them now, but I never see 3 gallon kegs on Craig's list near me. When I do, they're almost asking full retail. Oh well... having 4 is awesome. I can make a two different 6 gallon batche and fill two kegs ea. Then two can go in the portable kegerator, and I can have backups sitting under the keglove insulators. That's 12 gallons of portable, easy to haul, ice cold deliciousness.

I can't wait to finish my portable kegerator.

 

[beaksnbeer]

Keezer



2 three gallon on the hump



Lagering fridge



Awaiting room in the keezer

 

[geek_chaser]

When you think beer is the perfect gift for even a baby shower.

 

[DarthMalts]

When SWMBO asks you to brew a porter and you tell her a coworker has commissioned an immediate batch of Aztec Porter as a Christmas gift and SWMBO threatens to call the cops about illegal distribution because she wants the beer instead.

When SWMBO wants to snuggle in the morning and you're too busy posting about this and reading 217 pages of HOMEBREWLOL

 

[bleme]

When your 7 year old gets out your gram scale, and zeros it, to see which of her shooters (marbles) weighs the most.

 

[DarthMalts]

When you name your kitten Sir Brewy Hops and let him kick around Cascade leaves

 

[unionrdr]

When you have to toss out one of your two fermenters,& that 6G better bottle is starting to look really good...

 

[jonmohno]

When half or more of your wardrobe closet is full of full-carboys and brewing supplies. And your on HBT everyday. Even when your not currently brewing, your still constantly thinking about it.

 

[insanim8er]

When you think beer is the perfect gift for even a baby shower.

Of course it is. I haven't met a pregnant woman who couldn't wait to drink again.. 9mo sober can feel like a lifetime.

When you name your kitten Sir Brewy Hops and let him kick around Cascade leaves

Be careful letting your animals around hops. I didn't plant any in the back yard because I read they're toxic to dogs, so I assume cats too?

When you have to toss out one of your two fermenters,& that 6G better bottle is starting to look really good...

I'm telling ya, replace it with a keg. Fermenting in SS kegs is way better. You'll be kicking yourself you didn't do it in the first place. If you dont have kegging gear, just use an orange cap and treat it like a regular carboy (one with handles)

When you get it set up to force transfer to another keg, you will never introduce oxygen from the minute you pitch to the second it hits the glass. You can pull hydro and samples easy and, you can transfer to a keg with dry hops that's already sealed and purged. Add a spunding valve, and you can carbonate your beer while it's finishing fermentation. Not to mention they take less space, easy to move around, aren't fragile, and can be stacked. Plus, on CL a sankey keg isn't any more than a carboy. I find 1/4 for $20 and snag em. They're perfect for 5/6 gallon batches.

 

[unionrdr]

Now you're just baiting me. Dang,it sounds pretty good when you say it!...

 

[atimmerman88]

Taught my wife how to dry hop to stay on schedule while I was in Europe for work.

"The rabbit food stuff smells weird, but I did what you said. Spray. Dump. Spray. Put the cork on"

She's a keeper

 

[insanim8er]

Now you're just baiting me. Dang,it sounds pretty good when you say it!...

Seriously, in my mind, there is zero benefit to carboys except for the fact that they're clear; the novelty of watching the fermentation dies down as you become more experienced anyway.

A lot of people think it's difficult to insure the keg is clean, but that is BS. Cleaning the stainless is easy. Soak it with PBW or oxy and hot water. You can even put it on the burner to steam the inside. You can use a dental mirror and flashlight to inspect the inside if you're paranoid... Moving to kegs for fermentation was one of the best things I've done. Another benefit is no light can get in either.

 

[unionrdr]

I still remember the thread where you figured out this system of yours with spundling valves,co2,etc. Maybe I'll have alook,as I have been thinking of modding my plastic fermenters to allow injecting co2 into the head space. Maybe even come up with a kit for the folks.

 

[plumber_bob]

+1 to the kegs for fermenters idea!

Never had an issue with them.
And like, insanim8er, said, they ain't that hard to clean.

I have 4 1/2bbl kegs that are just for fermenters for 10g batches. I love 'em.

pb

 

[BadDeacon]

Washer craps out full of water and first thing you think of is the auto siphon.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Just threw a batch of apfelwein in a 1/4 keg. It is great. I need to build my walk in cooler so that I can get working on 1/2 kegs. It is nice and convenient.

 

[MaxStout]

When you get it set up to force transfer to another keg, you will never introduce oxygen from the minute you pitch to the second it hits the glass. You can pull hydro and samples easy and, you can transfer to a keg with dry hops that's already sealed and purged. Add a spunding valve, and you can carbonate your beer while it's finishing fermentation. Not to mention they take less space, easy to move around, aren't fragile, and can be stacked. Plus, on CL a sankey keg isn't any more than a carboy. I find 1/4 for $20 and snag em. They're perfect for 5/6 gallon batches.

Right now, I use carboys because I'm paranoid about plastic. But carboys are heavy, hard to hold on to and can break. At this time I have the physical ability to handle them, but the day will come when I'll get tired of lugging them around. Or I'll drop one.

I might have to check CL for some 8-gallon kegs and consider upgrading.

 

[amfukuda]

When you think it's stupid that they play christmas music in stores before thanksgiving but are completely ok that the Christmas beers are on the shelves

 

[fuzzy2133]

When you think it's stupid that they play christmas music in stores before thanksgiving but are completely ok that the Christmas beers are on the shelves

Makes it easy to have a cold ine on black friday though. I stashed the 6 christmas beers I picked up in my cabinet till it is the proper time.


Your a home brewer when you are managing a boil over as you respond to this thread!