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I keep hearin stuff about the latest version of beertools pro (1.5?).
I wanted to be a beta tester but I missed the critical e-mail that would have made that possible.
So I’m stuck with my face against the glass …looking in from the outside.
Any news from people that are in the beta?
Is it a minor update or is this a heafty overhaul?
Screenshots?
barry
Hello all,
I became addicted to Digg about a year ago, and thought it might be nice to have something similar focused on homebrewing. I put this site together a bit over a week ago:
http://brewpoll.com
Its basically a “digg-like” news site where you can submit your favorite articles/stories to the “upcoming” tab and vote the best to the front page.
Right now I set it up so anyone (even guests) can vote by clicking the vote count next to the story. The “Upcoming” tab has about 20 stories that have not yet made the front page (please feel free to drop some votes!). If you set up an account you can submit new links. Its running a little slow - we will be upgrading to a new server this Thursday which should help.
I think it might be viable given some time and effort. Does this seem like a good idea to you?
Cheers!
Brad (from BeerSmith)
So I’m brewing an Irish Stout today and my LHBS ran out of EKG. The guy said Willamette would be fine in its place. What do you guys think about this?
I was offered this CO2 tank from a gentleman on craigslist (i posted a wanted ad). I offered him $45 before I saw the pictures. Do you think this tank is worth $45? Is it safe? Is it too old? Anything else I should know about this tank or any others in general?
Thanks guys!
Posted: by 8Phoenix (16 hours ago)
So I have a full size fridge for brewing, I could easily fit 3 cornies in, only problem is that only 9-10 inches of the floor is flat, then it goes into a steep incline. First i thought if i had the co2 tank outside, i could fit all 3 cornies in. But then i thought why do that, when I can just make a platform to put just the co2 tank on, and leave the cornies in the front.
the plan:
I am going to take 2 rulers, one is going to be at the bottom of the incline pointing vertically. the other at the top of the incline pointing horizontally. I will then measure the points where the meet to get the hight, and length i will need for my support beams. Then ill measure the hypotenuse of the incline. and then use pythagorean to figure out the angles. Then I will measure the base of the co2 tank, and whatever the radius of it it, is, thats the distance i will use to space out my support beams. I plan on using 1-2inch thick wood. then of course a platform ontiop of the beams.
The questions:
I am sure many of u have made platforms in ur fridge before, so here are some questions.
1)what kind of wood should I use? I figure just any wood wont do, because normal wood would warp in the fridge. marine fridge cost a buttload. any other suggestions?
2) I cant figure out if the weight of the co2 tank would hold the platform in place, or tip it forward. So i was thinking of using gorilla glue, or screwing it in. what are your opinions on this?
then of course any other suggestions,advice, flaws in my design, etc please let me know.
A chef acquaintance of mine turned me on to an interesting book, “A History of the World in 6 Glasses,” by Tom Standage. It’s an easy read and gives a very superficial view of world history based on the advent and evolution of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea and soda (Coca Cola). In […]
The fine folks from Hunterdon Distributing took a little road trip down to Frederick, MD last week to see our new, state-of-the-art brewery, sample some of our new brews and take a run through “The Gauntlet” (Market Street Pub Crawl).
Our very own Chris Rippe was looking forward to entertaining the Hunterdon Crew for a night […]
I love comedians. I am proud to have had “Otto the Comic” on episode 149 of our show. At 300 gigs a year, he has to be one of the hardest working performers I know. I shot some HD video of this show but I will post it later. I want […]
Flying Dog’s Old Scratch Amber Lager has moved on to the quarterfinals of the Washington Post’s Beer Madness tournament. After dispatching Brooklyn Lager we now take on Raven Lager to move to the Semis. To follow all the madness check out Washington Post’s Sunday Source.
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.flyingdognews.com%2F2008%2F03%2F25%2Fflying-dog-advances-in-beer-madness-tourney%2F’;
addthis_title […]
Just got a new Micromatic Premium primary reg and three secondaries too.
Plugged the primary in and I get a hiss coming from the pressure release valve. Can’t seem to get it to stop. Is there some easy thing to possibly stop this or is the valve most likely defective?
Thanks all.
So, I was 1. too drunk and 2. too tired to do an OG reading on my last brew (I know it’s not too demanding to fill a hydrometer tube with wort and take a reading, but I hope you will understand…..).
