(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best home brewing & wine making products

Yeah, I agree. Ceradyn is a great option, thanks for bringing it up. For reference, they are available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-Drip-Ceradyn-Water-Filter/dp/B0007U010W/

Actually the Gravidyn is a tiny bit cheaper - this is the one I have:

http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-Drip-Gravidyn-Water-Filter/dp/B0007U011G/

For anyone who's wondering, yes, the two systems are identical except for the filters that come with. You can put Ceradyn filters in the Gravidyn setup, and vice versa.

The filters are quite delicate, though, and prone to cracking and breakage. You need to inspect them carefully for hairline fractures when you get them. For example, one of the ones in my Gravidyn was broken on arrival. I convinced Amazon to send me a spare one (rather than having to send the whole system back). Also, when I was moving stuff around in one of my storage closets in the garage, I accidentally dropped one of the spare Gravidyn filters on the concrete floor. It was inside its protective cardboard box, but it still broke. I was heartbroken - such a waste of money from a moment's clumsiness. Make sure to treat these things with kid gloves!

For completeness, here are the spare filters - Gravidyn:

http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-20720-Gravidyn-Replacement-Element/dp/B0007U011Q/

And Ceradyn:

http://www.amazon.com/Katadyn-Ceradyn-Replacement-Filter-Element/dp/B0007U0116/

Hope it's ok posting links like this... I have no stake, not connected with the company at all etc.

The Monolithic filters are also interesting, and they claim to remove arsenic and lead as well. I would be concerned with arsenic in the surface water around here, though it might only be something that is in ground water (i.e. from wells etc). Anyway, these are very simple and cheap too, you can make a bucket filter around one of these little things and have a basic system. I don't know how much formal testing they have had, but they seem to be used a lot in 3rd world countries.

http://www.monolithic.org/water-filters

http://www.monolithicmarketplace.com/collections/frontpage/products/just-water-ceramic-drip-filter

As I said earlier, if I ever have to use the creek water, then I intend for the Monolithic to be the first stage, then treat with calcium hypochlorite (pool shock - 78% TurboShock from Poolife is the best I've found), then treat again with the Katadyn to remove the chlorine and just do another round of filtering in general. I figure I should be covering my bases with this.

http://www.amazon.com/POOLIFE-Poolife-TurboShock-1-lb/dp/B0017SSFU6

And also in case anybody's interested: To treat water with calcium hypochlorite, first make a bleach solution (NOT FOR DRINKING!) by adding a heaped teaspoon to 2 gallons of water. Then you can treat drinking water with this by using 1:100 ratio (i.e. for every 1 part bleach solution, 100 parts water). This should make it obvious that the calcium hypochlorite is pretty concentrated stuff - you shouldn't be trying to treat drinking water directly. First make the solution, then use that to treat the water. For reference, the 1:100 ratio translates into roughly 2.5-3 tablespoons of solution per gallon of drinking water, or 3/4-1 cup to every 5 gallons of water (if you're treating by the bucket). I give a range since it might be easier to measure 3 tablespoons and 1 cup rather than fractions like 2.5 and 3/4, and I think it's probably true that a little over treatment won't do any harm, especially if you are filtering it out anyway. Let the water stand for at least half an hour when treating, the longer the better. Contact time is important for killing the viruses etc.

Also, the pool shock is hard to store safely, since it produces chlorine. Anything metal will get corroded over time. The best method I have found is to use the mason jars with the metal canning lids (the ones that come in two parts). The 1 lb packs of TurboShock fit nicely in a 1/2 gallon jar. I know the lid is metal, but it has a plastic coating on the inside, and those lids are the best sealing I have found. I can put three jars inside a plastic 5 gallon bucket that has been sealed with a Gamma spintop lid. Then I can check on them every few months, and I'll know immediately if the jars have been leaking inside the bucket, because you'll be hit with the chlorine as soon as you open the bucket. I figure if the metal lids start rusting, then I'll just see what their safe lifetime is, and treat them as consumable items. A box of lids is only a few bucks, so replacing them every six months or year or whatever is no big deal. I also wrap the jars inside the bucket in bubble wrap, just so they won't break against each other if things are thrown around during an earthquake. With 3 lbs of the calcium hypochlorite, I'm ready to disinfect a LOT of pond water! Maybe also useful as bartering material in the event of a long term service outage, you never know.

Oh, and one last thing - I got a set of long handled measuring spoons, so that I will be able to reach inside the jars to get the pool shock out without having to tip them up or whatever, risking getting this toxic substance on my skin or in my eyes (big nope).

http://www.amazon.com/ChefLand-Set-Sizes-Stainless-Ingredients/dp/B00AEUR6K8

I know metal isn't good with calcium hypochlorite, but I'm not storing them with the stuff and their contact time will be minimal, and I'll be washing them after each use. I just figure it's useful to try to consider the practicalities of how you will use stuff in reality... also, I'll probably not make 2 gallons, but rather only 1 gallon at a time, which will mean a heaped 1/2 teaspoon of pool shock. And how to store the bleach solution? I found some nice 1 gallon jars with plastic lids for that:

http://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-USDA-Fermentation-Glass-Jar/dp/B006ZRBGSC

The solution should be good for a couple of weeks, I think, if stored in a cool dark place. I guess you could also use it to treat your bucket toilet, so maybe you won't waste much.

Sorry, as you can tell I have thought way too much about this stuff. :P

Hello! First off I want to thank you so much for this contest! That is an awesome thing to do! I hope my comment doesn't get too buried but here we go.


I am listing items that somewhat define me as a person. This might help you learn a little more about me and maybe even help you find something of interest. These items are entertainment, music, coffee and beer.

1. [Amazon Fire TV](Amazon Fire TV https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U3FPN4U/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_sewOwbZ2BH5MS) - Entertainment. TV, games, movies, I am all about entertainment. We have cut the cord in our house so this would really help with entertainment.
   
   
   
2. [A record player](Audio Technica AT-LP60 Fully Automatic Stereo Turntable System, Silver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002GYTPAE/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_LiwOwbZXCJCTP) - Music. I am very passionate about music and I recently have gotten the idea to get into vinyl. I like the idea of having the records for music but also to be able to display them as art.
   
   
   
3. [Luwak Coffee](Luwak Star Gourmet Coffee, 100% Arabica Sumatra Gayo Luwak Coffee from Indonesia (or Kopi Luwak) Whole Beans, Medium Roast, 100 Gram (0.22 Lb) Bag, Roasted in the U.S https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005OCU80Q/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_blwOwbHR0DSYH) - Coffee. There's almost nothing I love more than a good cup of coffee. I love trying different coffees from all over the world. This coffee that I have listed is one of the most exotic and expensive coffees in the world. If you are not familiar with this coffee, here is some info. The cherries of this coffee are eaten by a wild cat like animal in Indonesia. Farmers then collect the feces of the animal and pick the coffee beans out. Supposedly the mix of the coffee cherries and stomach acid enhance the flavor of the coffee. I absolutely must try this coffee someday!
   
   
   
4. [Beer Home brew kit](Monster Brew Home Brewing Supp Complete Beer Equipment Kit (K6) with 6 Gallon Glass Carboy, Gold https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01467U8KY/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_YswOwb3CG9E9B) - Beer. I took my love of beer to the next level and started home brewing my own. The problem is that it is a very long process, 6-8+ weeks. So I wait 2 months for the beer to finish and then after I give some to friends and family and drink a few (okay a lot) myself it doesn't last very long. With this kit I would be able to double the amount I make at a time so it would last longer.
   
   
   This last one is actually something for my wife. [Jawbone activity tracker](o UP2 by Jawbone Activity + Sleep Tracker, Gunmetal Hex (Dark Gray), Lightweight Thin Straps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01649SM6O/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_XwwOwb78E30GT) - like many people my wife has made a resolution to shed some pounds and get back in shape. This would be very useful for her to help accomplish her goals.
   
   
   Thanks again for doing this!

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.

Mead is super easy and rather cheap compared to other types of brewing. If you have a local homebrewing store they can help you get started and will have everything you need, most major cities have one and I find that the people are almost always very helpful.

