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withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
You can displace the CO2 by filling from the bottom with something denser, like water. Once the freezer is full to the brim with water then there will be no CO2 left in it.

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Splizwarf
Jun 15, 2007
It's like there's a soup can in front of me!

Angry Grimace posted:

Now that I think about it, it totally makes sense. I just don't know if having that in there is bad for the freezer or whatever. I rather assume if it built up enough if would just escape through the lid-seal though. But who knows.

Dunno if you have children or occasional visitors, but if the answer is yes to either, go and get a hasp and lock immediately.

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe

Splizwarf posted:

Dunno if you have children or occasional visitors, but if the answer is yes to either, go and get a hasp and lock immediately.

Get at least two sets, most adults will be able to break out if the lid is only locked down at one point.

Hypnolobster
Apr 12, 2007

What this sausage party needs is a big dollop of ketchup! Too bad I didn't make any. :(

I remember the first time I stuck my nose into a corny keg that I had purged with Co2 and breathed in deeply.

I really truly thought I'd never breathe again. Gives you a great understanding about the flavor impact of high carbonation and where all that carbonic bite comes from.

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

Splizwarf posted:

Dunno if you have children or occasional visitors, but if the answer is yes to either, go and get a hasp and lock immediately.

I have two relatively high gravity beers at high krausen right now, so my guess is that it's way more intense in terms of off-gassed CO2 than it will be normally.

When fermenting is done, I'm planning to just turn the freezer down and use it to serve - unless there's some reason I can't do that?

Docjowles
Apr 9, 2009

Yeah I don't think it's a problem, and it's inevitable really due to physics and stuff as mentioned.

I bounce my freezer between fermentation and serving temps constantly, no issues at all. Other than a week or two where I can't serve out of it unless I want to deal with super foamy 65* beer :cry:

Kaiho
Dec 2, 2004

Funny enough I took a sniff of my fermenting porter today and nearly fainted myself. That sense of burning is exactly what you get if you end up expelling the carbonation from a coke can through your nose. Wow. Not harmful I assume but dang, it packs a punch.

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

Kaiho posted:

Funny enough I took a sniff of my fermenting porter today and nearly fainted myself. That sense of burning is exactly what you get if you end up expelling the carbonation from a coke can through your nose. Wow. Not harmful I assume but dang, it packs a punch.

Yeah you get a little bit of burning there. I more thought it just smelled like the headspace gassing off of a bottle of Coke or whatever, but obviously it's the same thing.

I had to explain to yet another friend who really likes my home brew why he can't home brew himself. Because I know him well enough to know he's not going to want to spend 5 hours making a single batch of beer that's only marginally cheaper than buying beer at the store. You have to actually like the process of making it, or its gonna be a big drag.

Nephzinho
Jan 25, 2008





Angry Grimace posted:

Yeah you get a little bit of burning there. I more thought it just smelled like the headspace gassing off of a bottle of Coke or whatever, but obviously it's the same thing.

I had to explain to yet another friend who really likes my home brew why he can't home brew himself. Because I know him well enough to know he's not going to want to spend 5 hours making a single batch of beer that's only marginally cheaper than buying beer at the store. You have to actually like the process of making it, or its gonna be a big drag.

Ditto. Friend of mine has had a few of my home brews and is talking about converting his garage into a little brewery. Is picking up one of those starter kits + a few random pieces of gear. I tried to explain to him that its not exactly for him, but after being told off about it I figure I'll just have a few extra carboys I can probably sneak away for like $10 in a month or two.

Kaiho
Dec 2, 2004

I like the boiling part and the fermenting part. The cleaning stuff up part and bottling, well, less so. But it's incredibly satisfying to try a new beer for the first time, and getting positive comments from friends more so.

That said, I think I'm getting an astringent flavor where I should not be. I'm brewing from extract (with specialty grains) so it can't be from me oversparging or anything. I've read around a bit and that seems to be the most common cause. I wonder if there are other things that I may be doing? It's more pronounced in a really hoppy concoction I'm drinking now but a German friend of mine noted it in the Bavarian weissbier that I made (without any specialty grains). After he pointed it out (and we compared the taste with an Erdinger) I couldn't _not_ taste it. Of course, to describe it properly, I'd have to open a bottle but I have an exam tomorrow and really need to keep revising...

