Reddit mentions: The best home brewing & wine making products

We found 2,321 Reddit comments discussing the best home brewing & wine making products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 888 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

1. Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting In Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids(jars not incld), Extractor Pump & Recipes

    Features:
  • The original and best: We invented this type of fermenting lid. There are lots of imitations, but no substitutes. Only the Nourished Essentials Easy Fermenter is made from stiff, durable plastic with a thick, leak proof gasket. Copies might look the same, but the quality doesn’t compare.
  • The original and best: We invented this type of fermenting lid. There are lots of imitations, but no substitutes. Only the Nourished Essentials Easy Fermenter is made from stiff, durable plastic with a thick, leak proof gasket. Copies might look the same, but the quality doesn’t compare.
  • We're with you all the way: You aren’t just getting the most fool-proof fermentation system ever invented. You’re also joining our Fermenting Club. It’s full of recipes, detailed ebooks and video guides, and even a place to ask your questions to fermentation experts. You’ll never ferment alone!
  • These lids make fermentation easy: Easy Fermenter lids let gas escape, but keep mold and bacteria out. You’ll never have to burp your jars or deal with messy water airlocks. The built in date dial means you’ll always get the timing right, and the pull tabs help you open the jar. It’s so simple.
  • And they're easy to clean too: You can easily separate every part of the jar for cleaning, to prevent mold or bacteria building up in the seal or under the date dial. You can always ferment with confidence that your equipment is totally clean. And of course, it’s all food safe and BPA free.
  • 100% Money Back Guarantee: With each kit you’ll get three lids that are compatible with the wide mouth jars you already own, and a vacuum pump to help you remove air from the jars after tasting. If you aren’t 100% satisfied, we’ll give you every penny back. No hassle and no delays.
  • How to claim your bonus lid? - Well its pretty easy. Click on the "1 Applicable Promotion" button on the amazon page and then click on "Add both to Cart". Please note that the Easy Fermenter Kit and the Bonus Lid will be shipped separately and might be delivered to you at separate dates.
Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting In Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids(jars not incld), Extractor Pump & Recipes
Specs:
ColorBlue
Height0.98425 Inches
Length3.74015 Inches
Size3 Wide Mouth Lids
Weight0.66 Pounds
Width3.74015 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

2. Red Baron Bottle Capper

    Features:
  • Emily Plastic Wing Capper
  • Model Number: LDC 4016
  • Item Package Dimension: 7.199999992656" L x 6.699999993166" W x 2.399999997552" H
  • Item Package Weight: 12.8 oz
Red Baron Bottle Capper
Specs:
ColorRed
Height8 inches
Length6 inches
Number of items1
Release dateJuly 2008
Size26.5mm Capping Bell For Standard Beer Bottles
Width3 inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

3. Mr. Beer Complete Beer Making 2 Gallon Starter Kit, Premium Gold Edition, Brown

    Features:
  • Best beer Kit for Beginners - Our beer kits are designed for the first-time brewer in mind Step-by-step instructions, simple ingredients and easy to use brewing equipment.
  • Only Takes 30 Minutes of Your Time to Brew - Using our hopped Malt extract you can brew up a batch of beer in less than 30 minutes.
  • Includes the Best Ingredients to Get Started - Brewing with Mr. Beer’s Hopped Malt Extracts are perfect for any brewer. It cuts down on time, reduces the risk of contamination, and helps create a more consistent beer every time.
  • Comes with Everything You Need - Our beer Kit comes with everything you need to brew your first batch of beer. No need for additional large pots, strainers or brewing equipment. All you need is a Mr. Beer Kit, water and common kitchen items to get started.
  • Ready to Drink in 3-4 Weeks - With our ingredients designed by Coopers Brewery, your beer will be done fermenting in 10-14 days and ready to drink 7-14 days later.
  • Satisfaction - Mr. Beer is all about simple, and efficient home brewing. If for any reason you are unhappy with your experience contact us so we can make it right for you.
  • Ingredients Created at A Brewery - Mr. Beer's ingredients are designed and crafted at Coopers Brewery. The same ingredients you are using to brew with, they are using in the brewery for Coopers Beer.
  • Refills may vary - the refills in your gold kit may be different than what is shown. If you did not get the refills you expected please contact Mr. Beer and we will get you what you need.
  • Included Components: Completely Reusable
Mr. Beer Complete Beer Making 2 Gallon Starter Kit, Premium Gold Edition, Brown
Specs:
ColorComplete Kit
Height20 Inches
Length18.5 Inches
Number of items1
Size2 Gallon
Weight6 Pounds
Width13.75 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

4. Twin Bubble Airlock and Carboy Bung (Pack of 2)

    Features:
  • package dimensions :4.572 cm L x 12.573 cm W x 17.399 cm H
  • Product type :BOTTLE OPENER
  • country of origin:China
  • Package weight :2.0oz
Twin Bubble Airlock and Carboy Bung (Pack of 2)
Specs:
ColorClear/Tan
Height3.1496 Inches
Length3.1496 Inches
Number of items2
Size2 Pack
Weight0.14991433816 Pounds
Width1.9685 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

7. Brooklyn Brew Shop Everyday IPA Beer Making Kit: All-Grain Starter Set With Reusable Glass Fermenter, Brew Equipment, Ingredients (Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast) Perfect For Brewing Craft Beer At Home

    Features:
  • The Everyday IPA Beer Making Kit is perfect for beginners. Brooklyn Brew Shop makes brewing beer at home simple, fun, and tasty with easy-to-follow videos and step-by-step instructions. Using only seasonally-inspired, real ingredients, we never include sugary malt extracts, meaning you brew the freshest and best-tasting beer possible.
  • Created by published beer authors, our award-winning, all-grain kits are made in America and designed to be brewed on the stove top of any kitchen big or small.
  • The kit includes: our Everyday IPA making mix (grain, hops and yeast), 1 gallon reusable glass fermenter, glass spirit-filled thermometer, vinyl tubing, racking cane & tip, chambered airlock, Brooklyn Brew Shop cleanser, and screw-cap stopper. Not included: strainer, funnel, pot and bottles
  • We're well-trusted! We've been featured in numerous magazines including The New York Times, Nylon, Food & Wine, Glamour, Thrillist, Travel & Leisure, Vogue, Time Out and Martha Stewart. From ultimate gift guides for your BFF, Dad and Mom, Boyfriend/Girlfriend, and beer geek to Father's Day must-haves and holiday hits the press agrees that our Beer and Cider Making kits are perfect for everyone.
  • Makes 1 gallon of 6.8% Alcohol-by-Volume beer (9-10 12-oz bottles). Our best-selling beer harmonizes fragrant grapefruit with bright bitterness, making this beer great for hop heads and first time IPA drinkers alike.
Brooklyn Brew Shop Everyday IPA Beer Making Kit: All-Grain Starter Set With Reusable Glass Fermenter, Brew Equipment, Ingredients (Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast) Perfect For Brewing Craft Beer At Home
Specs:
Height10 Inches
Length12 Inches
Number of items1
Size1 Count (Pack of 1)
Weight6.35 Pounds
Width8 Inches
▼ Read Reddit mentions

🎓 Reddit experts on home brewing & wine making products

The comments and opinions expressed on this page are written exclusively by redditors. To provide you with the most relevant data, we sourced opinions from the most knowledgeable Reddit users based the total number of upvotes and downvotes received across comments on subreddits where home brewing & wine making products are discussed. For your reference and for the sake of transparency, here are the specialists whose opinions mattered the most in our ranking.
Total score: 162
Number of comments: 22
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 49
Number of comments: 18
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 43
Number of comments: 12
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 27
Number of comments: 11
Relevant subreddits: 2
Total score: 23
Number of comments: 12
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 23
Number of comments: 9
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 17
Number of comments: 13
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 16
Number of comments: 11
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 15
Number of comments: 10
Relevant subreddits: 1
Total score: 10
Number of comments: 10
Relevant subreddits: 2

idea-bulb Interested in what Redditors like? Check out our Shuffle feature

Shuffle: random products popular on Reddit

Top Reddit comments about Home Brewing & Wine Making:

u/kaidomac · 7 pointsr/RawVegan

part 2/2

One of the things you have to do is decide where you want to draw the line for your own personal definition of the word "raw". A commonly-accepted definition of following a raw diet is that at least 75% of your food is either raw or is cooked at temperatures below 104F to 118F. Some people go 100% with no heating at all. This is really important to figure out because you have to decide how stringent you want to be. For example, "raw almonds" aren't actual raw, because current laws require pasteurization of all almonds in the United States - so no almonds, no almond butter, no almond milk, etc. if you are truly 100% raw. Two additional things to consider are dehydration & pasteurization:

  • Dehydrators can go from pretty cheap ($40) to expensive (hundreds of dollars, like the Excalibur models). These are useful for drying fruit, making crackers, and so on. Whether or not a dehydrator fits into your own personal definition of "raw" is up to you, but it does open a lot more doors for food options without having to actually "cook" the food like normal. You can do things like banana chips, zucchini chips, kale chips, fruit rollups (pureed fruit cooked on something like a Silpat or ParaFlexx sheets), "breads", cookies (macaroons etc.), and so on.
  • Milks are a nice option to have. You can do plenty of cold-pressed milks (ex. almond milk in a blender & strained with a cheesecloth), but for things like soymilk, you'll want to cook them. SoyaJoy has a nice milk-maker machine that does both raw & cooked (it handles grinding & boiling, right in the kettle). This again depends on the percentage raw you want to go. Whereas a dehydrator can cook low & slow safely, for stuff like soybeans, you have to soak them, grind them, and cook them to deactivate the enzyme inhibitors. So the machine does a 180F hot soak to get rid of the beany taste, grinds between 180F to 190F, and then cooks between 200 to 210F. Things like apple cider (in terms of raw apple juice) are typically also sold pasteurized, for food safety purposes. Again, it depends on where you want to draw the line, and what percentage raw you want to strive for.

    Fourth, I'd recommend picking up the Thrive Diet book by triathlete Brendan Brazier. This book contains many raw vegan recipes. These are high-energy recipes as well, as the book is oriented towards athletic performance.

    Fifth, you may want to look into growing & fermenting your own foods. A few starter ideas:

  • Orta seed starters
  • LED indoor herb gardens
  • Microgreens starter kit
  • Sprouting kit
  • Fermentation kit (can be done both raw & boiled)
  • Read up on Pickle Science
  • Read up on the Quickle
  • Vacuum-sealed Sauerkraut & Kimchi

    Sixth, it's worth building up an inventory of great ingredients & recipes. A few starter ideas:

  • Raw vegan protein powder. There are a variety of brands & flavors available, such as this one with greens. It's an easy way to get protein into your body & hit your macros, especially when you don't have time to shop for fresh foods.
  • Aquafaba. This is the leftover goopy water from soaking beans. Raw note, as beans in cans are cooked, this is not a traditionally "raw" ingredient, so you'll either have to raw-soak the dry beans yourself, or if you're doing like 75% raw, you can include canned beans or say Instant Pot-cooked beans in your diet to get the aquafaba from that. Aquafaba kind of acts a bit like egg whites, which you can use to make butter, mayo, whipped cream (replace the sugar with raw cane sugar, for example), meringue cookies (read up on the notes about sugar in that recipe), etc. Note that if you want to stay ultra-raw, you'll want to use cold-pressed oils in conjunction with those recipes.
  • Apple cider vinegar is super easy to make
  • Bliss balls (lots of flavor options - cashew cacao, pink berry, salted caramel coconut, etc.)

    >I just threw out a bag of chips and decided it would be my last time ever buying anything like that. I don't want to buy anything processed again (after I eat up these remaining veggie dogs).

    Food & health isn't so much of a destination, as a journey - learning what works best for your body, finding new ingredients, recipes, and tools, etc. Defining what path you want to take is important because that's what guides your day to day eating decisions, and also results in how good you feel, energy-wise. People generally go vegan for two reasons:

  1. A love for animals
  2. For health purposes

    What often happens, in reality, is that people buy highly-processed fake meats (burgers, dogs, etc.), snack foods (potato chips, etc.), and junk food (dairy-free ice cream, candy, etc.) & then wonder why they don't feel good. Only you know how your body feels, so you have to figure out what works for you, which means trying new things, defining what your diet entails, learning about macros, and so on.

    I've tried a variety of dietary approaches over the years (keto, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan, fruitarian, etc.), all with pretty good results. One of the biggest things I've discovered is that having a meal-prep system in place is critical to success, unless you have a lot of energy, free time, and a strong love of preparing food. I like to work in the kitchen...when I'm in the mood. The rest of the time, I need to feed my body my macros so that I feel good, look good, and am healthy, and really, I just need to fill the void when I get hungry & want something tasty.

    So hopefully this gets you started in the right direction...there's an infinite amount of resources out there on the Internet, from raw vegan cheesecakes to walnut taco "meat". It also helps tremendously to eat according to your macros, and to figure out your eating schedule, which enables you to figure out a meal plan every week, instead of just winging it on a daily basis & struggling with being consistent & having consistent energy as a result.
u/_Philbo_Baggins_ · 2 pointsr/mead

Your recipe sounds like it'll turn out well if all goes according to plan! You may want to add some sweetness back if it ferments dry, but you've got several weeks to figure that out and read the Wiki to get all caught up on the method and terminology to things like back sweetening and nutrient addition schedules. I admire that you're being industrious with your fermentation equipment, I wasn't brave enough to start fermenting with whatever I had on hand with my first batch.

If you think you'll stick with it, here's the equipment I used for my first batch. I highly recommend looking into it if you think you'll do another batch! (I apologize if you aren't in the US, Amazon is my go-to)

  • Hydrometer - $15.99 | You'll definitely want one of these first! It'll help you figure out when fermentation is done, plus it's nice to know your ABV when your friends or family ask "How strong is this?" (if you like to share)
  • One Gallon Glass Carboy with Airlock, Drilled Stopper, Polyseal Lid - $14.81 | A glass carboy could last you forever! These have done very well for me, and the included airlock will give you a great setup for less than $15. The screw-on cap is just an added bonus, I use mine when I cold-crash.
  • Star San 16 oz - $16 | This seems like the go-to sanitizer for the sub, and I use it as well. If you think you'll do several batches, I recommend going with the 32 oz size instead! It's much cheaper per ounce.
  • Campden Tablets aka K-Meta (Potassium Metabisulfite) - $6.08 | This will help you preserve and stabilize your mead before you bottle. Some people don't, but it's highly recommended!
  • Auto Siphon - $13.99 | This makes racking to secondary and bottling much easier! When it comes time to bottling, it's also really nice to have a Bottling Wand - $5.86

    All-in-all, this is just about my current setup excluding yeast, yeast nutrients, and extra carboys and airlocks. The list above comes out to about $127.45 USD before tax, which really isn't too bad considering one gallon should yield just shy of 5 standard wine bottles! Most commercial meads I've seen ranges from $15-$25 with some exceptions (There's a winery near me called Oliver Winery that makes a mead called Camelot Mead that sells for about $8 per bottle. Very good for such a cheap mead, you can probably find it at Total Wine & More if you have one nearby).

    ​

    Sorry for such a long comment! Best of luck in your mead-making adventure!

    Edit: If you have a local homebrew store, I would opt for that rather than Amazon. Prices may not be as cheap but you won't have to wait for shipping, you'll be able to support a local business, and employees at homebrew stores are usually really helpful and they can recommend recipes and give you pointers. Nothing beats face-to-face interaction!
u/40below · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Hey there! I'm a beer-lover myself . . . and I've been enjoying homebrewing, which is very rewarding!

If you're interested in a more formal approach to beer tasting, you may want to add _Tasting Beer_ to your wishlist! I just finished reading it myself. It goes into much greater depth than I'll ever really experience, but it gives you a deep perspective on what the most serious beer-geeks and beer-snobs are doing when they take a sip, and it has seriously improved my own appreciation of the ancient beverage.

Also, if you're genuinely interested in homebrewing, in addition to the relatively affordable Mr. Beer (I haven't brewed with it, but I've tasted several people's results with it, and they've been consistently good) you may want to watch for the Groupon deal from Midwest Supplies. It's inactive now, but they do seem to keep bringing it back, and it's a very good deal for getting starting homebrew equipment.

Finally, I saw your discussion with AllOfTimeAndSpace about IPAs, and although I see it's not your favorite style, I thought I might recommend an IPA I tried recently that I thought was spectacularly good: Lawson's Double Sunshine IPA. I imagine it's hard to get outside of Vermont (though I'd be thrilled if I'm wrong, since I don't live there and just had it during a vacation), but it is one of the most delicious beers I've ever tried!

There's definitely more snobbery among wine lovers, but beer is easily as complex, varied, and interesting! Good beer goes great with all sorts of good food, and it's just as rewarding. Glad you're finding so much pleasure in it!

---

Haha! I see (having now actually looked at your wish list) that you have my two suggestions on it already. Good show!

u/Tychus_Kayle · 3 pointsr/trebuchetmemes

I've made some slight modifications to this, mostly to make it easier to follow. I've also included steps that should be quite obvious to someone who's done any homebrewing before, but I wish someone had told me when I first started.

I'd link to the original, for the sake of attribution, but the user who posted this deleted their account not long after I wrote everything down.

This will produce a sweet fruit-mead (or melomel). WARNING this will be far more alcoholic than it tastes, and should not be consumed if you've recently taken antibiotics, or suffered gastric distress, as the yeast culture will still be alive, and will happily colonize your intestines if your gut microbiome is too fucked up.

Equipment: Most of this stuff will be a good deal cheaper at your local homebrew store, but I've included amazon links (also to the yeast).

At least 2 (3 is better, for reasons we'll get to) 1-gallon jugs (I don't recommend scaling this up), glass preferred. Add an extra jug for each additional batch. This one includes a drilled stopper and airlock

Drilled stoppers (or carboy bungs) and airlocks, non-drilled rubber stoppers.

An autosiphon and food-safe tubing.

Food-safe sanitizing solution (I recommend StarSan).

An electric kettle with temperature selector is useful, but not needed.

If you want to bottle it rather than just keeping a jug in your fridge:

Empty beer or wine bottles (just save your empties), capping or corking equipment, caps or corks, and a bottling wand.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs (1130g) honey, clover recommended.

A cup (approximately 250ml) or so of fruit (I recommend blackberries, and I strongly recommend against cherries, other recipes have worked for me, but this yields a very medical flavor with cherries).

1 packet Lalvin EC-1118 yeast (a champagne yeast notable for its hardiness, its ability to out-compete other microorganisms, and its high alcohol tolerance).

Optional: potassium sorbate (to reduce yeast activity when our ferment is done), pectic enzyme (aka pectinase - for aesthetic purposes). Both are also available in bulk.

Process:

Day 1:

Mix sanitizing solution with clean water at specified proportions in one of your jugs, filling the jug most of the way. Stopper it, shake it. Remove stopper, set it down wet-side-up (to keep it sterile), pour the fluid to another jug. There will be foam left behind, this is fine, don't bother to rinse it or anything. At low concentrations this stuff is totally fine to drink, and won't ruin your fermentation or flavor.

Add honey to jug, all of it.

If you have a kettle, and your jug is glass, heat water to around 160F (71 Celsius), pour a volume into your jug roughly equal to the amount of honey present. Fix sterile stopper to jug. Shake until honey and water are thoroughly combined. The heat will make it FAR easier to dissolve the honey. Set aside for an hour or so while it cools. Add clean water 'til mostly full, leaving some room for fruit and headspace.

