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Galler posted:Look for a welding supply place. CO2 is CO2 is CO2. Duh, thanks. 
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Oct 3, 2012 00:27
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hellfaucet posted:So I might be over thinking this one a bit. Is there some obvious place to fill/refill CO2 tanks? Googling "CO2 buy michigan" ain't doing much for me. I was able to go on google maps and enter "Gases" to find (the only) local gas supply place. Google suggested "Gases - Industrial" so that might help if you are getting a ton of stuff from just gases.
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Oct 3, 2012 00:32
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Josh Wow posted:I use a 5 gallon pot for my hot liquor tank, 4.5 gallons of hot water isn't very heavy or unwieldy. Just pick up your pot and dump it in. What do you think would take an hour? Going from room temperature in a bottle to pasteurization temperatures? He seems to think it only takes 10 minutes and I'm inclined to agree it wouldn't take any more than that to bring a full submerged 12 oz bottle to the correct temperatures.
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Oct 3, 2012 00:43
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I just kegged this year's Cider which I made with Nottingham. Today is one week shy of 2 months in primary and it was crystal clear. The hygrometer sample is as dry as you might think it would be but it isn't hot at all and there is a decent bitter apple flavor remaining. The O.G. was 1.088 and I checked it after about a month of 64* and it only had made it down to 1.026. I took it out of the chest freezer to bring it up to 72* or so and finished at 0.997. I thought about back-sweetening it but  I only have lactose on hand and that would really only go towards mouthfeel right?Its a pretty simple recipe, just dump, stir and wait: 5 gal non-sorbate pasturized local orchard cider 2 lbs dark brown sugar 2 lbs light brown sugar 1 lb white sugar 2 pkg Danstar Nottingham - direct pitch no rehydration or aeration The holidays should be pretty happy 
j3rkstore fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Oct 3, 2012 |
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Oct 3, 2012 01:05
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I have that exact turkey fryer from Brinkmann and used it for my first brew last month. It worked great and don't regret my choice. Just drank one of my first beers from that batch. At the time I was doing what basically amounted to a full volume boil. LaserWash fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Oct 3, 2012 |
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Oct 3, 2012 01:10
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RiggenBlaque posted:What do you think would take an hour? Going from room temperature in a bottle to pasteurization temperatures? He seems to think it only takes 10 minutes and I'm inclined to agree it wouldn't take any more than that to bring a full submerged 12 oz bottle to the correct temperatures. I'm saying you should do it over an hour to decrease the risk of your bottles exploding. I was thinking more of you doing a lot of bottles in one pot, not doing them one at a time. After you pasteurize them let them cool down at least as slowly. Thermal shock breaks glass pretty easily.
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Oct 3, 2012 02:47
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hellfaucet posted:So I might be over thinking this one a bit. Is there some obvious place to fill/refill CO2 tanks? Googling "CO2 buy michigan" ain't doing much for me. I get mine refilled at a fire safety supply store. Find one that refills extinguishers, and you should be good to go.
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Oct 3, 2012 03:40
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hellfaucet posted:Duh, thanks. Im no expert but nearly every welding place I've filled up at here in MI has had food grade CO2.
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Oct 3, 2012 06:18
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Nateron posted:Im no expert but nearly every welding place I've filled up at here in MI has had food grade CO2. Airgas, welding supply stores, home depot may carry them for a premium.
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Oct 3, 2012 06:38
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Nateron posted:food grade CO2. Galler posted:CO2 is CO2 is CO2.
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Oct 3, 2012 08:09
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Angry Grimace posted:Mine has the words "Polarware" stamped on the bottom, for what its worth. Same here.
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Oct 3, 2012 13:10
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Josh Wow posted:I'm saying you should do it over an hour to decrease the risk of your bottles exploding. I was thinking more of you doing a lot of bottles in one pot, not doing them one at a time. After you pasteurize them let them cool down at least as slowly. Thermal shock breaks glass pretty easily. Oh, I see. Yeah, I had no intention of cooling the bottles in water or anything, I'm just going to leave them at room temperature and hope for the best.