It's one of those things that I see hampering my beermaking... It definitely lends a "oh yeah this is homebrew" taste to them, so while I enjoy drinking beer I've made and my friends do too, it's something I'd like to get rid of.

I don't know, could it be a water chemistry issue?

edit: a-HA! Could it be a hot break issue? How much break material is produced in extract brewing? I may have whirlpooled the bastard incompletely or hardly at all...

Kaiho fucked around with this message at 20:05 on May 22, 2012

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

Kaiho posted:

I like the boiling part and the fermenting part. The cleaning stuff up part and bottling, well, less so. But it's incredibly satisfying to try a new beer for the first time, and getting positive comments from friends more so.

That said, I think I'm getting an astringent flavor where I should not be. I'm brewing from extract (with specialty grains) so it can't be from me oversparging or anything. I've read around a bit and that seems to be the most common cause. I wonder if there are other things that I may be doing? It's more pronounced in a really hoppy concoction I'm drinking now but a German friend of mine noted it in the Bavarian weissbier that I made (without any specialty grains). After he pointed it out (and we compared the taste with an Erdinger) I couldn't _not_ taste it. Of course, to describe it properly, I'd have to open a bottle but I have an exam tomorrow and really need to keep revising...

It's one of those things that I see hampering my beermaking... It definitely lends a "oh yeah this is homebrew" taste to them, so while I enjoy drinking beer I've made and my friends do too, it's something I'd like to get rid of.

I don't know, could it be a water chemistry issue?

edit: a-HA! Could it be a hot break issue? How much break material is produced in extract brewing? I may have whirlpooled the bastard incompletely or hardly at all...
"Homebrew twang." There are a lot of reasons given for it, but its generally an extract specific complaint that nobody can really put a finger on.

For one, extract isn't quite as fermentable as all-grain derived wort so it will never attenuate down to quite the same level. Others report that the "twang" is the result of using partial boils, and that if you do a full volume boil, you can eliminate that flavor. Another problem commonly cited is that liquid extracts go bad significantly faster than dry extracts do.

Now if that flavor is just straight astringency, one cause of that is steeping your specialty grains too hot (i.e. steep them around 150-165 degrees, not boiling) or trying to squeeze the steeping bag dry, which will supposedly extract the tannins. Instead, just sit the bag on a strainer sitting over the top of the bag when your steep is over to let it drain a little.

Each of those problems has a different solution to it. You can do a full boil, but of course, this can be difficult or even impossible to do without extra equipment. Some people on various brew forums have reported success adding some corn sugar to the recipes to dry them up a little and you could stick to late additions of DME rather than LME. I'd give all of these a try since the only one that costs money to fix is doing full boils, which you can just not do.

I don't know about break material causing off flavors. As often as not I just pour the break material and hops gunk right into the carboy and rack off of it later and some of those brews taste great and I have people tell me they're the best yet.

Edit: I wouldn't really be super concerned with the water either. Adjusting the water profile is a very advanced technique and even the local breweries do not do this. I've asked; they use a simple carbon spun filter to remove chlorophenols and a regular particulate filter. They don't adjust the mineral content at all. It's not worth it unless you're the kind of person who's actually looking to win the Ninkasi award or something.

The other issue is that right around this time of year, if you aren't using any temperature control, you might be fermenting too hot and getting some unpleasant yeast by products like acetalaldehyde or other unwanted esters.

Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 20:30 on May 22, 2012

wattershed
Dec 27, 2002

Radio got his free iPod, did you get yours???

Angry Grimace posted:

You have to actually like the process of making it, or its gonna be a big drag.

I like all the equipment. I know that sounds kinda silly, but I'm not a scientician or anything and this is as close as I'll get to lab experiments. Yes, it looks like a miniature version of Breaking Bad, and I may have fallen into my pool last night in the process of creating a measuring stick for my pot (thank christ it's been hot or that would have sucked massive balls), but all the unique tools and hooking it up to make beer is a drat good time.

