[BrewBama]

Lately, I noticed my FG has been creeping up. I checked the temp of water with a Thermopop and the sensor to my controller. Thermopop temp was 66° F and the sensor temp was 62° so I set sensor calibration to 4°.  I heated some water to mash temp and it was off by 6°F. So, I adjusted further so a chef’s probe, Thermopop and sensor match within .5°F. I’ll take a temp sample at mash temp and compare it to the controller next brewday. Could be the cause of the attenuation issue I’ve noticed. We’ll see.

How about you?  What have you been doing in the brewery?

[tommymorris]

I’ve been doing dry January so I am trying to stay out of the brewery.

[Richard]

Lately, I noticed my FG has been creeping up. I checked the temp of water with a Thermopop and the sensor to my controller. Thermopop temp was 66° F and the sensor temp was 62° so I set sensor calibration to 4°.  I heated some water to mash temp and it was off by 6°F. So, I adjusted further so a chef’s probe, Thermopop and sensor match within .5°F. I’ll take a temp sample at mash temp and compare it to the controller next brewday. Could be the cause of the attenuation issue I’ve noticed. We’ll see.

How about you?  What have you been doing in the brewery?

Like the old saying "A man with two clocks never knows what time it is", "A man with two thermometers never knows the temperature". If you have 3 that is a help as long as the accuracy and resolution of all of them is good enough. Most thermocouple-based thermometers, especially those for cooking, are not particularly accurate. I recently bought one of the Thermapens on sale and was pleased that they had tightened up the specs on it quite a bit.

I haven't brewed in over a month, but I hope to get to a stout next week. I have spent the time cleaning and organizing various parts, replacing the O-rings on all my kegs, etc.

[Drewch]

I stopped brewing back around Thanksgiving because we're moving across country next month. So I've just been burning down my existing stocks (homebrew and commercial) because the DOD-contacted movers don't ship liquids. A wet January, if you will.

[BrewBama]

Like the old saying "A man with two clocks never knows what time it is", …

I was thinking the same thing. But when I saw the Chef’s Alarm and Thermopop within .5°F of each other and my controller sensor disagreeing by ~6°F I had to go with the majority. If I think I am mashing at 152° but it’s actually 158° I figured it could be the AA culprit. Time will tell.

I’ve been doing dry January so I am trying to stay out of the brewery.

Great time to disassemble and clean. I took apart a three way valve the other day. Glad I did. 🦨

… the DOD-contacted movers …

I think I had 12 DoD moves. I understand.

[pete b]

My "brewery" is my kitchen in the winter and my supplies and equipment are in the cellar. This arrangement has been a real barrier to my desire to brew. I recently decided that although I intend to build a dedicated brewery I was letting perfect stand in the way of good (good defined as always having homebrew on tap...).
So I have been doing little things to make brewing easier for now so I feel like brewing on a regular basis. That includes spending a lot of time organizing the whole cellar and various sheds so that I have a nice area for storing supplies and equipment, fermenting, bulk ageing etc. That's going well.
I also am in the processs of finding a new kitchen faucet that is more brewing friendly. My current one has no way to attach an adapter that would fit to a hose. I will get one that attaches directly to a hose so I can hook my wort chiller up to it directly as well as attach a hose to fill my Anvil, fill fermenters with water for cleaning and sanitizing, mixing water with honey, and so forth. Currently I run water into the sink and pump it through my wort chiller. PITA!
P.S. If anyone has a model of kitchen faucet they like with a garden hose attachment let me know.

[Megary]

My "brewery" is my kitchen in the winter and my supplies and equipment are in the cellar. This arrangement has been a real barrier to my desire to brew. I recently decided that although I intend to build a dedicated brewery I was letting perfect stand in the way of good (good defined as always having homebrew on tap...).
So I have been doing little things to make brewing easier for now so I feel like brewing on a regular basis. That includes spending a lot of time organizing the whole cellar and various sheds so that I have a nice area for storing supplies and equipment, fermenting, bulk ageing etc. That's going well.
I also am in the processs of finding a new kitchen faucet that is more brewing friendly. My current one has no way to attach an adapter that would fit to a hose. I will get one that attaches directly to a hose so I can hook my wort chiller up to it directly as well as attach a hose to fill my Anvil, fill fermenters with water for cleaning and sanitizing, mixing water with honey, and so forth. Currently I run water into the sink and pump it through my wort chiller. PITA!
P.S. If anyone has a model of kitchen faucet they like with a garden hose attachment let me know.

Most new, stylish kitchen faucets today come with special aerators that require a proprietary tool to remove and will not accept a garden hose fitting.  Not like the old days.  My guess for the reason behind this is so you are locked in to a lower water-conserving flow rate. 

That doesn't mean the old-style faucets aren't still out there, they just kind of look like old-style faucets.

What kind of faucet do you have now?  Single lever control?  2-handle?  If you were to remove your current faucet, how many empty holes would there be in the sink/countertop that will need filling?