The first thing is to decide volume, then if you want to boil or not, and then recipe (which includes batch strength). I prefer to boil my mead to help dissolve the honey and make sure its good and sanitized, but thats not entirely necessary

So Optional Equipment (if you boil)

1 Big Boil Pot - This needs to be big enough to do however much you want as a batch. If you get a 5 gallon pot, this is good enough for 2-3 gallon mead as well as if you got into Extract Beer Brewing. If you buy a 10 gallon boil pot (usually $120 or so) its big enough for 5 gallon All grain beer batches, as well as 5-8 gallon mead batches

2 Burner - If you are doing smaller batches your stove can handle it, if you move up to big batches or beer batches it helps to have a propane burner and propane tank.

Non optional Equipment:

1 Fermentation/Secondary Vessel - There are two options here. The cheaper route is the 8 gallon buckets with a lid and an airlock. A rubber mallet also really helps to get it on the first time (trust me here). They are about $20. The second option which I'd recommend is one of the Speidel fermenters, they are a bit more expensive at $50-$60 but have a nice spigot for siphoning and are super nice. You also need an aging vessel as you need to let it sit for 5-6 months before bottling. For this I recommend a PET carboy or a smaller Speidel Fermenter

If you are doing 5gallon, get the 8g Speidel or equivilant sized bucket. Get a plastic carboy or the smaller speidel fermenter for aging

The downside to not doing the Speidel fermenters is then you need a bottling bucket and a siphon pump to get the mead out of the bucket, I like the speidel fermenters because I can just transfer to it and use it to bottle with.

Bottle Filler and 3' rough of Hose - This is for bottling

Bottles - I prefer the nice flip top ones but they are usually around $30 for only 12 of them. The other option is to buy some bottle caps, and clean

Iodophor / Star San - Cleaner, just google them. You need this to clean all your equipment as well as your fermenters

There are some minor other things, such as a Big spoon for stirring, having a thermometer is a good idea... maybe other things but I think I covered most of it

Recipe: (The recipe itself)
Normal recipes are around 3 pounds of honey per gallon of water, so you need to get 15lbs of honey if you do 5 gallons. More honey will up the alcohol, less honey will lower it

A vial or two of yeast. I like to pitch two of them just to make sure it starts. I use Sweet Mead Yeast

Yeast Nutrient - Mead doesnt have some of the nutrients beer does, so a bit of this added per the instructions gets the yeast going

Optional - Flavoring. I tried out strawberry this time, totally optional but just google it and you can find it. Usually it comes in a tiny bottle

Instructions

First you dissolve honey into water. If you are doing a 5 gallon batch, use 5.5 gallons of water. If you are going to boil, nows a good time. During this process, Add the yeast nutrient. Put the mixture into your fermenter vessel. Cool it down to room temperature (important)

Its fairly important to ferment at 68-70 degrees for at least the first week or two (yeast stuff), so if you don't have central heating/cooling that could be an issue you have to tackle from another angle. At this point, pitch the yeast and seal it up and let them do their job

Wait about a month for it to ferment (the airlock will go bloop bloop a lot). Sanitize the hose and secondary/aging vessel, this vessel should be close to your actual volume so there isn't head room. Then transfer to the secondary, pop the airlock on it and let it age for usually 3-6 months, depending on your patience. At that point, transfer it back to a different vessel (to get it off the trub) and during this process add any flavoring (if any). Finally, siphon into bottles using that little spring bottle filler attached to the hose, and cap it

That was a bit long winded but I was trying to be thorough. if you have any questions feel free to PM me!

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.

You raise some good points, but your attitude sucks. Anyway, here are the answers you are looking for:

• Champagne and wine yeasts are often bought my amateur brewers by the packet, similar to baker's yeast. "1 package" is the measurement, it's usually equal to 5 grams, which is a bit less convenient to measure because you need a very sensitive scale and it doesn't fill measuring spoons roundly.
  
  
• During fermentation, the yeast will turn the sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide (that's why beer and champagne are fizzy, yeast at work). If the carbon dioxide builds up too much, the bottle it is fermenting in would pop its cork or explode. In order to prevent this, the CO2 needs to escape. Because we can't simply leave the bottle uncapped (bugs love to lay eggs in sweet ferments, and oxygen is detrimental to successful fermentation) we need a way to let the CO2 out without letting anything else get in. That is why you use a fermentation trap, also called a fermentation lock or airlock. It lets CO2 out, and keeps anything else from getting in by way of a water barrier. You can pick them up at brewer supply stores for around $1 each. The one pictured is a 3-piece type, though I prefer the S-types because they allow you to keep track of the fermentation rate by noting how quickly bubbles are escaping more effectively.
  
• Dandelion wine is a country wine, and like most country wine, it's going to have some spices or flavors in it besides the main ingredient. Dandelion wine is traditionally made with citrus to compliment the flavor. Folk-culture food is just like that, you'll have a hard time finding unflavored picked egg recipes for the same reason.
  
  
• Also, I'd like to emphasize that only the petals of dandelions are used. If you go find a dandelion and stare it down for a bit, you'll realize they have very few petals, and they are very light and airy. You need a lot of dandelions to do this, even if you only collect half a gallon of petals, it's a full afternoon activity in a dandelion field with your friends just to collect them.
  
  
  The comic is definitely vague; it ends with "let age", but knowing how to rack and age wine is an art all in itself!
  
  TL;DR: If you know nothing about dandelion wine then this comic is a nice primer to which is actually a fairly simple process. It leaves out some details but you probably shouldn't be making wine from a comic's instructions to begin with.
  
  Source: I make dandelion wine, so I guess you were right.

This woman's kimchi is super spicy. I only used 1.5 cups of hot peppers. Anyway, I've gotten used to how hot it is and find myself craving it. I eat 2 tablespoons of it with every plate. And I drink kefir milk or kefir water. Kombucha sometimes, but that takes 2 weeks to get good. The kefirs take 2 days and are pretty strong.

I mention kefir because if you make milk kefir in a Fido jar for say a day and a half at room temperature. The curds and whey will separate and you strain that whey into a jar with either olives, baby cucumbers, hardboiled eggs and beet juice, asparagus, cabbage (kimchi and sourkrout), pear onions, salsa, Brussels sprouts, garlic, and I'm sure more. You use the curds you made with the milk kefir grains to make fermented hard cheeses, yogurt (awesome for ball jar parfaits, cream cheese,

If you want to get really crazy you can buy a 5\8" glass drill bit off amazon for 6 dollars. Drill holes in the lids. Use either rubber grommets or a drilled airlock grommet and airlocks to let the CO2 buildup release without letting fresh air back in. The company that makes and sells them call them Pickl-It jarsImage. They look identical to what you can make for much cheaper. This isn't necessary but it costs about 5 bucks to do to each jar and the result is that you now have a 40 - 120 dollar fermentation crock.

Buy this jar: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/fido-5-liter-jar-with-clamp-lid/s495151?a=1552&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=CJ7Whp7ZkroCFabm7AodOmkAHQ

Or at surlatable if you want more than 1 jar, and want 1.5 liters like the legit picklits. I found 3 liter Fido jars at hobby lobby for $5 each. I suppose just look for clamped glass jars with italy stamped on the bottom, not china.

The dehydrated food you weigh after and portion out into serving sizes. If I'm packing them as a lunch I separate atleast the meat from fruits and vegetables. Match each serving of meat with what used to be one or two cups of kale. A solid ammount of tomato chips and mango, peaches, apples or banana leathers. (Go easy on the mango) Blend and fruit rollup your berries. I'm not a nut and grain person, but a granola bar probably wouldn't be bad in there. I suppose you could stuff all these bags into a food saver bag and have like a cheap, fresh and healthy MRE all set and ready. No cooking required. I'm not sure how long the meat would last. So I wouldn't let it sit too long. Plus make sure your jerky sits in a brown paper bag for a few days first. To draw out any more moisture before vacuum sealing it.

>Have you made any liquor based drinks?

Screwdrivers are pretty good. Vodka and cranberry carbonated is pretty good as well. Margaritas you would think would be really good, but not so much. The sweeter the starting liquid the better it tastes carbonated, as carbonic acid is pretty bitter by itself. (carbonic acid is co2 dissolved in waters technical name, fun fact: The Ph value of our blood is what our bodies use to determine how much we need to breath. It is made slightly more acidic the more co2 is present.)

As far as supplies go, you need at a minimum,the stuff below. You can always get a bigger tank or longer/better hoses etc. But this is quite literally exactly what I have, and I only fill my tank up every 6-8 months (sooner if I make some dry ice with it.)

