Jake Bell

S-04, S-05, and Nottingham are all good options. If you’re really worried about the temps (I wouldn’t be) you can do some evaporation cooling. You can pretty easily drop the fermentation temp 5-10 degrees by placing the carboy in a pan of water, soak a towel in the water and wrap the carboy keeping the bottom of the towel in the water to absorb…[Read more]

I had one just like that one in college Anthony! It worked great. We only used it for commercial beer (before I was brewing), but it worked like a champ and fit a fullsized keg. Good times!

I have a robobrew and I love it. Not seeing anything from the grainfather that I’m really missing out on other than the bluetooth connectivity, and I don’t really care about that anyway. The anvil foundry looks awesome though and I might have gotten that one if it was available when I bought my robobrew.

I have gotten super into kveik yeast. I’ve used Hornindal, Hothead, and Voss. Hornindal is best for porters, stouts, wee heavies, etc. Hothead was fine, but Hornindal is amazing compared to it so I probably won’t use it again. Voss is good for pale ales, IPAs, etc. It ferments really clean and doesn’t lend much to the beer, but it’s a good yeast.

Willamette or Centennial

I have a 25′ one I got on Amazon and it works pretty well. My dad has a 50′ one that I’ve used a couple of times and it cools WAY faster. If I could do it over I’d get a 50 – they arent that expensive.

2 large handfulls of rice hulls in every mash. Never had a stuck sparge since I started doing that.

I am on my second batch of lacto fermented hot sauce. I use a mason jar and add 3 tbsps of salt and sugar. Pack it full of peppers and make sure everything is submerged in the brine. I usually add a piece of store bought kimchi to give it a start too.

I used it as the base malt in an Irish Red I brewed for last St Patrick’s Day and I was really happy with it. Red x is an awesome malt if you let it be the star of the beer and don’t cover it up with a bunch other malts or over hop it. I definitely recommend it for an Irish Red!

I’d upgrade soon. Aluminum can have a much higher level of heavy metals than Stainless Steel. Like Lead and Mercury. If these pot are manufactured in Asia and Mexico beware.
Plus they are harder to clean due to rough surfaces which microbs love, and you have to be really gentle and not use any strong cleaners.

Agree to all the above, slow rpm on the drill works best, many people adjust the gap to credit card sized, I went a bit tighter on mine with better efficiency but it depends on a lot of factors.

To drill stainless you need high pressure slow drill movement. If you go too fast the stainless will work harden and your drill bit will be useless.

False bottoms are cheap – I recommend just buying one.

The clerk at my local post office told me to send it as yeast cultures or as a marinade since it doesn’t actually qualify as hazardous material because it’s not high enough in alcohol. But the rule book says it’s hazardous at 5% which we know cannot burn in any normal means so as long as the name is different on the claim sheet its legal.

I didn’t know there was a difference nor have I’ve experienced any ill effects having my tank filled with industrial by the fire extinguisher guy. Both are 99 5 percent pure, yet industrial is not tested thus it is cheaper.

Not beer, but I think we’ll see most breweries jump on the seltzer bandwagon. I bet in 2020 almost every brewery will have a couple on tap. It’s incredibly cheap to make so I imagine the margins are pretty good, and it helps serve people who don’t drink beer.

I wash bottles with the dishes after use. On bottling day, I put them in the dishwasher, no detergent, sani-rinse on. Then I bottle. They are sanitized by the heat in the dishwasher, making StarSan unnecessary. I’ve done it this way for five years now and it works great.

I just throw a tube on the tap long enough to reach bottle bottom, make sure that I get the inside of the bottle wet with star san (helps reduce foaming), then fill. Works well for my purposes. So yeah, same as you.

Always on so there is no temperature stratification and the temperature probe is always reading a correct temperature so the inkbird turns on at the correct temperature.