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

wattershed posted:

I like all the equipment. I know that sounds kinda silly, but I'm not a scientician or anything and this is as close as I'll get to lab experiments. Yes, it looks like a miniature version of Breaking Bad, and I may have fallen into my pool last night in the process of creating a measuring stick for my pot (thank christ it's been hot or that would have sucked massive balls), but all the unique tools and hooking it up to make beer is a drat good time.

I like buying stuff too, but some people get totally crazy, like buying 200 dollar devices to trap hot break and hop material (i.e. Blichman Hop Destroyer or whatever). You can just whirlpool (which I've had very limited success with anyways), open the valve and stick the hose into a 5 gallon paint strainer clipped to the side of your bottling bucket, and then run that out to a carboy through the spigot (or just go stright to the bucket if you use buckets. The best part is that trub doesn't really do anything other than settle to the bottom and sit there and a teaspoon of gelatin (pennies worth) will cause it to stay at the bottom permanently.

Speaking of buckets, I think I'm going to switch to an all-bucket fermenter setup or something. I have no clue how I'm supposed to remove a full carboy from a chest freezer, particularly not regularly, unless I buy some straps or something.

Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 20:50 on May 22, 2012

Docjowles
Apr 9, 2009

Kaiho posted:

I don't know, could it be a water chemistry issue?

Are you on a city water source or a well? If it comes from the city you should be able to get a free water chemistry report from their website. Post that here and maybe we can see something abnormal, but in general most water is fine for brewing and chemistry doesn't matter nearly as much with extract. Oh but like Grimace said, DO filter your water with a carbon filter like Brita or buy spring water from the grocery store. City water supplies contain chlorine or chloramine and those definitely give a weird chemical taste to brew. That could be it. Try brewing a batch with spring water as an experiment.

How fresh is the extract you're using? If it's old or has been stored poorly that can contribute all sorts of bad flavors. Try ordering from somewhere like Northern Brewer with super high turnover for your next batch just to rule that out.

Docjowles fucked around with this message at 21:02 on May 22, 2012

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

Docjowles posted:

Are you on a city water source or a well? If it comes from the city you should be able to get a free water chemistry report from their website. Post that here and maybe we can see something abnormal, but in general most water is fine for brewing and chemistry doesn't matter nearly as much with extract. Oh but like Grimace said, DO filter your water with a carbon filter like Brita or buy spring water from the grocery store. City water supplies contain chlorine or chloramine and those definitely give a weird chemical taste to brew. That could be it. Try brewing a batch with spring water as an experiment.

How fresh is the extract you're using? If it's old or has been stored poorly that can contribute all sorts of bad flavors. Try ordering from somewhere like Northern Brewer with super high turnover for your next batch just to rule that out.

Campden tablets will cause chloramine and chlorine to break down very quickly. The amount you use for dechlorination is a fraction of what you use to stopping fermentation in a (wine) must, so it's not going to have any real effect on flavor - I think the addition rate in must to stop yeast activity is like 1 per gallon, but 1 tablet will dechlorinate like 20 gallons of water.

wattershed
Dec 27, 2002

Radio got his free iPod, did you get yours???

Angry Grimace posted:

Speaking of buckets, I think I'm going to switch to an all-bucket fermenter setup or something. I have no clue how I'm supposed to remove a full carboy from a chest freezer, particularly not regularly, unless I buy some straps or something.

Those carboy straps are like $15. Also, consider a tiny stool...elevation over the source is always nice.

If you want to go full baller, cafeteria milk freezers:
- they open from the front instead of the top. Perhaps one day when you expand and do larger concurrent volumes in bigger space.

Splizwarf
Jun 15, 2007
It's like there's a soup can in front of me!
Gantry and chainfall over the freezer, extends as far as the workbench.

Meaty Ore
Dec 17, 2011

My God, it's full of cat pictures!

Sunday evening I started my first batch of homebrew beer (a wheat ale) using a kit I received as a birthday gift last year (I hadn't started it sooner due to :effort: ). While I did read the OP and expected not a whole lot of activity in the first few days, I wasn't expecting a sharp dropoff in activity between the first and second days. As in, from a moderately low, but noticable amount to virtually nothing. Also, what looks like about an inch of what appears to be a whitish yellow sediment settling to the bottom. Are both of these normal? Or am I worrying over nothing far too soon?

