I converted a freezer and keep a ball-lock keg in there with a long hose to a picnic tap. I have a tower which I've never hooked up because I'd need to force air into with a fan, and then maintain it all. Maybe if I suddenly get a bunch of extra time on my hands I'll do it, but for now, my...

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like freezing is unnecessary, so I'm over it! If the yeast will remain viable in the fridge for 6 months... that's more than enough time for me. I like the succession brewing idea, thanks for that info. I haven't rinsed yeast before, so I have a little reading...

I'm getting ready to farm some yeast for freezing. My question is regarding the glycerin. I know it needs to be "food grade", so can I use any Vegetable Glycerin as opposed to petroleum-based? Walgreens has VG that has a nutrition label complete with calories, but I don't see where it says "Safe...

good stuff guys... thanks. I've been playing with an old kegerator that I use to cold crash, and I'm able to keep it from exceeding 70. Since it's outside, it drops quite a bit at night, so I think I'll drag it in the house to minimize temperature fluctuations. might as well... one more variable...

I am using starters based on the yeast pitching calculator, always first generation. I actually may have jumped the gun on this a bit... After I let it carbonate in the keg for a couple days, it's tasting much better. I guess I'm still getting used to tasting beer at its different stages. Thanks...

I've seen these "bottle bags" (for lack of a better term), that you can put bottles into, normally liquor, that have air bags on them to protect your bottle during a flight. They have to be checked, but you're allowed to fly with them. You'd probably go over baggage weight limits pretty quickly...

as a follow up... I DID substitute a large 30 min hop addition of Willamette to Cascade (what was on hand...), but the Cascade has a higher AA than Willamette... so if anything wouldn't that make it MORE bitter? Or do I have that backwards?

My last few batches have turned out... weird. Both IPAs, turning out much sweeter than the same recipe in the past. I've noticed that as we get into spring here in San Diego, the temps that my ferment vessels are in are warmer than they should be. 70 or so at night, but 75 to almost 80 at times...

I don't know either! But it's gotta be better than nothing! Larry's method of weighting down a bag is probably better. But there are pluses and minuses. In a bag, the hops are effectively in a "ball" (which reduces surface area), but also submerged (which increases surface area contact). Free...

quick update... I kegged that clone tonight and pulled a test glass. I'll have to go get some some lagunitas to do a legitimate comparison, but I CAN tell you it's good. To be honest, I don't even care if I cloned it or not because I'm thoroughly enjoying this beer!! success in my book. but...

Thanks all! I appreciate the input. I think I'll just leave it alone and spend my time and money on more batches of brew!!

yea, you're probably right @LarryBrewer. I've actually got a big old kegerator I'm using for crash-cooling with the tower hole plugged up, but I like the size of this little one for indoors. I'm kinda hoping somebody will say, "yea! that's what I did! here's a step by step tutorial, with...

I've converted my mini fridge to a kegerator (as pictured in my profile pic). Basically, I just bent the freezer-shelf/cooling unit down, modified the door panel, and stuck a corny keg and CO2 bottle in there. I've since got my hands on a free tower (minus a few parts), and intend on installing...

I haven't tried it yet, but its gonna be hard to "set and forget" the carbonation on this one! This is my first time brewing it, and it's in secondary right now. I CAN say that I pushed on the top of the carboy a bit to force a couple of bubbles out the airlock... and it smelled great!! This...

Of course!! Enjoy! http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... -ipa-clone

here's a quick video i just did... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-7J0Zb ... ata_player

If you wait a couple hours, you'll have only CO2 in the head space. Then you can "swirly" the hops around in there without oxidizing your brew. I use the plastic carboys so I can just tilt the carboy and do a swirling motion. The hops will swirl down into the beer (at least the pellets do... I...

I don't think it would catch much, and some of those window screens are actually made of plastic or vinyl or something. Some of them are sprayed with something so the metal doesn't rust. Prob wouldn't want that stuff in your beer.

Makes sense. I don't actually add em all to the mash, I just mix them into the water in the mash tun, and then drain all the water to two kettles to heat up to strike temp since I can't heat it in my cooler mash tun. I just do that so the salts are mixed into the full volume and evenly...

That's a brilliant name!! I googled it... they beat you to it. The REAL tragedy is it's in North Carolina so I'll probably never get to try it!