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Oct 3, 2012 14:41
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One of you goons had wanted to know about the IPA I had brewed up using the weird noble hops. It's pretty dank with hops, first and foremost. I think a lot of IPAs "true flavor" comes near the second 1/2 of the glass and of course the head. This one is a fantastic mix of flowers and fruityness that I haven't tasted before. The nose is pretty floral only. Sure it's got that palate melding first couple sips, but it's drat fantastic. Plan on brewing a couple single hop table beer second runnings, but unsure if I should aim for same amount of hops by weight or alpha acid...
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Oct 3, 2012 16:31
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For what its worth, I only breathe food grade oxygen.
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Oct 3, 2012 17:20
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With the holidays coming up it's time to invest in some uniform bottles. The NB ones get trash-talked for being pretty thin, where else should I be looking?
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Oct 3, 2012 18:30
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The only time you need to even think about "food grade" co2 is when you're using the little roll-of-pennies sized canisters for a portable keg setup and that some of them contain a little oil. I have a separate stack of those canisters for tailgates and paintball guns, for example.
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Oct 3, 2012 18:36
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Splizwarf posted:With the holidays coming up it's time to invest in some uniform bottles. The NB ones get trash-talked for being pretty thin, where else should I be looking? I'm going to Columbia next week to take their intro to brewing course. If you ask nicely I can pick up a couple cases of bottles.
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Oct 3, 2012 18:50
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:I'm going to Columbia next week to take their intro to brewing course. If you ask nicely I can pick up a couple cases of bottles. Columbia = the Kokanee brewery? They offer courses?
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Oct 3, 2012 18:58
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Nah, my local shop likely has the same ones. Trying to find out what else is out there, looking for interesting bottles or cheap ones that aren't too thin.
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Oct 3, 2012 18:59
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Tan and teal colored thermapens are on sale for $79, if anyone has been looking for an excuse to buy one. Also, anyone who isn't already should start following homebrew finds.
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Oct 3, 2012 19:35
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If you are on the fence about getting a thermapen, do it. Not only is it a fantastic tool, but their customer service is top notch. I just RMA'd mine which had a strange short somewhere, causing it to error out if you opened the probe too far. I called customer service and not only did they replace my defective one for free, they sent me an RT600 for free to hold me over while I waited for the RMA process.
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Oct 3, 2012 19:49
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mewse posted:Columbia = the Kokanee brewery? They offer courses? Columbia, MD. Home of the Maryland Homebrew store.
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Oct 3, 2012 21:00
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As much as I like toys, I'm not entirely certain I see the need for a Thermapen over a RT-600.
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Oct 3, 2012 21:16
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So I went ahead and bought a 10 gallon Igloo cooler from Amazon last night and noticed the same one advertised under the "Top Finds" under the Thermapen at Homebrew Finds. They included links to a ball valve kit from More Beer (http://morebeer.com/view_product/6042/102318/Weldless_Cooler_Kit_Stainless?a_aid=hbf), which says the kit only works with Rubbermaid coolers. I guess this might be a dumb question, but is that seriously the case? I know NB uses Rubbermaid coolers if you buy their mash tun kit, so do all these people outfit their ball valve kits for Rubbermaid, or does it not matter at all?
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Oct 3, 2012 22:48
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:So I went ahead and bought a 10 gallon Igloo cooler from Amazon last night and noticed the same one advertised under the "Top Finds" under the Thermapen at Homebrew Finds. They included links to a ball valve kit from More Beer (http://morebeer.com/view_product/6042/102318/Weldless_Cooler_Kit_Stainless?a_aid=hbf), which says the kit only works with Rubbermaid coolers. I guess this might be a dumb question, but is that seriously the case? I know NB uses Rubbermaid coolers if you buy their mash tun kit, so do all these people outfit their ball valve kits for Rubbermaid, or does it not matter at all? Everything I've read says they all should work. I can't say for certain though. I mean, those kits work with random square coolers too, so I don't know why it wouldn't work on an Igloo. That's probably just the only one they're willing to do a warranty return for if it doesn't fit, but I'm not your lawyer. (inside legal humor)
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Oct 3, 2012 23:26
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:So I went ahead and bought a 10 gallon Igloo cooler from Amazon last night and noticed the same one advertised under the "Top Finds" under the Thermapen at Homebrew Finds. They included links to a ball valve kit from More Beer (http://morebeer.com/view_product/6042/102318/Weldless_Cooler_Kit_Stainless?a_aid=hbf), which says the kit only works with Rubbermaid coolers. I guess this might be a dumb question, but is that seriously the case? I know NB uses Rubbermaid coolers if you buy their mash tun kit, so do all these people outfit their ball valve kits for Rubbermaid, or does it not matter at all? I got some of those same Igloo coolers a while back and the issue is that the area around the spigot is actually inset, so the cooler wall at the spigot is only like 1/5" thick. I ended up just going with this keg bulkhead kit, http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=46&product_id=91, and it seemed to turn out pretty well.