My SG is holding steady at 1.010 and I’m about ready to bottle. Is there any way to figure out the ABV without an OG reading?
I have scanned through about 10 pages of previous topics, but wanted a definative yes or no. I am thinking of building a chamber 3′DX3′WX7′T in my carport and using a 5K BTU AC to cool it. I probably will just do ales for now and want to keep it around 63F. Summer in South Alabama can get to be 90+F.
Q1- I have an analog controller from morebeer. Which is better- turning the AC down to it’s lowest setting and pluging it into the controller, or bypassing the internal thermostat and plugging it into the controller?
Q2- What’s a minimum R value? I was thinking of putting R19 batt inside the wall and possibly adding 1/2″ board (R4) to that.
Q3- What is your finish liner inside the chamber- insulation board, urethaned plywood, or something else?
Q4- Do you recommend a louvered dryer vent to let warm air out when the AC kicks on?
Q5- If I want to eventually Lager, should I invest in a larger AC or will the larger size be too inefficient and therefore harder on the AC unit (ie running in shorter bursts therefore burning out the compressor) at Ale temps?
Thanks
I wanted to try and document my personal saga of building my all weather electric brewery. Figured I might as well do it here since several of you (Stangbat, Swagman, blktre, George Schmidt, DJ in KC, tom burk, VolFan, among others) have inspired me to start this project. All with the blessing of my wonderful wife, Sherry.
Let me give you a tour..
First, when you come downstairs, you encounter the sitting area;
Then the server rack, food freezer, tv, sat box, phone and dvd player;
Then the digital scale, mill, specialty grains;
Base grains in the blue barrels, brewing gear, carboys, and the dishwasher;
The sink (what a score! Two sinks, and drainboards, and prewash faucet. $285), also my mash tun
More mash tun;
The future electric stand and brewing area. I still need to have some type of stand welded up, need to build the controller. But it’s coming.
Continued….
To celebrate the first anniversary of my first brew I used my new brew stand for the first time. I still want to add wheels on one side on the bottom and some levelers on the other side. Man this sure makes the brew day easier.
Mash Tun
I’m trying to decide between the Sanyo 4912 and a chest freezer of the same value. The only way that the freezer would be an option is if I can fit 3 kegs in it, even better 4. Anyone have a 7.2cu ft freezer that’ll hold 3 or 4 cornies?
Posted: by muffins (2 hours ago)
Hey brewboard members. I was curious to ask all of you, how often do you brew? I just brewed this past thurs night and am already thinking about what my next beer will be and when I will brew again. I might even try to squeeze one in this coming weekend. I was just curious I have brewed for 10 years as an extract brewer and so far this year jumped into All Grain and have brewed two beers IPA and my last creation an Oatmeal Porter. I think I could brew for a living or every night if I had the chance. I am brewing 5 gallon batches and bottle carbonate all that I make. I don’t have enough people over to justify a kegging system even though I have a chest freezer for lagering. I have had up to around 300-350 bottled beers on hand at one time. Love to hear what you all do. Happy Brewing
Ok, so I brewed the following on Saturday March 15th.
9.21 lbs. Australian Pilsner info
0.29 lbs. Munich Malt info
0.26 lbs. Australian Wheat Malt info
0.8 oz. Hallertau Mittelfruh (Pellets, 4.50 %AA) boiled 60 min. info
0.5 oz. Hallertau (Pellets, 4.50 %AA) boiled 15 min. info
0.5 oz. Hallertau (Pellets, 4.50 %AA) boiled 1 min. info
Yeast : WYeast German Lager
Original Gravity 1.050 1.045 - 1.051
Terminal Gravity 1.010 1.008 - 1.012
started out at .045 and everything went great in the brew. I was going to try to put it in a mini-fridge and lager this at the low 50’s. For the most part it would sit at 55, but I noticed that when the fridge kicked on it would drop to the low 40’s. After 5 days there was no fermentation and I was getting worried. I took it out of the fridge and left it at 63 degrees. Was out of town all weekend and when I came back my gravity is at 010.
Is this a normal thing? there was no big fermentation but yet it somehow fermented unnoticed.
My big question is there a way to check to make sure the 5 days in the bucket didnt do harm to my beer? I know it hit its FG but im scared that the week or so in the fermenter without activity hurt the beer.
