BeerTools Discussion Forum

What was the temp of your primary fermentation & did you prepare a yeast starter. This sounds like a problem I was having at the beginning of the summer. For some reason this year, I getting a little lazy and wasn't paying too much attn to fermentation temps. Problem solved by increasing starter...

I couldn't brew without a digital thermometer. I use a fairly high quality panel meter with a RTD probe that I hashed together when working as an engineer. This type of setup had a 6 foot long thin TEF coated cable with a small probe, so I can leave the probe in my mash tun if I want. To set yoursel...

I use an old (circa 1980) coleman rectangular 10 gallon (11.5 measured) cooler. I've run maybe 20 batches through it and YES it does warp. The sides warp a little, but not too dramtically. I figure I have about another year of usage, then I'll get another one.

Most microbreweries use standard cap bottles. When I bottled, I'd use it as an excuse to go to the beer supermarket and buy cases of great beer! Now that I keg, I have no excuse.

My problem is this; I have several recipes in my private "gold account" stash. Some are pretty good, some are marginal. Once your so used to drinking great homebrew, you forget how good the "typical recipes" actually are. Anyway, back to the point, I am constantly tweaking. I nev...

I made two batches in a coleman 5 gal "upright cooler" before I went to my 10 gallon system. My batched were standard gravity styles; APA, Oaty Stout (approx 11-12lbs), and the capacity was such that the water level was real close to the top by the time I added enough hot water to reach ma...

If all else fails, you could call a water softener salesman and schedule a visit. These guys will perform all sorts of tests on your water to show you how bad it is and how much you need their system. If you pay attention, and ask questions, you can glean some of the details from his/her test result...

I too am a fan of homebrew.com. You can buy a membership for $15 that saves you 10% on every order. I use thejm for almost all of my ingredient needs, except I try to support our local shop by given them the orders for bulk grain; I keep about 50lbs of two-row pale base grain on hand, so when I need...

Thats good to know, because I just bought one. I told myself that I wouldn't ebay this week, but who could resist?

I noticed that Ebay has digital PH meters (hanna instruments- Check1) for $28 shipped. Has anyone used these things? Do they work?

Congrats on your choice to go all-grain, you will never regret it. If you are worried about the length of the brewday, check out the posts on cycle time this month. I broke into all-grain brewing by buying an ingredient kit from homebrew.com. You may want to check them out, they have alot of great k...

I've always had some issues with the iodine test, it seems that even when I am sure that I have converted effectively(my gravities almost always are dead nuts on & beer turns out good)there is a color change. I've heard/read that slight color change is expected during an iodine test; I've heard ...

I've gotten it down to about 6 hrs actual active brewing time by; 1) Milling grains the night before (also helps prevent infection). 2) Filling my my two five gallon pots with water the night before, then getting up at 5AM to turn the heat on, then I wake up @ 6:00 AM, mash in, then go back to sleep...

This cannot be the right approach but; 1 lb DME = 1.035 - 1.045 degrees per gallon 1 lb Liquid Malt Extract = 1.027 - 1.038 1 lb 2-row Pale (American) = 1.035 - 1.038 If you do the numbers, you'll find that you should be able to substitute lb for lb (unless your scale can measure .009 lbs). One poun...

So your the one who planted this seed in my head. I rememeber your posting; It's the reason I bought the stirrer. I plan on resting my 2litre erlenmeyer atop this new toy. The base of the flask is at least 8 inches, which has me wondering if I ordered the right size stirring rod. I ordered a 2"...