Imasalmon
Mar 19, 2003

Meet me in the Hall of Fame

Meaty Ore posted:

Sunday evening I started my first batch of homebrew beer (a wheat ale) using a kit I received as a birthday gift last year (I hadn't started it sooner due to :effort: ). While I did read the OP and expected not a whole lot of activity in the first few days, I wasn't expecting a sharp dropoff in activity between the first and second days. As in, from a moderately low, but noticable amount to virtually nothing. Also, what looks like about an inch of what appears to be a whitish yellow sediment settling to the bottom. Are both of these normal? Or am I worrying over nothing far too soon?

You're fine. The stuff on the bottom is a yeast colony. What temperature are you fermenting at?

Kaiho
Dec 2, 2004

Angry Grimace posted:

"Homebrew twang." There are a lot of reasons given for it, but its generally an extract specific complaint that nobody can really put a finger on.

Yeah it could be. Thing is I've had genuinely amazing extract-based beers so know it can be done even in London where I live (more about this later in terms of water). Could have been the amazing amount of dry hops the guy had used though, masking it all.

I'm tempted to try all of those things. I don't tend to use LME, but the DME I get from where I usually order from is clearly repackaged Munton's stuff. So it could potentially get adulterated there though I kinda suspect not. I have to confess that I have squeezed my grain bag dry but considering it also appeared in the hefe where I didn't use any grains it's something else...

(Mind you, it's not significant, just an irritant to someone who really would like to make the best beer they can under the circumstances.)

So maybe it's the full boil/water thing. I have a pretty big pot but unless I'm doing a double IPA or something else requiring fewer liters I see myself needing to top up once it goes in the FV. That's cool, I will try filtering and/or campdening the next batch. The problem is the desire to try new recipes rather than stick to one where you can control variables... :)

Docjowles posted:

Are you on a city water source or a well? If it comes from the city you should be able to get a free water chemistry report from their website. Post that here and maybe we can see something abnormal, but in general most water is fine for brewing and chemistry doesn't matter nearly as much with extract. Oh but like Grimace said, DO filter your water with a carbon filter like Brita or buy spring water from the grocery store. City water supplies contain chlorine or chloramine and those definitely give a weird chemical taste to brew. That could be it. Try brewing a batch with spring water as an experiment.

How fresh is the extract you're using? If it's old or has been stored poorly that can contribute all sorts of bad flavors. Try ordering from somewhere like Northern Brewer with super high turnover for your next batch just to rule that out.

I'm in the UK so can't order from Northern Brewer but the guy who I mentioned above orders from BrewUK.co.uk the same as me so it can be done well. I think he treated his water with campden but comes from a different part of town so has a different water supply. Mine is the following: http://www.thameswater.co.uk/water-quality-reports/z0104-battersea.pdf . I actually have a bunch of campden tablets so will try and measure out enough water for all I'm going to need and then treat it prior to boiling.

Then there's the issue of full boils. I would obviously have to calculate hop utilization differently but would doing a, say, 2/3 boil rather than e.g. 1/2 boil make a difference? I would put less unboiled water in I guess...




Meaty Ore posted:

Sunday evening I started my first batch of homebrew beer (a wheat ale) using a kit I received as a birthday gift last year (I hadn't started it sooner due to :effort: ). While I did read the OP and expected not a whole lot of activity in the first few days, I wasn't expecting a sharp dropoff in activity between the first and second days. As in, from a moderately low, but noticable amount to virtually nothing. Also, what looks like about an inch of what appears to be a whitish yellow sediment settling to the bottom. Are both of these normal? Or am I worrying over nothing far too soon?

The whitish yellow sediment is trub. Looks like your yeast are absolute beasts and have gotten right to work. It can happen that visible activity drops off quite quickly. Just trust it that it's going on. I know I was super anxious, checking on my beer multiple times a day, but now some 10 beers in I'm a lot more relaxed. They do their own thing, you just reap the benefits once it's ready to sow, so to speak. They don't suggest that you relax and have a beer for nothing :)

Of course, it could be that your yeast is old and not quite viable. What kind of yeast packet was it? Did it have a manufacturing date on it? I realize you may have thrown it away, but there is a slim chance it didn't quite have the viability needed to work through. That said it should still most likely be okay to ferment through, just not with the exact profile the recipe makers intended...