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Oct 3, 2012 23:58
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Kino posted:I got some of those same Igloo coolers a while back and the issue is that the area around the spigot is actually inset, so the cooler wall at the spigot is only like 1/5" thick. I ended up just going with this keg bulkhead kit, http://www.bargainfittings.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=46&product_id=91, and it seemed to turn out pretty well. Did you happen to buy one of their kettle screens or mash braids with it? Whodat Smith-Jones fucked around with this message at 01:46 on Oct 4, 2012 |
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Oct 4, 2012 01:32
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Whodat Smith-Jones posted:Did you happen to buy one of their kettle screens or mash braids with it? Yep, bought both of them actually but so far have only used the mash braid. The braid's what you'd expect it to be, and it seemed to work pretty well when I used it for a mash and batch sparge. The kettle screen looks to be a pretty good quality too, looking forward to using it next time.
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Oct 4, 2012 02:19
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Angry Grimace posted:For what its worth, I only breathe food grade oxygen. RiggenBlaque posted:Also, anyone who isn't already should start following homebrew finds. ...and I'll quote it once more for emphasis. RiggenBlaque posted:Also, anyone who isn't already should start following homebrew finds. It really is a great place to find good deals on homebrewing stuff; there have been several Kindle edition homebrewing books featured that were either free or very cheap ($3) They even have an RSS feed and everything! Angry Grimace posted:As much as I like toys, I'm not entirely certain I see the need for a Thermapen over a RT-600. However, if you're going to use it both for brewing and for general kitchen use, there are several advantages.
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Oct 4, 2012 04:46
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Homebrew finds definitely rules. The only downside is having to restrain myself from constantly going OMG SWEET DEALZ MUST BUY in true Steam video game sale fashion  For the most part I've succeeded in that and have gotten some really sweet deals on poo poo I was planning to buy anyway.
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Oct 4, 2012 05:05
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Looking for the best price, tax & shipping to California included, for a medium-sized (>10 lbs) buy of light DME. Just want to see if any place can beat my local options. Additionally, I'm thinking of getting a new immersion chiller with soldered garden hose threads that I can run a hose to from my new pump. Anything I should watch out for with the soldered fittings instead of the compression fittings most of the pre-fab'd units have? I ask since I know nothing about soldering or what is used to solder stuff together. Basically my current IC started to show some pitting on it from me being stupid and leaving it outside too long and I figure if I'm going to have to buy/make a new one I might as well make it one that lets me not have to screw with those lovely hose clamps not clamping evenly every time. wattershed fucked around with this message at 08:08 on Oct 4, 2012 |
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Oct 4, 2012 08:06
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I mean, food grade canisters.