• Carbonator cap ~$13
  
  
• Ball lock connector ~$15
  
  
• 2 stage regulator ~$50
  
  
• 5 pound co2 tank ~$65
  
  If you buy everything from amazon it will run you about $150, my local beverage distributor, in Atlanta suburbs, had most of this stuff a fair bit cheaper, so you may want to check with them first (I got burned by not checking).
  
  Honestly, this was one of the best $100 or so I have ever spent. We buy those Mio squirt drinks when they go on sale, its like paying $0.08 for a 2 liter of Diet Faygo, plus all of the SodaStream flavors work as intended, you can get those from target for like 5 bucks and they make gallons of Soda. Plus all of the fruit stuff, and quixotic beverages just for fun.
  
  Usage:
  
  
• Fill a 2 liter up to the shoulder, as you need a bit of head space for the co2 to contact the water.
  
  
• Screw the carbonator cap on while you squeeze out all the air.
  
  
• Put the bottle in the freezer until it is just starting to freeze. You can also put partially filled bottles in overnight to form an ice cube, however, this requires experimentation to find the correct amount.
  
  
• Set the co2 pressure between 30 - 45 PSI, depending on the amount of "Bite" you want the seltzer to have.
  
  
• Connect the ball lock to the cap to pressurize, then shake vigorously for 45 - 60 seconds. Let it sit, for 2-3 minutes, on its side to maximize surface area. Shake again for a minute or so.
  
  
• Umm, enjoy tasty drinks.
  
  

Cool, coots recipe it is.

The recipe in the sidebar specifically mentioned horse manure compost, so I'd imagine it would be fine, though hearing from others would be reassuring too. I'll do some more research though.

> fermenting lids
> > $29.99

holy shit that's highway robbery. Maybe I'm missing something, but those seem to do the same thing as homebrewing airlocks. With these grommets and these airlocks you'd be able to make 5 of those for about 15 bucks. Regardless, thanks for the advice, since cleaning up fermented plant material and broken glass doesn't sound very fun. Any ferments (or top dressing additions, etc.) you're particularly fond of?

As far as the LEDs go, I'm thinking of building 2 light assemblies, each with 2 BXRC-30E10K0-D-73 and 2 BXRC-40E10K0-D-73. That would mean 2 3000K and 2 4000K chips per assembly. Those chips drop 37.2V at 1400 mA, so I'd run them on a HLG-185-C-1400b and add a potentiometer to let me dim the driver down to ~1000mA, which would give me a range of 38-52W per chip. I think that gives me a lot more flexibility than a single monolithic light.

I've gone through a lot of iterations of my planned LED setup lol. If you'd have asked me two days ago I'd have said cxb3590s all the way, but 25 bucks a COB from digikey seems like a pretty solid deal. I haven't even checked kingbrite yet.

Your response was super helpful, much appreciated!

TLDR: The "Full kit" looks like it has the basics. As others have said, you might want a food-grade plastic bucket for primary fermentation, and you'll need bottles/containers to store the end product in.

If it were a "complete" kit I'd probably put one together which included One step sanitizer to sanitize equipment,a plastic fermentation bucket, and an auto-syphon to make racking (i.e., transferring the liquid from container to container) easier.

If it's something you're interested in pursuing further, there's plenty more you could consider picking up. A bottle filler for the auto syphon, a filtration kit to help clarify wine/mead, fining products, you might want to look into picking up more things like yeast energizer and yeast nutrient (which it sounds like this kit comes with some) and sulfate/sorbate (to stabilize the mead before back-sweetening) etc.

There are lots of recipes and lots of help available, so read up and feel free to ask questions and have a lot of fun experimenting and trying new things :)

I purchased this stuff. I didn't know too much about nutrients (I'm just beginning to learn all about fermenting) so I just went with the one that had the best reviews. I read a bunch of the amazon reviews and it seemed good.

I'll be using EC-1118 just like the guy in the thread you linked. I currently have a batch fermenting (for about a week now) in a gallon of strawberry juice that I added 2 cups of sugar and 1 teaspoon of nutrients to. I plan to do the following:

Use 1 campden tablet to get rid of chloramines in the water then mix 12lbs of sugar, 2 tablespoons of nutrients, and pour 1 cup of the fermenting strawberry juice in there for the yeast. I then plan to use ph strips and citric acid to get the entire 5 gallons down to a ph of 4.0'ish.

I figured I'd go with EC-1118 since I also planned to use the yeast in fruit juices I wanted to drink straight up. I heard it was one of the better yeasts for that purpose. Since it also can get up to high'ish ABV, it seemed like a good yeast for both my purposes.

I'm curious to taste the sugar wash once it's done too. I heard some bad stuff about how washes taste, but I'm assuming mine will be more like a "sugar wine"? If it doesn't taste too bad, I might run batches of it just to drink straight up with flavorings (like coolaid powder, ice tea powder, etc).

Would love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you may have? Always nice to get advice from someone experienced.

Do you think he would be interested in Brewing his own beer?. These kits are pretty nifty and come with all of the supplies needed to attempt your own brew. If he's into stuff like that, a lot of people would love to try to come up with their own recipe. It makes quite a bit too so he could share with people once he got a batch he was proud of. Just an idea, happy holidays!

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.

You're basically describing the setup I'm slowly putting together.

For cooling the wort, the best, cheap thing to buy is a copper wort chiller like this one. There's lots of variations on this design (more efficient, stainless instead of copper, better fittings, etc), but ultimately an immersion wort chiller like that is a common way to go.

You can make your own with hardware store parts too, if you want. That's what I did but after making it, then getting some more plumbing fittings to make it "better", I spent more than if I'd just bought one. Plumbing supplies are so damned expensive in Canada.

For recipes, there's recipe sites all over, but I've had too many issues translating the ingredients to things I can get locally. I've heard Beersmith recommend heartily as a good recipe source. There's also several really good books that many recipes but also detailed information on how to modify them, or design your own from scratch.

As to your kegerator build - watch a couple of Youtube videos. For example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHWy_Vlw3J4
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq_59KhCebM

The videos are super useful both as an instruction manual and as a list of mistakes to avoid (like things to remember when measuring where to drill the tap holes).

Congrats on the wedding! I would assume the culprit is not capping the bottles right away. Unlike traditional bottling that has bottle re-fermentation happening to carbonate the beers, beer guns rely on the carbonation already in solution from the keg, so if those were left out a good portion of that CO2 may come out of solution. As far as salvation goes, I would say either enjoy your cask NEIPA and Saison, or use a PET bottle cap carbonator when you're ready to drink to carbonate up. I bring my beers to my homebrew club like this and I think it would be the best way to get both a carbonated beer as well as avoid oxidation as much as possible, with the caveat that you would have to pour from bottle to bottle, cap and carbonate when you're ready to drink one of those beers. You could do a couple at a time (if you have multiple caps) and just drink the beers within 24hrs of the transfer. If you did go this route, you could even use one cap, leave the cap on while the CO2 dissolves into solution, then swap for a standard PET cap and move the carbonator cap to the next bottle.

https://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0

You are correct but I would like to point out that similarly styled hand corkers do exist. I have a similar one for my small batch meads and absolutely love it.

They're a bit of a pain if you're doing hundreds of bottles but perfect for a few cases. What I love most is the small size -- it fits in my brewing supply bin instead of taking up the room a stand-up corker does.

Saving up for two things to make my foray into Homebrewing a little bit easier on me. The thing I really need is a nice pot. This pot would remove the need for me to have a thermometer. And I'd also like a wort chiller because I've been told this is one of the most crucial points of the process.

I'm new to homebrewing, but I'd like to start gathering some nice pieces so that I can one day turn it into more than just a hobby! (Not that I'll be selling moonshine or anything) I could definitely see myself becoming a real brewer if this is something I turn out to be good at. It's something that interests me a lot!

Very simple and easy to use.
Goes like this:

• Tank
  
• Regulator
  
• Hose
  
• In-line backflow preventer (optional, but cheap, if you plan to make sugary drinks then I'd recommend it to keep from contaminating your line with sugar)
  
• Carbonation quick-release coupler & cap
  
• 2-liter plastic bottle
  
  At the links above, pretty much everything is shown in the Amazon "frequently bought together" listing down the page.
  
  All you do is fill the 2-liter bottle with cold water, squeeze it (to create some room to expand) and put the cap on while squeezing it.
  Click it to the coupler, turn the gas on, and shake the 2-liter bottle for a minute to mix the co2 into the water (or juice, or wine, or beer).
  
  Done!
  Put in fridge. Make some more!
  