If you're missing a kettle, or using a plastic jug, this is gonna be a little harder. Fill most of the way with clean water (I recommend using a filter) leaving some room for fruit and headspace. Fix sterile stopper, shake 'til honey and water are thoroughly combined. This will take a while, and you will need to shake VERY vigorously.

At this point, you should have a jug mostly-full of combined honey and water. To this, add fruit (inspecting thoroughly for mold, don't want to add that). Then dump in a single packet of the Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, don't bother rehydrating it first or anything, it'll be fine going straight in. Add pectic enzyme if you have it (this does nothing to the flavor, it just makes the end product less cloudy). Stopper it up, shake it again. This jug now contains your "must" (pre-ferment mead).

Pour some sterilizing fluid in a bowl, put a carboy bung/drilled stopper in the bowl, with an airlock. Ensure full immersion. Let sit for a minute. Replace stopper with your bung/drilled stopper, affix airlock. Fill airlock with clean water, sanitizing fluid, or vodka. Rinse the stopper, fix it to your jug of sanitizing fluid.

Place must-jug in a dark place, I recommend a cabinet or closet.

Days 2-7:

Retrieve jug, give it a little jostle. Nothing so vigorous as to get your mead into the airlock, but enough to upset it. This is to release CO2 buildup, and to keep any part of the fruit from drying out. The foaming from the CO2 release may be very vigorous. Do this over a towel for your first batch. If the foam gets into your airlock, clean your airlock and reaffix it. Perform this jostling procedure at least once per day, more is better.

Day 8:

Final jostling, I recommend doing this in the morning.

Day 9:

let it sit, we want the sediment to settle.

Day 10: Time to get it off the sediment

Shake sterilizing fluid jug. Affix tubing to siphon. Put the siphon in the sterilizing fluid, shake the jug a little just to get the whole siphon wet. Siphon fluid into either a third container or a large bowl. This is all to sterilize both the inside and outside of your siphoning system.

Remove siphon from jug. Give it a couple pumps to empty it of any remaining fluid. Place siphon in your mead jug, leaving the end of the tubing in sterilizing fluid while you do this.

Take the jug that you just siphoned the sterilizing fluid from. Dump what fluid remains in it. Place the end of the tubing in this jug, then siphon the mead into it. Make no attempt to get the last bit of mead into your fresh container, it's mostly dead yeast and decomposing fruit.

Add potassium sorbate if you have it, stopper the jug, place it in your fridge.

Clean the jug you started in. Clean your siphon and tubing.

Day 11:

Let it sit

Day 12 or later: time to transfer again, or bottle it.

If you no longer have a jug full of sterilizing fluid, make one.

Repeat the earlier steps to sterilize the siphoning system, with a bottling wand attached to the end of the tubing if you want to bottle.

Sterilize your bottles or a clean jug, either with fluid or heat.

Siphon mead either into your bottles or jug. Stopper/cap/cork when done.

Put your jug/bottles in the fridge.

The yeast culture is still alive, and will continue to ferment. The fridge, and optional potassium sorbate, will merely slow this down. I recommend drinking any bottles within two months, to avoid a risk of bursting bottles. The mead should already be tasty at this point, but usually tastes much better after a couple more weeks.

EDIT: Fixed the formatting up a bit.

u/jratmain · 5 pointsr/brewing

Many people start with extract brewing and that's a great way to get your foot in the door and figure out if you want to continue.

I'm gonna recycle a reply I left on a similar post recently, I think it was a good, quick summary/overview of what you'll want to learn about and consider.

  • Volume: How much beer do you want to make? You can make even just 1-gallon batches of beer, but that's only 6-8 bottles. If it takes 10-14 days to ferment your beer (pretty standard) and 2-3 weeks to bottle carbonate (also pretty standard) that's a long wait for a 6 pack. If you want to make more, you'll need a bigger pot (we call them kettles) than most people have in their kitchens (8 gallon minimum, though I recommend 10 because that gives you flexibility to do all-grain brewing if you want to).
  • Equipment: You have options here but either route you take you're going to need some specialized equipment. You'll need a food-grade, airtight bucket to ferment your beer in. How are you going to get your beer into the bottles? You're going to need a bottling bucket (a food grade plastic bucket with a spigot at the bottom). Post-fermentation, there's a thick layer of sludge (fermentation by-product, called "trub") at the bottom of your beer and you won't want to bottle this. So you transfer the beer from the fermentation bucket to the bottling bucket. You'll want to do this using tubing to avoid exposing the beer to too much oxygen, which can negatively impact the flavor, and to avoid collecting the trub. You can use that same tubing attached to a bottling wand to bottle your beer. Additionally, you'll need an airlock and rubber stopper to plug the lid in your fermenting bucket to prevent bugs from getting into the beer. An airlock allows CO2 (which the yeast generates) to escape the fermentation bucket but doesn't allow any oxygen or other bugs to enter.
  • Fermentation: in addition to needing a fermentation bucket (don't just use any bucket, you need something food-grade that has a lid with an airtight seal, and a hole in the lid for your airlock), you'll need someplace dark, cool and temperature stable to ferment. Unless you've got access to a cool basement, you'll likely need a fermentation chamber, such as a mini-fridge or something, to keep temps stable, esp during the summer. Temp control is very important in making beer as if it's too cold, the yeast will fall asleep and if it's too hot, the yeast will express off flavors (depending on the yeast, but mostly true).
  • Packaging: You'll be bottling, as kegging is expensive and requires a lot of equipment. Bottling is cheaper but is also kind of a pain in the ass, especially when you're making 5-gallon batches (50+ bottles of beer). You'll need empty beer bottles, caps, a beer wand (that allows you to fill each bottle with ease and in a controlled manner) and a capper (a device that enables you to seal the caps to the bottle).
  • Sanitization: This step is important at EVERY stage post-boil. You'll need something like StarSan to sanitize your buckets, tubing, caps, ANYTHING that touches the beer after the boil stage will need to be sanitized to avoid contamination.

    You have a couple of options to gear up. One option would be to pick up a brewing kit. I made a pic to explain what each item is in the beer kit. This is not an endorsement of that specific kit or brand, solely for educational purposes. With a kit, you get everything you need to start brewing and it's all brand new. The linked kit doesn't include bottles. You could find that kit or other kits at a local homebrew store and talk to people there who can help you on your brewing journey. The linked kit is by no means your only option - there are lots of kits out there. Whatever brand you consider, make sure it has the same components as the one I linked. You will need all that stuff.

    You can also check Craigslist. People leave the hobby on occasion and put all their gear up on Craigslist for a fraction of the price new. I got everything in that brewing kit above, plus bottles, for $25 on Craigslist from a guy in my area who had been brewing with his buddy, and when his buddy moved away he just didn't feel like going solo.

    Just a warning, if you're really into beer, this hobby is super addictive. I started Sept 2018 with the stuff I got off Craigslist brewing extracts in an aluminum pot on my stove and bottling -- and there is nothing wrong with doing this! You can make great beer from extracts. But I wanted to explore other styles and have more control over recipes. Dec 2018 I switched to all-grain (not using extracts). I now brew outside with a fancy brew kettle on a propane burner using all-grain recipes and then use kegs instead of bottling (yeah, we built a keezer). I love this hobby and there is really nothing as satisfying as drinking beer I made, sharing it with friends and family.

    If you do decide to give brewing a shot, I have one final piece of advice. Beer is a lot more flexible than people give it credit for. Even mistakes made during the process can be overcome. Giving the yeast more time to work or aging a beer can reverse or lessen the impact of a mistake. When something seems to be off, this is the advice we always give: Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Home Brew (RDWHAHB). It's practically scripture 'round here.

    Good luck and cheers!
u/cryospam · 16 pointsr/mead

Don't buy a kit! They sell you all kinds of shit you won't use when there are better options for similar money.

Get a brewing bucket as if you don't have a bottler then this will make your life so much better.

Get 2 carboys (glass is best but better bottles will work too). Check Craigslist for these...you can get some awesome deals.

Get 1 Refractomoeter instead of a hydrometer because they use WAY less of your must to calculate and they aren't mega fragile like hydrometers are.

You will want an auto siphon

You will want a carboy brush that fits on a cordless drill because cleaning a carboy without one fucking sucks (and for 18 bucks this is a no brainer).

You will need sanitizer. I personally like Iodophor because it's super cheap, it doesn't really foam up and it lasts forever. I bought one of THESE bottles like 2 years ago and it is about half full even though I brew between 50-100 gallons a year.

I always advocate people start with beer bottles rather than wine bottles. The reason for this has less to do with the bottles and more to do with equipment. The Ferrari Bottle Capper is 14 dollars while a good floor corker for wine bottles will set you back 60 bucks. In addition, it's cheaper to bottle in 20 ounce beer bottles with caps rather than in wine bottles with good corks. Use of a double lever corker for wine bottles should be considered a war crime...seriously...unless you're a masochist who loves dumping wine everywhere and having to clean it afterwards...then just avoid them...they are absolutely awful.

If you go the wine bottle route then NEVER use agglomerated or colmated corks (the ones made from tiny pieces of cork glued together) as they fall apart and will leave chunks in your bottles. In addition they don't age well, so you are much more likely to lose your brew to spoilage. I like synthetic Nomacorc but you can also buy very good quality solid natural corks as well.

Good oxygen absorbing bottle caps on the other hand are mega cheap. Again...this isn't about one being better than the other, so you can use either one.

For wine bottles, I REALLY like the ones with screw tops because they make it nice and easy to cap your bottles once opened. But for all of your bottles buy these locally...shipping will double or triple the cost of these vs buying locally. I get them for 15 bucks a case a few miles from my house...they're almost 30 a case on Amazon or close to that from Midwest or from Ohio (shipping is like 11-15 dollars a case.)

For beer bottles...I prefer clear, but they'll be tough to find locally so I often end up with brown ones. Again...buy these locally not online due to shipping costs. Your local brewing supply stores buy these pallets at a time so even Amazon can't compete with the lack of shipping costs.

u/Rikkochet · 7 pointsr/Homebrewing

Cool gift idea!

I'd say, first and foremost, that you aren't going to be able to kit out your boyfriend for homebrewing. There are too many styles for different types of equipment, and it gets very expensive... But a basic kit is good enough to brew just about anything, and it gives him the option to buy new items piece-by-piece as he outgrows the starter ones.

If you want to give him a good start in the hobby, get him 3 things:

  1. A brewing starter kit
  2. A good brewing book
  3. A good beer kit

    For a starter kit, it looks something like one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Share-Enjoy-Homebrew-Brewing-Starter/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=sr_1_3

    You get a plastic bucket to ferment the beer, cleaning chemicals, hydrometer, bottles, bottle capper, siphon, etc. This should be perfectly adequate for him to brew beer dozens of times before he might want to start tweaking his equipment. The best part is you can replace individual parts of the kit any time you want - it makes it a very flexible upgrade path.


    For a starter book, it's How to Brew all the way. I'm pretty sure everyone in here owns a copy.


    For a starter kit, you can pick kits off Amazon. You should know there's 3 major types of beer recipe:

  4. Pre-hopped extract kits. These are the beer kits you can buy in every grocery store. They're "fine", but my biggest complaint is that 90% of the work is already done for you, so brew day is almost boring.

  5. Extract kits. (Get one of these). They include barley extract (usually in jars of thick syrup, but sometimes in dry powder form), hops to boil, and sometimes some extra things like specialty grains, spices, etc. Here's an example: https://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Blonde-Homebrew-Beer-Ingredient/dp/B00AC7Q4JW

  6. All grain recipes. All grain brewing is the most hands-on you can get homebrewing, but it also requires some extra brewing equipment. The How to Brew book goes over it in great detail, and your boyfriend can decide if all grain brewing interests him.


    So, for all of these things, I gave Amazon links, but you don't have to buy them online at all. I'd strongly recommend looking up local homebrewing stores and just walking in. Most of my local shops are cheaper than shopping online, the staff are fun to talk to (because they really care about brewing), and it's nice to be able to examine some of the things before you buy them.

    Whether you shop locally of online, everything I listed above should come in at less than $150.
u/paulshoop · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

For temp control, use a cooler. This is the cooler I use. It is perfect to hold any fermenter I've seen. Fill with 65f water. Put your fermenter in the cooler. Add frozen 16-oz soda bottles to keep water temps at around 65f. Monitor your fermenter temps (using the stick-on fermometer ... just be sure the fermometer isn't under water!). I've found adding 1 frozen bottle in the morning and 1 in the evening keeps temps exactly where I need them..

If your fermenter has a spigot in the bottom - place the fermenter inside a contractor trash bag (the super thick durable kind) before placing in the water. You don't want to risk infection by having the spigot exposed to the water.

For BIAB and All-Grain ... #1 - BIAB is all-grain. It is just easier. The ingredients are the same. The end result is the same (Beer!). The complexity, cost, and time are different. So, I'll just list out a 2-vessel BIAB-in-a-cooler hybrid system.

  • 10-Gallon Aluminum pot with lid - $55
  • Bayou Classic SP10 burner - $50
  • Link to pot ... scroll down to the frequently bought together section - it has pot, lid, and the burner ... $103
  • Cooler for your mash tun ... $30 ... This cooler is the perfect size for 5.5 gallon batches. Any bigger and you'd have too much "dead space" in the cooler which would make heat retention an issue.
  • To convert the cooler for use as a mash tun - watch this video ...
  • EXCEPT - don't build the manifold inside like he shows - use a BIAB liner from brewinabag.com - they cost $30. Trust me on this - the $30 is well worth it.
  • Wort Chiller ... $50 ... this is 100% necessary if you want to save time. If not - you can look in to "no-chill homebrew method". I recommend just getting the chiller.
  • 24" wire whisk for stirring the crap out of the mash and wort - $12
  • A double-mesh fine strainer - $17 ... for pouring the cooled wort thru into your fermenter. Serves two purposes - 1 - filters out hops and break material. 2 - aerates your wort as you fill the fermenter.
  • 1/2" stainless steel siphon ... $8 - used for transferring the cooled wort from the kettle to the fermenter. Get the 1/2" not the 3/8" ... trust me, it saves time. This siphon will also be used for transfering wort to your bottling bucket.
  • video on using a siphon

    Total - $255 shipped to your door.

    This setup will be a setup that you can use for all types of Ales. You can even do low-temp ales that ferment at 50-55f by adding more ice/colder water to the cooler. Don't think it would be efficient enough for lagering.

    Process:

  • heat 2-gallons of water on your home stove to 180f.
  • dump this water in your mash tun to pre-heat it. Keep lid closed
  • heat mash water on your home stove to save propane. (about 5-gallons - use mash calculators to determine water needs ... like the brew365 mash calculator)
  • Drain the 2-gallons of water from your mash tun. Drain some thru the hose to clean it and just dump the rest out.
  • Put your BIAB liner in the mash tun (make sure it is clean)
  • Dump your mash water in
  • Add your grains stirring like a mad man with the whisk.
  • Stir for 2-4 minutes. Check temps... you probably want around 151f
  • close lid and cover lid with a thick blanket (helps conserve heat as the lid is the least insulated part of this cooler)
  • Begin heating about 4 gallons of sparge water on your stove. You need this to be about 200f.
  • Wait 30 mins the open and stir again. Check temps. They should be within a degree or two of your starting temp. If the temp has fallen TOO low -like 146 or 147, add 1/2gallon of boiling water.
  • Close lid and wait 30 more mins.
  • Open lid - stir 2-4 minutes.
  • Drain into kettle. I measure volume by draining into a gallon pitcher. Expect 3.5-4 gallons of "first runnings"
  • if the drain is going SLOW - lift up on the BIAB liner a bit... it can get sucked into the cooler outlet. There are a few solutions for this. Use whatever is handy to act as a screen between the liner and the cooler outlet. An alternative is using the 1/2" siphon to drain the cooler!
  • Light burner and turn up
  • Add your 200f sparge water to the mash tun. This will raise grain temps to 170f. This is called mashing out. Stir like a mad man for about 4 minutes.
  • Let the sparge rest another 5 minutes
  • Drain into kettle
  • Stir kettle and take a gravity sample (COOL gravity sample to about 70f in order to get a more accurate reading!)
  • Bring kettle to a boil (watch out for boil over)
  • Once a boil is achieved, start timer
  • I boil 75 minutes because my setup and boil-off rate dictate that time.
  • Add hops at scheduled times.
  • At 10mins left in boil, drop in your wort chiller. Careful with the plastic hoses - they melt if too close to flame.
  • CHECK wort chiller connections for leaks BEFORE putting in kettle!!!
  • After boil, turn on chiller and begin cooling.
  • I stir my pot while cooling (with the lid off). Some put the lid on and stir the pot by moving the chiller around. This is KEY to quick cooling.
  • Transfer cooled wort into fermenter using siphon and strainer
  • Take a gravity sample - hopefully you hit target goal.
  • Aerate a bit more IF YOU WANT, by shaking the holy crap out of the fermenter.
  • Pitch yeast.
  • Put fermenter in your cooler in a dark and quiet place (bug free!!).
  • Cleanup and done. (I actually clean as I go).

    EDIT - you will need an extra 5-gallon pot to heat sparge water.. forgot that. They can be found anywhere for about $20. As always - check craigslist to save even more $$$$. This is the cheapest and most efficient setup I've been able to put together. If you really want to get fancy - then you can add a stainless steel fermenter from Chapman Brewing Equipment for an extra $99. The fermenter is well worth it!

    EDIT 2: As always SANITIZE everything at all stages. Also - with all-grain, you'll eventually want to get into water chemistry. Read up on that. AND a good kitchen scale is needed for measuring out hop additions (and later water chemistry adjustments). Kitchen scales can be had cheap. You'll want one that is accurate and can be calibrated.
u/na_cho_cheez · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

Cool add-ons to the Brooklyn Brew Shop 1G kits (which I liked):

u/vyme · 2 pointsr/fermentation

Amazon might not be ideal for anything but the airlocks, but here goes:

Airlocks, pack of 3 for $5.39 at the moment.

Lids, probably available for the same or less at your grocery store.

As for grommets, the hardware store is your best bet. They're classed by their internal and external diameters. Internal diameter (ID) is what you're going to squeeze the airlock stem into, external (ED) is the size of the hole you've drilled in your lid. The ones I use have an ED of .5 inches. I don't remember the ID, but that's more flexible. Easier to jam a tapered stem into a rubber hole than it is to make the grommet fit into an inflexible hole in a plastic lid.

Just match the ED to whatever drill bit you're using, and you'll be fine. Oh, speaking of, none of this is going to work without a drill. But the cheapest drill you can find will work just fine. I like a spade drill bit for making clean holes in plastic lids, but other types will work just fine. If need be, you can remove burrs left in the hole with a hobby knife or file.

I'm afraid I'm made this all sounds harder than it actually is. It comes down to:

  1. Drill hole

  2. Put grommet in hole

  3. Put airlock in grommet

    If you attempt this and have any trouble, feel free to PM me. I stumbled a bit with this at first and would be happy to help you DIY it.
u/impetuousraven · 1 pointr/infertility

Glad to share, we've had a lot of fun with it! For canning, this site has some really good general info and basic recipes. Lately I use this book more, but she does not use pectin, I still do. Her process often involves extra steps with separating solids from liquid and cooking down the liquid - I don't do that, too much time and mess.