[pete b]

My "brewery" is my kitchen in the winter and my supplies and equipment are in the cellar. This arrangement has been a real barrier to my desire to brew. I recently decided that although I intend to build a dedicated brewery I was letting perfect stand in the way of good (good defined as always having homebrew on tap...).
So I have been doing little things to make brewing easier for now so I feel like brewing on a regular basis. That includes spending a lot of time organizing the whole cellar and various sheds so that I have a nice area for storing supplies and equipment, fermenting, bulk ageing etc. That's going well.
I also am in the processs of finding a new kitchen faucet that is more brewing friendly. My current one has no way to attach an adapter that would fit to a hose. I will get one that attaches directly to a hose so I can hook my wort chiller up to it directly as well as attach a hose to fill my Anvil, fill fermenters with water for cleaning and sanitizing, mixing water with honey, and so forth. Currently I run water into the sink and pump it through my wort chiller. PITA!
P.S. If anyone has a model of kitchen faucet they like with a garden hose attachment let me know.

Most new, stylish kitchen faucets today come with special aerators that require a proprietary tool to remove and will not accept a garden hose fitting.  Not like the old days.  My guess for the reason behind this is so you are locked in to a lower water-conserving flow rate. 

That doesn't mean the old-style faucets aren't still out there, they just kind of look like old-style faucets.

What kind of faucet do you have now?  Single lever control?  2-handle?  If you were to remove your current faucet, how many empty holes would there be in the sink/countertop that will need filling?

Yes, that's the problem with my faucet. It's a tall gooseneck (which is a good feature) with the hose/sprayer built in. I believe there are two holes under there.
Old timey is how I plan to go and that's good anyway because I made my counters out of recyled slate slabs that is an old time look.
I have been having trouble shoppping online because it is hard to confirm if I can screw in an adapter for a garden hose. I have found one wthat actually is made to fit a garden hose but it's not a tall gooseneck which would be ideal. Also, right now the hole to the side for a sprayer has a soap dispenser but I intend to get a sprayer becaise I won't have one built in anymore.

[Richard]

You might consider putting the hose adapter under the counter, where the faucet connects to the source. Put in a tee with a valve going to the hose connector on one side and the regular faucet on the other. Then you can have a nice faucet with a pull-out sprayer over the sink and still have an easy way to connect a hose down below.

[pete b]

You might consider putting the hose adapter under the counter, where the faucet connects to the source. Put in a tee with a valve going to the hose connector on one side and the regular faucet on the other. Then you can have a nice faucet with a pull-out sprayer over the sink and still have an easy way to connect a hose down below.

That's a smart idea. Finding just the right faucet and adding the sprayer up top is my first choice but I will do this if that doesn't work out. Cheap too!
Thanks.

[Drewch]

… the DOD-contacted movers …

I think I had 12 DoD moves. I understand.

This is our 7th and final. 

[Bob357]

Haven't done squat since kegging my last batch on Dec. 6. Just picked up RO for a batch of Pale Ale I'll be brewing this coming Sunday. Longest I've gone since the start of my homebrewing in 2007.

[BrewBama]

I reviewed a couple scoresheets from a recent competition in an effort to incorporate comments into improving my beer.  These two beers scored mid/high 30(s).

For the most part, I agree with the comments made. One judge noticed green apple in my APA. Though I didn’t notice it and the other judge didn’t mention it, I do have a tendency to rush a beer off the yeast and into cold conditioning. I’ll just let the beer sit a day or two longer on the yeast before closed transfer.  Easy enough.


It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. — Aristotle

[reverseapachemaster]

Last month I brewed a beer I've been thinking about brewing for ten years. It is a clone of a double wit aged in cocktail barrels a Denver brewery used to brew that I absolutely loved. I couldn't find a lot of info about brewing it and then one thing after another has been slowing down my brewing for the past several years. I also whipped up a one gallon batch of a smoked barleywine with grain I smoked over oak and mesquite that I'll probably age until the fall to crack open on Thanksgiving.

I'm in the process of building out a keezer that will eventually become part of a bar in the basement. I bought the draft tower and beer engine years ago and never got into it. The keezer will replace the two kegerators I have (one dead, one working). Basically just need to get the wood, build out the collar and assemble everything. I'll have four taps with two non-alcoholic options and two beers, plus the beer engine.

Starting to brew beers to fill kegs to go into the keezer. I just brewed sort of a BDSA on Sunday out of some really old grain (I think I bought it in 2010) and expired WY1762 I was given by the LHBS. It's bubbling away right now at 73F. I'll have time to lager it while I work on the other two beers and build out the keezer. I'm planning on an ESB for the beer engine and toying around with a hoppy red ale to use up some older grain and finish my mount hood harvest from the fall.

[chumley]

I underwent knee replacement surgery on January 8. I am off work on short-term disability insurance. As I started to become mobile last weekend, I decided to inventory all my malt, adjuncts, hops and yeast, and place it in a spreadsheet so I can track of inventory and order supplies (nearest LHBS is 100 miles away).

I am finally going to spring for a pump to eliminate me lifting 2-3 gallons of water at a time. Hopefully I will return to brewing mid-February.