  First time you set it up, play with the regulator setting to get the level of carbonation you prefer, and after that you don't have to mess with it again. Also, cold water carbonates easier.
  
  

You'll definitely still want a starter kit either way. It has a lot of nice tools that you'll need either way. Then build from there. Here's what I would do:

• $90 - starter kit with plastic carboy
  
• $100- 12 gallon kettle
  
• $50- kettle conversion kit- ball valve and thermometer (can't see actual price at work...
  
• $50- Propane Burner
  
• $30 refractometer
  
• $40 wort chiller
  
• $60 stir plate
  
• $15 erlenmeyer flask
  
• $60 oxygen kit (50 there, plus a $10 tank at HD)
  
  So that puts you at about $500. That gives you a badass kettle and everything you need to do a full-boil extract batch, or enough for brew-in-a-bag if you want to dive into all-grain right away.
  
  Honestly, I wouldn't go much over that for a first batch. Try it a few times and see what suits you. You may want to get into the science end more and get a pH meter and hemocytometer. You may want to do 3-vessel all-grain and build a nice mash tun and get another kettle. You may want to get another coil and do a recirculating system. You may just want a pump to transfer faster. You may want to build a big stand for it all. You might decide you want electric controls to it... you won't know until you get into it a bit and determine what your priorities are.
  
  OR... watch craiglist for a month or so, and see if anybody is selling a big system. There's some badass ones out there that i've seen for very reasonable prices.

I would recommend starting with a jar like this;

https://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-USDA-Fermentation-Glass-Jar/dp/B006ZRBGSC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1524584912&sr=8-8&keywords=kombucha+1+gallon+jar

You won't need the top; however, it's nice to store for later use of the jar.

Add to that a standard coffee filter and an elastic to keep it on the jar.

It has a 1 gallon volume so you can follow the subreddits suggestion for a master recipe;

https://www.reddit.com/r/Kombucha/comments/5b1ztm/reddit_master_kombucha_recipe/

If it tends to be cold where you are < 75 F ambient temperature you may want to consider also snagging one of these;

https://www.amazon.com/VIVOSUN-Waterproof-Hydroponic-Fermentation-Germination/dp/B073PTZCJ4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1524584986&sr=8-4&keywords=kombucha+heater

If you are sourcing something used, please be sure to know what was in it before and clean it appropriately and then rinse it to insure no antibacterial or other cleaner residues reside, which could hinder the yeast and or bacteria from thriving.

Many folks prefer to have more surface area for the pelical to grow and find that it speeds up the over all process along with having appropriate temperatures.

Good luck!

I had been adding additional sugar to the bottles for the 3F (or 2F if I skipped the flavoring stage). But that has always been a pain, and is completely hit or miss depending on what kind of flavoring (fruit, ginger, etc.) was used, how much sugar it contributed, and what other yeasts and other bugs it brought with it (I always used organic, fresh/frozen ingredients before this test).

Ginger, for instance, has it's own native yeast that can stall your ferment by killing your kombucha yeast and slowing down the process until its yeast takes over.

What I was doing was transferring the kombucha after the 2F flavoring stage via siphon to my bottling bucket (https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Bottling-Bucket-Spigot-Beer/dp/B000E62H8I/ -- but these can be had at your local brew shop for about $12), straining out the solids along the way, and adding enough simple syrup (sugar dissolved in a very little bit of water) to the brew, and very gently stirring to mix -- but not enough to introduce too much oxygen (oxidation can stall / prevent your bottle ferment). I then transferred from the bottling bucket using a small hose attached to the spigot that went to the bottom of each bottle... again, as to not introduce additional oxygen.

So came out great, and others never carbed up at all, leaving me with overly sweet 'buch from all the added sugar -- and excessive sugar is something I was trying to avoid by drink kombucha in the first place.

I got sick of it all, and after reading a lot about force carbonation and how easy it is, I decided to not work about carbonation until I get my new kegerator and keg setup up and running. Every time I talk to someone who has done it with kombucha, or who homebrews beer, they immediately say force carbonation in kegs is the only way to go, and that I'll be so much happier not dealing with bottle carbing.

I'm not saying that you can't perfect the carbonation in bottles method... clearly many here have. But even when I didn't use a carboy in between for flavoring and flavored with fruit right in the bottles, the results were always inconsistent, and not worth all the time wasted on sub-par results.

Like all of what I've ever done in my kombucha brewing, I'm looking for the most efficient, cost-effective (not cheapest), and replicable processes, with the eventual goal of being able to make a quality, consistent brew every time. And frankly, I love figuring all this out and continually refining the process. It's a huge scientific puzzle with tons of variables, and it's a blast!

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..

I’ve read here; I think one of the Brülosophy guys, about using a soda bottle with a carb cap to sort of inject the gelatin solution into the keg via the gas in port.

Here’s a plan I’ve been thinking about:

• Pour warm gelatin solution into clean sanitized soda bottle.
  
  
• Affix carbonation cap. (See edit below)
  
  
• Squeeze out headspace.
  
  
• Add CO2 via carb cap. Purge, repeat.
  
  
• Let sit in waterbath if concerned about getting chilled.
  
  
• Clean and sanitize two gas disconnects and a short length of beer line. Connect two gas disconnects, one on each end of the line. (Think about doing a CO2 purge of that line.)
  
  
• Pressurize bottle of gelatin solution more than PSI in keg; vent CO2 from keg to a low PSI.
  
  
• Connect gas disconnect to carb cap.
  
  
• Ready?; connect other end gas disconnect to the gas in post of the keg.
  
  
• Hypothesis: the pressurized warm gelatin solution shoots into the keg under pressure; squeeze bottle to get all the gelatin out if need be.
  
  
• Pressurize keg (and purge for good measure?)
  
  
• Swirl. Chill.
  
  Potential downsides: even a warm solution might quick-chill on contact with cold metal of gas post and cause a gum-up of gelatin?
  
  Edit: there are various kinds of carbonation caps. If using the one with a barbed part, then connect a line of tube to that and hold upright when sending gelatin in. If using the kind without the barb, hold the soda bottle upside down.
  
  Visual Example of barbed:
  
  https://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/couplers/kmcbcp-carbonation-cap.html?catargetid=320012430000341477&cadevice=m&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2MiP96363QIVUZF-Ch3HewZrEAQYAiABEgI7KvD_BwE
  
  Visual Examples of ones without:
  
  https://www.homebrewing.org/Carbonation-Cap-Stainless-Steel_p_3061.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4-7qraz63QIVmKDsCh3m-wsaEAQYAiABEgK5jfD_BwE
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0
  
  Edit 2: rewording
  

Don't worry about rushing to finish it super quickly. I've been eating kimchi since I was itty bitty, and I actually prefer it as it gets more and more sour. Plus, if you ever want to cook with kimchi, sour is definitely what you want. You can make killer fried rice, stews with pork and tofu and potatoes, crispy, chewy pancakes... So many great options for cooking with kimchi, but fresh just won't do for these kinds of things.

I tend to make my kimchi in really large quantities given that I live in a household of only two, and I am a Korean married to a very white man (he likes kimchi, too, but he'll never eat as much of it as me). I usually pack most of it into my giant kimchi container (like this, but taller: https://www.amazon.com/Crazy-Korean-Cooking-Sauerkraut-Fermentation/dp/B00M40ANMO ) and then I pack the rest into quart sized mason jars, usually 2-3 of them. The big boy goes into the far back of the fridge where it's coldest, and I forget about it until all the jars are empty. I leave the jars out to jump start the fermentation. A couple days later I have my choice of sour level. If I want super fresh tasting kimchi just for eating, I can always raid the big boy hiding out in my fridge. For most of my meals/cooking, I pull from the jars. Once all the jars are empty, I'll fill one jar from the big boy with kimchi that I can keep more easily accessible.

Okay, here's what you do.

Get a six-gallon, food-safe plastic bucket, with a lid with a small (like, quarter-inch) circular hole in it. You'll also need an s-shape airlock to put in the little hole. Get five gallons of apple juice from the grocery store, and a packet of wine yeast.

Clean the bucket with a 1% bleach solution (...the other 99% water) and rinse thoroughly. Add apple juice and yeast to the bucket, seal with the lid and airlock. Wait three to four weeks.

During this time, also get 48 empty beer bottles (you can use your own empties if you drink enough), and enough beer bottle caps. You'll also want a capper -- there are cheaper and harder-to-use options.