For fermenting, I went to a workshop to learn the basics. I'm really liking it because of how flexible and easy it is - no water baths and sterilizing, recipes aren't really needed. This site has a good guide for brine strength, but I approximate how much salt, and it's been fine. A basic sauerkraut, you slice up a head of cabbage, reserving the pieces of the core. Sprinkle about 3 tablespoons of Celtic sea salt or Himalayan pink salt (or some kind of salt with no additives) and massage it in for a few minutes. Sprinkle on some caraway seeds and mix in. Then pack it into a quart size, clean, ball jar. Pack it down firmly as you fill it, I use my fist, but you can get a sauerkraut packer - a wooden instrument to pack down krauts. Add all the liquid it has released too. Leave about 1-1.5 inches of head space, place the cabbage core and put a lid on it. The cabbage core is in lieu of other kinds of weight, basically you need the veg to stay under the liquid throughout. The cabbage should release enough liquid to cover it, but if not, add brine (3 tablespoons salt per quart) to cover. Then just let the good bacteria go to work for a few weeks, making sure to burp your jar every day at the beginning, then less frequently. In our first batch this year we forgot the first day after, and then the next day when we released the pressure it sprayed all over like a shaken can of soda. Because I am lazy, I got these lids that prevent the need for that step, but I still had one overflow because my cabbage released more water than I expected.

That is a basic recipe, but you can put in whatever you want, and just make sure it has enough brine. We made one with julienned beets, kohlrabi, onion, and carrot with some pickling spices. I did another with cabbage, greens, beets, onion and kohlrabi with mustard seed and oregano. These folks who ran the workshop I went to list their products here and there are some really good ideas for what combinations you might try. Have fun with it!

u/kaeladedah · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

This beer making kit is awesome for a science loving beer drinker. The science behind making beer is awesome, and it's a pretty neat hobby to get into. This kit is a bit more deluxe.

Molecular gastronomy is also pretty awesome. Who wouldn't love combining chemistry and food? Here is a deluxe kit.

If he likes games, The Art of Science is a big hit.

This smart phone adapter can connect to microscopes and telescopes to make a viewing screen. These are super useful if he uses either of these pieces of equipment.


u/lockness58 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Thanks! Good question. I definitely spent more than was necessary trying to figure everything out but the most expensive item was the king carousel. I was able to get it for on sale for about $45 brand new Amazon prime. Here it is but when I found it, it was on sale http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055OWLFI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1.


Fridge I scored for free.


I'd say for the rod extension, coupler, bolts, screws, caulk, fasteners and glue was about $30. Used these to keep the front door closed with the seal they work great! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N2H50XA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The wood was one 8' board 8" x 1" I got at Home Depot and they trimmed to my specs, about $10.


The cost of stain and chalk paint 8 oz cans ~$6 each x 3 (primer for chalk) = ~$20.


I had all the keg lines already I just adapted them from old picnic taps.


Elbow shanks I got for 13.99 a piece plus shipping from Adventures In Homebrew with shipping $36.98 (46.98 actually now that i look back had a $10 credit). http://www.homebrewing.org/Chrome-Plated-Elbow-Shank_p_1187.html


Regulator off Amazon for $114.13 with Prime. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0060NOX40/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


$29.90 for both chrome faucets off amazon free shipping http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00370AT2Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Quick Connect I used for the top tap area $6 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000DD23N/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


So I guess when all is said and done 292.01.


But if you have the regulator and other bits laying around it could be around $177.88.


Kinda pricey but I guess I had to use that x-mas bonus somewhere!


Oh - and the thing takes about 6 pounds of nuts and dried fruit to fill. That gets pricey but gum balls sell for pretty cheap in bulk from here http://www.gumballmachinefactory.com/gumballscandy.html

u/mannequinbutt · 3 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Hello world.

When I don't know what to get someone, I usually go over to mysubscriptionaddiction.com and find a nice monthly subscription box they'd like. There are monthly beer clubs, to fancy foods, and the infamous dollar shave club.


As for something on amazon, me and my boyfriend loved the Mr. Beer Kit. Me and my gal friend each got our boyfriends one of these for Christmas, and we all took a day out to brew beer together. The best part is making custom, inside joke labels with these clear label wraps and then sharing them with friends. Health/Mana Potion and Molotov Cocktail labels are always good for game night.

If beer isn't your thing, there's a wine version and a [cider version](http://amzn.com/B00I5R7MR4
). And if you're living sober, then I'm an ass and enjoy your anniversary! Congratulations. :)

u/TehCrucible · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

Gonna copy and paste one of my previous replies to a similar question last year. Hopefully that helps a bit.

Your question about ballpark cost is a bit "how long is a piece of string..?". It totally depends on your choices. Mine ended up costing me around $1k all up, but I'm in Australia and everything is bloody expensive over here.

------

Recently built a keezer myself so I can offer a bit of advice. I think the main reason most people shy away from kits is they tend to bundle cheap and nasty parts. Here's a list of parts you'll need and my insights to go with them:

  • Gas bottle and regulator. (If you can afford it, get a dual pressure regulator. This will allow you to serve one keg while force carbonating another).

  • Gas distributor. (If you want to serve more than one keg. To add to my prior point, you can get gas distributors with individual low pressure regulators on each output. I got one that also has one-way check valves to stop beer getting back to my regulator).

  • Taps. (Don't skimp here, you want nice taps. I went all out and got the Perlick 650ss, mostly for the flow control. It means I don't have to have kilometers of beer line coiled up inside my keezer to get a good pour. You'll also need shanks long enough to get through your fridge door if the taps don't come bundled with them).
  • Quick disconnects. (Either ball or pin lock to match your kegs. I use ball locks as they're more common here in Australia but I think pin-locks are cheaper over there).
  • Hose. (Theres more to consider here than you think and its mostly to do with balancing your system to get a good pour. Read this if you haven't already. Generally speaking though, smaller inner diameter is better. I'm using 5mm ID and 8mm OD. If you get taps with flow control, you can afford to be a little less picky with this).
  • Fittings. (Generally speaking, you've got two main options. Barb and stepless clamps or MFL. It's really up to you how likely you are to want to move parts around. I just used the barb fittings for mine but if you're likely to change things in the future, MFL is probably smarter).

    I'm super happy with my system, the 650ss are awesome and let me use less than a metre of beer line. I also shelled out a little extra for a ball lock gas post and bulkhead to replace the gas-in barb on my gas manifold. That combined with another quick disconnect just lets me easily remove the gas bottle from the freezer and gas another keg for storage or something. Hope that helps a bit, feel free to ask any more questions.
u/jsxca · 1 pointr/beermoney

Recipes on the internet! It's basically whiskey and heavy cream. It's not terribly hard to make aside from making sure the cream doesn't curdle and isn't time consuming at all. Just Google "bailey's recipe" and you'll get a ton of versions, all pretty similar. No suggestions on which one as I haven't made it in years, but I just picked one at random from Google. Just don't listen to the ones that say you need eggs, it's unnecessary (and gross) IMO.

Too little too late, but you can make huge batches, get [inexpensive but nice looking glass bottles](Chef's Star CASE OF 6 - 16 oz. EASY CAP Beer Bottles - CLEAR https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011SGS8U8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KrVyybC36C3R0) off Amazon, and gift them for a cheap and easy but crowd pleasing present.

u/Fantomfart · 2 pointsr/brewing

Kits are the best way to learn the basics, cleaning/sterilise importance and fermenting process. Find other beer kits like the IPA linked below at $44 - 5 gallon.

Equipment wise (kit below comes with a block party amber?) the USA doesn't do a pressure barrel like the uk though I did find that norcal do a solution(see links below)

The total cost below is sub-$200 for your first 5 gallon/40pints and will provide you all the tools you need to produce multiple batches in future. This equipment can also be use to make wine and cider. You can also rack your beer to plastic 2ltr or 3ltr pop/soda bottle to age and to easily chill in the fridge.

https://www.amazon.com/Share-Enjoy-Homebrew-Brewing-Starter/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503185459&sr=8-1&keywords=homebrew+kit

http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Fermenter-Spiedel-30-Liter-7.9-Gallon-Plastic.html

http://www.norcalbrewingsolutions.com/store/Speidel-Ball-Lock-Gas-In-with-Pressure-Relief-Valve.html

https://www.amazon.com/HomeBrewing-Brewing-Recipe-Citra-Session/dp/B00WIGZJQO/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1503185696&sr=8-1&keywords=ipa+brewing+kit+5+gallon

Once you are confident then you can progress on to the more advanced brewing. Not something to jump straight into. The disheartening experience of your first bad/spoilt batch shouldn't put you off, some can even be saved!

Good luck in your brewing. (Personally I found wine a much more forgiving experience when learning to home brew)

u/moneyturtle · 3 pointsr/running

To add to what /u/Sintered_Monkey has said, a kit to start can be a pretty good idea, though honestly, you could skip extract altogether^1. I got into the hobby with a 1 gallon all-grain kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. They're $40 and include everything you need to get started brewing, so long as you have a couple of 8 quart or larger pots and a strainer (you can get by with 2 pots, but 3 can make it a bit easier; alternatively, brew-in-a-bag, or BIAB, could allow you to do this with just a single pot and is honestly easier). You'd also need one of these to cap your bottles. I'd recommend this route because it allows you to jump into the hobby pretty thoroughly; even a basic BIAB all-grain setup is doing all of the fundamental steps of beer-making that the pros use, and any gear upgrades beyond that (and you will end up having gear upgrades, because there are lots of fun toys in this hobby) are just to further refine your process. If you end up not liking it, you're out not even a hundred bucks. If you do enjoy it or just want more info, come join us at /r/homebrewing!

^1 (One of the first steps in brewing is extracting sugars from grains; this resulting liquid is called wort. With all-grain brewing, you do this extraction step yourself; with extract, you're basically buying concentrated wort—more expensive on an ingredient basis, you have less control over the final product, but your equipment costs are less.)

u/geuis · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

I live in San Francisco and our best local brewcraft store is SF Brewcraft, http://www.sanfranciscobrewcraft.com/. The guys there are super knowledgable. They have several beginner kits, all 5 gallon. There are 3 different options of 2 plastic fermenters, 1 plastic and 1 glass, and 2 glass. I'd suggest going with this one: http://www.sanfranciscobrewcraft.com/product_p/eq101.htm

I got the plastic/glass combo a while back and that was how I got started. You can tell them which kind of beer you want and they'll make recipe recommendations and include everything you need for it.

There are smaller kits on Amazon and other places like MoreBeer if you don't want to go with a full 5 gallon setup.

5 gallon batches is about the biggest you can do on a normal stove top in a kitchen. Any bigger and you can't get enough heat to bring that much water to boil. If you don't have a lot of space in your kitchen, that might also be a reason to go with a smaller kit.

So the kit I recommended is great to get started. In reality, it comes with two plastic fermenter buckets but you only need one for beer these days. The instructions will indicate a traditional two-step fermentation process, but you'll have 2 which is great if you decide to do double batches.

You've GOT to have a pot. If you're doing 5 gallon batches, you need at least a 6 gallon pot with a lid. If you're doing smaller 1-2 gallon batches, you can use a smaller pot. A regular pot is fine, but spending a little more on a kettle that has a thermometer and ball valve is hugely helpful.

Ok but back to specific recommendations since that's what you need:

5 gallon batch recommendations

  1. http://www.sanfranciscobrewcraft.com/product_p/eq101.htm. Tell them you want an IPA recipe when you order it.

  2. A pot like this is preferred http://www.amazon.com/HomeBrewStuff-Stainless-Home-Brew-Thermometer/dp/B00JDVPCKU/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1415488286&sr=1-3&keywords=beer+kettle or this is ok http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Kettle-Welded-Thermometer-Bazooka/dp/B00IT5LTCQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1415488366&sr=1-2&keywords=beer+kettle

    1-2 gallon batch recommendations

    I haven't tried these kits, but they seem to fully be what you need.

    http://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-Brew-Beer-Making-Everyday/dp/B005G20IIG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1415488462&sr=8-6&keywords=homebrew+kit

    http://www.amazon.com/Mini-Monster-Bookshelf-Brewery-Amber/dp/B00AKIUIEU/ref=sr_1_10?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1415488614&sr=1-10&keywords=homebrew+kit

    You will need bottles:
    http://www.amazon.com/12oz-Amber-long-neck-bottles/dp/B003X4BO64/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1415488782&sr=8-2&keywords=beer+bottles

    5 gallons of beer will fill about 48 bottles. Get 2 boxes of bottles. 1-2 gallons, get 1 box.

    You will need bottle caps. If you buy from the kit I recommended from SF Brewcraft, caps are included. But if you don't, make sure you get them or that they come in your kit. http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Colored-Polished-Bottle-approximately/dp/B002W2E99C/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1415489000&sr=8-9&keywords=colored+bottle+caps


    Hope this helps.
u/bprs07 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

I am an all grain brewer that lives in a 550 sq. ft. apartment with my girlfriend (including a 50 sq. ft. balcony area). I brew 5 gallon batches, and created by own cooler mash tun using the following link:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to/g1580/how-to-build-your-own-home-brewing-mash-tun/

It's a 5 gallon cooler that I got at Home Depot. All of the other parts can be sourced at your local hardware store.

In addition to the cooler mash tun I have the following:

  • 10.5 gallon boiling kettle

  • Long stirring spoon

  • Standard plastic 6.5 gallon fermenting bucket

  • Cool Brewing jacket for temp control, because I live in Hawaii

  • Standard plastic bottling bucket & spring-loaded wand

  • Hydrometer & thermometer

  • All required airlocks

  • Auto-siphon & tubing

  • Tons of cleaned bottles with labels scrubbed off (stored in 12 pk cases)

  • Accessories for adjusting water (minerals, pH meter, test strips, etc.)

  • DME and a couple mason jars for yeast starters

  • A collapsible table (~2.5x5 feet) that I store in the bathroom behind the washing machine, good for extra work space on brew day

  • Other odds and ends


    I list all of that to show the type/quantity of things I am able to store. My girlfriend loves the hobby and participates on brew day (yay me!) so that's a bonus, but I don't think the stuff above is truly prohibitive in terms of storing. I have a section of my standard 2x5 ft closet for the large equipment, and I store a lot of the minerals and water chemistry stuff in my bottling bucket when not in use. Cleaned bottles are stored in the 12 packs they originally came in, stored in a little nook above my kitchen cabinets. The mash tun doesn't take up much square footage, being one of those cylindrical coolers, and I keep that outside (no doubt a benefit of the place I live).

    I boil on a pretty standard, probably low-end electric stove. Takes a little longer to get things going, but I do get to a rolling boil. I cool the wort in my sink, which I fill with a party-size bag of ice. I also have a few pounds of hops portioned and stored in the freezer.

    I hope that helps ease any concerns about apartment brewing.

    tl;dr Apartment brewing is incredibly doable, even for someone like me who does all grain 5 gallon batches in a shared 550 sq. ft. apartment.

    [Edit: additional info]
u/thebusinessfactory · 2 pointsr/NoTillGrowery

Go with the coots recipe, it's what I'm using. With all the top dressing and other additions I'm sure it's drifted pretty far off that original mix though. I'm finishing up the 4th round but I did till/remix with more pumice and biochar after the 2nd round.

I am currently using 1 maxi with 4 distribution drippers in each 15g pot. Only thing I add to my res is agsil (silica) and some BTi to combat fungus gnats. I started with 2 maxis and no distro drippers at first but I'm really liking the 4 different drips. With just the 2 maxis the sides where there were no drippers got a little to dry for my liking. I've never had a run away dripper but plan for it just in case. My system is gravity powered so they could theoretically empty the res but that's a 13 gallon trashcan so it would never exceed that much water.

Not sure on the compost, I've only used homemade thermal compost and homemade ewc and the worms are fed the BAS craft blend so it should be nutrient rich.

I don't really do aact as much anymore...I just never really saw a huge difference and the brewing is annoying. Fermenting is awesome though, get some half gallon jars and fermenting lids. Exploding a glass jar of fermented stuff isn't awesome lol.

300w in a 3x3 is 33 watts per sq foot. That should give you pretty great results. There are 3 voltages of those new Vero 29s so that will pretty much just depend on how you want to drive them, how many watts per chip you want, etc. I'm guessing the HLG-320H-C drivers would work well but I haven't actually looked at the datasheets recently.

Kinda all over the place but hopefully that helps. Too many dabs! Just got some rosin plates and went a little too hard "testing"

u/twogscoffee · 1 pointr/Coffee

In my experience the quality of your cold brew is also highly dependent on your filtering system. I use the Hario mizudashi because it has a very fine filter and produces extremely clean cold brew. I prefer the cold brew from the Mizudashi even with lower quality beans to simply submerging coffee in water and filtering it later. I use a 10:1 ratio in the Mizudashi and I like drinking it at that strength. 4:1 is meant to be diluted by half, so keep that in mind.

If you're making cold brew by simply submerging it in water and filtering it later, I'd recommend putting the coffee in something like this and seeing if you like it better. However it's still possible to make good cold brew without doing this, just make sure you leave all the sludge at the bottom and filter out the good stuff. A siphon like this which is commonly used for home brewing beer could be the perfect tool.

EDIT: as far as beans go, try making cold brew with the cheapest possible option if you have a low budget. Some grocery store coffee will work just fine as long as it's made well. Cold brew is perhaps the most forgiving method of coffee brewing.

u/madwilliamflint · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

1: A simple awesome tasting mead:


Okay, here we go:

You need something to ferment in. a 1-gallon bottle is perfect. You also need an airlock of some kind. Fermentation produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. If you sealed up something that's fermenting it would explode. So you want to let out the CO2 without letting IN any air (contamination, blah blah.) Some people use a balloon with a pinhole in it when they're getting started. But a proper airlock is only a couple bucks.

A profoundly simple, wonderful tasting mead that's great to start with is one called "JAOM" (Joe's Ancient Orange Mead.) There's nothing ancient about it.

  • 1 orange
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 whole clove
  • small handful of raisins. (25ish)
  • 3.5 pounds of clover honey
  • little package of plain old bread yeast.
  • Water to fill (about 2" shy of the top. This gets fizzy and you don't want it to explode.)

    Now? Just put all that in the jar and put your airlock on it and wait.

    The hard part? Waiting. Depending on the temperature it may take a day to start bubbling. It will actively ferment for weeks. Perhaps a month or more.

    You need to wait for it to clear. Really clear. Like "I can put a piece of paper behind this and read it through the mead" clear.

    This is going to take months. I recommend putting it in a closet someplace and pretending to forget about it.

    You'll notice, over time, that a layer of stuff is going go cover the bottom of the jar, and get pretty deep (maybe an inch or so thick.) This is fine. It's mostly dead yeast. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's a little gross, so you don't want it in the final product. What I did before I had syphoning gear was pour as much off the top into a soda bottle as I could, then pour the rest into another one. It would re-settle so that I could do it again.

    It's a cumbersome process, and you'll always have to waste some of your initial product. But it's worth it.

    Now that you have a bottle of clear mead you have two options, only one of which will you take.

  • Drink
  • Let it age. This stuff gets better for YEARS. My first experiment was this mead a couple years ago. I bottled it (in 2 liter soda bottles. very classy) and it was awful. I figured I had nothing to lose by just keeping the bottles around. I tried it this spring? We drank about 3 liters in a week. It was so damn good. So even if you don't like the result, hang on to it. Write the date on it with a sharpie. It'll be good.

