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Looking at ordering this one today and buying the soda kegs later. Will this system work with any style of corny? Is it overpriced or missing anything essential?
Advice would be appreciated, I have looked into other options and they all seem to be comparable prices so I was just going to go ahead with this one. Thanks again greenboard, I am officially a brew addict.
I guess for the last couple of years I have been doing a recirculation of the wort threw the CFC to boil. The ground temps here don’t rise much during the summer and it’s been more of experiment than any thing. I had been just hanging one of my transfer hose’s from the output of the CFC over the rim of the boil pot. Just a not a neat way of doing things so today I got around to changing some of the process. The vortex created by the returning wort was not as large as I thought it would be. I believe is due to the restriction of the CFC. But I use a false bottom so this not really a problem. I Tig welded another coupler in the boil pot added a tri valve and the output side in the pot I just used a double swing L in 1/2 copper street fittings.
Dominus Vobiscum
Swagman 
Hey everyone, I have 8 ale’s under my belt (4 kits) and want to make a lager. I was looking at Wyeast lager yeasts (feeling lazy and dont want to make a starter) and they are mostly listed as 48-58F. I have access to a walk in fridge, which tries to maintain ~35F, but gets as high as 40 during the day when people are in and out. I know that inside my fermentor, the temp will be a little higher, but would this be too cool for fermentation? This is currently my only cooling option, just wanted to get a second opinion before actually brewing. thanks.
Currently, I ferment in glass carboys using a chest freezer with a ranco temperature monitor to control the fermentation temperature. But I have high hopes or more just a curiosity about conicals. Specifically, about how to maintain the fermentation temperature inside the conical. Lets say, hypothetically speaking, that you have a brew shed which was insulated and which had, say, a window unit or two on it. Can you just keep that shed at a nice 67 degrees or so (or 50 degrees if doing a lager)? Or is maintaining the temperature inside the conical a more involved issue? Its essentially the same thing I do in my chest freezer, but on a grander scale Im just not sure if its the same. And of course Im not talking about the conicals that have the heating/cooling deals on them
Thanks.
Any experience with lots of cherries?
I’ve got 12 lbs of canned (stemmed and pitted) Michigan Montmorency tart cherries to play with. I’m splitting a batch of wheat beer with American and Belgian yeast and plan to rack on to the cherries in a 6.5 gal carboy.
Just looking for few thoughts on dry hopping. When do you dry hop ( primary, secondary, keg, at tap)? What style do you like to dry hop? What hops do you like to use? Any tricks that makes it easier.
I’m using my newly rigged fermentation chamber for the first time and I’m excited about being able to have consistent temperature control (it’s a deep freezer with a ranco temp controller, by the way). In there right now I have an Alt and an IPA. The Alt is using WLP011 European ale yeast and the IPA is using WLP001 California Ale. When I started fermentation at 62df, the California ale yeast blew out of the carboy so I dropped it down to 56 (because I can and I’m not afraid to). I’ve been fermenting at 56df (+/- 2 degrees) and I’ve never had a krausen stick around so long. It’s been 6 days and it’s still chugging along. I know others out there have done similar things…..how were your experiences? I’m expecting a very clean, low ester end-product. Am I right or am I right? right? right!
American Pale Ale
10.5 pearl malt
.5 c 20
.5 c 40
.5 L germ. munich
.5 victory
.45 magnum 50 min.
.5 amarillo 10 min.
.5 glacier 10 min.
.5 amarillo .01 min
.5 glacier .01 min
1 gram orange zest .01 min (just to see if I can taste it)
Yeast: German Ale II WLP003
Ferment 65 and cold condition for 2 weeks
brewing with deer park water, cant decide if I should modify it or not.
Posted: by israel (20 hours ago)
Working 7 days a week, and was thinking about splitting the brew day between sparge run off and boil. I know that lactic bacteria could exhist. If I sparged with near boiling water for 10 or 15 minutes, might I get away with this? Or would it be better to insulate the hell out of mash tun and just leave it until the next day?
The beer is going to be 1.060 to 1.070 OG.
Need advice.
Yup, A limited amount of Russian River beers found their way into Colorado after a 3 month delay and apparently are already sold out of distributors. I was lucky enough to get in and get one of each of whay they had as well as some other newcomers:
Left to right:
La Biere des Collines Saison
Cantillion Gueuze
St Feuillien Brune
Damnation
Pliney the Elder
Blind Pig
None of the sour ales for which Russian River is famous just yet but this is a start. Now which one to drink first……
So, I decided to try a La Chouffe Trippel IPA as my first non-kit beer (10 batches under my belt). I got some recipe help from folks on the board (thanks all) and came up with the following for the hop bill:
13 AAU Tomahawk @ 90 min
1.5 oz Saaz @ 5 min
1.5 oz. Amarillo dry hop
My local HBS was out of the above, so they provided the following:
1.75 oz. Glacier (7.4%) - for full boil
1.5 oz. Cascade (6.3%) - for 5 min
1.5 oz. Cascade (6.3%) - for dry hop
I brewed late on Monday night. And, maybe because of the late hour, or maybe because of the homebrews which helped me out, I put in the Cascade instead of the Glacier at the beginning of the boil. I made up for it by putting the Glacier in with 10 minutes left on the boil. Right now it is happily bubbling along, but there is a definite hop smell coming out of the airlock.