After the three to four weeks of fermentation, open the bucket and add about half a cup of sugar (corn sugar works best), and stir it in. Fill the bottles using either the spout on the bucket or a siphon hose, leaving a half- to three-quarters-inch of air at the top of each bottle.

Let the bottles sit a couple weeks to condition (carbonate), then refrigerate and enjoy. The dryness of the resulting cider will be based on which yeast you chose, so if you want a sweet cider use a white wine yeast, and if you want ultra-dry cider, use champagne yeast.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004NXUJ06/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1397145827&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

Yes, but also it's pretty easy to fold the strap into the case too cos the grolsh rings are flat

I've done it for the last 2 years. Really good. The link above is way more than you'll need, I'm still on my first pair!

Stainless mesh hop strainers are amazing for racking liquid off of fruit. Something like this.

I recently made a melomel with 30# of crushed blueberries and about 18# of honey. It hit about the 5 gallon mark. As you can expect it was pretty crowded in the bucket. I gently finessed the strainer down into the mead, put my racking cane inside the strainer, and racked out into secondary. I doubt a single bit of fruit made its way in there and the siphon didn't get stuck at all.

In the end I was able to get about 2.8 gallons of mead without pressing which is pretty much what I was expecting to get. Pretty impressed!

Buy a cheap corker from amazon.

Fill a regular wine bottle with everclear, and use food coloring to dye it the same color as a red wine.

Recork the wine with a fresh cork. (protip: Soak the new cork in water for ~10 minutes before corking to help it go in more evenly.)

I'm a homebrewer, I've done this tens of times. It's super easy and quite foolproof.

The first one says it will ferment, but because you use only vinegar you might not see much activity. Just follow instructions.

The second should get decent activity, and based off the recipe it looks like you might be able to use a one gallon container. ( I'm only estimating because I suck with metric)

Try this-
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leaktite-2-gal-Bucket-2GL-WHITE-PAIL/202264039

or this-
https://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-USDA-Fermentation-Glass-Jar/dp/B006ZRBGSC

This is all based off you being in America, and with that in mind- you can usually find flip top/latch top jars at stores like tj max or Marshalls for about 5$. Good luck and have fun. If you have any trouble just ask.

One of the "hidden" costs of brewing is upgrading equipment. If it's something you really think he'd be in to, getting some equipment that's worthwhile can save you/him money in the long term. I've had a few friends that got in to it, purchased cheap/small stuff, and spent the next year upgrading things again. Buy it once. Now, I'm not saying refit your garage into a full HERMS setup, but getting not-dirt-cheap items & items you can grow with really is invaluable.

When I started, I went with this which has most of what you'll need. The only things left are the kettle, mash tun, propane burner, and a good metal spoon. Here's what I went with, and still use.
Kettle
Spoon
Burner

For the mash tun, I went with a 10g igloo and converted it over following these instructions. I've since upgraded that to a 15g stainless steel pot w/ false bottom, but the igloo definitely served its purpose.

I visited them a few weeks back since I have heard some good things about them. Overall I thought they had a good line-up with nothing offensive but also not really anything that made me stand-up and cheer. I visited again on the Hartbeat release and while it was a good offering, I thought it was actually more underwhelming than their normal IPA offerings. It really needed a more generous dry hop punch.

And not to be a beer snob or anything, but they fill the growlers straight from the tap. They don't use a growler filler (which is basically tubing that allows the beer to fill from the bottom of the growler to the top) or flush with CO2 prior to filling. This was noticeable the next day when we opened the growler and it was under-carbonated and had lost a bunch of aroma.

I have a 5 lb [co2 tank](Zebra DNA Luxfer L6X Aluminum CO2 Tanks with CGA320 on/off Valve 5 LB, Brushed https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085282UK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_IxrIybWJW0EKA) it came empty, but I found a local place that fills my tank and gives it back instead of taking the empty and giving you an already filled one. I personally didn't want to do DIY because it's way more work where this you just fill it, attach your regulator with tubing and have your diffuser in the water. Pretty quick and easy setup. Highly recommend co2.

If you want to be the best friend ever, listen up. A standard keg pump uses ambient air to pressurize the keg, which means the keg will go bad after a very short time. If you get a portable co2 system, it will cost a bit more, but I believe you will be considered the best friend ever. Here goes...
First you need the appropriate tap, which you have indicated is the S-type. You'll then need to get an MFL connector for gas hookup. While there, buy a party faucet with beer nut. You then buy the keg charger and mini CO2 cartridges (similar to those used in a pellet gun). I'll leave it to you to find Canadian sources for these products, but this is what you'd need.

I picked up both my 9 gallon kettles (one with dual ports) for <$100 bucks shipped on black friday 2 years ago. I have seen other stuff go on sale for pretty cheap. If you can hold out, it might be worth waiting.

As for your regulator. I picked up this dual gauge regulator last week. It appears to be working well. For less than 50 bucks shipped (I have prime) it worked out well. However I don't know about longevity. It looks to be a much better build quality than my last one that went out because of what looked like old age.

Here's a six pack for $8.50. I must have gotten mine on a really great deal, it was a third party seller, but this is still pretty cheap. And Prime eligible.

I just drilled holes in some plastic mason jar lids, and sealed it with some caulk. Rubber gasket would probably be better, but I worked with what I had.

1. find a sturdy flat rubber washer that’s inner diameter is JUST enough to stretch over your strap button. The red ones from a Grolsch swing type bottle can work. Or, really any washer whose inner diameter is smaller than the outer button flange that you can install on top of the strap, unscrewing the button if needed. Even a plastic bread clip can work in a pinch, but a sturdy plastic clip like the Dunlop Ergo Lok or StewMac Lokstrap is a more sturdy no-mod solution.
   
   
2. You could get a reverb pedal like the TC Electronics Hall of Fame, but you need to be aware of the mic/line level difference, phantom power, and adapting to/from XLR to 1/4”. Edit:links.

Background

Based upon my initial question: Is it wine or meed?, I am working on my first Mead/Pyment. I've taken the original recipe I cobbled together from a variety of sources.

Is it mead? Well yes. According to the calculators in the sidebar concord juice is about 8.89% sugar. Honey is roughly 80%. I'm no math wiz, but I fussed with both Google and Wolframalpha and 8.89% of two gallons is roughly 45 Tablespoons or 0.23 pounds of sugars, 1 Gallon of Honey is roughly equivalent to 204 tablespoons of sugars or 7.9 pounds of sugars. yes I know Different types of sugars, etc. etc. But the mixture here is getting much more than 51% of the sugars from honey, so: 'tis a Wine -> Mead -> Melomel -> Pyment.


The following is an expansion of The GotMead format for recipes.

1. Ingredients
   
   • Star-San - not technically an ingredient, but it's for sterilization. I think of it as an anti-ingredient keeping the bad bugs out. (Sprayer use= 1/4 tsp to 650ml water & 60 second exposure)
     
   • 1.5 Gallons of boiled tap water (more or less to make things work out.) NOTE: I have well water, not city water - so no chlorine & plenty of minerals.
     
   • ~2 Gallons of homemade concord grape juice. (SG 1.060)
     Last year I pressed about about six gallons of grape juice from concords of my own. I was going to make jelly in the winter and froze it in the deep freeze.
     
   • 10lbs (now 15lbs) of Pure N Simple Honey.
     
   • ~3 tsp Fermax from Amazon.
     
   • Red Star Premier Blanc [Amazon] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00434CB74)
     
     
2. Equipment
   
   • Large Stainless stock pot (for initial boil)
     
   • 5 Gallon food grade bucket & Lid sterilized.
     
   • 4 Gallon Sams club water bottle playing the role of carboy.
     
   • Hydrometer
     
   • Transfer hose
     
   • Water lock/ Bubbler
     
     
3. Preparation
   
   • Thaw the grape juice overnight in the fridge in a large container in case of leakage.
     
   • Sterilization/pasteurization.
     Thinking through the volume of Honey (~1 gallon) and aiming for a 4 gallon carboy; bring 1.5 gallon of water to a boil. Turn off heat, add the grape juice in order to pasteurize the juice without setting the pectin, stir in about 10-12 pounds of honey. (remove any scum that forms)
     
   • Sanitize the bucket and lid, and stirring spoon.
     
   • Stir vigorously as you add the ingredients.
     
   • add to the bucket, check the temperature and the SG - calculate remaining honey or water and add as needed. Stir till mixed, or your arm falls off - whichever comes first.
     