    Disclaimer: This isn't my recipe. I found this on one of my favorite sites on ye olde innert00bz. Those knuckleheads are awesome.

u/elgaot5 · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

That's actually not bad but as mentioned below, a decent pot will go a long way. I bought a 30quart turkey fryer and put in a ball valve and that's been one of the best upgrades I've made. I have a fermentor now, but I got some free 6+ gallon food grade icing buckets from my grocery's bakery. Spigots, air locks, and bottling wands are $6 on Amazon. Tubing can be found pretty cheap online or at LHBS/hardware store.

Kettle - $25

Ball Valve - $22

Bazooka Screen - $9

Buckets - Free

Spigot - $6

Airlocks - $7

BIAB Bag - $5

Bottling Wand - $5

Capper with Caps - $18

Various Tubing - $15

This doesn't include your first beer kit, but you can pull off an all grain BIAB as long as you've got fire. My second favorite piece I own is my mash tun which is just a 10 gallon cooler with a bazooka screen and ball valve. I don't bottle anymore, but I feel like if I were to do it again that's all I would need to start. Oh, and a thermometer and some StarSan.

u/xiaomerrrr · 2 pointsr/Kombucha

So I’m a newbie (and had some explosion issues) but here goes with what I did!

1.) I did 2F for 5 days at room temperature. Longer than the 2 days people sometimes recommend, because I had tried one bottle after 3 days and it was too sweet. (I also bottled 1F at sweeter than I would drink because I wanted to ensure carbonation.)

2.) I used chunks of strawberry, minced ginger, and lime juice. (Also made one with pineapple purée but that exploded!) ((Also made raspberry-lime not featured with mashed raspberry and that worked the best out of the three flavors.))

3.) About 1/4 cup fruit per 16 oz kombucha bottle. (For the featured Strawberry-Lime-Ginger: 1/4 cup finely chopped strawberry, 1 tsp minced ginger, 2 tsp lime juice.)

4.) These https://www.amazon.com/Swing-Top-Glass-Bottles-Chalkboard/dp/B01LB1862A?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_1

Going forward thing I’m going to try different are:

-Juice over plant matter like someone suggested (except raspberry which worked great!)

  • Allowing 1F to get a tad more acidic so I can open at 3 to 4 days without sweetness issue (it had enough carbonation.)

    -And I’m going to try to use herbs and perhaps chia seeds in one batch!

    Happy Brewing!



u/InanePenguin · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

I'm assuming this is from Brooklyn Brew Shop (I started the same way, have the same carboy :P ). That's pretty normal, it will settle!

What I did for my second kit from them was a cold crash. Stuck it in my fridge for 5 days and then bottled. I was warned this may kill the yeast/make bottle conditioning impossible but it turned out just fine. I can't say it will always work, but for me it did.

My first batch was super carbonated (possibly just too much sugar. Be careful! Small batches mean small miscalculations can make huge differences).

Also, be very careful when siphoning, the yeast can kick up very easily, especially if you don't cold crash. You will want some yeast for bottle conditioning, but the suspended yeast should be enough. If you can, buy a mini auto siphon. Makes siphoning way easier. I won't go back to just a racking cane. Also a clip if you can, or just a steady hand :)

u/chinsi · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

It is fairly easy to get large equipment like vessels and burners locally in India but it's the little stuff that makes your brew day/bottling day easier like the bottle fillers and auto siphons which are kind of difficult/expensive to get hold off. Depending on which city you are in hops, malts and yeast can be easy to source especially if you have any brewpubs around. The selection of hops is again very limited so like like /u/chino_brews suggested you could get bulk hops from YCH. Dry brewing yeast is available (Fermentis, Lallemand) but it is mostly sold in 500g bricks so I would recommend picking up some 11g packets as well. You should definitely pick up a large 16/32 oz bottle of StarSan and a tub of PBW or something similar for cleaning and sanitizing. I would also pick up a hand held bottle capper, a racking cane, a couple of airlocks and a spigot for bottling. Almost everything else can be improvised or jugaad if you're a little handy :)

u/commiecomrade · 4 pointsr/Homebrewing

6.5gal plastic fermentor - $17.88 (Don't bother with glass fermentors!)

6.5gal Bottling Bucket - $18.81

Hydrometer - $12.99

3 3-piece airlocks - $5.00 - trust me, they'll break.

stopper not needed with plastic fermentor

Bottle filler - $5.09

10 ft 3/8th inch tubing - $10.99

Auto siphon - $8.76

don't need a bottle brush with plastic fermentor

144 bottle caps - $5.78

Use any pure sugar for priming - just calculate it right. I use cane sugar without issue.

Wing bottle capper - $15.48

Dial thermometer not really needed if you're slapping on an adhesive one, but definitely get this for a hot liquor tun if you're doing that.

Wine thief - $11.20

I never used a funnel or fermentor brush - you can use anything to clean but I suggest Oxyclean rinses

32oz Star San - $20.70

Adhesive Thermometer - $4.84

Total Cost: $137.52. Not ridiculous savings BUT you get 32oz of star san instead of 4oz of io-star which will last you years and sanitizer is expensive. You get a plastic fermentor instead of glass which is so much easier to clean and keep light out. Glass carboys are good for aging and aging is good for wine or special beers. Focus on simple ales that don't require it first.

The real savings come when you do all grain and make your own equipment. You can save $137 alone if you buy a big stainless steel pot and slap on a dial thermometer with a ball valve.

u/LillySteam44 · 5 pointsr/skyrim

Granted, I've never made the mead in the official cookbook, but my husband and I make a batch of mead every fall. We start with apple cider and honey instead of the suggest water and honey. This is called a melomel, or apple mead, and it's not entirely necessary, we just like it more that way. And for your first tries, you don't have to get super fancy brewer's yeast. We just use baker's yeast from the grocery store to keep our costs down. It's not the best quality, but the first few batches are never going to be perfect, and it's better to make the early mistakes on less-expensive ingredients.

For the actual brewing, I highly recommend getting a bubble airlock for your carboy. It lets the carboy release gases, so you don't have to worry about potential explosions, but also doesn't let in flies and other pests that are attracted to the smell of said gases. Also! Once it's been fermented and strained, you can add extra spices and things to flavor it. We usually add a bit of brown sugar (I have a sweet tooth) and usually a tiny bit of extra cinnamon so that flavor stands out a bit more with the apple.

Last, when it's all finished, make sure you store your mead in the fridge or other likewise cold space. No matter how well you strained your mead, there will always be yeast left in it, and those little buggers can and will start being active again if left at room temperature. That can lead to a build-up of gas and a taste you may not enjoy.

u/machinehead933 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

For small setup, if you eventually want to get into all-grain, you can do BIAB, or Maxi-BIAB. Google those terms for some more info or you can check out this thread to get started. It is a single vessel all-grain brewing alternative to the big 3 vessell setup you may have seen.

For temperature control, you can do a swamp cooler - its basically one of these with water and ice, fermentation vessel goes into it with a towel wrapped around it. It's not precise but it will work.

A better alternative, however, (IMO) would be a Cool Brewing Cooler. It works exactly like a swamp cooler except you don't use water, it will fit in a closet easily, and allows you to keep temps in check.

For blowoff, you don't necessarily need a large tube. For better bottles, you can use the orange carboy caps with a tube coming off the side. Better bottle also does make a "big blowoff enclosure" specific to better bottles - but they are like $30 and difficult to find.

And finally - you can scale down. You don't need to make 5G batches. There are plenty of people who do 2.5G or even 1G batches.

u/limitedz · 4 pointsr/Homebrewing

Do you ever plan on doing 5 gallon batches? If you have the space it will be more cost effective to just go for a full size keging system. Mini kegs are going to cost you roughly what a new 5 gallon keg will.

That said if it's only a one-off thing you could use some 2 liter bottles and get yourself a co2 tank and regulator and a carbonation cap and force carb that way, it won't be on "tap" but it will be force carbonated.. and you can keep it carbonated if you leave the cap on and top off the bottle with co2 each time you pour from it.


If you have nothing then you'll need a regulator I have this one: (taprite t742hp primary double gauge co2 regulator, brass https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002UZUJ22/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_auBCDbBPZ3V0H)

A co2 tank, something like this: (5lb co2 tank- new aluminum cylinder with cga320 valve https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQQ3WWE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BvBCDbXPB33KP)

Some 5/16 tubing l, and a ball lock gas disconnect like this (5/16" gas line assembly - ball lock https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OI77Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6wBCDbSWZWMNY)

And a carbonation cap like this : (stainless carbonation cap counter pressure bottle filling with 5/16" barb,co2 coupling to carbonate soda beer fruit juice water https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K4GGYT0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_BxBCDbK0V3J35)




I also have this regulator for my mobile mini keg set-up: Ultimate CO2 Regulator works with 5 types of CO2 tanks (0-50psi) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071J9FKVD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_nABCDbQWF87S3
It works great and I use it with a soda stream co2 tank which are a little pricey for how much co2 you get but they're convenient and available everywhere. This makes a nice compact system since you don't have the big regulator and big co2 tank.

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I bought my boyfriend these x-wing ice cube trays fo his birthday and we use them every time we have people over and everyone loves them :) We also have the death star one and there are others.

Loaded Questions is my favorite party game. (adult version.

Star wars whiskey flasks

Everyone loves a beer making kit ;)

crapload of coffee

Don't know if you like cheese, but you can do beer and cheese pairing during game night with these beer cheeses

Happy birthday!! Hope it was great!

u/Grumpntug · 1 pointr/Pensacola

I home brew, though my equipment's still in boxes as we've only been living here in our house for about 4 months. I usually brew hefeweizens because the wife loves them.

It's very easy to get into and there are great kits for first timers available online. I believe there are a few brewing shops around here (still new to the area so have to research)

I highly recommend a kit like this

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0kGFzbE9CWAYS

You will end up replacing a lot of it over time but this and a beer kit will get you up and running easily without missing some needed equipment, introduce you to brewing, and provide everything to make more beer if you like it.

Once you've gone through a brew with a kit like this, you'll be able to more confidently walk into a home brew store and purchase things you need. Plus you get beer! (About 50 bottles) have fun! Remember you're just boiling stuff, so no need to panic!

u/fermware · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

ha, loud and clear! I'm on call now, so you lucked out!

I wish I could give you some definitive advice, but without seeing what he's got, I can't comment with authority. He's probably got standard sanke couplers and I've not seen a good solution there. If you live close, I'd pay him a visit and see what you're dealing with. It's probably going to come down to you just making up some new lines to mate with your corny.
We're getting ready for our Strausstoberfest this weekend and over the summer I reconfigured all of my kegging lines to use 1/4 MFL's for an easier change out than barbed fittings. I may have a last minute surprise myself, as a friend has offered to bring a 1/6 barrel to the party, but it will be sanke. Fortunately, I already have a sanke connector and these from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C30F75I

If there is anything I can help with, let me know!

u/biernas · 2 pointsr/cider

Sorry I tend to do my brewing calculations in imperial (Murican) but.. what I shoot for is a ratio of roughly (usually just a tad under) 1 oz/1 gallon when using dextrose.

For a 5 gallon batch I usually use 4-5 oz in most beers/ciders of medium-higher carbonation. Perhaps shoot for the lower side of that spectrum if you think you may have any residual sugars. If a cider is a bit undercarbed in the end it's not so big of an issue in my opinion.

So to convert converting to metric that would put you at about 13g/liter of what I use maximum if I'm not mistaken. 10-12 g/l should be more than plenty.


> Are there any major differences between top to top siphoning between fermenters, and tap to bottle? (Presuming 10 minutes to let the priming solution diffuse.) We would minimise splash and thus oxygenation in both cases.

Sorry not sure what you're referring to with your process. Maybe you could explain a little better what you're looking to do.

Here are the general beginner steps most people use for bottle carbonating:

  1. Heat the measured dextrose in a small amount of water (I wouldn't stress the volume of water, just enough for it to dissolve and become an aqueous solution works fine).
    I usually heat it until just before a boil or cut it right as I see a boil. As it cools I start getting everything setup.

  2. Once I'm ready I pour the dextrose water (once it's not boiling hot) into the bottom of a bottling bucket allowing my dextrose to get an even dispersion in the cider when I rack vs just pouring it on top after racking.
    Usually the dextrose mix cools relatively quickly especially as the cold bucket acts as a heat sink. It's best to not rack the cider right onto the boiling hot mixture.

  3. I rack my cider carefully into the bucket.
    A good tip is keeping the tubing just below the surface of the cider in the bottling bucket as it fills so I'm not splashing and introducing larger amounts of oxygen.

  4. Then I use a bottling wand attached to my tubing and fill each bottle from my bottling bucket and subsequently cap them.

    Sorry for the wall of text haha. That's a quick little rundown, hopefully it helps! If you have any questions feel free to ask!
u/gibsongal · 1 pointr/fermentation

This is the set the lids and weights came from. First impressions: I really like them! They fit perfectly on wide-mouth Ball jars and the syringe seemed to get pretty much all of the air out. Just make sure you line up the threading because the first time I tried to put the lid on, it was crooked and very hard to get back off to fix.

Besides that, I’m basically remaking a sauce I made last year. But this time, I actually have a scale and was able to accurately measure my salt. When I made 4 different hot sauces last year, I had one that went bad, so I made sure to disinfect all of my equipment by soaking them in a bleach solution for about 10 minutes before starting. Hopefully between that, the airlocks, and the more accurate measurements with the salt will prevent any weirdness from happening.

Side note: the color that hibiscus gives the brine is absolutely beautiful and I love it so much.

Recipe:

-13 halved and seeded habaneros

-6 halved habaneros

-1 yellow bell pepper

-1 orange bell pepper

-4 guavas

-1 prickly pear

-2 inches of ginger, peeled

-8 small garlic cloves

-1 tsp. celery seeds

-2 tsp. coriander seeds

-4 hibiscus flowers

-5% brine with pickling salt by total weight (worked out to 39g for one jar and 40g for the other)

Fermenting for at least 2 weeks and then blending with brine and a small amount of white distilled vinegar for flavor and shelf stability. May also add a little xanthum gum to keep it from separating.

u/garage_cleaner · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

I can patiently wait for almost anything, but not if I am in traffic. Anyhow, because I can wait for things, I figure making my own beer would be awesome. This kit should help immensely.

Good luck and stay safe.

Edit: a word

u/HankSinatra · 3 pointsr/IAmA

The book How to Brew it's a great place to start doing some research. It's like the home brewer's Bible. There are also a lot of free resources online like discussion boards and how-to guides.

When you're ready to purchase a kit, [Northern Brewer] (http://www.northernbrewer.com/) and Midwest Supplies are both great retailers. I would recommend signing up for their mailing lists as they will often have starter kits on sale.

I would recommend staying away from the cheaper Mr. Beer kits. It can be a cheaper, easier option but it's like the easy-bake oven version of homebrewing. You'll make beer, sure, but you won't learn as much using these kits and there's little room for customization/upgrading if you decide to get more into it.

On Black Friday, both retailers that I mentioned always have starter kits on sale. I've gotten brewing equipment and 2 recipe kits for less than $100. That's enough to make roughly 100 bottles of beer for less than $1/bottle. You don't have to buy bottles, just save used ones, (no screw-offs) rinse them out, and you'll be able to fill and re-cap them.

Finally, when brewing, sanitize everything. The quickest way to ruin a batch of beer is improper sanitation.

Cheers.

u/Praesil · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Before you pull the trigger on that, there's a groupon for a homebrew set:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gx-midwest-hydroponic-atlanta

It's the basic kit plus brewing ingredients, PLUS a $25 coupon. The kit you linked also includes:

-Carboy, if you really want to get it. Honestly, for a first batch, you can get by without one and just do a single stage fermentation, but it's recommended to get a secondary. My first batch was an extract that spent ~2 weeks in a primary then straight to bottles. Came out great. There's a good deal at Amazon right now on a 6 gallon glass carboy. Also add a bung and Airlock

-Bottles. Drink some beer, keep some bottles. If you want to buy them, get 48 for a 5 gallon batch (about $25) or go cheap and get some plastic PET bottles. Also a good option. See: every argument of plastic vs. glass for a comparison.

-Large stock pot. For a first extract, you won't need more than a 2 gallon boil, so you can get by with as small as 12 qts. A cheap 12 qt pot can get you started.

u/chairfairy · 2 pointsr/fermentation

Are you looking for a recipe that specifically uses ginger bug? I've only done a little fermentation as far as food, but I've done a little more of beverages. If you seal your concoction right after bottling, you can put it in the fridge as soon as it's carbonated and it will not have produced much alcohol (based on my limited experience with homebrewing). The fridge will stop it from carbonating as long as it's below 45-50 F-ish, so you want to leave it at room temp until it carbonates.

If you're concerned about how much alcohol it produces, I recommend making a small batch and bottling it in 2 containers. Seal one so it carbonates and give the other one a bubbler so it won't carbonate. When the sealed one finishes carbonating, you can check the alcohol level with a hydrometer (do you have friends who homebrew? I bet you could borrow theirs). I assume the carbonated one will have a similar amount of alcohol. Note: you do need to measure with the hydrometer both before and after fermenting to know the alcohol content. Plenty of resources online to find the calculation. Edit: I forgot to say - check the alcohol content of the non-carbed bottle as the carbonation will mess with your hydrometer readings.

If you're willing to not use your ginger bug, read on!

This recipe uses bread yeast to carbonate (is that heresy on this sub? I've not spent much time here). It takes just a day or two to carbonate then you put it in the fridge to stop the yeast. Tastes pretty good!

From some personal experimenting, the flavor ratio I like is:

  • 10g sugar
  • 10g ginger juice
  • 20g lemon juice
  • 140g water

    This quantity isn't much (maybe 3/4 c?) but the ratio should scale up. I was playing around with tablespoon-type amounts because I didn't want to go through loads and loads of ginger. For the ginger juice, I grated the ginger with the grater blade on my food processor (had to stop to pull fibers out of the holes every so often) and then hand-squeezed the juice out of the pulp.

    It's fairly ginger-spicy (which I find good) but not overpowering. You can always start with less water and add more as necessary. I used this lemon:ginger ratio because more lemon made it taste like ginger-flavored lemonade (good, but not my goal) and more ginger made it taste like disinfecting floor cleaner (also not my goal). I played with sweetness by making a light syrup (25 g sugar to 100 g water) and trying varying levels of that in the final mix.
u/lurk_city_usa · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

I use plastic fermenters which are have much worse heat conduction than glass but I'll give my two cents. I use a rectangle (about 6"x4") of pink foam insulation with a little slot chiseled out to about half the length that fits the temp probe. I just tape this tightly to the side of the fermenter and slot the temp probe into it (I use the same ITC-308 temp controller). However, what I did to test the efficacy was measure the temperature each time I took a sample for gravity readings. Since I found that the temp was within a couple tenths of a degree of the reading, I found that this was fine. Whichever way you choose to measure it, I recommend testing the internal temp that way until you dial it in.

Edit: The ITC-308 works great btw, I use it on my fermentation chamber (converted chest freezer) and keezer and have never had a problem whenever I've measured the direct temp vs the reading of the probe.

