Messages

76

All Grain Brewing / Re: Insulation For Mash Tun

« on: November 03, 2009, 02:34:07 PM »

While the bubble wrap insulation from Home Depot won't go up in flames, it does melt. I used it for several years while brewing in the Michigan winters, and in time I would forget and light the burners while recirculating the mash and...smell something. It never caught fire, but was unpleasent to smell.

I just used masking tape to hold it to the keg, and in time I would punch a termometer through it into the thermo-probe thingy on the kettle. This worked to also keep it in place.

77

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Yeast and Zip Lock baggies

« on: October 21, 2009, 04:16:17 PM »

No, I have not. Since all the baggies (except those that travel to micro's and back) only travel the ten feet from the fermentation area to the beer fridge, they get minimal handling.

Because I am anal (as many in this hobby are), I will soak the corner of the baggie and a pair of scissors in a solution of Iodophor, shake them a little to get the solution off and cut the bottom corner off and dispense the yeast that way, But no baggies have suffered a break otherwise.

78

Yeast and Fermentation / Yeast and Zip Lock baggies

« on: October 21, 2009, 06:25:01 AM »

Over the years I have accumulated a number of handy tips, but this is one I like to shout about from the mountain top. Someone told me about this over ten years ago, and I have used it on dozens of occassions.

I was informed that Zip Lock baggies are sanitized from the factory. Because of this, you can put yeast into a brand new baggie and store it for several weeks. For instance, if you wanted to obtain yeast from a local microbrewery, all you would need to do is to open the baggie for the first time (after the brewer has sprayed his sanitizer around the dump valve), being careful to keep your fingers on the outside of the baggie. Fill it up, zip it and toss it into your cold storage. I always write the strain and date with a Sharpie pen before I fill it up. I prefer one gallon Zip Locks for this operation.

I also do this for yeast strains if I know I am going to want to use it again relatively shortly. If I used a glass carboy for primary, I rack it to secondary and leave a couple of tablesppons of wort/beer behind. I swirl it around to get the yeast cake into a slurry, torch or wipe the opening with a vodka soaked papertowel, and lay the carboy on a low table. I do this because when tilting the carboy uoside it gets a little awkward if i by myself, and I use the table to stabilize the carboy. I just make sure the neck of the carboy does not touch the inside of the baggie at any time.

My friend Jeff Renner always ferments his primaries in a bucket to harvest (skim) the yeast in the krausen. And side-by-side experiements have shown that people prefered the brews made with subsequent batches using the top-croped yeast versus what settles on the bottom. However, if you prefer to use all glass for both primaries and secondaries, this is the way to go.

79

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Way to go!

« on: October 16, 2009, 08:19:17 AM »

Nicely done! This is a far more inviting site than before. It is obvoius that a lot of hard work has gone into this, and I can see the day when hundreds, nay, thousands of AHA members come to this site and tap into it, both providing their knowledge and finding out things they never knew before.

Fiftenn years ago or so when the Internet began to become more mainstream with the advent of user-friendly browsers, homebrewers as a whole jumped in to share and find knowledge. And even before browsers, there was a healthy community sharing though the Homebrew Digest and other boards.

Now we have the capability to share in a much more "robust" way, to a larger population. And in the end, grow this into the onternational community of homebrews. Tres cool guys and gals!