   • Check the temperature until it is at least down to about 80 degrees then add the yeast we're off to primary fermentation.
     
     
4. Primary fermentation.
   
   • 5 gallon sterilized bucket & lid with airlock.
     
   • Actual Original Specific Gravity (OG): 1.130 (I thought it was 1.122 but the must was still quite warm.)
     
   • I will plan on testing as fermentation tapers off and make a decision then on adding additional honey and warm water (carefully of course) in order to restart fermentation. (adjust to desired SG as needed).
     
   • Once fermentation has stopped transfer it to the secondary.
     
     
5. Secondary.
   
   • 4 gallon sams club water jug (plastic) with airlock.
     
   • Saved my honey jugs just in case I had any left over that wouldn't fit in the carboy.
     
   • Time. Lots of time.
     
     Notes:
     
     9/13/16 Initial. Retested SG, it was at 1.130.
     
     9/15/16 Sterilized a large spoon and vigerously stirred to aerate. SG at 1.074, fermentation is fast and furious.
     
     9/16/16 Aerated/degassed. 3tsp fermax. SG 1.050
     
     9/16/16 Aerated/degassed. SG 1.026
     
     9/21/16 Racking Day. SG 0.998 (ABV 18%?). Upon racking there was not quite enough in the carboy. After staring at it for twenty minutes I decided to gamble and added one gallon of water, and 5LBS of honey to bring it up to just below the base of the neck. Retesting the SG was 1.030. It is currently sitting inside a 5 gallon bucket in my bathroom, I'll transfer it to the closet as soon as I'm reasonably certain it won't go Mt. St. Helens on my wardrobe.
     
     

> Please list ALL the basic equipment for pressurized CO2?

• Cylinder
  
• Regulator
  
• Solenoid Valve - can be bought separately or as a unit with the reg.
  
• Check Valve
  
• Bubble Counter
  
• Diffuser
  
• CO2 resistant tubing
  
• Timer plug
  
  I use a CO2 fire extinguisher rather than a normal cylinder, but it's essentially the same.
  
  Only real downside is the ongoing cost. Other thing to think about are balancing CO2 levels when the lights go off, but that's easy enough to accomplish with the timer plug.
  
  Cost for me was about £100 all in, but I got lucky with some cheap CO2..

I used one of these for my last batch that I bottled yesterday and it worked very well to keep the fermenter trub to a minimum, and it also allowed the hops to be fully submerged, introducing all that wonderful hop oil to the fermenting wort.

Hops will introduce DO to the fermenting wort, so it's important to dry hop at high krausen so the yeast has plenty of opportunity to push that oxygen out. I imagine you're adding dry hops too late to the party, so there's increased DO in the fermenter and the fermentation has slowed to the point where the DO is sticking around too long.

I almost always dry hop on day 2 or 3 at the very latest, and found that there was more oxidation to my NEIPAs when I did a second dry hop at day 7 or so, so I've just started chucking all of my dry hops in at once to minimize the amount of oxygen I'm introducing.

Basic chemical nutrient mixes are fairly cheap, but you can also use things like tomato paste or fruit purees. Some people use raisins, but everything I've read says that they make really mediocre nutrients. Probably still better than nothing.

Distillation isn't practical for me, so I haven't experimented with turbo yeast/high ABV hooch, but if you're determined to hit maximum ABV you might need some equipment to aerate your brew. This page has some info about the science behind aeration from a beer brewing perspective.

Whatever you decide to try, take before and after readings with your hygrometer and let us know how it comes out!

There are sauerkraut recipes all over the internet, and it is one of the easiest things to ferment. Chop (or shred) cabbage, add salt, and wait. I also add caraway seeds. I think one of the most important parts to making sauerkraut is to make sure you have a nice crock. I used this one. Homemade sauerkraut is so good you can eat it like salad.

I don't mean to be harsh, but as is, this is going to be real bad. You need to find somewhere around 58-65 F to ferment your mead or it will end up tasting like gasoline, especially with that particular yeast strain. I suggest you make the following changes to your equipment, process, and recipe:

Use 71B-1122. It is a little more tolerant of higher temperatures. This does not mean it will make a good mead at 75 F ambient temperature. Find a cooler place or you will not be making anything worth drinking.

Buy a bucket you will need the space when you mix the mead. It will foam. A lot.

Use beer bottles. You need a capper, some caps, and beer bottles. This will provide a good seal. I have never heard of any mead makers using screw tops, but I doubt they are going to provide a seal.

My wine thief does not fit in a 1 gallon carboy, but it is a good tool to have.

I cannot stress enough how bad it is to ferment a mead in a room of 75+ F. It will not be drinkable. I'm sorry for ruining your plans, but I want you to make a good mead. Nothing worse than putting a bunch of time and money into something that turns out awful. Good luck. Ask the community here anything you cannot find in the wiki

It depends on your budget, and what you might already have available to you. The kit does not include a kettle, so you'll need one of those. If you already have at least a 5G / 20 quart kettle, that's good enough to start with. If you need to buy a new kettle, I would highly recommend getting a 10G / 40 quart kettle... assuming you intend to continue brewing 5G batches (pretty standard). While you can start out with a 5G kettle, doing a partial boil (this means you boil 2-3 gallons, then add water to make 5G) you will produce better beer if you can do a full boil. To do so, you need to start with 6-7G of water so that at the end of 60 minutes you end with 5G of wort - obviously you can't do that in a 5G kettle. Further, if you ever graduate to all-grain, you'll need a 10G kettle anyway. IMO it is better to spend a little extra money once rather than spend twice.

That said, you can get good 10G stainless steel or aluminum kettles on Amazon for under $100.

Another thing you may want to look into is a wort chiller. I would recommend getting at least an immersion chiller, which are typically the most cost effective. Again, you can find these on Amazon starting around $55. You can also build one, but depending on your DIY skills, and the price of copper, it may not be worth the time and effort.

Outside of that you will also need empty brown non-twist cap bottles. You can buy them empty, or just buy a couple cases of beer to kill - just make sure they are brown, and non-twist off. Rinse the bottles as you drink them and you'll have a lot less cleaning to do on bottling day. A 5G batch will fill about 50 bottles, so 2 cases should be sufficient.

Good luck!

> Proteins are what you're feeling in a 'full' beer, and taking care to ensure they stay in the beer will get you the body/mouthfeel/head retention you're looking for

What would you recommend to do in order to achieve this?

I haven't taken the pH of my water, I've just been using it from the tap. My neighbor brews some of the same exact recipes I did (same LHBS) using his faucet water as well. He does partial mash, but I don't believe he's treating his water/adjusting his pH.

My cleaning process has been pretty light, as far as I can tell. I bought everything new, but I did a PBW clean of my kettle and fermeters before I used any of them. I fill the fermeter with StarSan on brew day and dump that into the bottling bucket just before I transfer from the kettle. I have never used dish soap or anything aside from PBW and StarSan (and then a rinse with water after cleaning) on my equipment.

Growler filler would work. I keg almost everything but a growler for travel is great sometimes. Maybe like this: https://www.amazon.com/Bev-Rite-Extraordinary-Jug-Growler/dp/B003FW6BA8

Thank you! I’ve already got 2 more batches (Blackberry/Cherry/Cranberry and Juniper/Peppermint) sitting in post-fermentation, both had SNA of just Fermaid-K (have since purchased DAP and Fermaid-O for the future), and with better aeration as well. The wiki and posts here have been incredibly helpful/insightful.

As for corking, I’m using a double lever hand corker (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCYZA9O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6.nPCb36S4SRB). My grandmother insisted she had a floor corker from my grandfather, but it ended up being a antique table-mount crown capper (still very cool, and as you can see from the photo I still used it). So I purchased #9 corks expecting floor corker. I imagined the problem was just the hand corker wasn’t designed to handle the larger corks, but do you think it could be something else?

I'll share what I use. I'm not to sure what you would use to pressurize a 5 gallon water bottle, because even if you could find a cap that would hold the pressure, you have to agitate the bottle while filling in order to get enough co2 into it to do any good. And agitating a 5 gallon water bottle while filling it would be...interesting.

I use one of these https://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=carbonation+cap&qid=1555387830&s=gateway&sr=8-10

and 2 liter soda bottles. I have a 5lb co2 tank that I bought on craigslist from someone who gave up trying to make beer. It came with a regulator, some hoses, and the mating end to the cap I listed above.