I don’t know too much about the differences in hops, so my questions are:
- will the change in hops make that much of a taste difference? ie. would the initial switch from my HBS have really affected the result
- is putting Cascade hops in for the full boil a bad idea in general?
- will that much AAU added at the end of the boil have a bad effect on the beer?
- should i still dry hop?
Thanks for the help! I couldn’t really get these specific answers from my Joy of Homebrewing book….
I see one of these available on e-bay for cheap. Since I’m in the process of putting together my kegerator, one would come in handy.
What is the deal with the 24VAC input?
Aren’t normal household outlets 120VAC?
Electricity isn’t my thing. Can someone shed some light on this?
I got bit big time this last week. I haven’t brewed since last summer. Heck, I’ve had 30 gals of mostly finished (but uncarbed) 2319 in my chest freezer for almost a year that I haven’t touched, but all of a sudden I’m on the homebrew warpath. I’ve been filtering, chilling, buying (more) dispensing equipment, planning brew days…I think the cool, crisp autumn-like weather we’ve been having has got me going.
I’m definitely going to pump out a batch (maybe two 
) on labor day.
Pricey, but look cool. Would be interesting to hear feedback on it.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/burners.html
Boil wort, heat sparge water, or raise mash temperatures indoors without a vent hood or exhaust fan using this 110V electric heater. The 2200 watt heating element is controlled by a thermostat with infinite adjustment from 120° to 212° F. Heating element has a stainless housing with a zinc-plated copper elbow. Also features a built-in ground fault interrupter. Use on a dedicated outlet with at least a 20-amp circuit breaker.
Available in 11″ and 15″ models to fit a variety of brew kettles (not recommended for use in plastic coolers).
I am in the process of preparing for my first attempt at home brewing. I plan to start this weekend, in the meantime Ive been cleaning used bottles in preparation. Im having trouble completely removing the labels/glue from my bottles. I am curious about 2 things;
1.Why must you remove the labels from used bottles?
2.Do they have to be cleaned completely of the labels like they are brand new?
Your experiences are appreciated! 
I went over to a friends house to take some info and things over, talk cars and swim.
He hadn’t had a chance to taste my brew before. So I brought over a half growler of my Clonedite to have with lunch (an 8.5% ABV Maudite clone).
Not much of a beer drinker, he tried what I brought and said he really liked it and it was rather tasty.
Later that afternoon he got quite sick, puking, ran a 100 degree fever and started to have his throat close up.
He recovered, but we came to the conclusion he must be allergic to yeast. He can drink the yellow fizzy stuff OK, but doen’t care much for the taste (or perhaps the lack of). He also lives on Claritin year ’round to keep his sinuses open.
Now this isn’t cyliacs as he has no problem with eating bread. I suggested high dosage imunotherapy for his alergies as it worked great for me. That should get him off the Claritin. However, I don’t think that’s going to help his food alergies. I suggested he stay away from micro brews until he resolves the problem.
Any input from the group on what might be the problem, and if there is any cure.
I smacked a smackpack Monday.
I made a 2L starter last night.
I had a feeling yeast would spray everywhere so i made a very small cut with scissors hoping to aim the spray into the flask. Yeast went everyhere, i mean everywhere. should I have made a bigger cut faster? i’d rather not learn this technique through trial and error.
ET
This is my first time brewing and the question I have is:
After the wort has chilled and I have pitched the yeast do I stir to mix it or not? I will stir before with a mixer stick on a drill but what about after the yeast.
Thanks
Posted: by JarheadRI (15 hours ago)
Posted: by OldSock (24 hours ago)
Posted: by juzy (24 hours ago)
Greetings all,
I am about to harvest from my Magnum hop plant, and I am looking to develop more rhizomes from the bines that I’m about to harvest from.
I read online that one can take an existing bine, bury it in a shallow trench, and by the following spring, that bine will be a rhizome of its own.
My questions are:
1. Is this approach one that would work? (I don’t want to dig around and mess with the existing hop crown).
2. Should I sever the bine I want to make into more rhizomes before burying, or should it stay connected to the crown over the fall/winter?
thanks!
Bklmt2000
I really wanted to do an all Amarillo IPA. Just can’t get the Amarillo in leaf for the dry hopping. 
So I have alot of Cascade and was poking around looking for a recipe.
This one looks nice.
http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtop…arillo&st=0
So my question. Is an all Cascade IPA, Good, Great or just OK?
I dont have anyway to reference it as I have only used Cascade mostly for Aroma and dry hopping pale ales which its great for.
I have a bit of Columbus I could bitter with as well or just use more Cascade to keep it all a single hop IPA.?
Your comments are appreciated.
Yours with a brew……………
CB
I got some chill haze in an octoberfest a brewed a while back. I have a few 0.5 micron filters laying around and I was wonding if those would take care of it? What type of particle sizes are we looking at for chill haze?