Docjowles
Apr 9, 2009

Kaiho posted:

I'm in the UK so can't order from Northern Brewer but the guy who I mentioned above orders from BrewUK.co.uk the same as me so it can be done well. I think he treated his water with campden but comes from a different part of town so has a different water supply. Mine is the following: http://www.thameswater.co.uk/water-quality-reports/z0104-battersea.pdf . I actually have a bunch of campden tablets so will try and measure out enough water for all I'm going to need and then treat it prior to boiling.

Yeah I don't see any huge red flags with that. Treating it with campden is probably all you need to do on the water front.

Edit: Also, in first world problem news, I got the itch to brew a pilsner later this week since I have it off from work. Walked to the homebrew shop. They're closed Tuesdays :saddowns: Now the starter won't be ready to pitch til the weekend.

Docjowles fucked around with this message at 00:37 on May 23, 2012

Meaty Ore
Dec 17, 2011

My God, it's full of cat pictures!

Imasalmon posted:

You're fine. The stuff on the bottom is a yeast colony. What temperature are you fermenting at?

I honestly am not sure; it's probably in the low to mid 70s--room temperature at our house; there really aren't any especially cool, dark places available in the house. I just stuck it in a cupboard(which at least is dark and low to the ground, so it should be a little cooler) with a blowoff tube leading to a bowl of water/sanitizer as the instructions stated. The airlock goes on tomorrow afternoon, assuming all is well.

Kaiho posted:

The whitish yellow sediment is trub. Looks like your yeast are absolute beasts and have gotten right to work. It can happen that visible activity drops off quite quickly. Just trust it that it's going on. I know I was super anxious, checking on my beer multiple times a day, but now some 10 beers in I'm a lot more relaxed. They do their own thing, you just reap the benefits once it's ready to sow, so to speak. They don't suggest that you relax and have a beer for nothing

Of course, it could be that your yeast is old and not quite viable. What kind of yeast packet was it? Did it have a manufacturing date on it? I realize you may have thrown it away, but there is a slim chance it didn't quite have the viability needed to work through. That said it should still most likely be okay to ferment through, just not with the exact profile the recipe makers intended...

Loking at the wikipedia page, it's definitely trub. I was worried that the yeast was too old to be viable--in two weeks it will have been a whole year since I received the kit--but the packet said the yeast should be good through this coming December. So hopefuly things should be okay.

Docjowles
Apr 9, 2009

You'll be fine. I think everyone who ever brewed has had that OH gently caress IT'S RUINED first batch panic, but it tends to turn out fine. I'd say to RDWHAHB but this being batch #1 that may be impossible ;)

In the future, that fermentation temperature is too high. It'll be fine but it'll get a lot better if you can find a way to cool it to the low to mid 60's. Cold basement, big bucket full of water and some ice, fancy temperature controlled fridge, whatever. But temp control is probably the single best thing you can do to take your beer from "hey that's pretty good for homebrew" to "holy crap you made this???"

Meaty Ore
Dec 17, 2011

My God, it's full of cat pictures!

Thanks for the reassurance, and the advice. Once the airlock goes on, I can certainly move it to a better spot, and put it in a water bath of some sort to cool it down (no basement, unfortunately :( ).

EDIT: and in lieu of having some home-made beer while I'm waiting, I can attempt to commune with the spirits instead. ;)

Meaty Ore fucked around with this message at 01:51 on May 23, 2012

Angry Grimace
Jul 29, 2010

ACTUALLY IT IS VERY GOOD THAT THE SHOW IS BAD AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T REALIZE WHY THAT'S GOOD IS AN IDIOT. JUST ENJOY THE BAD SHOW INSTEAD OF THINKING.