There are a ton of different caps on amazon, but most of them are metal and I have found that the threads are too deep and I cannot get a good seal on the 2 liter bottles. While the plastic one I listed above has worked great for the last couple of years. Good luck!

edit: I've always wondered if you could use a commercial paint shaker to agitate the bottles while filling them. One day I will run across one used somewhere and give it a try. But I know they hold 5 gal buckets of paint so maybe one would work for you too.

Possibly, but look at this instead. I just bought one, and it's working out great. Cheaper than the one you linked to, as well.

Wow thank you!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003WX772G?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Clearly states how to even add onto it in the question section.

One thing you might consider is 2.5 gallon kegs. If you have some room to spare in your regular fridge, you could fit one of these in there and possibly get a small co2 tank or just use a keg charger like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Innovations-Cornelius-Keg-Charger/dp/B000NV9CE6

Point being, if you put your mind to it, you COULD start kegging now. You'll never look back once you do.

Happy brewing!

I have a couple of questions regarding dry hopping in a keg. I am looking for a more efficient and better way to to do this. I purchased one of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GHSI9WO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and my plan would be the following:

1-After primary move the beer to a dryhop keg.
2-Insert the tube with the hops in the keg. Give it some CO2 pressure to seal it.
3-Dry hop for 5 days.
4-prepthe serving keg.
5-connect the two kegs.
6-transfer beer to serving keg.

A few questions:
-I should dry hop at room temp?
-I shouldn't carbonate until the beer gets to the serving keg?
-Any other tips?

Thanks.

I use amber bottles, like this one.

Amber beer bottles, like this one, or amber wine bottles, like this one, also work great and might look a little nicer but are harder to label.

You can probably find these bottles cheaper on non-amazon websites too, just do a google search for "amber bottles" and look around. They come in different shapes and sizes too.

I have a set of fastracks and a set of [these bottles] (http://www.amazon.com/CASE-OF-12-Bottles-AMBER/dp/B005CIFIDO) and they work resonably well together. Every now and then one of the caps gets in the way, otherwise they fit well and are 10 times easier for storage than a bottle tree.

I use these plastic kimchi fermenters and they work perfectly! Well worth the money, imo. Have two with pickles and two with kraut at the moment.

Not sure if you have found these yet. They are about $1.60 a piece... The best way to overcome the fewer bottles is to brew more beer =)

http://www.amazon.com/CASE-OF-12-Bottles-AMBER/dp/B005CIFIDO/ref=pd_sim_indust_1

For force carbing I just set to 40psi for 24 hours then drop to serving pressure and let it sit for a couple of days. It's pretty drinkable after the first day, but I'm not overly concerned about super accurate volumes of co2.

To bottle without some kind of beer gun, you'll want to drop pressure as low as you can and put the bottles in the freezer to get super cold first. I'd also pour half a glass first to let the beer cool down the faucet. I got one of these for filling growlers and it would make things easier for bottling from keg on the cheap too. Leave about as much space in the neck as if you were bottle conditioning and cap on top of the foam.

I use a standard CO2 tank, a Taprite pressure regulator marketed for use with beer kegs, and a couple carbonator caps. It's like a soda stream, but with standard interconnects and refills so cheap they might as well be free (I've been using a 20lb tank for 2 years, haven't needed to refill it once)

I did last night it was easier than pie. Brought my carbonated keg over, put it on ice set up the picnic tap & used this. Then just remove & take home to put on your tap. Fresh draught beer at your friends. What's so hard about that?

This is what I use for 1F:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ZRBGSC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is what I use for 2F:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CUJQTPI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

When I bottle for 2F, I pour all of the kombucha into a different bowl and clean out the 1 gallon jar after each brew so the yeast doesn't gather on the bottom. I am on my 5th batch, everything has been great so far.

I recently got on of these guys Dry Hopper

I used it for a tropical IPA for a party last week, and it went rather well. No hop particles and no clogged dip tube. The top is pretty secure on it, too.

https://www.amazon.com/Double-Lever-Hand-Corker-Synthetic/dp/B01NCYZA9O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536467232&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=hand+corker&psc=1

Definitely not. This is the corker I use, its very small, less than 20 bucks and it worls great.

White Russians, duh!


Seriously tho, you might consider getting a carbonator cap so you can run thru a few smaller batches before you go all in. I've successfully carbonated stuff like mead, sake, and white whine using this cap and a standard soda bottle. I carbonate at 50 psi or so, which is close to club soda levels of carbonation. 30-40 gives you smaller bubbles like San Pelligrino.

I like the idea of a fizzy Hemingway Daiquiri, myself.

Yeah I'm excited to use these Aussie hops and got a great deal from Yakima Valley Hops.

For keg dry hop I will use this 300 micron mesh dry hopper.

For closed transfer, as I use a Fermonster I have modified a Fermonster lid by drilling two holes and inserting 2 rubber grommets (one for a long stainless steel racking cane, one for carbonation cap). I'll purge keg with CO2, attach stainless steel cane to keg liquid post then slowly add pressure and try to keep the cane above and away from hop particulates in the Fermonster. Not sure how this will play out in reality though but I'm hoping my trub will be compact enough to not give me any issues.

If he were to buy a TWO product dual regulator like the one you link to, then the answer is yes. His pricing indicated that he was only looking at a single product dual regulator like this: http://www.amazon.com/Kegco-Premium-Series-Gauge-Regulator/dp/B003WX772G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1407323203&sr=8-3&keywords=dual+pressure+regulator

As was already stated, definitely use glass as plastic and metal will both have adverse effects on your brew. The only thing I have to add is a recommendation for one to buy. Good luck!

this seems like a fine one.

Absolute bare minimum you could just use a $3 5-gal bucket from home depot $4.50 food grade bucket from lowe's with a hole cut in the top to put in a $2 airlock with a rubber bung, $0.80 worth of plastic tubing to siphon into empty wine bottles, cork and enjoy.

Here's a hand operated corker on Amazon for less than 20 bucks. Would that help?

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.

So, an alternative to kegging if you aren't ready for the expense is the buy those flip top brown bottles like these.

I have those, as well as a keg (which I only use for special occasions/parties right now as I don't have a kegerator) - the flip top bottles remove a lot of the hassle involved in bottling as you don't need to cap them. They are also larger than standard 12 oz bottles, so it takes less time.

If you intend to have a sparkling product, you can try flip-top bottles. I have a bunch that originally held beer that I've successfully used for bottling carbonated things.

As others have said, champagne yeast doesn't guarantee a sparkling end product.

http://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-USDA-Fermentation-Glass-Jar/dp/B006ZRBGSC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463408919&sr=8-2&keywords=gallon+glass+jar

These look PERFECT. Wide mouth, plastic lid, cheap, glass. What do you guys think?

Mason jars are made to withstand vacuum, not internal pressure. so you're more likely to have an explosion with those than a bottle made to have internal pressure. The Grolsh style beer bottles work great. I also like using 1/2 gallon growlers (get the ploy caps).

I recently picked up one of these -- haven't used it yet, but I intend to just drop it in and let it sink. I actually like that it sinks so that I know I am getting complete submersion -- I was always suspicious of how much I was getting out of the socks that would float at the top.

To your inquiry of how will it be fastened -- it won't, but I really can't think of how that could be an issue. Instead of retrieving the hops, I would recommend that you push your beer to an empty corny and leave the hops behind -- way better in concerns of exposure/quality.

EDIT: Looked around on amazon a bit more and apparently some come with a small chain, but you still have a valid question -- not exactly sure what it would be attaching to...

After dry hopping with my hop sock and realizing I can't get the knot undone to re-use it, I've decided to get one of the metal hop spiders like this one. only question I have is that they all seem to have those big holes at the top (like a salt shaker), don't they defeat the purpose of the fine mesh? Do I need to tie this kind of hop spider to the lid of my fermenter to keep it from falling over, because that seems unnecessary when it could just have a solid top

Have to agree with everyone on here, a charger is the easiest way to go. Also they are small and relatively inexpensive.

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Innovations-G5040-Charger-Black/dp/B000NV9CE6

I just bought a 3 gallon used pinlock soda keg, with all the fixings (dual regulator, picnic tap, o rings.etc) for $150 from Adventures in Homebrewing. Went on amazing.com and got a 5# co2 canister for $66. Just need to fill it up at a local air soft store and I'm good to go for a little over $200.