Edit 2: Also forgot to say but I use this $22 heating belt taped to my fermenter (or two fermenters which I've done twice and had equal success with). I ferment in a chest freezer so it has cooling capability but as long as your ambient temp is less than your fermentation temp you're fine using a heat source to regulate. The other thing I did when I wanted to keep the temp higher (85-95 F) for Kveik yeast and kettle sours is I wrapped the fermenter and heating belt setup with this reflectix insulation with a 1" air gap and cut to the proper size which worked perfectly (did the same thing for my full volume biab mash tun and kettle).

u/huskergirl-86 · 2 pointsr/Gifts

50$ isn't too bad of a budget! There have been times when I was extremely financially strapped that I had 50$ to spend on ALL of my christmas gifts together (talking parents, sibling, bf, in-laws, aunts, uncle, bff) - and everyone liked what they got. Just don't worry about the price tag, go for the value! :)

One thing that popped to my mind when you mentioned that he's into eating and drinking (ice cold water in 100°+), is a beer brewing kit.
Here's one with great reviews for $29. And [here's another one for $50.] (https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Beer-Premium-Homebrewing-Making/dp/B001BCFUBU)
I'd take the cheaper one, given the reviews. It will make for a great memory (aka value) and you could add something smaller with it (e.g. voucher groceries for a BBQ/Burger/Steak night, to be used once the beer is ready).

If you think he's not going to like that, let me know, and I'll try to think of something else! :)

u/Kal-Hippie · 1 pointr/pettyrevenge

Equipment:
2 5 gallon glass carboy

Bubble Airlocks These allow the CO2 to escape the carboy while keeping the oxygen out. Alcohol fermentation is an anaerobic process. Too much oxygen will cause production of acetic acid(vinegar).

Non-Chlorinated water(I buy 5 gallon jugs, carboys what have you of spring water from my local co-op. Make sure it is spring water. Not "drinking" water. Chlorine isn't good for yeast.)

Wine siphons are really helpful. Used to just use a polyurethane tube, and that lead to some trial and error siphoning. There are two fermentations that'll happen during the process. You'll have to siphon the wine from one carboy to another. Hence why you need 2. Pro tip: Don't stick the siphon all the way to the bottom. That's where yeast, the oak chips, and clay from the primary fermentation are going to settle. Same with the secondary, but that'll be mostly yeast if you siphoned from the primary properly.


A giant ass funnel and corks obviously.

Wine Bottles! Go with the green. Reduces oxidation by letting less light in.


Bottle Tree! Use this to let your bottles dry out after cleaning them. Make sure all your pieces are sterile.

A corker!



I usually buy a wine must kit that has the clay sediment for nutrient content, finely ground oak, yeast, clarificant, and of course the wine must. (Must is a high quality grape juice that is fairly dense). For a first time I do suggest getting a must kit. It has detailed step by step instructions along with it. It's going to take about a month for both fermentations to be completed. Do try to keep the temperature of the carboy between 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit/23.5-27 degrees Celsius. Saccharomyces cerevisiae thrives best at that temperature gradient.


The musts price range wise are going to be between 60-200 dollars for the most part. You can ferment anything with sugar though. A 5 gallon carboy is going to get you 25+ bottles of wine easy. It's actually interesting to see how the taste of the wine changes over time between each bottle. Generally the yeast/sugar content will give you ~12% alcohol in these kits.

u/a066684 · 4 pointsr/Homebrewing

Not sure what your setup is, but I found having an immersion wort chiller in my starting brew days was incredibly efficient and time-saving (I did full 5 gal boils). These start ~$50 on Amazon, but you can buy coiled copper piping (the most expensive part) at any hardware store, bend yourself and use some inexpensive plastic tubing (make sure it’s heat resistant to handle the initial wort temp), some clamps and a faucet adapter. Cools wort remarkably fast and if you keep it clean and sterile (like all brew equipment), it will last as long as you brew beer.

Immersion wort chiller

There’s a few other quality of life equipment upgrades I’m sure you’ll find out along the way as you brew, but I felt this was well worth the money for the time and hassle it saved me.

u/DrammaLamma · 1 pointr/trees

Just for reference, those out there spending lots of time and $$ using ISO and rock salt, or other brand name $14 a bottle cleaners, there is a better cheaper way.

Powdered Brewers Wash will take even the nastiest soaked on resin in the hardest to reach places with just a few soaks.

1 pound of it costs as much as 2 bottles of 99%ISO yet it will clean many more times the bongs.

This stuff is designed and used by the beer / wine brewing industry to scrub and clean areas that no brush can reach.



NOTE THIS IS GNARLY STRONG AND WILL EVEN EAT THE LABELS OFF YOUR GLASS! If you care about your $200 label on your super expensive glass then frankly you should not use this at all and take better care to not even let said expensive glass get highly resinated.

u/parsecn · 3 pointsr/ValveIndex

Professional brewer and qualified chef, by trade.

What you are smelling in your manky facial interface is bacteria.

Running it under warm water and squeezing to air dry is not going to kill the bacteria. You need to soak in a Non-Caustic Alkaline Cleaner like 5 Star PBW, rinse thoroughly in the same temperature of water used in soak, and sanitise (soak) in a bath of Saniclean. It will both clean (kill the bacteria) and sanitise the interface.

I realise Steam support won't recommend this, but you're considering replacing it, in entirety anyway - worth a shot to potentially bring good as new. I recommend it, and thought of it, with your T-Shirt reference as I've used the cleaning regimen on many funky T-Shirts over the years to good-as-new result. Overall, it's gentle and would be surprised if it harmed the interface in any way.

Be sure to mix to manufacturer recommend.

Links no affil:

PBW https://www.amazon.com/Five-Star-PBW-Non-Caustic-Alkaline/dp/B0064O7XBA/ref=pd_sbs_328_t_1/133-7549608-7179150?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0064O7XBA&pd_rd_r=1d8805b4-099a-455b-9297-f39c4abf70f4&pd_rd_w=ROSuU&pd_rd_wg=6Wn9T&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=JXDAMV7R1SNC3S6AJTKB&psc=1&refRID=JXDAMV7R1SNC3S6AJTKB

Saniclean: https://www.amazon.com/Midwest-Brewing-Winemaking-Supplies-8D-ESWW-S1HF/dp/B0064O809O/ref=sxin__ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-c2FuaWNsZWFu-ac_d_rm&keywords=saniclean&pd_rd_i=B0064O809O&pd_rd_r=efa7773d-be23-479e-a194-b827a5d1aad8&pd_rd_w=EiIIU&pd_rd_wg=EJ6CQ&pf_rd_p=ed481207-4bea-4e19-bbad-73ed40fdc292&pf_rd_r=PQPVQ9GQHRZXHJ2F93NH&psc=

also try northernbrewer.com

u/Pwag · 3 pointsr/cigars

It's easy. EASY. It's not like the sweet hornsby's stuff. IT's drier and closer to beer.

If you wanted to experiment I'd buy a gallon or two of apple juice, like tree top. You don't want anything other than ascorbic acid as a preservative, a packet of chapagne yeast. Like this (http://www.amazon.com/Champagne-Yeast-10-Packs-Dried/dp/B00434CB74) You only need one and they're usually about .55 a shot.

Get an air lock like this: http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W/ref=pd_bxgy_gro_img_z.

Take your juice and pour yourself a small glass to give it a little airspace.

Take the lid and a drill bit and drill a hole in the juice cap sized right for the air lock to fit into the lid tightly. The plastic is soft so you can force it to get a tight seal. I used a pocket knife. If you want to save the headache, you can spend $2 on a rubber bung to fit the container lid.

Put a couple table spoons of sugar and dissolve it into some warm water. Add, I don't know, maybe a quarter of the packet of yeast. THat little packet is usually for five gallons. Eyeball it.

Let it set and get a little bubbly then add the measuring cup of liquid to your juice jug. Recap it with the air lock and enjoy. YOu can put distilled water or booze into the airlock. It doesn't matter which.

Then you wait.

After a week taste it. If you like it, drink it. If it doesn't taste hard enough wait a few more days. AFter you do the first one, you'll want to do two gallons then five. A gallon goes pretty fast. When it gets to where you like the hardness and sweetness of it, put it in the fridge with the airlock on it. IF you cap it while it's still actively fermenting you could get too much co2 built up in the bottle and have a problem.

Seriously talking about $15 at the MOST to start up and after that, it's the cost of yeast and apple juice.

PM me if you have any questions. I'm not an expert, but I do okay.

u/StarCraft64 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Very cool, looks good! There's definitely a satisfaction that comes with building something with your own hands.

If anyone needs a good cheap chiller, I recommend this one. 25' for $51.50. It becomes an even better deal if happen to need anything else from the same seller. I tacked on an auto siphon, some air locks, and some yeast and the shipping only went up slightly.

u/scottish_beekeeper · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brew-Your-British-Real-Camra/dp/1852492589 is excellent - gives clear simple advice, as well as having a good selection of British ales, milds, porters and stouts - if that's your thing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sacred-Herbal-Healing-Beers-Fermentation/dp/0937381667/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368899642&sr=1-1&keywords=sacred+herbal+beers is also a really interesting book - an anthropological of the history and mythology of brewing, complete with recipes! A lot of the recipes are a bit simple, or sugar-based, but it (like Radical Brewing) is a really good source of inspiration and historical knowledge.

Advice? Get a bottling wand and a vinator and bottle draining rack and shave tons of time off your bottling day.

u/dekokt · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

There is a general "DIY" PBW thread that a lot of people claim to use successfully:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/homemade-pbw-recipe.467655/

I personally have the best luck with PBW (it seems to do best on my stainless equipment, compared to oxiclean/TSP blend), so just bite the bullet and buy it in larger quantities. Amazon has 4lb for ~$25 or so. I'll try to make it last longer by cleaning other items (tubing, fittings, ball values, mash tun, etc) with oxiclean, though.

u/3Vyf7nm4 · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

I'm not sure glass is a logical step. It's nice for sanitation reasons, as brewsky points out, but that's basically where the "plus" column ends. It's heavy, fragile, and very temperature sensitive. Glass fermenters aren't safety glass (e.g. like a car winshield), so when they break (and they do break), razor sharp pieces of glass and 5 gallons of sticky warm liquid go everywhere. If you DO get glass, get a brewhauler.

I used to use glass, but I have transitioned over to plastic Speidel fermenters. They're lightweight, easy to clean, and have carrying handles.

When you clean, use an Oxygen-based cleaner. Don't scrub. Let it soak - for tough soil let it soak overnight. You don't want to scrub because you will scratch the plastic. Scratches (even those too small to detect) will harbor bacteria and will infect your beer. Use a soft cloth and if that can't get it clean, let it soak longer.

Don't worry about crap going into your fermenter. It won't hurt your beer. In fact, it will provide nutrients for your yeast (and they, in turn, will "scrub" out off flavors if you leave them to their work long enough).

When transferring to your bottling bucket, an autosiphon will leave the trub behind (it will work even better if you cold crash your beer before bottling).

For bottling, I'd use a plain old racking cane and a bottle filler

u/headcoatee · 9 pointsr/CleaningTips

Are any/all of the parts that smell able to be removed and soaked? If so, I recommend this amazing stuff called Five Star PBW. It's normally used to clean brewery equipment, in order to remove smells that may affect other batches of beer. BUT, it's not just good for that, it's great for nearly anything that smells or has tough dirt. It's inexpensive. It's environmentally friendly, too. I know I sound like a commercial, but I just think it's fantastic. Best kept cleaning secret around. https://www.amazon.com/Five-Star-PBW-Non-Caustic-Alkaline/dp/B0064O7XBA/ref=pd_sbs_328_img_1/144-3510088-1487851?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0064O7XBA&pd_rd_r=c44ac320-e14d-449e-9dd9-3e90841419b6&pd_rd_w=lpgZB&pd_rd_wg=rsHJE&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=R8KZB8E640FJ5KM2QN9J&psc=1&refRID=R8KZB8E640FJ5KM2QN9J

u/Ghawblin · 2 pointsr/mead

To piggy back on u/stormbeforedawn's comment.

This is the equipment I used that I've had good luck with so far. It's what he recommended, I'm just providing links to the specific product I used.

  • 2 gal primary bucket

  • 1 gal secondary glass

  • Autosiphon

  • racking cane

  • Hydrometer

  • Starsan

  • GoFerm

  • I used Fermaid O, not Fermaid K, because I was following a specific nutrient regimen. It's called TONSA 2.0. Popular, but apparently not cost efficient with larger batches. People better at this than I can answer nutrient schedule questions.

  • Bubbler/Airlock.

  • Bottles and cap method are your preferance. You can get bottles of tons of shapes, colors and styles. Corked, capped, swingtop, etc. Just make sure the bottles are food-safe and not decorative hobby/thrift store stuff. If you use corks, same rule, don't use decorative stuff. You'll want #8 agglomerated cork and a hand corker tool to put the corks on. #9 corks work too, but you'll need heavy tools (like a floor corker) to do that..
u/wac_attac · 1 pointr/Kombucha

Had similar problems early on. Went from 7 day 1F to 10 day solved that for me. I also keep my house in the high 70's-low 80's which i know some people find unbearable (comfortable temp for me).

Also I don't add sugar to 2F, but usually just let them sit for 4 days before refrigerating (though i might go back to 3 since my latest batches have had too much carbonation).

Finally, i started to use these bottles instead and they're honestly amazing. Best seal of the 3 brands I've bought and I'll be sticking with them.

u/Banjophooee · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Just kinda brainstorming here, I think I know my options but maybe somebody has some suggestions. I have a tiny crowded apartment, can't get a freezer/mini fridge. It stays pretty warm, like 75 ish. I keep my fermenters in our closet, which i shut the vent to and keep the door closed, but I'm not sure how much that helps. I'm planning on mainly doing 1-2g brews, and i was considering either doing a swamp cooler set up, which i don't really wanna do just cause itd look bad, or getting this which i don't really do because it's kinda expensive and i could probably only fit one of my small batch fermenters in it. There's gotta be some other kinda way to efficiently cool down a tiny 1g fermenter!

u/Lebnic · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

In terms of equipment, I started all grain right from the start, thanks to this kit: https://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-Brew-Shop-Making-Everyday/dp/B005G20IIG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485457723&sr=8-1&keywords=brooklyn+brew+shop

No need to buy this kit, you seem to already have most things contained in the kit. My point is that you can read the kit's content description and also other pieces of equipment not contained in the kit. You could compare with what you have now, and convince yourself you already [almost?] have all you need.

The only thing I see you don't have and might need are: strainer, funnel & thermomether.

Moreover, notice in the link to the kit above, only 1 carboy is provided: you can brew great beer without the need of "racking" to secondary; simply leave it in primary (for the same time as you normaly would with both 1st + 2nd fermenters...). Though having a 2nd carboy is cool and you can brew bigger volumes or even 2 batches in parallel.

Hope this clarifies/inspires you :-)

Happy brewing

PS: here are the instructions that come with the kit: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Everyday_IPA_Instructions_.pdf

u/openedwire · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Absolutely!

Almost everything came from Amazon, it was a little more in some cases... but you cant beat their support. If something is broken its replaced immediately and I wanted that reassurance.

Here is a list of the important stuff:

Nitro Regulator: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DY9SBMB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

CO2 Regulator (dual tap):https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0060NOX40/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Stout Faucet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BO1KFY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Shank for the stout faucet (beer faucets came with shanks): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00829HN7E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Beer Faucets: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01D6MSELA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thermostat: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0152LYY0I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Drip tray: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NQIROA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was the nitro tank (probably the best deal IMO), its a nitro coffee place but it holds beer gas fine :) - I had to use this specific one because of the space it had to fit into, I wanted everything to be self contained in my build: https://beveragelements.com/beverage_elements_shop/cold-brew-nitro-coffee/cold-brew-coffee-nitro-coffee-cylinders/23-cu-ft-nitrogen-cylinder-nitro-coffee/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwlqLdBRCKARIsAPxTGaVyfeABi5S7mFR-ByXCWkDGRbyimzJ52J-2TXkyxDyYABYQxXios2oaAiDuEALw_wcB

​

Obviously this thin wasn't cheap, but 3 tap kegerators aren't cheap either and this one does nitro! It was a decent investment spread over about 2 months of the build so that eased the pain on the wallet.

​

u/qrkl · 5 pointsr/Homebrewing

If you're interested in cider, here's an easy method that doesn't use the kit.

  1. Go to Whole Foods, pick up 1 gallon of organic unfiltered apple juice. Costs $8.99, and it comes in a nice glass jar you can ferment in and use again.

  2. Go to your LHBS and pick up a drilled rubber stopper (make sure it's sized for 1 gallon carboys), an airlock, an 8 oz bottle of StarSan (vital) and a package of dry yeast (Nottingham ale yeast or Safale US-04).

  3. StarSan is what you'll use to sanitize your equipment and prevent you from making mold instead of cider. The standard StarSan dilution is 1 oz StarSan to 5 gallons distilled/purified water. This is way more than you need, so add 2 ml StarSan to 250 ml distilled/purified water in a spray bottle. (Remember: always add your acid [StarSan] to water and not vice versa.) Use this solution to lightly spritz your rubber stopper and airlock. Set them aside on some clean paper towels. Give them at least a minute for the StarSan to settle. StarSan is a food-safe sanitizer, so you don't need to rinse it off before using your equipment.

  4. Pour off 1.5 cups of apple juice so you have some headroom. Drink it--you've earned it. Mm, that's good apple juice.

  5. Pour in your packet of dry yeast. A full packet is overkill for 1 gallon, but it won't do any harm to use the whole thing. Reattach the lid and shake vigorously. After it settles, attach your stopper and airlock and fill the airlock halfway with either StarSan solution or cheap vodka. I prefer vodka in case the liquid gets sucked in.

  6. Throw it in your closet and wait 2-3 weeks until the airlock stops bubbling. This signals that the yeast has stopped converting fermentable sugars into ethanal and CO2. Use this siphon to fill your bottles, and this capper to seal them.

  7. Enjoy your dry English cider/apfelwine.

    Sweet ciders add another couple steps, but I can go into that too if you'd like. Once you depreciate the cost of the gear over several batches, it's quite cheap compared to commercial cider.
u/ems_tech_guy · 1 pointr/Kombucha

Anchor Hocking Heritage Hill Glass Beverage Dispenser with Spigot, 2 Gallon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BWC0E42/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_f4uhAbF8X8STT

1 X Organic Kombucha Scoby - Live Culture by Scoby Kombucha https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009ZW8RP4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_.5uhAb83TMN5D

Unbleached Cheesecloth 9 Sq ft 100% Cotton Reusable-Great Filter or Strainer for Cheese/Kombucha scoby/Glass jar/Wine making https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M612PJU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_j7uhAbFHCHX7S

Adhesive Temperature Strip https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079JZLP4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i9uhAbJBGF75D

Red Baron Bottle Capper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D6KGTK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_xbvhAbFY4CJN3

Beer Bottle Crown Caps - Oxygen Absorbing for Homebrew (Gold) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZSEH8VW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_YcvhAbCE0836F

Bottles Free: Just start saving old beer bottles (not the twist on style bottle) submerge them in hot water for 5 min, labels peel right off.

Sanitizer: White Vinegar, I prefer Star san.

Prince of Peace Tea, Black, 100 Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AP70BKC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_divhAbY9D73AP

With these products, you will be good to go and your volume is 2 gallons, so by the time your upgrading after your first batch. For me a 1 gallon container never cut it. With the capper you don’t have to worry about giving your friends a bottle of your Kombucha and never seeing your $4 swing cap bottle again. Just save old beer bottles or ask your friends for them.