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Oct 4, 2012 13:27
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wattershed posted:Looking for the best price, tax & shipping to California included, for a medium-sized (>10 lbs) buy of light DME. Just want to see if any place can beat my local options. At morebeer.com, order six 3-pound bags for $67.50 ($11.25 each). No tax because it's a food item. No shipping because it qualifies for their free shipping. You could buy less DME if you had other things on your order as well. That seems very competitive with anything I have seen in a local shop, but I have not been in every local shop. The free shipping might not be fast, as noted a few pages back in the thread, but it is free. wattershed posted:Additionally, I'm thinking of getting a new immersion chiller with soldered garden hose threads that I can run a hose to from my new pump. Anything I should watch out for with the soldered fittings instead of the compression fittings most of the pre-fab'd units have? There was a comment a while ago that someone had ordered a 'soldered' chiller and found that it was in fact glued, and badly. But if it's actually soldered, you should have no issues. Every solder for copper I have ever seen has been lead-free because it's routinely used in residential plumbing. Even if the solder were solid lead, it's not going to touch your beer. Jo3sh fucked around with this message at 15:59 on Oct 4, 2012 |
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Oct 4, 2012 15:44
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Kino posted:Yep, bought both of them actually but so far have only used the mash braid. The braid's what you'd expect it to be, and it seemed to work pretty well when I used it for a mash and batch sparge. The kettle screen looks to be a pretty good quality too, looking forward to using it next time. So no real noticeable shortcomings? I just don't want to put all this stuff together only to realize that I should've gone with different equipment.
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Oct 4, 2012 16:44
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Jo3sh posted:At morebeer.com, order six 3-pound bags for $67.50 ($11.25 each). No tax because it's a food item. No shipping because it qualifies for their free shipping. You could buy less DME if you had other things on your order as well. Eh, as long as it gets here within a 2-week period I guess I'd be okay with waiting a bit. Thanks for the tip. As for the soldered vs glued issue, I'd really really hope that someone selling a product from their brewing store (and also indirectly via Amazon) wouldn't being outright lying about how their product's manufactured. I was thinking of buying through the store's own website since it's not Prime-eligible on Amazon, but the security of buying through Amazon might tip the scales. If anyone's reading this and knows what Jo3sh is referring to with a 'comment a while ago' about someone having a bad experience with a glued wort chiller, please let me know in case it's the same one I'm looking at.
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Oct 4, 2012 17:56
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Not sure if it's in our thread someplace, but Google turned up a comment on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/review/R89J4NBZDBVRM/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B002NZNJG2&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag= Given that it's the only complaint of its kind, though, I'm inclined to take it with quite a bit of salt. I mean, gluing a single one of a mass-produced soldered item is fairly absurd. Tell us which one you're looking at.
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Oct 4, 2012 19:29
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wattershed posted:Eh, as long as it gets here within a 2-week period I guess I'd be okay with waiting a bit. Thanks for the tip. I put an order in with MoreBeer using the free shipping on 9/15 and it's still "being picked" after 2.5 weeks so you may not want to take a chance on it if you have a deadline. It could just be a fluke or it's because I have a large number of items in the order. I'm pretty happy with the chiller I got from them though. 25' 3/8 with garden hose connections. I got the "efficient" model that has most of the loops near the top. I'm assuming it's soldered but I can't see any solder or glue on the connections.
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Oct 4, 2012 19:56
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The inner surfaces of most wort chillers are never meant to touch wort so whether it is glued or soldered doesn't matter as much as it simply being leak free. Of course I'd prefer a soldered chiller, but the one I have was glued (no misleading advert I was just being cheap) and has never leaked. I would advise against any chillers that have you clamp tubing to the end as those have the highest chance of leakage.
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Oct 4, 2012 20:31
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Clamping isn't necessarily terrible so long as you make sure the fittings are always lower than the lip of the bucket so the chance of non-sterile water getting into the wort is mitigated. That said making your own version of one of these looks rather trivial. I might do it before I brew my first batch of home beer either this weekend or next weekend.
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Oct 4, 2012 20:38
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Beer4TheBeerGod posted:Clamping isn't necessarily terrible so long as you make sure the fittings are always lower than the lip of the bucket so the chance of non-sterile water getting into the wort is mitigated. That said making your own version of one of these looks rather trivial. I might do it before I brew my first batch of home beer either this weekend or next weekend. Yeah, don't copy mine; it's terribly designed (just hose clamps, and with potential to fail into the wort). If I make another it'll be with compression fittings, but I expect to have gone off the deep end with ice blocks in a circulation cooler and a chiller built through a spare fermenter lid (to seal it during cooling) by then.
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Oct 4, 2012 20:45
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