Docjowles posted:

You'll be fine. I think everyone who ever brewed has had that OH gently caress IT'S RUINED first batch panic, but it tends to turn out fine. I'd say to RDWHAHB but this being batch #1 that may be impossible ;)

In the future, that fermentation temperature is too high. It'll be fine but it'll get a lot better if you can find a way to cool it to the low to mid 60's. Cold basement, big bucket full of water and some ice, fancy temperature controlled fridge, whatever. But temp control is probably the single best thing you can do to take your beer from "hey that's pretty good for homebrew" to "holy crap you made this???"

I was sitting around in class bored today and was wondering what kind of beer would impress the widest number of people into thinking you're going to be a brewing superstar. Probably some kind of mild pale ale. I remember talking to a local pro brewer who said he once brewed an adjunct light lager budweiser clone for a wedding and was told by a bunch of guests that if he brewed beer like that, he was gonna be a MILLIONAIRE!

Angry Grimace fucked around with this message at 02:46 on May 23, 2012

Imasalmon
Mar 19, 2003

Meet me in the Hall of Fame

Angry Grimace posted:

I was sitting around in class bored today and was wondering what kind of beer would impress the widest number of people into thinking you're going to be a brewing superstar. Probably some kind of mild pale ale. I remember talking to a local pro brewer who said he once brewed an adjunct light lager budweiser clone for a wedding and was told by a bunch of guests that if he brewed beer like that, he was gonna be a MILLIONAIRE!

I brewed a lime blonde ale to mimic bud lite lime. It was the most widely accepted beer. I cried.

Daedalus Esquire
Mar 30, 2008

Docjowles posted:

You'll be fine. I think everyone who ever brewed has had that OH gently caress IT'S RUINED first batch panic, but it tends to turn out fine. I'd say to RDWHAHB but this being batch #1 that may be impossible ;

I still remember racking my first batch from the bucket to secondary in a Carboy. There was a moment of DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT THING! As the beer got low enough in the bucket to expose the yeast cake. There was this ooey-gooey pizza dough looking thing that I immediately assumed was some giant mold monster. Fortunately once I sent a pic of it to a buddy who had been homebrewing for a while, he just laughed and told me it was the yeast colony.
Still, I was really scared I invented a new life form or something...

Docjowles
Apr 9, 2009

Imasalmon posted:

I brewed a lime blonde ale to mimic bud lite lime. It was the most widely accepted beer. I cried.

Bud Lite Lime was my wife's favorite beer in the world until it started to give her weird heart burn issues :cry: My homebrew witbier and ginger beer have converted her, though.

Daedalus Esquire posted:

I still remember racking my first batch from the bucket to secondary in a Carboy. There was a moment of DEAR GOD WHAT IS THAT THING! As the beer got low enough in the bucket to expose the yeast cake. There was this ooey-gooey pizza dough looking thing that I immediately assumed was some giant mold monster. Fortunately once I sent a pic of it to a buddy who had been homebrewing for a while, he just laughed and told me it was the yeast colony.
Still, I was really scared I invented a new life form or something...

Haha. My first batch panic was an airlock/grommet that didn't fit correctly. I watched the drat thing like a hawk for a week and never once saw a single bubble. Called the homebrew shop up asking if I had ruined everything :emo: Dude was like "nah dawg it'll be fine airlock is probably just not fitting correctly". And it WAS fine, to my shock. Turns out sugarwater really really wants to turn into delicious booze, you have to screw up pretty bad to stop the process.

Docjowles fucked around with this message at 03:39 on May 23, 2012

j3rkstore
Jan 28, 2009

L'esprit d'escalier


Guess who left the kegerator door open a crack :v:

I'm currently defrosting it in the garage on a pile of towels. I keep telling myself I needed to take it apart and clean it anyways.

Sirotan
Oct 17, 2006

Sirotan is a seal.


Docjowles posted:

Haha. My first batch panic was an airlock/grommet that didn't fit correctly. I watched the drat thing like a hawk for a week and never once saw a single bubble. Called the homebrew shop up asking if I had ruined everything :emo: Dude was like "nah dawg it'll be fine airlock is probably just not fitting correctly". And it WAS fine, to my shock. Turns out sugarwater really really wants to turn into delicious booze, you have to screw up pretty bad to stop the process.