To answer your question, the temps you listed are to low. For all brewing temperatures are very important. You want to keep your fermentation in the 70s. Here’s how you fix the problem without keeping your home heater on 24/7.

Round Kombucha Heater Kit for Continuous Brew Crocks & Dispensers. 10" Brewing & Fermentation Heat Mat, Works with any Ceramic, Glass, Stone or Porcelain Containers (10"-120VAC 7-Watts) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072S6XBQJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1tvhAb04PYXBK

Enjoy... In the long run you will spend less by starting off with the right equipment.

u/data_eater · 4 pointsr/vaporents

/u/lookatmeglow introduced me to PBW, so thanks for that!

Pros

  • More environmentally safe than iso
  • Cheaper than iso
  • No shaking required
  • Easier to clean complex pieces
  • Detergent rather than a solvent (as safe as soap and water)
  • No toxic/flammable fumes like iso

    Cons

  • Requires quite a bit of babysitting, soak for 5-10 min, rinse with non pbw water, if still dirty repeat
  • Using too much pbw or soaking too long leaves a film that requires CLR to remove
  • Will destroy anodized finishes
  • Will destroy some logos/stickers
  • Will make your piece slippery while wet

    Process I followed

  1. Run your tap over your glass at the hottest setting to warm it up
  2. While your piece is warming up get some of the hot water into a cup
  3. Mix a teaspoon of PBW into the water in the cup. This is to make a concentrate
  4. After your piece is warmed up empty it
  5. Plug your joint
  6. Pour the concentrate into your piece
  7. Fill the piece to the max and do not let my concentrate drip out
  8. Allow 10 minutes to pass
  9. Rinse and inspect
  10. If still dirty repeat.

    FAQ

  • Where do I get it? - Amazon link
  • Where can I learn more about PBW? - FC link

    Final Thoughts

    As you can see there is no ISO+Salt+Shake. It is just "passive" cleaning. The album I linked was a test of PBW on my fab egg. I know I didn't take enough pictures, but hopefully you can see that my glass was pretty cloudy and the joint was plenty dirty. Normally navigating salt+iso through the swiss perc takes a bit of attention and when rotating and flipping the piece, you could possibly drop it. The process was only done once to achieve the results I obtained. Based on my experience this will be my main method for complicated or expensive pieces.


    Hope this was somewhat informative or interesting. I know it's a bit more informal than my typical guides, but feel free to ask questions.
u/somethin_brewin · 21 pointsr/Homebrewing

If you want the best general resource, How to Brew by John Palmer is the standard. Honestly, if you just want to see if it's for you or not, get a one-gallon kit and follow the directions. It might not give you the best beer on your first try, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of what it takes.

u/bifftradwell · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Looks like the last piece of the puzzle is the mash tun - you need to convert a large cooler (10 gallons is a good size). If you have one with a drinking spout, you can unscrew the spout and install a ball valve. The inside end of the ball valve then attaches to something you use for lautering (filtering the wort out of the mash).

Ball valves are maybe $5 at Lowe's/Home Despot. You need some PTFE tape to seal the threads, and maybe a neoprene washer or two (although you can probably steal those from the existing spout you unscrewed from the cooler).

For filtration, you have a couple options --

  1. Just get the kettle screen - $20 shipped.

  2. Braided steel toilet supply line, with one end snipped off, the hose removed, and the braid closed at that end. This is probably more than $20 worth of work.

  3. Get some copper piping, some elbows/couplings/tees and make a manifold. Cut slits in the pipes with a hack saw (cut them about halfway through the pipe) to allow the wort in; the grain will stay out. You do not need to solder this -- just dry fit in the bottom of the cooler. In fact, dry-fitting is preferable because it makes clean-up much, much easier. This is probably $10 of copper + more than $20 of work.

    I also recommend a thermometer, but honestly I think putting one into the cooler is pointless. Get a digital insta-read version like the thermapen, worth every penny of $100, and you can use it in the mash, on the wort, and while cooking. With a hand-held unit you can take temperature readings at different locations in the mash, and the thermapen probe is about 8 inches long.
u/Bill_Cosby_ · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Good to know, I saw a few websites that had calculators for that but just went with what the recipe called for. A refractometer is absolutely my next purchase, and a fermenter bag like this which I've heard great things about. Wish I had the space for a chest freezer to convert in my home. ( http://www.amazon.com/Cool-Brewing-LLC-5B-YTCW-X9LG-Fermentation/dp/B008EKD7CQ)

u/muzakx · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

Mine was super easy to build and has served me for about 4+ years now.

  • 10 gallon Home Depot Cooler

  • Weldless Ball Valve kit.

  • Bazooka Screen with 1/2" NPT adapter

    The cooler requires no modification. Simply remove the plastic spigot, and install the new ball valve.

    The bazooka screen is a bit longer than the diameter of the cooler. Simply bend the end up slightly and it should fit. The new nipple on the ball valve fits 1/2" ID hoses.

    Brew days go pretty smoothly, haven't had a stuck mash yet. Filters well as long as you vorlauf and set the grain bed. My efficiency is around 75% currently, using the Batch sparge method.
u/Jimbo571 · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

I based it on the Son of Fermentation Chiller plans but made modifications to the dimensions to allow it to fit two carboys. Originally I just had a cheap thermostat from Home Depot and only cooling, but had some issues in the winter months with the beer getting too cold at night and the yeast dropping out before it reached the targeted FG. So eventually I upgraded the temp controller to the STC 1000 which does both heating and cooling and picked up a 4" duct fan, some 4" duct, foil tape, and cut up an old brew belt I had laying around. I would highly recommend building one if you have the resources. It's probably the single biggest improvement to my brewing process I've ever made.

u/LunchHooks · 6 pointsr/Tiki

I bought a bunch of 16oz. glass swing-top bottles from a retail place called Chef's Emporium. I put pourer tops on them when in use and seal them with the swing top when it's time to put them in the fridge.

They're all over Amazon. Like this: Swing Top Grolsch Glass Bottles 16oz - CLEAR - For Brewing Kombucha Kefir Beer (6 Set) Bonus Gaskets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LB1862A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_pG0Rzb1GQ3PJY

u/ProfessorHeartcraft · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I would strongly caution against a 35 quart pot. The Bayou Classic 44 quart (11 gallon) pot is only a little more, and it's of dimensions more ameniable to brewing (tall, rather than squat). If you plan to migrate to BiaB, the version with the basket is quite useful; you'll be able to fire your heat source without worrying about scorching the bag.

For ingredients, I would recommend looking around for a LHBS (local homebrew shop). You'll likely not save much money ordering those online, due to their weight/cost ratio, and a LHBS is often the centre of your local community of homebrewers.

With regard to literature, my bible is John Palmer's How To Brew. You can also read the first edition online, but much has been learnt since that was published and the latest edition has current best practices.

That equipment kit is decent, but there are a lot of things in it you'll probably wish you hadn't bought.

You will want:

u/intergalactictoastr · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I think the kits are good, the first one doesn't have a kettle, but has a thermometer. I don't think the second one has a thermometer but has a kettle, which is pretty important and can set you back around $30-50.

I got this Northern Brewer one from Amazon, but it's pretty similar to the second one you linked.

u/iammatt00 · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Very good than. Now you can just piece the rest togethers. For the Regulators, I'd recommend the Taprite T752HP. These regulators are awesome, super accurate and the knobs lock. 20-30' of 3/16" of Bev Line. Buy your gas in and liquid out keg fittings, some hose clamps and cobra taps. You should be able to get all that and a tank for not much more than $200 if you already have the kegs. Faucets will run you $40-50 a piece for a decent faucet and shank.

u/Ser_Gawaine · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely try soda bottles. I've also seen easy cap bottles: https://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Star-CASE-Bottles-CLEAR/dp/B011SGS8U8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1523023099&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=easy+cap+beer+bottles&psc=1

I'd like to try these in the future, if these work how I think they're supposed to, it would save me the cost/hassle/space of keeping caps and a capper. Do you know of any downsides to this kind of bottle?

u/I_am_Spoon · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

eBay Aquarium temp controller + reptile heat cable + sweater = winning.

Replace the heat cable with a BrewBelt and the sweater for Reflectix or similar

Add a Thermowell Stopper and you are really in business.

Instructions on HomeBrew Talk for the temp controller wiring. I used that same diagram but only a single outlet plug. I have no use for the cooling side currently so I only use it to control heat. I've built 2 of these so far with the Reflectix and reptile cable and I love them! The Thermowell is a really great addition, seems to be more accurate than just taping the probe to the fermenter.

u/romario77 · 1 pointr/Homebrewing
My post from another question like that, might help you to see what's needed.

From that list the required things are - the keg, CO2 tank and regulator, gas hose, quick disconnect gas side, quick disconnect beer side, beer hose, faucet. You can get picnicking tap.

...........................................

Here, while not basic, but a list that might help. This is a 4 keg setup. Some items are not exactly needed, for example hose clamps, MFL push to connect (you could just get barb ones), but helpful for disconnecting/cleaning. You can save a lot on faucets - my 4 costed me $280 total all in. You could also get a cheaper freezer.

I got a regulator with 2 possible pressures so I can have carbonation pressure plus serving pressure at the same time - also not a requirement.

Name|Price|Quantity|Total|URL
--|--:|:-:|--:|:--
Inkbird Itc-308 Digital Temperature Controller Outlet Thermostat 2-stage 1100w w/ Sensor|$35 |1|35|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011296704
Intertap Self Closing Faucet Spring|$1.99 |4|7.96|https://www.morebeer.com/products/intertap-closing-faucet-spring.html
Intertap Stainless Steel Faucet Shank|$32.99 |4|131.96|https://www.morebeer.com/products/intertap-stainless-steel-faucet-shank-4.html
Duda Energy HPpvc025-100ft 100' x 1/4"" ID High Pressure Braided Clear Flexible PVC Tubing|$28.50 |1|28.5|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LX6LS7E
Brewer's Edge UX-CAOO-IQIT Keg Lube 1 oz.|$5.98 |1|5.98|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064OK99S
Hilitchi 60 Piece Adjustable 8-38mm Range Stainless Steel Worm Gear Hose Clamps Assortment Kit|$12.99 |1|12.99|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IOE4RQQ
Taprite T752HP Two Product Dual Pressure Kegerator CO2 Regulator|$89 |1|89|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0060NOX40
KegWorks Beer Tap Faucet Handle Black|$4.30 |4|17.2|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VI753Q
Intertap Forward Sealing Beer Faucet (Stainless Steel)|$31.54 |4|126.16|https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NAGS3ST
4 Way Co2 Manifold|$42.99 |1|42.99|http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/4-way-co2-manifold/
Accuflex Bev-Seal Ultra (3/16) 50'|$15.99 |1|15.99|http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/accuflex-bev-seal-ultra-3-16-50/
Pin Lock Disconnect- 1/4 MFL Gas Side|$5.99 |4|23.96|http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/pin-lock-disconnect-1-4-mfl-gas-side/
Pin Lock Disconnect- 1/4 MFL Liquid Side|$5.99 |4|23.96|http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/pin-lock-disconnect-1-4-mfl-liquid-side/
1/4" MFL Push To Connect|$3.79 |4|15.16|http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/1-4-mfl-push-to-connect/
5/16 x 5/8 BSPP (Shank Connector) Push To Connect|$5.99 |4|23.96|http://www.farmhousebrewingsupply.com/5-16-x-5-8-bspp-shank-connector-push-to-connect/
Igloo 7.1 cu ft Chest Freezer Black|$219.99 |1|219.99|https://www.walmart.com/ip/Igloo-7-1-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-Black/31136433
Set of Four 5 Gallon Pin Lock Kegs Used|$28.90 |4|115.6|http://www.homebrewing.org/Set-of-Four-5-Gallon-Pin-Lock-Kegs-Used_p_3179.html
#20 CO2 tank|$60|1|60|craigslist
2 in. x 8 in. x 10 ft. #2 and Better Prime Douglas Fir Board|$9.86|1|9.86|http://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-8-in-x-10-ft-2-and-Better-Prime-Douglas-Fir-Board-604364/206182008
ZMAX 7 in. 16-Gauge Galvanized Reinforcing L-Angle|$3.27|4|13.08|http://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-Strong-Tie-ZMAX-7-in-16-Gauge-Galvanized-Reinforcing-L-Angle-L70Z/100375233
||||1019.3.36|

You would also need a wrench if you don't have one yet to unscrew the posts on the keg.
u/samtheo · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I can fit my 6.5 gal carboy into my kettle (its short and wide) with room for a bag or two of ice.

Frozen water bottles are great if you have a container that will hold them. I use one of these now, its soft and folds up nicely: https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brewing-Fermentation-Cooler-Temperature/dp/B008EKD7CQ

When its occupied and its real hot, I've been using Voss Kevik, which has been delicious even fermenting at 90-100 deg. https://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/sigmunds-voss-kveik

u/Nude_Gingrich · 1 pointr/NavyBlazer

> The lady friend isn't too thrilled about having a bonus fridge in the living room though.

Yeeeeeeah, I'm running into that as well lol. I picked up one of these a couple weeks ago, which should be more than sufficient along with some frozen water bottles. I'm hoping to start a new batch this weekend, we'll see how it works!

u/bearmouth · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I'm looking for a good beginner's homebrew kit for my SO. Does [this one] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_VZGaAbJEF3ETW) look good for a total noob? I know I will need to buy bottles, caps, and a thermometer separately.

I'd like to give him something that isn't too expensive just in case he doesn't like homebrewing, but also something that can be reused if he does end up enjoying it.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

u/Haterbait_band · 1 pointr/pics

The best! You are meant to clean brew kettles and kegs with the stuff, basically oxyclean, but it's cheap and the layers and layers of resin will just fall off with a good soak at the proper concentration. Too strong and I heard it'll etch the glass, but it gets in all the little cracks really well.

u/C-creepy-o · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

You sya you don't have the tools to make the mash tun and brew pot. I assemlbe my mash tun, HLT, and brew pot with two 10inch adjustable wrenches, a standard dewalt drill, a carbonate cutting bit, a stepped cutting bit, and some cutting oil. If you have the drill everything else would cost around 50 bucks, then you also gain tools with your equipment. The hardest part is cutting holes in the pot for a thermometer.

Either way to make the Mashtun and MTL you would only need 2 10 inch adjustable wrenches.

Up to you, but here is some all grain kits you could look at:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/10-Gallon-Igloo-Cooler-Mash-Tun-With-False-Bottom-AND-Hot-Liquor-Tank_p_6699.html

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Cooler-Stainless-Steel-Screen/dp/B013KJKAC0/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1486068034&sr=8-9&keywords=10+gallon+mash+tun

You can make a 10 gallon mash tun for under 100 dollars:

10 Gallon cooler (~$50)
https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-Gallon-Beverage-dispenser-Dispenser/dp/B000F6SHTK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486068151&sr=8-1&keywords=10+gallon+cooler

Ball Valve(~$15)
https://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Brewing-Wl301-Stainless-Weldless/dp/B00OC8DXPA/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1486068175&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=wedless+ball+valve

Screen (~$8)
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Bazooka-Screen-Fitting/dp/B003ISY2DC/ref=pd_sim_468_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003ISY2DC&pd_rd_r=45GNPGH763R20241728C&pd_rd_w=MCZcu&pd_rd_wg=n4Wsv&psc=1&refRID=45GNPGH763R20241728C

1/2 female npt fitting(~$5)
https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Fitting-Coupling-Female/dp/B003GSKXUU/ref=pd_sim_328_6?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B003GSKXUU&pd_rd_r=SMJAVJR6CYZ7P9ZBQBQQ&pd_rd_w=h6v7j&pd_rd_wg=eclPX&psc=1&refRID=SMJAVJR6CYZ7P9ZBQBQQ

Total: 78 dollars. You can buy 2 10 inches adjustable wrenches for 20 dollars (https://www.amazon.com/Stanley-90-949-10-Inch-MaxSteel-Adjustable/dp/B000NIDIXA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486068379&sr=8-1&keywords=10+inch+adjustable+wrench)

so even having to buy tools its still under 100 dollars to make the Mash tun. The hot liquor tank will be the same price minus the screen, npt fitting, and tools. I personally made mine even cheaper buy using a 5 gallon htl instead of a 10 gallon and that will drop the price 25 more dollars. There is 0 drilling involved you simply unscrew the old plastic tap and put the weld ball valve in its place, it took me less than 10 min to make my new HTL on Monday.

Also, and this is really important to why I say build yourself, any mash tun you buy is going to be put together the same way it just matters whether you put it together or someone else does, either way the quality will be identical.

If you need a sparge arm for fly sparge you can make that out of pvc pipe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-jgmgbwvg4

My two cents, even though you don't believe in you. I do, if you feel like saving money you can absolutely make all this stuff yourself and it doesn't require you be good at anything more than thinking like a logical person.

u/IrwinMFletcher · 1 pointr/CannabisExtracts

Get a drop-down for the reclaim then get Five Star PBW Cleaner to clean all your glass. I have tried ISO + Salt, 420 cleaner, darkstar...and tons more. This is the best hands down. Soak overnight and it is perfect in the morning.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D6IVZG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/arathog · 1 pointr/fermentation

Yeah either get plastic lids and manually burp whatever you're fermenting or get lids with airlocks that let air out but no air in.

These are the ones I bought when I started and while they're nice it's kinda overkill, if you can find anything plastic that has an airlock for cheaper I'd go with that.

After a quick search I found these and they look okay.

As a quick note, if you plan to make anything that smells strong, I'd advise against the ones I bought; they have rubber parts. I made kimchi using one of the lids and now it's my kimchi lid, because the rubber parts smell like an open jar of kimchi from meters away even after excessive washing and boiling in water for several minutes.

u/NotMPowered · 2 pointsr/Kombucha

Amazon!

Swing Top Glass Bottles - Flip Top Brewing Bottles For Kombucha, Kefir, Beer - Clear Color - 16oz Size - Set of 6 - Leak Proof Easy Caps, Bonus Gaskets, Chalkboard Labels and Pen - Fast Clean Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LB1862A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4J.MDbCKXHADR

u/MeadmkrMatt · 5 pointsr/mead

We are commercial and make it all year. Local ingredients like grapes and apples we can only get around now. But we can always order juice year round, too.

It is harder in the winter to keep batches warm but we've been doing it for 8 years now. So yes, you can make mead all year in PA.

There are many yeasts that can go to 50 F but it will take a longer time for the fermentation to complete. 1116, 71B, 1118, and DV10 can all do 50. Fermenting at a lower temp can create additional flavors or aromas that don't get forced out as easily with a warmer ferment.


You can also buy Fermenting wrap or a
Fermenting belt




u/ajacksified · 1 pointr/mead

Just found my notes:

  • 6lb wildflower honey
  • 6lb clover honey
  • 3lb coffee blossom honey (hey, looked interesting.)
  • 1lb frozen blackberries
  • 1lb frozen raspberries
  • White Labs Sweet Mead Yeast WLP720
  • Three or four blackberries from my just-about-finished blackberry bush, plus a pair of blackberry leaves for flavor and because by this time I was fairly inebriated after a long day of brewing an IPA

  1. Put jars of honey in hot water to get gooey while you get everything else ready
  2. Heat 5 gallons of water to around 180
  3. Stir honey into water to dissolve (OG: 22.5)
  4. Cool water down to ~74F (I used a copper wort chiller)
  5. Siphon to 6.5G carboy
  6. Add yeast and airlock; I stored around 70F, and it started bubbling happily after a few days
  7. Rack about two weeks later to get off the seeds
  8. Drink most of it "just to test it" while it matures
  9. Bottle once stable; I gave it two months (FG: -2)
u/f-eather-s · 1 pointr/saplings

I purchased PBW and it makes my bong look sparking clean. You add less than a tablespoon (depending on the size of your bong), mix it with hot water, and in two hours or less it'll be super clean. Its also really fun watching it lift all the gunk away

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D6IVZG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/TheGoodTailor · 3 pointsr/Kombucha

I recently switched from using recycled GT bottles to swing tops. It made a world of difference! Honestly, the carbonation increased by 50%.