Hey,
I’m looking to add a plastic bucket fermenter or two. Right now I’m using glass carboys.
Should I get one with or without the spigot at the bottom? Is it good practice to empty from the spigot directly into a keg? Any problems during fermentation to have a spigot at the bottom?
Thanks!
A friend of mine has given me a chest freezer that I’d like to use as a fermentation chamber for my carboys. In the summer, it stays in the 80s in our garage, and in the Winter around the 50s. HBA sells a temp controller online, but I’m a bit of electronics idiot. How do they work? Are they easy to install?
I’ve tried to search here for topics, but haven’t had much sucess, which is frustrating as I usually am good with searches.
I kind of understand how it would cool in the summer to ferm temps (I brew ales, BTW), but how would it maintain temps in the winter? Obviously the freezer has no way to heat the insides…
If there is a thread that ’splains all this please point me there. Anyone thought about a FAQ for this? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
-Schmoog in Chapel Hill
Posted: by jcompton (13 hours ago)
So I am building a RIMS system and have a natural gas line in the garage. I never got around to installing the heater and I was thinking about using this as a fuel source for brewing. Obviously the burners will have to be ordered differently than planned, but I was wondering for you guys that are using natural gas instead of propane had a noticible cost increase on your service bills. Does anyone have a rough cost estimate per batch that you have had using this setup? Just trying to decide if it is worth doing, or if it is more cost effective to continue propane tanks every 4 batches. Thanks in advance for any help.
Posted: by sprinkle (22 hours ago)
So
I decided that since I can’t have a dedicated brew rig, I would at least have a dedicated fermentation cart…that would also serve dual duty as a mash cart…I will also end up mounting the pump to it eventually…
Since eventually the brewery will be electric I may expand on what I have done so far…But for now I need something to rest the cooler on and then something to put the fermenter on that is on wheels and can easily drain into a carboy or corny…
Enjoy!
I switched the ferm chamber from heat to cool yesterday for the first time this season and it didn’t work. 
A little troubleshooting told me that the switch that removes power from the condenser in the winter is failing. It’s making a very poor connection inside the switch, and I had to tape it down to get it running until I can replace it. In the process of troubleshooting, I noticed that everywhere copper had been exposed was covered with bright green corrosion like verdigris. That’s all the exposed wiring, and I’m sure it caused the problem inside the switch as well.
Anybody ever see anything like this? My guess is that the problem was caused by condensation on the metal getting carbonated by the high CO2 in the chest. Then the carbonic acid corroded the exposed metals. Any ideas how to stop this from happening? A switch is cheap enough, but I don’t want to have to fork out $50 for another Love.
I have about 6 10 yr old, canadian beer malt extract cans, I was given by a friend. I DO NOT want to make beer with them. However I was thinking maybe being able to use them for yeast starters. is there any problem in doing this?
I think they are pre-hopped as well. Will that be a problem?
Anyone know how much LME to use for a 2 liter yeast starter?
NERAX is coming from April 30- May 3. If you like or are curious about cask ale try to get by. Tickets are available at the door but I recommend buying in advance as you go to the front of the line(you could be in line for over an hour). There will be around 80 firkins; half from the US and half from the UK, Scotland and Wales. Any brewboarders want to meet up myself and Slothrob will be there for 3 sessions as usual. Here’s the link for more info: http://nerax.org/nerax/
Yesterday I used a paint strainer bag to strain my chilled wort for the first time (thanks for the idea al_bob) . I was shocked at how much hot break that thing caught. I probably ended up with an extremely large grapefruit sized ball of hop and break matter once I managed to get all the liquid to strain through. It does clog a bit - after pouring everything in I picked up the bag and it was holding about 2.5 gal of my wort. After rocking it side to side I managed to get all the liquid to strain out. Not that hard all around. For some reason this recipe was one of the first times I had seen so much break material. A lot of it may have been cold break since I used my wort chiller (50 feet of copper) and I put the kettle into an ice bath at the same time. I’m really hoping this leads to some better quality beer. 
I’m brewing up a wheat beer right now and want to know what to do with it after it is done in the primary. Go straight to the keg or rack into the secondary. I did not use any clarifiying products. I normally use Irish moss, but not on this batch.
Thanks