Who has kegerators? What kind? How long you had it. Was it worth it? Have you had any problems with it?
I would like to just convert an older fridge over but I like the possibility I could eventually put it under my bar. (It would sit at end for now.) Also I could bring it right up the steps from basement to my patio for when we have our yearly get togethers.
Kegerators.com has the kegerator listed as $799. A local store has it (same stock number) on sale for $548 this week. Its a Danby DKC645BLS. Ive read reviews from people buying kegerators and they range from loving them to beer being not cold enough to it leaks. I know this is a cheaper model for a kegerator but I cant see spending for the higher dollar ones. ($1,000 or more). Give me your honest opinion. Whats your take on it. On sale til the 30th. So respond fast. Thanks!!!!
Darrin
It has been a while since I remember seeing step mashing discussed.
I am planning on brewing a Wheat Wine with about 60-70% Wheat malt. It is common to hear wheat malt likes to be mashed in steps. I have done enough single infusion mashes and wanted to explore the next level in homebrewing.
Who does step mashing and thinks it is worth the trouble? (details & examples appreciated)
Who does not do it because it is not wort the trouble? (details & examples appreciated)
My rig is a conventional Igloo cooler & braid set up for batch sparging. I have read Palmer’s “How To Brew” 3rd edition and Papazian’s “Complete Joy of Homebrewing” 3rd edition.
Here are my initial thoughts:
Step Infusion: Could do it with equipment, more than 2 temps does not seem practical.
Direct heat: I could do it, but would need to transfer hot grains and wort to mash tun.
RIMS/HERMs style: I have some spare copper tubing to make a RIMS coil. I do not have a pump so there would be some pitcher collection and carry the wort back up action. Potential for HSA in the pouring action.
Decoction: Most intuitive process for me. I have all the required equipment. Potential for HSA in pouring action.
Let it fly. Tell the greenboard what you have learned regarding step mashing. The good, the bad, the gotchas.
Convince me one way or another.
Thanks All,
zymot
Calamity!
Disaster!
Waste of time and money!
The worst brewing day of my short career!
ARRRRRRRGGGHHH!
Here’s my story:
Brewing up a Guinness clone on what had been a nice Sunday afternoon.
15 minutes after I begin steeping the grains (flaked barley and roasted barley), I realize a mistake: I hadn’t milled the flaked barley.
Well, too late to do much about it, so I carry on, hoping for the best. I decide to let the grains steep for longer than the usual 45 minutes, and I let it go for just over an hour.
On removing the grains (I used a nylon ‘Jumbo’ bag), I realize, “Wow, this is much heavier than other brews I’ve done”. Trying to squeeze the grain bag against the brewpot was a bad idea….. it slips, as does the brewpot - SPLASH! I’ve now got exruciating pain on my legs from where the hot wort splashes from my knees to my neck. 
Finally get the bag out, and pour in the extract. OK, we’re back on track now, so I think.
Turn up the gas, and get the boil going.
Ooops - boil over!
OK, 45 minutes on the boil, enter the hops. Gosh, it sure doesn’t look like much liquid is in there…
Whoops! ANOTHER boil-over! 
(Never make the same mistake, you say???)
15 minutes left, add the finish hops.
OK, time’s up, let’s get this thing chilled and ready for the primary.
Try to remove the nylon bags containing the hops.
They’re stuck.
That’s right, they’re STUCK - as in “welded” to the bottom of the brew pot! 
I put 4 gallons into my bucket, then add what’s left of the wort - most of which has the consistency of maple syrup.
At last, I realize I had boiled/splashed away what had started as 2.0 gallons of water and about .5 gallons of extract. So I added another 1/2 gallon to the bucket, and then took a gravity sample….
The color was a mousy brown, it looked like ‘root beer lite’, at best. Taste was not at all what I expected, and I could detect overtones of…. carbon.
Rather than waste perfectly good yeast, I dumped it, and resolved to pay more attention on the next batch.
Anybody else want to empathize with a horror story of their own? 
I purchased a blue rhino propane canister recently, ran it empty for the first time ever during a boil. It took 13 minutes from stop to restart , i tried to match the boil i had when it went out. I usually get it refilled , but the exchange is available and more costly but it was quicker.
I continued to boil until my 60 minutes was up, finished up as normal . I have a great fermentation going on now, american wheat beer, lightly hopped with amarillo hops. My IBU target was 21 , i hope i did not harm that getting it back up to boil. It looks ok, im am sure others have had this happen too. Any thoughts on this ? thanks for any advice.
I have an IPA that has been in secondary for 4+ months and it has a whitish film on its surface (it has been there for about 1 month). It still smells like beer. The other half of the batch was excellent, I’d hate to have to huck this half.
Should I:
Huck it
Taste it
If it tastes OK, should I keg or bottle it? I’m worried that bottling it could result in bombs.
Should I also then sequester the carboy (and keg) from all future brews unless I plan to do Bret., etc. brews.
Thanks for your help.