These are the ones I bought off of Amazon...Swing Top Bottles

u/utdavist · 2 pointsr/hotsauce

They work great so far. Here is the link do yourself and get some weights as well.

Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting In Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids(jars not incld), Extractor Pump & Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJVVORE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_x4epDbEKK7H0Y

4-Pack of Fermentation Glass Weights with Easy Grip Handle for Wide Mouth Mason Jar https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076V66FZ4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_T6epDbKRM0CDH

u/FullBodyHairnet · 2 pointsr/mead

You might want to then go more long-term and get him some bottling tools. Depending on how he wants to bottle, or what kind of mead he's making, a wine corker, a case of empties, and handful of corks might be something nice for down the road. Especially if he has something already aging in a carboy.

If it's supposed to be sparkling then you might want to stick with the relative ease of a bottle capper and some campaign bottles. TIL that in North America at least most sparkling wine bottles actually take regular ol' beer caps - which is incredible to learn. Martinelli's apple cider is the only place I've ever seen it done, but I guess it's common. If he doesn't have a regular bottle capper, or has something that isn't as easy on the bottle as one of these then maybe a capper and caps would be good.

Hope this helps!

u/Beaturbuns · 2 pointsr/mead

Relax, don't worry, you made alcohol! isn't it neat?

get yourself something like this, it will help a ton. (your local homebrew supply store is probably cheaper)

1st question: 2 weeks is fine. If you want to wait another week or two that's fine too.

2nd question: see the auto-siphon above. use it to siphon all of the liquid above the yeast cake that's settled on the bottom.

3rd question: For our purposes, I like to think of gravity as a measure of sugar content. Since yeast eat sugars and poop CO^2 + alchohol, the gravity will drop during fermentation. This allows us to measure our alcohol content.

u/nadnerbwhynot · 2 pointsr/Kombucha

Swing Top Glass Bottles - Flip Top Brewing Bottles For Kombucha, Kefir, Beer - Clear Color - 16oz Size - Set of 6 - Leak Proof Easy Caps, Bonus Gaskets, Chalkboard Labels and Pen - Fast Clean Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LB1862A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_P6dxDb9CYMEXP

u/Mr_Stkrdknmibalz_ · 1 pointr/mead

Swing Top Glass Bottles - Flip Top Brewing Bottles For Kombucha, Kefir, Beer - Clear Color - 16oz Size - Set of 6 - Leak Proof Easy Caps, Bonus Gaskets, Chalkboard Labels and Pen - Fast Clean Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LB1862A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_d6N7Cb4D5PVHC

u/MacabreChaos · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

ungrinch!

What about something like a Home Brewing Craft Beer Kit? Sounds like something fun you'd both enjoy doing together!

As for contest worthy... Ummmm, I assembled my own Halloween costume (late, I know, but I wasn't active on RAoA until recently! :( ) this year and am pretty proud of how it turned out/how all the pieces came together. n_n

u/oaklandnative · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Not op but I was only able to bring it down a few degrees using this method. Ended up getting one of these for about $50. It brings it down by up to about 15 degrees depending on how many frozen water bottles you use. It's also pretty easy to dial in a desired temp within a few degrees.

u/placidtwilight · 3 pointsr/AsianBeauty

Have you tried making your own fermented foods? My husband makes kimchi and other ferments in mason jars with these lids. It's really easy--just wash and cut up veggies and put them in the jars with whatever else the recipe calls for (salt water, usually), pop the lids on, and let them sit for a month. I've never done kombucha, but I hear it's pretty easy as well.

u/recluce · 1 pointr/homebrew

I've considered buying the e-z caps too. But then I realized it's essentially one of these airlocks with a convenient screw top attachment to fit on a standard 2 liter bottle and some yeast. If you're trying to go cheap, it might be worth putting together the few pieces necessary to DIY, add some rubber stoppers and a gallon jug of juice and you're pretty much good to go.

In fact, I might just buy all that stuff now...

Edit: It'd probably be cheaper at a local homebrew shop, none of these links I put in here actually come from Amazon so you can't get combined or Amazon Prime shipping. :(

u/drhirsute · 2 pointsr/fermentation

I use these: Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting In Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids, Extractor Pump & Recipe eBook - Mold Free https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJVVORE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_SEeTBb8MQ12Y9

I've had great experiences with them.

u/Morgaine1795 · 2 pointsr/Canning

Looks really nice!!! I make kimchi on a regular basis, always in a big crock with weights. I just bought a set of these so I feel more comfortable doing small batches in jars. I like mine to ferment for about a month or so for more sourness.

u/anon_ee_moose · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Using two steel kettles like that sounds very expensive. How about an upright cooler with a false bottom? There are kits for converting Igloo-brand coolers in this way, like this.

That being said, if your efficiency is bad with a rectangular plastic cooler and braided hose, I'm not entirely sure that your efficiency will be much better with a different style of MLT. I did find that replacing my braided SS hose with a bazooka screen made things a bit easier since it doesn't get crushed in the grain like my SS braid did.

u/123rdb · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

My favorite is option 3.

With these you can even bottle from a warm keg to check how carbonation is going or how well a beer is aging. It's also nice for transporting beer. Instead of using a growler that will oxidize easily, just purge a 1 or 2L bottle and counter-pressure fill it. Only big drawback is you can't use them for competition beer.

u/flippydickson · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

I brewed my first batch this weekend! I used the Mr. Beer brewing system for simplicity and because I want to make small batches (2 gallon) with the least mess possible. (We've all gotta start somewhere!)

I've read that the included beers aren't much to speak about, but I wanted to get the process down. I look forward to using this subreddit for help as I work my way up to better and more complicated brews!

u/jorvid · 1 pointr/Kombucha

This might be a better investment. I use this for my 2F and it works great. You may also want to get a Air lock and a siphon as well.

u/Montecatini · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I have seen this beginners brewing kit on Amazon UK with everything I need for a good price the problem is this, it says that the 5 gallon boil pot is the equivalent of 18.5 litres BUT if you type into Google how many litres in 5 gallons it comes back with 23 litres my question is which is right?

I don't want to buy this to make a 23 litre batch of beer & later find out that the boil pot is too small to do so.

Here's the product in question if any of you wonderful people can help.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_LUYIAbN52MW3R

u/hawaiiankine · 1 pointr/Homebrewing



I've been using the standard red bottle capper, but the thing is really kind of junk (I have two actually). It's always slipping, sometimes takes a few tries to get it right, technique needs to be spot on etc.

I am using (what appears to be )https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TFVXUC0//ref=as_li_ss_tl?creativeASIN=B00TFVXUC0&imprToken=tPx24TDfjZE4TvrGDKk5Rg&slotNum=4&ie=UTF8&linkCode=w61&tag=villaegbakery-20&linkId=9e883a23a0cbb04c0ca1726a5999b954 Looks like the exact same one here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D6KGTK//ref=as_li_ss_tl?creativeASIN=B001D6KGTK&imprToken=tPx24TDfjZE4TvrGDKk5Rg&slotNum=1&ie=UTF8&linkCode=w61&tag=villaegbakery-20&linkId=137e7f2db4bc77fc4b1a6d281597aa42

Any recommendations for a better capper that doesn't suck?

u/antaymonkey · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Alright! So the sparge arm is this connected to this.

I only had to modify the mash tun a little. I had to put a hole in for the thermocouple probe (bigger hole on the outer wall) and a hole in the lid for the sparge arm. Other than that, i just put my bazooka and associated fittings through the existing spigot hole.

As for capping, yes, plain old hand capper. Hopefully I'll be doing more kegging though and won't be required to do so many bottles.

u/ArborealRob · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

$20-$50 Mr. BEER! Who doesn't want to try their hand at it?
$10-$20 Stanley Camping Cook Set Being able to cook on the go is nice!
$5-$10 Mimosa Pudica Touch Sensitive plant that pretends to die when touched, HOW COOL IS THAT?!
$0-$5 Rose Kissed Jasmine Tea You need to be able to unwind with something after playing with all the new toys, right?

u/Cdresden · 2 pointsr/hotsauce

I'm sure the mix is fine; the pressure just built up. The fermentation process creates CO2.

The Lactobacillus bacteria responsible for the fermentation are facultative anerobics, and fermentation works better without oxygen. If you like you can punch holes in the lids and glue in some airlocks which can be found at winemaking supply shops.

u/InfantSlayer · 5 pointsr/CannabisExtracts

Five Star's PBW
http://www.amazon.com/PBW-Five-Star-1-lb/dp/B0064O7XBA
This stuff is truly amazing. I have used Isopropyl + salt, the 420 cleaner and many others. This stuff can't be beat. Just make sure to rinse with a small amount of iso to remove the chemicals afterwards.

u/GmoneyKricket · 1 pointr/trees

Sigh... Just gonna leave [this](PBW by Five Star- 1 lb https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064O7XBA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_HEv1BbYDSRFZ1) here. I feel like a company salesman at this point, but honestly am not at all afilliated. This stuff just cleans bongs very well. Give it a shot and you won't be disappointed.

u/wahlb3rg · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

A quick Google search provided me this. Seems easy enough. I'm sure there are cheaper prices out there if you do a little more searching than I did. All hail the almighty Amazon. Cheers!

u/Therion596 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Stand by:

Ball Valve

False Bottom

10 gallon cooler

False Bottom - Valve adapter

Please shop around. I have no doubt you could get some of this stuff for cheaper. I was restricted in that my only form of currency was Amazon gift cards. Especially the adapter could be built / constructed for much cheaper than I paid.

Additionally, instead of the false bottom / adapter, one could simply employ a Bazooka Screen instead of a false bottom, I have just read that false bottoms are more effective and less prone to problems.


DISCLAIMER - Always do your own research and make sure the parts that you are buying are all compatible and properly sized, etc. etc.

Having said that, the parts I listed above are exactly what I ordered and all fit together perfectly, I just needed to go out and buy a female coupler (to attach the valve to the hose from the false bottom) and a washer (per the included instructions with the valve, which had a additional washer for my configuration).

u/beericane · 13 pointsr/Homebrewing

Looks very nice but I think you could have saved yourself a lot of work and easier cleaning by simply going with one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Bazooka-Kettle-Screen-brew-kettle/dp/B003ISY2DC

u/ThaBigTasty · 1 pointr/winemaking

I'm in the same boat as you. I followed this recipe. The only additional step I took was melting the sugar before I added it to the mix.

I bought a jug and a set of airlocks on Amazon. I bought a 4lb bag of sugar, a can of frozen white grape concentrate, and some packets of yeast at the grocery store. It cost about $25 total, but most of it was on the jug and airlocks, and I won't have to buy those again.

Since I had the extra airlock, I started another batch in a 3/4 gallon bottle of grape juice with some added sugar. Should the grape juice batch turn out better, the $10 jug wouldn't have even been necessary. I'm 10 days in, we'll see which batch turns out better.

u/n9ucs · 8 pointsr/theydidthemath

Check out /r/Homebrewing and just start saving. Even 2 dollars a day with you and a friend and you could be rolling in a couple months.

edit: also start saving glass bottles that require a bottle opener. Those are reusable.

edit2: Things you'll need. Feel free to find similar products.

cooler with spigot

valve(I'm not sure of the size on that igloo)

bazooka screen

bottles(make sure they're brown)

caps

capper

some sort of gas stove. say a propane stove, a turkey fryer, or a kitchen stove.

a large pot

starsan

I'm probably forgetting things.

u/achosid · 1 pointr/Homebrewing
  1. Probably yes

  2. Yes, but the coupler is different for the country of origin of the beer.
  3. Are you looking at making soda or buying soda? If you're making it, you should do homebrew kegs for it. I do homebrew and use those kegs primarily, but I bought one of these:

    http://www.amazon.com/Sankey-Ball-Quick-Disconnect-Conversion/dp/B00C30F75I

    So I can hook up sankey kegs to my ball lock disconnect system. Works great

  4. Seems reasonable.
u/otterfish · 1 pointr/cider

Hey, this might not be what you're looking for, but it's a pretty good solution, and cheaper than a keg.

Ferroday Stainless Carbonation Cap Counter Pressure Bottle Filling With 5/16" Barb,CO2 Coupling To Carbonate Soda Beer Fruit Juice Water https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K4GGYT0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_LS8fzbCZGKM80

u/Flaubert- · 1 pointr/Frugal

So reading through the comments, you don't want to give up on beer. Fair enough, we've all got a poison, right? I'd suggest home-brewing. Because the kit is at first, quite expensive - I got a kit that included a keg, sterilisation pills, tubes/equipment and a beer kit for about £70. It's everything you need to start home-brewing. So the upfront cost is expensive. Then I found I could brew roughly 40 pints of beer from a single £12-£15 beer kit. So instead of $2 for 500ml can, you're having $0.65 per 568ml. Plus the satisfaction you made it yourself, and of course you can change up the recipe (different sugars used etc) every batch.

If you can put a few dollars aside from your beer fund for the next few months, buy a kit and have a great time brewing. You can also use old beer bottles to bottle the new beer!

Just found this beer making kit on Amazon for $52.99, less than your monthly beer fund. Worth a shot!

u/wch941 · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I just performed my first home brew today. I purchased the Northern Brewer starter kit, this one here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0179ZH89Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just finished the amber ale that it came with. I was following this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jtCgQOB85E

When I transferred the wort to the carboy (I bought a 6 gallon carboy) it doesn't look like I left behind the sludge like it showed in the video. It looks like the sludge is at the bottom of the carboy. Will this be a problem?

In the video it shows to mix the wort with the water before adding yeast and I totally forgot to mix it around.. Wondering if that will be an issue?

Also I put the yeast in before I moved the carboy and I think it might have mixed it in a little so it's not all laying on the top, will this be OK? Thanks.

u/AuntChiladas · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Make a beer

Open the beer!


I hope you find him something really great!

u/berylthranox · 6 pointsr/mead

Sorry to be this guy but get a damn airlock. Seriously though the next time you or your friend make an amazon purchase try buying something like these here. They're so cheap and you'll need them eventually if this hobby interests you.

The balloon will most likely being to lost its elasticity and start to feel crunchy. When this happens it's very likely that the balloon will start to tear or the small hole you made will become large enough, from loss of elasticity to keep it closed, for bacteria and airborne contaminants to get in.

I brew beer mostly, no patience, and the yeast for an ale sometimes takes up to 36 hours to get going to the point where I see good bubbling in my airlock. Good luck!

u/okami89 · 1 pointr/Kombucha

Thanks for your detailed reply! By the way, what do you consider a "carbonation safe bottle"? My first inclination was to use the flip-top style that I use for beer like these. Would these be appropriate for carbonating and storing for a month or two?

u/awkwardlittleturtle · 2 pointsr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Oh my Zazzle! Thanks for the contest! <3

Now that he's graduated... maybe time for a new hobby, like homebrewery? Congrats to him, by the way!

I'd love some artwork... a bit overwhelmed by the bazillion choices, but so far, I love this!

u/Fondle_My_Sweaters · 3 pointsr/fermentation

I have 3 extra wide airlocks that I bought for a family member and they never used. You are welcome to them fellow kimchi maker. Let me know if they would fit those jars. I would recommend the wide mouth weights as well or a rock in a 5% salt zip lock bag to weigh it down.

https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Fermenter-Wide-Mouth-Lid/dp/B01DJVVORE

u/Doob4Sho · 9 pointsr/Homebrewing

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/platinum-pro-beer-brewing-starter-kit.html

or

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZH89Y?psc=1

The amazon costs more because it comes with an autosiphon, which you should definitely have

Both kits come with everything required to brew 5 gallons (40 to 50 bottles) of beer. Just need to buy bottles and you are good to go. It is the holiday season so odds are you may be able to find them even cheaper

u/fakefading · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I want to buy this kit from Northernbrewer, it's only $99.99. Is it a good deal? Please advise :)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZH89Y?psc=1

u/notpace · 3 pointsr/Kombucha

I used to go at them with a bottle brush, but took some advice from r/homebrewing and bought some PBW, which is a huge time saver. Add it to the bottles with some warm water, wait a half hour, then rinse them out. Clean as can be.

u/Level82 · 1 pointr/Kombucha

I bought a kit initially just to get past any worry that I would miss something....it got me started anyways. If I would do it over I would just buy a gallon glass jar (wide mouth), some black tea, a starter scoby with liquid, some sugar, a flexy funnel (for bottling), and some flip top bottles. The kit added about 15 extra bucks to the cost if I had bought everything by itself. I also bought a few large glass pyrex jars for scoby hotels and/or to hold the scoby if I don't re-make a fresh batch that day. I also bought fresh cutting boards, saucepan and wooden spoons so I can keep that separate and really clean away from any other cooking I do.
Kit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LW7OR4A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Bottles: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011SGS8U8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For the cover I have been using a coffee filter with a rubber band and it's been working super.

I've had no issue with mold or worrisome stuff happening to my kombucha. Each time it works perfectly and forms a nice healthy pellicle/scoby for the next batch. I think a few things you can do to make sure it doesn't 'go bad' is to remember to get all liquids to room temperature before dumping it in, don't use metal on it, wash your hands well before touching, don't use antibacterial cleaning products near it, and clean utensils with white vinegar before using. That being said, it appears to be sort of hard to kill it so it's a pretty beginner-friendly hobby.

u/TheyCalledMeGriff · 6 pointsr/financialindependence

Grapes, ehh no wine you can make at home will compare to a $10 bottle of red you could get at the store.

Cider is different story, most of America's cider making apple varietals were chopped down during prohibitions, so the cider market isn't what it could be, compared to wine.

Now most apple juice you'd buy at the store is gonna be from Dessert Apples, apples with low tannins(bitter stuff that gives body/better flavors) and high in sugar. Most apples you'd find on trees, say in your back yard, are probably a dessert apple, unless theyre crab apples in which case theyre pretty okay for making cider. A good varietal for cidermaking that is grown in the USA is Winesap, that's probably the best you can find, if you don't know what you're looking for. If you have any access to peaches or pears you can add those to your juice to give it a little complexity.



So here's what I would if I were ( and I am) a frugal bastard wanting to make cider on the cheap. Go to wholefood, trader joes, any "organic" market you can find and look for one of these now the key for apple juice, if you're buying from the store, is that is DOESN'T have any preservatives. Those preservatives help block or inhib fermentation, so it has a longer shelf life. You want something that says it doesnt have any preservatives, look on the ingredient list for things like potassium sorbate.

So you've got your juice ( and conveniently a glass container to ferment in) now you need to get some sugar ( any sugar will do), an airlock, a rubber seal, and some yeast. Throw some sugar into the juice, toss some yeast in, put the bung (rubber seal) on, put some water in the airlock, smush that into the bung, place in 55-65F degree dark room, and wait 2 weeks.