My first batch not only exploded all over my kitchen ceiling, walls, floor and table (that had my work laptop on it, among other things...), I also partially melted my buddy's carboy in the process. :downs: Somehow it's been my most successful beer thus far. Batch four was bottled on Saturday.

Retemnav
Mar 20, 2007
Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?
Ball or pin lock? And does it matter, other than sticking to one or the other?

I screwed plenty of stuff up on my first batch, but I just kept telling myself that medieval peasants managed to make this stuff in wooden barrels, in their barns, with no notion of sanitation, and the fact that I touched my beer with something that hadn't been washed, rinsed, boiled and Star-Sanned probably wasn't that big of a deal.

Jo3sh
Oct 19, 2002

Like all girls I love unicorns!

Retemnav posted:

Ball or pin lock? And does it matter, other than sticking to one or the other?

Either one is fine. You don't even have to stay with one or the other - I know a guy who runs a mix - but you will probably save yourself some aggravation if you do.

Ball lock typically have the handy extra feature of a pressure relief valve in the lid. You can still vent pressure from a pin lock, but you have to depress the gas poppet to do it. Pin lock kegs are slightly shorter and wider; in some minifridges, this can actually help them fit better.

Ball locks have historically been more plentiful and more standard. These days, the supply is tightening a lot, so this seems less true and pin locks are selling a little more cheaply in some places than ball locks are. For future supportability, ball-locks might be easier to find parts for, but it's hard to say for sure.

The main thing is to find a setup that works for you and get your setup working well.

Retemnav
Mar 20, 2007
Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?
Awesome, thanks. Putting together my buy list for a 2-tap keezer with collar, so height shouldn't be an issue (until I inevitably want to expand to 4 taps and put some cornies on the hump...)

Super Rad
Feb 15, 2003
Sir Loin of Beef
I ended up with all pin-locks because they were $10 cheaper than ball-locks from my LHBS.

They definitely work as intended but I always wonder if the ball-lock disconnects don't fit more tightly / have less give.

4 kegs are a very tight fit in my fridge and the slightest tug on any CO2 line can cause it to start leaking... fortunately it's usually quite audible and easy to adjust but it's frustrating and I'm pretty sure I've drained a CO2 tank at least once because of it.

Daedalus Esquire
Mar 30, 2008
Finally found a nice chest freezer on craigslist for a reasonable price ($30). It always amazes me that people around here want me to come pick up their heavy rear end fridge/freezer and pay them $300 cause they "Need the garage space."

Anyway, recommendations for regulators? I'd prefer something simple, like, set the temp and stick the probe inside simple.

Jo3sh
Oct 19, 2002

Like all girls I love unicorns!

Daedalus Esquire posted:

Anyway, recommendations for regulators? I'd prefer something simple, like, set the temp and stick the probe inside simple.

Thermostats? I use the cheapo Johnson Controls one (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16663/102282/Analog_Temperature_Controller) and it works fine with setup just as easy as you describe. Plug it into the wall, plug the fridge into the other end of the plug, put the bulb in the fridge, close the door. You do have to be a trifle careful not to crimp the tube, as it's not as flexible as a cable, but a little masking tape to hold the probe end and to cover the tube where it crosses the edge is all I needed.

You can also buy electronic ones that are prewired. Ranco is very common (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16666/102282/Ranco_Digital_Temperature_Controller_-_Wired), but Johnson makes one of those too. (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16670//Johnson_Digital_Temperature_Controller_Wired)

Daedalus Esquire
Mar 30, 2008
Great. Thanks for the help.

j3rkstore
Jan 28, 2009

L'esprit d'escalier

Jo3sh posted:

Thermostats? I use the cheapo Johnson Controls one (http://morebeer.com/view_product/16663/102282/Analog_Temperature_Controller) and it works fine with setup just as easy as you describe.

I have two of these and they work great.

internet celebrity
Jun 23, 2006

College Slice
Thinking about doing a SMaSH brew soon. What's everyone's favorite combination?

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Jo3sh
Oct 19, 2002

Like all girls I love unicorns!
One very popular one is Maris Otter + whatever new American hop you have or can get. Options include Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, etc.

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