Messages

46

Equipment and Software / Re: All things jockey box

« on: January 29, 2013, 09:53:45 AM »

I'd say stainless coils are better for 1-2 taps but more than that the cold plate is the way to go, you just can't fit that many coils in a box.  The coils are lighter and they give more contact with the ice.  The cold plates are just stainless tubing in an aluminum plate so you don't have to worry about your beer touching aluminum.

It is optimal to cover the coils completely with ice, especially if you are serving constantly at a busy festival.

The cold plates I have are essentially (IIRC) 18' of 3/8" tubing per line.  So you can calculate the PSI required from the tubing type/size.  Of course it varies a little every time, on my boxes I usually start at 25psi and if it isn't pouring properly go up till it does.

Personally I would check ebay and craigslist for a while before buying new.  I picked up a whole 2 port coldplate setup for $75 on craigslist once and then later found a six pass cold plate on ebay for about the same price. 

47

Events / Re: NHC 2013 Registraton Question

« on: January 26, 2013, 11:31:33 AM »

I'm sure someone more in the know will confirm, but I had heard noon MST

48

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: January 25, 2013, 09:06:51 AM »

That was a great idea putting out the left over bottles.  Are you the first to do that or does that happen every year?

Having the scoresheets available was pretty awesome too.  I'm sure it is a pretty massive undertaking to get them ready by that time, but think of the postage savings!

49

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: January 24, 2013, 03:25:45 PM »

Boo to the coin flip.  If the other 6  tiebreakers can't determine a winner then we should have tie.

I think the coin flip only happens after the steel cage to the death match.  If by some chance both entrants come out of the cage alive then it is down to a coin flip.

or maybe step 6 was paper rock scissors and step 5 was the steel cage match.

50

Homebrew Competitions / Re: NHC Competition question...

« on: January 24, 2013, 02:19:31 PM »

I love the 2 bottle requirement, though I'm sure anyone running the cellar might not agree with me.

51

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Corny converted to Sanke

« on: January 22, 2013, 04:09:12 PM »

I've seen tons of them over the years, but this is the first time I've seen a 3 gallon one.  gsandel is right, if you already have a large collection of cornys or could get them cheap (back in the day when they were $5-15 each) it is far cheaper to get someone to close up the old posts and add a sanke coupler than buying used sanke kegs.

52

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: BJCP Tasting Exam: Wow! That was hard!

« on: January 22, 2013, 09:59:07 AM »

Congrats on taking the exam, that is a big step!

There isn't anything stopping you from retaking the tasting before you get your results back.

Judge at any comp you can find
Put together a study/tasting group
Judge any beer you can find and try to do it in the time limit

53

Events / Re: NHC Hospitality suite & Club Night -- How much beer????

« on: January 08, 2013, 10:50:14 PM »

It will be as quick or quicker, as the NHC has not been on the east coast for a while and there are more people in driving distance.

If it takes longer I will buy you a beer during club night.

Sounds like a plan   Regardless I'll try to catch up with you there or next time I'm back in Michigan. 

54

Wood/Casks / Re: Barrel Stand

« on: January 08, 2013, 10:47:23 PM »

I'd love to see some more pics of home built stands.  I need to build some up and had bookmarked my favorite design but maybe someone has a better idea.

Here is the site I was going to copy from: http://www.vinesugar.com/blog/entry/331

I really like having them individually on casters to be able to move around.  The 15 gallon ones aren't bad to lift with some help but would be really nice just to be able to wheel them around.

55

Events / Re: NHC Hospitality suite & Club Night -- How much beer????

« on: January 08, 2013, 09:18:39 PM »

I was able to get a club night only ticket last year.  I had a situation where I had to sell my full ticket and only at the last minute found out I was able to go out for club night.

I'm sure this year will sell out but I can't imagine it will be as quick.  I thought I heard there are going to be something like 500 extra tickets available.

56

Equipment and Software / Re: butterfly vs. ball

« on: January 08, 2013, 05:55:01 PM »

butterfly on the cold side, ball on the hot side.  Especially if you use whole leaf hops (especially a massive wet/fresh hop beer) without a screen/bags.

57

Homebrew Competitions / Re: BJCP tasting score

« on: January 08, 2013, 09:47:28 AM »

I just got my lastest tasting score back a couple days ago from the test I took in July when I was in Michigan.   Looks like the results are still all over the map, still better than when I took the legacy and it was 10-11 months from exam to results.

Scored high enough to bring my composite score up to 80 a few more experience points and I'll be national.

58

Events / Re: Clear plastic tasting cups - cheap!

« on: January 04, 2013, 07:43:37 PM »

Thanks, we've used similar cups but they were more expensive in the past.  I've bookmarked it for our next BJCP judging class and competitions.

59

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Dry Hopping in a corny keg

« on: January 04, 2013, 07:30:35 PM »

I do this with unwaxed/unflavored dental floss tied around a hop bag.  I only use whole leaf hops now, pellets always make such a mess.

60

Ingredients / Re: Mosaic Hops?

« on: December 19, 2012, 09:33:32 AM »

Any idea if this years crop was large enough for some to be pelletized? I've never used whole hops before but if they're not going to go pellets for a while, I guess this'll be my chance to break into whole hops.

They were pelletized last year (2011) as well as this year