Ka-Blam 6-10% Cider. Add back in some apple concentrate to taste when you serve it, and there you go 5-8% ABV Apple Cider on the cheap.

And now you get to keep the glass container, which is known in the brewing world as a carboy for future brews.

Here is, albeit a little over priced, bung and airlock combo from amazon.

u/Boris_Da_Blade · 3 pointsr/mead

http://www.amazon.com/The-Compleat-Meadmaker-Production-Award-winning/dp/0937381802

Start there if you look to make future batches. Also, I wouldn't have used distilled water. Spring water is better. Yeast needs vitamins and minerals. I would also use better yeast in the future. Lalvin D47 is a good mead yeast. I'd replace your baloon with an airlock. They are really cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W

I'd keep what you have out of direct sunlight (so in a closet or throw a blanket over it) and I'd keep it at 70 degrees F.

u/patrad · 3 pointsr/hotsaucerecipes
  1. make sure stuff is weighted and under brine

  2. remove as many floaters as possible, sometimes not possible but the less the better

  3. get some good airlocks where you can suck out the oxygen. these help me to almost never get mold. .
u/stupidrobots · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

Cheapest thing: Two pack of airlocks with rubber bungs

How much: $1.25 +$5.45 shipping

Why do you want it: They're airlocks. I'm a homebrewer. I will use them to make delicious mead, cider, wine, and beer!

My favorite pokemon is: Hariyama!

u/rrenaud · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

If you are willing to look worse but have a much better solution than filling growlers from the keg, use plastic soda bottles (or seltzer bottles, same thing), and get one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K4GGYT0/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You can connect the gas and liquid line to it. First crunch the bottle, then fill with CO2. Remove the gas connect, then connect to the keg
using a liquid to tube to another liquid connect (also good for doing keg to keg transfers/blends), and then gently unscrew. As a bit of pressure is released, the liquid will fill the bottle.

You can do a counter pressure fill, which means you lose very little CO2, and get very little O2 exposure.

Non-homebrewers think plastic bottles look a little sketchy. Homebrewers appreciate the simplicity/technical advantages/well carbonated beer.

u/ChrisTR15 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Since I drink commercial beer from the kegerator when I haven't had time to brew I had the need to use both. I got sankey to ball lock adapters. I also got a 90° elbow for the beer line, so it wouldn't kink against the top of the fridge with the adapters on.
I took the lines off the sankey, put the ball lock quick disconnects on the hoses, and that's it. Works well. I can take a pic of the huge hunk of metal on top of my commercial keg if you would like.

u/seeyounorth · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

I had great results with a starter kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop. It's a fun time and you learn a lot about the process plus they have more beers available to brew on your own. Then you move on to getting the grain and hops yourself.

u/WalnutSnail · 2 pointsr/fermentation

Wide mouth mason jars with these on top

Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting in Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids, Extractor Pump & Recipe eBook - Mold Free https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01DJVVORE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0ITXDbA6WMKFD

u/aharm · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

For best results, add sugar, add champagne yeast, and put one of these where the cap goes. They fit directly in a welch's container.

u/Chimaerik · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Yes, ideally you would attach a syphon tube to a bottling wand like this and use that to fill your bottles.

u/albino_peregrine · 1 pointr/AskWomen
u/GreenHobbyist · 1 pointr/CannabisExtracts

You could try soaking it in something like PBW but I would bet that in order to get that off you would end up removing the top layer of the dish. If you don't mind that then you could use some soap plus some steel wool but honestly it's never going to be the same.

u/Busted_Knuckler · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

I wouldn't drill the lid for a thermowell and ball lock port. There are a combo action of items on Amazon you could get and utilize the bung hole that already exists.

Homebrew #7 Stopper Thermowell

Stainless Carbonation Cap Counter

Home Brew Ohio Solid Rubber


Drill a 1/4" hole in the undrilled stopper for the carb cap and you have a ball lock connector.

The bung with the thermowell works great on my anvil fermenters.

u/MookSkywalker · 2 pointsr/firewater

Yes, PBW is like oxy clean for your still

u/tom_coverdales_liver · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Anybody think buying this wort chiller for $50 is a good deal? 20' of the same tubing at Home Depot is $27 before tax, and I have a $50 Amazon gift card.

u/sexydracula · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I'm looking to purchase the parts for a 2 tap sankey kegerator and wanted some feedback on before I go ahead and order. everything is through amazon because I have a large amazon gift card.

I already have 2 intertap flow control faucets

coupler-kegco KTS97D-W x2

beer line assembly x2

10 feet of gas line

20# luxfer co2 tank

taprite dual regulator

intertap shanks x2


I'm hoping to pick up a used chest freezer on craigslist. Anything I'm missing? Anything I should change?

u/Epic-Mike · 1 pointr/Random_Acts_Of_Amazon

This

&

This

Just take the extra from the ten dollar contest prize if I'm chosen :)

u/Jockle305 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

This isn’t fool proof but does the trick for me at room temperature. I cool using some ice packs it comes with.

Home Brewing Fermentation Cooler - Beer Brewing Temperature Control, Keg Cooler, Fermentation Brewing Bag. The Original - Cool Brewing Fermentation Cooler. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKD7CQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Zy9RDb3E513D0

u/talktochuckfinley · 2 pointsr/fermentation

They look like these. I have them, they're great.

u/mikeschmidt69 · 8 pointsr/Homebrewing

I think heating is easier to control than cooling. The solution really depends on your budget.

I think there are essentially 3 pieces.

  1. Temperature monitoring & electric control. For example Inkbird ITC-308 which are about $35. Another option would be an STC-1000 that you wire yourself to power strip.

  2. some sort of heating device. There are pads, belts ($20), tape, wraps($27)....

  3. insulation to keep the heat in. E.G., a rubber exercise mat wrapped around a carboy or bucket with a strap to keep it tight.

    I also saw a video where instead of (1) they monitored the temperature manually (E.g., with a cheap $1 thermometer sticker) and then they used a standard cheap electrical timer ($10) that you might have anyway and configured the toggles so the heater came regularly and long enough to maintain the desired temperature.
u/satanclauz · 1 pointr/redneckengineering

That's beautiful! And it could double as a huge wort chiller :D

u/watchyatoes · 1 pointr/hotsaucerecipes

You need some sort of an airlock lid. There is a bunch of them out there. Basically as the ferment gases, it pushes the air out on it's own. Here is the one I use

Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting in Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids, Extractor Pump & Recipe eBook - Mold Free https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01DJVVORE/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_tfnGDbWQYR98Q

u/AyekerambA · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

So, you want to think about how many kegs you want in service at any one time. As others have mentioned, second-hand and sales are the shit. But there's something to be said for shiny and new.

A quick note in case you're not familiar with regulators. If you are, skip this. Basically when you get a tank of gas, it's holding a shitload PSI worth of gas. Whether or not the gas is in a liquid or gas state varies, but is largely irrelevant for this treatise. If you straight open that valve, it comes out at the highest speed that the nozzle on the tank will allow. So you screw on a gas regulator. The one that you attach to a tank is a primary/secondary combo. The Primary Regulator gauge is the left part of the regulator. It shows how much gas is in your tank. Co2 turns to liquid under pressure, so don't worry too much about what that gauge READS, just know that the internal mechanisms of the primary portion of the regulator are dropping 500-800PSI down to 0-100PSI or so. The second part of your regulator is the top gauge, which shows your Secondary PSI, or the output PSI, if you will. Depending on the sensitivity of the gauge and internal mechanisms, it can max out anywhere from 40-100. The screw on the front is how you adjust what PSI is coming out of that barb post at the bottom. This is the number you care most about. I only go into this much depth because when I first started kegging, I really didn't have a good grasp on these distinctions

If you plan on building a Keezer with space for 6 kegs, but only want to serve 3 at a time, I would get a single primary regulator with a secondary out and run that to an array of 6 Secondaries. That way you can carbonate and serve at variable pressures/volumes. However, even if you build that from scratch from used/new parts, it's still a pricey proposition.

Or, you could use that single regulator above and run the secondary to a 6 way manifold. The downside is each keg would receive equal pressure and therefore all carbonation in the kegs would be the same.

You could also mix and match for a more even approach: get a regulator like this and run the two outputs to two different 3-way manifold so 3 kegs could be X PSI and 3 kegs could be Y PSI. Meaning 3 kegs would be carbing and serving at 1 pressure, and 3 kegs would be carbing and serving at another.

u/MisterRegards · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

i started with a brooklyn brew shop kit (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005G20IIG/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1495951927&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=brooklyn+brew+shop&dpPl=1&dpID=410e6JNicAL&ref=plSrch) only thing you need in addition are 2 1.5gal pots and some kind of sieve. worked well for me, brewed about 7 batches that way nd they were okay to very good.

u/drebin8 · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I'd like to do 5 gallon batches. I don't think the quantity from the Mr Beer keg is worth it.

How's this look? Total is around $80.

Fermentation bucket

Bung/airlock

Stock pot

Autosiphon

Star San or Idophor (What's the difference?)

Is there any advantage to having a carboy as well? How long would I leave the beer in the fermentation bucket?

So if I wanted to do sours, I'd basically have to get 2 of everything?

Edit - actually, wouldn't this kit be about the same, but with an extra bucket but no stock pot?

Edit 2 - another pot, 36qt is good price, leaving this here so I can find it again.

u/KEM10 · 7 pointsr/Homebrewing

> $549 retail

Damn it, I have to do math again....

For $550 you can also purchase the following:

  • Home brew starter kit w/ 5 gallon kettle - $90 (this is essentially what I started with 6 years ago and still use everything)

  • A free extract kit with the above purchase

  • You'll need something to put that homebrew in. 2 cases of 1 L flip tops - $76

  • Cleaning supplies, both PBW and StarSan - $40

  • Everyone's favorite brewing book - $12

    That's really everything you need for one batch and we're only up to $218...
    To fill the gap of $282, how about 7 extract kits estimating about $40 per kit?

    So with my plan of $548 (that's one dollar cheaper!) you get 40 gallons of beer! How much does the competitor make per batch?

    > The newer keg, which is the same volume (1.75 gallons) as the old keg will have simplified connectors.
u/TheEngineer09 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

There are a couple conversion kits. This one adapts the sanke tap to have ball lock connects. https://www.amazon.com/Foxx-4048Sankey-Quick-Disconnect-Conversion/dp/B00C30F75I


This kit swaps the sanke barb fittings for the flare fittings found on nicer ball lock connectors so you can easily swap lines over.
https://www.homebrewing.org/Kegerator-Homebrew-Conversion-Kit_p_720.html

edited links to not be a mess.

u/ferengiprophet · 1 pointr/fermentation

>Well, that depends. You say water. Do you mean a brine?

I meant brine. I take two cabbages, shred them in a food processor, put the shredded cabbage in oblong glass dishes, measure out two tablespoons of sea salt and massage that into the cabbage for 5 minutes, leave the cabbage in the glass dish for 1 hour, and then pack it into half-gallon mason jars. Once these jars are filled to the top (noob mistake I keep making), I use a sauerkraut pounder to squish as much brine out as possible. Afterwards, I add an additional 1 tsp of salt and put glass weights on the cabbage before putting on the lids. If at this point there's not enough brine to submerge the cabbage, I add a little bit of bottled water until it is submerged.

>Why are you adding extra liquid at the start instead of just 2% salt by cabbage weight?

I do this under two scenarios:

0. I pack the jars full of cabbage and pound out as much brine as possible but there's still not enough brine to keep the cabbage submerged

0. Sometimes I don't have enough cabbage to fill up a half-gallon mason jar so I add bottled water until it reaches near the top of the jar

>Do you have a weight in the jar (I assume not based on your question, but maybe you do)

Yes, I use the glass weights that came with the fermentation kit

u/jaybeerskau · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

I failed to mention, you'd want to fit the cooler with either a bazooka tube like this http://www.amazon.com/Bazooka-Kettle-Screen-brew-kettle/dp/B003ISY2DC or a false bottom like this http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-an-awesome-Mash-Tun-Less-than-60-Bucks-False/ I've heard the bazooka tubes can clog so I personally went with the false bottom. It would also be prudent to fit a ball valve on the outside of the cooler to attach a hose for draining into your boil kettle.

u/jlongstreet · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I use one too, with similar efficiency. I don't really want higher than mid-70s because that's what recipes are generally built for. Here's one on Amazon for about the same as what it would cost to build a SS braid filter: http://www.amazon.com/Bazooka-Screen-brew-kettle-mash/dp/B003ISY2DC

Plus, it's 1/2" MPT already, so it should thread directly into the bulkhead you attach for your ball valve. Easy peasy.

One thing is that for the 10gal Igloo cooler the 12" are slightly too long. I just bent the last 1-1 1/2" back on itself.

u/Paulie_Walnutz · 3 pointsr/Homebrewing

Amazon has this for $100. It’s what I bought for my starter and still use almost all of the equipment.

Brew. Share. Enjoy. Homebrew 5 Gallon Beer Brewing Starter Kit with Block Party Amber Ale Beer Recipe Kit and Brew Kettle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jifeAbQX8JP6A

u/Doggfite · 1 pointr/brewing

I just got an airlock in the mail, I would recommend it, super cheap but it's well made.
Twin Bubble Airlock and Carboy Bung (Pack of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A6TRKO4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_d2JwcdyQM9mwC

u/xlaevis · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Easy! You can build the exact same thing, but you'll have to slightly modify your Sanke keg coupler with something like these. Basically, you put those ball lock conversion couplers onto your Sanke coupler and add ball lock disconnects to your existing gas/liquid lines. Now your system will work with the device in the hbt thread, and you'll be able to tab ball lock kegs too!

u/zendawg · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

No you do not want those. You want these. http://www.midwestsupplies.com/5-16-barbed-shutoff-valve.html

the 4 way should already come with them. You need a way to turn the CO2 on and off as well as preventing any beer from back flowing into your gas lines. These will accomplish that

I currently have this one. http://www.amazon.com/Taprite-Product-Pressure-Kegerator-Regulator/dp/B0060NOX40

That is a good price for the 4 way

u/mailerdeemon · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

Wow, I must be lucky. I have one of these, and used it to bottle two 5 gallon batches to far in recycled bottles (mostly Guinness, Magic Hat, Sam Adams, Samuel Smith), and haven't broken a bottle, and haven't had a leaky cap. It isn't the fastest thing, but it does the job.

edit:

Here is the Amazon product page with reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Red-Baron-Bottle-Capper/dp/B001D6KGTK?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

u/councillleak · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I use a gaint carboy sized cooler bag found here. It can fold up pretty small or slide under your bed when not in use so you aren't commiting to bulky fridge or something similar. Putting a frozen 2 liter in there will easily bring you down to around 65 degrees.

u/maggicmikee · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

Thanks, yes it is a Sanjay keg. Is it one of these I need along with the regular co2 set-up?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sankey-Ball-Quick-Disconnect-Conversion/dp/B00C30F75I

u/moleratical · 1 pointr/Kombucha

Listen to this guy OP, he's the only one that actually answered your question. Those canning jars can't take too much pressure and are not usually perfectly cylindrical, this puts even more pressure on the corners.

They would probably work if you did a short 2F but then you'd have the same problem as you did with the growler, not enough carbonation, plus the added risk of a glassy, liquidy mess.

I'd just order a pack or dedicated swingtop bottles from amazon. If you wanted you buy a couple of 4-packs or Grolsh lager for the same price, and get the added bonus of 2 exta bottles and all of that delicious beery goodness.

u/CherryDrank · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/beer-equipment-starter-kits/essential-brewing-starter-kit.html

$79.99 and includes everything you need minus bottles and a kettle. It even comes with an ingredient kit as well.

If you wanted to start off all-grain and 1-gallon, you can get the Brooklyn kit:

http://www.amazon.com/Brooklyn-Brew-Beer-Making-Everyday/dp/B005G20IIG

If you want DIY, other people will have better suggestions. I prefer to make things as simple as possible on myself!

u/tehcheez · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I've been using this Northern Brewer kit for years: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZH89Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IOVdBbVZ3TRG5

Only grip is it doesn't come with a hydrometer, buy one of those.

  • Something that helped me save time and sanatizer. Don't put the Star-San in the bucket and fill the bucket up, mix it up in a spray bottle and spray your equipment. Been using the same mix in my spray bottle for over a year now.

  • If you think you're sanatizing too much, sanatize some more.

  • If you have a dishwasher sanatize your dishwasher rack and use it to drip dry bottles.

  • Don't bother with the secondary, just keep it in the primary. I only transfer to my secondary when I'm ready to bottle.

  • Follow up to the previous bullet point, never use those individual priming tablets, they suck. Mix up your priming sugar in boiling water for a few minutes, put it in the bottom on your seconday/bottling bucket, add a few ice cubes to cool it down, and syphon your beer in.

  • Use this priming calculator: https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
u/nawagner85 · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

They're quite easy to make. I use mine all winter long. Just need a heater and a controller. I use the two below.

Brew Fermentation Heating Belt, 1-Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001D6IUB6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Q3L1BbH29S370

Inkbird ITC-308 Max.1200W Heater, Cool Device Temperature Controller, Carboy, Fermenter, Greenhouse Terrarium Temp. Control https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HXM5UAC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_04L1Bb1CAC4VY

u/randyh360 · 1 pointr/Homebrewing

I started with the bazooka screen linked below. I have brewed 12 batches with it and have no intention of "upgrading" to a false bottom. Make sure you select the one that is sold by Arbor Fabricating. For some reason it is only $.50 plus $4.99 shipping right now and it is really well made. I actually just bought a backup when I saw how cheap they are. :)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ISY2DC

u/lookatmeglow · 4 pointsr/vaporents

PBW is professionals brewers wash.

This is what I bought to start and then bought, by accident, the 5lb case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0064O7XBA/ref=pd_aw_sbs_328_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=29NKXXHC6AWMRNJH7169

Here is a great summary link that has more information.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vaporents/comments/50ktnh/alternative_to_shake_and_break/

You are going to want to look for 91% or higher isopropyl alcohol. You don't want any coloring or additives in it. Same 50/50 mixture for the vivant alternate, but it should work better.

The metal screens can be soaked in the 91% without diluting it with water.

u/AgedAardvark · 2 pointsr/Homebrewing

This is an airlock:

http://www.amazon.com/Piece-Plastic-Airlock-Sold-sets/dp/B000E60G2W

You fill it up to the little line with sanitizer or vodka and it allows the CO2 being generated by the yeast to bubble out, but nothing from the outside to invade. If you can find one, you'll need a stopper that'll fit your 2-liter bottle that has a hole in it the right size for the airlock. If you can't find one, you should maybe loosely cover the top of the 2-liter bottle with sanitized tinfoil.

u/Oksoda94 · 5 pointsr/Kombucha

These are the bottles I use for second fermentation.

This is the heating pad I use. It's pricey but you have complete control over the exact temperature you want and if it's a hobby you plan on continuing, it's well worth it.

u/DMB_1991 · 1 pointr/hotsauce

Ah yeah here ya go.

Easy Fermenter Wide Mouth Lid Kit: Simplified Fermenting In Jars Not Crock Pots! Make Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Pickles Or Any Fermented Probiotic Foods. 3 Lids(jars not incld), Extractor Pump & Recipes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DJVVORE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_KA3jDbFHA0H7T