Messages

556

Equipment and Software / What NOT to do when you have beer fermenting in a freezer chest

« on: March 07, 2012, 06:32:36 AM »

Don't stick your head down in it then inhale!

I noticed this morning the tape holding temp probe onto the side of the carboy was coming off. So I reached down to slap a new piece of tape on and nearly passed out from the fumes! Burned all the way into my chest!

Duh! CO2 is heavier than air so the thing was filled with CO2 and whatever other crap the yeasties were belching up.

557

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 06, 2012, 05:46:26 PM »

I find it rather uncanny how it reminds me of Austin Power's fembots...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fembots_2_APIMOM.jpg

rofl!

558

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone fermentation question

« on: March 06, 2012, 05:06:40 PM »

Gotta go with Denny on this one.  Still jealous about the Beer Camp at SN.  Told my wife it would make a great 45th B-Day present.  She laughed.....

Dave

Shall we put in a good word for you?

559

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 06, 2012, 05:04:23 PM »

560

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 06, 2012, 07:13:13 AM »

I'll take a picture tonight. I should have saved the molten bits that I scraped off the cinder blocks. Parts of it were so thin that it was like aluminum foil.

561

Equipment and Software / Re: Fermentation Fridge

« on: March 05, 2012, 10:09:39 PM »

There's also a thread I found on this forum: http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=10423.0

562

Equipment and Software / Re: Fermentation Fridge

« on: March 05, 2012, 09:17:46 PM »

I can't speak from experience but here's some interesting results I got from searching:
http://brewtroller.com/forum/showthread.php?t=249
http://www.byo.com/stories/projects-and-equipment/article/indices/20-build-it-yourself/1087-temp-controlled-fridge-projects
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-side-side-refrigerator-fermentation-chamber-183647/

Looks like the temp of the fridge side is controlled by the freezer side. As you can see in that last one he just opened up both sides.

Looks like a fun project!

563

Equipment and Software / Re: Prioritizing Next Equipment Purchase

« on: March 05, 2012, 08:50:08 PM »

Add my vote for the fermentation temp control. Not that I actually know what I'm talking about, but it's really cool to have that digital controller hanging next to the freezer telling me the temp of my beer.   

Another reason to get the freezer is you can get your wort to a stable low temp (like 60F or whatever) before pitching. And it gives you the ability to do more types of beers.

If you buy new you're looking at around $300 for the freezer plus temp controller.

You could also build something out of 2" foam insulation boards like this: http://home.roadrunner.com/~brewbeer/chiller/chiller.PDF

Then its the cost of supplies plus the temp controller that you could use if you later upgraded to a freezer.

564

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 05, 2012, 07:49:04 PM »

I had 5 gallons of water in the pot. Discussing this with a friend of mine he thinks it might be because the pot I used (an enameled canning pot) didn't have a flat bottom.

Oh well, live and learn. I just thought I should post the picture and story as a warning to for others. 

565

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 05, 2012, 08:30:33 AM »

I've tried to find the original post so I can tack on my result, but so far I can't.

566

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 05, 2012, 08:13:44 AM »

Wow.  What type of burner do you have?

Flam tamers/spreaders were talked about at the NHC a few years back by Ray Daniels.  Never had a reason to use one. What type of kettle do you have?

Burner looks like this one:

Kettle is a Polarware "economy" 42 qt.

I'm fine without anything to spread the heat...this is what I get for reading too much before actually trying something out.

567

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 05, 2012, 07:48:33 AM »

I need to take a picture of the bottom...its kind of surreal to see aluminum in the shape of an icicle.

568

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone fermentation question

« on: March 05, 2012, 07:47:19 AM »

It's sitting in a freezer. The temp this morning (10 hours later) was 62. Even if it gets to 68 by tonight I'm still doing better than my last batch (pre-freezer) where I pitched at 72. 

569

General Homebrew Discussion / The trouble with advice from random people on the Internet...

« on: March 05, 2012, 07:40:45 AM »

After purchasing a cheaper stainless boil kettle I worried that my crappy burner didn't disperse the heat well enough and would scorch my wort. So after lots of searching I found a post on another site that mentioned using a specific type of aluminum plate from Mcmaster-Carr, and it would do a good job of spreading the heat under the pot.

Well, I did that, and here's the result:


 

This happened yesterday. I heard my burner start making a racket and looked down to see molten aluminum dropping from it. I cut the gas, cursed (not necessarily in that order), then waited for the metal to cool. I was able to clean most of it out of the burner, but I have a few jets that are clogged now.

I think I'll hang the plate up in my garage as a reminder...

570

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone fermentation question

« on: March 05, 2012, 06:45:46 AM »

Thanks for the info.

I ended up chilling to 60, pitching, now I'm letting it rise to 68.