Membership questions? Log in issues? Email info@brewersassociation.org

Author Topic: Brew Balls?  (Read 7128 times)

Offline zee

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 56
    • masholes.org
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #15 on: March 19, 2010, 12:38:24 pm »
though i don't do it, i know people that just toss in a hydrometer when the ferment. they can pretty much watch it slowly sink over the course of fermentation. what i don't know is what happens when your krausen gets all over it so a. you can't read it, b. its sitting lower in the beer than it should due to the added weight of the beer stone and c. how you get it out without breaking it so you can clean it thoroughly. always seemed like too much of a pita to me. i pretty much just wait a week or two after fermentation appears done to make sure its as low as it's gonna go.

Offline Kaiser

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1797
  • Imperial Brewing Geek
    • braukaiser.com
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #16 on: March 19, 2010, 01:15:35 pm »
i pretty much just wait a week or two after fermentation appears done to make sure its as low as it's gonna go.

Which is what you have to do with these balls as well since you need to be able to see which ones are still floating on top.

Maybe Zymurgy could have a "best and worst brewing gadget of the Month" colum.

Kai

Offline euge

  • I must live here
  • **********
  • Posts: 8017
  • Ego ceruisam ad bibere cervisiam
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #17 on: March 19, 2010, 01:38:51 pm »
Quote
Maybe Zymurgy could have a "best and worst brewing gadget of the Month" colum.

How about a Sticky in the Equipment section?
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline BrewingRover

  • Brewmaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 771
  • Brewing in Flossmoor, IL
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #18 on: March 19, 2010, 02:57:04 pm »
i pretty much just wait a week or two after fermentation appears done to make sure its as low as it's gonna go.

Which is what you have to do with these balls as well since you need to be able to see which ones are still floating on top.

Maybe Zymurgy could have a "best and worst brewing gadget of the Month" colum.

Kai
Were I to waste $20 on these, I would only add those that were close to my target gravity, usually the 10 and 20. The higher gravities don't seem useful, other than showing that fermentation is occurring but there are plenty of other clues for that.
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

Offline bruck

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 58
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #19 on: March 19, 2010, 04:41:29 pm »
I'd put my own balls in my beer before I wasted that kind of money on such a useless product. Good thing for me and my friends I'm not into wasting money.

Offline narcout

  • Brewmaster General
  • *******
  • Posts: 2217
  • Los Angeles, CA
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #20 on: March 19, 2010, 05:54:11 pm »
I actually think they are kind of cool.

I ferment in 10 gallon cornies so I either have to reach my hairy arm way in there with a wine thief or use CO2 pressure to push a sample out through the liquid QD. I can do both, but it'd definitely be easier to just shine a flashlight in there and check which balls are still floating.

I agree that the default range is pretty useless. I wouldn't mind having a set calibrated at 1.016, 1.014, 1.012, 1.010, and 1.008.  Not that I'm actually going to spend the money on them, but I could definitely see them being useful - provided they actually work of course.
Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC

Offline tygo

  • I spend way too much time on the AHA forum
  • ********
  • Posts: 2622
  • Sterling, VA
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #21 on: March 19, 2010, 07:43:43 pm »
provided they actually work of course.

I think that therein may lie the problem.  No experience with them of course but I'm going to guess based on both gut feeling and some of the previous posts that these may not be too accurate.  Also, I'd rather just grab a sample with the turkey baster than try to peer through the fermentation mess and figure out which balls are still floating.

Clint
Wort Hogs

Offline jwatkins56550

  • Cellarman
  • **
  • Posts: 25
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #22 on: March 19, 2010, 07:44:47 pm »
I like the idea...but I would never use them.  At first, I didn't know what this post was about...I was thinking something like blue balls...like your wife or girlfriend made you stop your brewing mid brewday and you got some serious brew balls from it.   :D

Offline maxieboy

  • Senior Brewmaster
  • ******
  • Posts: 1155
  • Mid MI
Re: Brew Balls?
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2010, 01:34:42 pm »
A fool and his money... ;)
A dog can show you more honest affection with a flick of his tail than a man can gather through a lifetime of handshakes." Gene Hill

[47.7, 310.8] AR

AHA Member