Still leaves me 2 gallons to bottle, or I could just brew in 3 gallon batches.

you can probably find a CO2 bike inflator from Walmart or something that might be cheaper and easier than marbles, but if you're in a pinch, i guess marbles could to it. They also have argon inert gas in a aerosol that you can buy for like $10.

Those beer washers work very good, amazon prime for $5 gets you 100 of them.

Edit: it's $8 for 100

[ LINk ] ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NXUJ06/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_F0bmzbEQQ71QS )

This is now the easiest method you've found :-)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FW6BA8/

Holy crap, i didnt even think of those as a washer. Ive got like 200 of them. And theyre super cheap online. Woooooo, sorbo alternative!

Grolsch Bottle Replacement Washers (Pack of 100) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004NXUJ06/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_RO5lzb59739Q4

If you looking for wine bottles you can totally wash out and reuse whatever you drink and buy a corker.

It's not that hard to bottle with cork. I have this corker and it is fine for a few bottles:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NCYZA9O/ref=sspa_dk_detail_4?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01NCYZA9O&pd_rd_w=f2qbN&pf_rd_p=f0dedbe2-13c8-4136-a746-4398ed93cf0f&pd_rd_wg=RYbTp&pf_rd_r=5W9DW8QM1JE2CABS143Y&pd_rd_r=6d6a27a0-28ac-11e9-8fda-23ec39d64fe3

Corks you can find for a few bucks. So like for 25$ you cork your bottles.

​

$14 and free shipping for 100 gaskets on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Brewcraft-Grolsch-Bottle-Replacement-Washers/dp/B004NXUJ06

I’d recommend something like this to put the peaches in. You should also keep then in through fermentation. I’d also start with 3 lbs for a 5 gallon batch.

Like /u/officeboy I use mason jars ranging from 6 ozs all the way up to 64 oz depending on the need. They're very handy.

If I need to do something larger, I use a one gallon glass jar from amazon. Cheap and works the same as the mason jars.

If I need to get above a 1 gallon starter, I just end up using a 3 gallon carboy just like a normal brew.

Dunno if I've ever seen 1.5 gallon, but 2 gallon would be good for a 1 gallon melomel recipe.

Edit: New formatting...

I haven't used coconut in a tincture, so I can't speak to if that is preferable option to what you have.

I have added coconut to the fermenter in a dry hopper to good results. I would suggest using something like that or the muslin bag, because the shredded coconut can very easily clog siphon lines and keg post, which are always a pain to clear. And it unfortunately takes only one little shred to do that.

I recently did a toasted coconut porter and "dry hopped" 12 oz. in the fermenter for over a week and then used the dry hopper I referenced earlier with an additonal 12oz. in the keg itself. Definitely came out coconuty but was well balanced with the porter itself, so wasn't like drinking coconut milk or anything. It did seem to hurt head retention at first, but as I drank through the keg, that seemed to clear up a bit.

Let's talk about keg to keg closed transfers. My first transfer experience was successful. My second transfer didn't work due to hop matter blocking the dip tube at the top of the keg. Any reccomendations how to avoid this in the future? Something like this or this?

I used to use straplocks but I switched to rubber washers and I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.

I used to use Schaller ones, I liked them the most because of the design.

https://www.amazon.com/Grolsch-Bottle-Replacement-Washers-Pack/dp/B004NXUJ06/ref=pd_sbs_79_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B004NXUJ06&pd_rd_r=AY1NG5P021DCM7448X9N&pd_rd_w=S18uq&pd_rd_wg=DFktd&psc=1&refRID=AY1NG5P021DCM7448X9N

With standard bottle caps they say the brew remains true for about 6 mo. after bottling. They have oxygen absorbing bottle caps that are supposed to keep beer for over a year. I've also read that you can wax the top of your bottles to prevent oxygen from seeping in. I'm thinking about doing this for my most recent bourbon vanilla porter brew.

NOTE: I've never tried aging beer for more than 3 or so months so I cannot attest to either wax or oxygen absorbing caps methods.

Get a 5lb CO2 tank, a regulator, ball lock valve and a Carbonator and make your own fizzy water. It's delicious.

2 gallon bucket with drilled lid, $16.17. This will be perfect for what you're describing. http://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Plastic-Fermenter-drilled-lid/dp/B0064O8WWE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426011617&sr=8-2&keywords=2+gallon+bucket

Oh yes, and it is quite simple to get the stuff together without buying a kit. Do you have a local home brew store?

This subreddit's wiki which includes a beginner section: https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/wiki/index
There are several videos on youtube that have good instructions.

Here is a basic list of gear to brew beer in a bag. You can get all of this stuff on amazon if you don't have it already. This is not the best list, but it works.
http://homebrewmanual.com/home-brewing-equipment/


Some of the stuff you won't likely have at home:

• Starsan: http://amzn.com/B01467UGN8
  
  
• Hydrometer: http://amzn.com/B013S1VAM4
  
  
• Grain bag for Brew in a Bag: http://amzn.com/B00CA5PH4W
  
  
• Bottle Capper: http://amzn.com/B001D6KGTK
  
  
• siphon: http://amzn.com/B0064ODELI
  
  
• airlock: http://amzn.com/B00A6TRKO4
  
  
• bottle caps: http://amzn.com/B000Q64T8M
  
  Beer recipes: http://beerrecipes.org/
  
  To get grains from amazon, type in the grain type and it will provide you options. If you don't have the ability to mill it yourself, you can order it crushed. Its not ideal, but if you don't have a homebrew store near you and don't have your own mill....it will work. You will have to measure out the correct amounts for each grain that you add on your own from the bulk that you ordered. If you want to brew with extracts, you can also order those on amazon as well.
  
  You can order hops on amazon the same way as grains or extracts.
  
  
  

OR (8 US cents each) http://www.amazon.com/Brewcraft-Grolsch-Bottle-Replacement-Washers/dp/B004NXUJ06

Most non Asian grocery stores tend to not sell their kimchi heavily fermented. The kimchi boxes work for any ferment for what it's worth. They look like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M40ANMO

No, just regular metal ones like the ones below.

I am wondering if my capper failed on me. It seemed like it sealed everything fine but it also seems like that's the only possible explanation.

https://smile.amazon.com/Silver-Oxygen-Barrier-Crown-Count/dp/B000Q64T8M/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=bottle+caps+for+homebrew&qid=1572026207&sprefix=bottle+caps+&sr=8-4

$7 Amazon US.

£90 Amazon UK!

Whaaaaaat!

Hi everyone! I have This kegerator http://www.edgestar.com/KC2000TWIN-EdgeStar-Full-Size-Dual-Tap-Kegerator-And-Keg-Beer-Cooler/KC2000TWIN,default,pd.html I am trying to find a hose big enough to fit. I bought this growler filler http://www.amazon.com/Draft-Warehouse-Extraordinary-Jug-Growler/dp/B003FW6BA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453319907&sr=8-1&keywords=growler+filler however, its too big. Does anyone have a similar kegerator and perhaps can direct me to the right diameter hose that will work for this? Thanks in advance.


Edit - sorry for the poor formatting. I copy pasted this from a couple of days ago when I asked and it wont let me put links in update mode.

Thanks!

I'm using this fermentation container.

Is the whole thing still good for consumption or do I have to throw this batch out?

Ah yeah good catch - will need to pick a different regulator and remove that bubble counter.

Hows this one look?
http://www.amazon.com/Kegco-Premium-Series-Gauge-Regulator/dp/B003WX772G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1421537185&sr=8-4&keywords=c02+regulator

Says for beer specifically but I'm guessing that doesn't matter

Can I use something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Ferrari-Portugese-Double-Lever-Corker/dp/B000FRWJNE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482378735&sr=8-1&keywords=corker

Live and learn I suppose. Once you use your equipment enough you will be able to start dialing in your volumes. Now you know for this style of beer that you don't need as much bottling volume. I usually have a little bit left over that I'll fill a plastic bottle with then carb using a carb cap. It's nice to have a little sample of it carbonated

Amazon has grolsch type bottles for homebrewing.

This is an example. If you search "homebrewing bottles" you should find several different types.

http://www.amazon.com/CASE-12-Beer-Bottles-AMBER/dp/B005CIFIDO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1449637437&sr=8-7&keywords=homebrewing+bottles

If there is a homebrewing supply store near you they probably have them as well.

It came out to about $325. I opted for the led on the solenoid. Also, having the atomizer on the outside of the tank will be nice. This is the CO2 tank I went with.

Thanks everybody, sounds easier than I thought. Can you please look at these products and let me know if I'm missing anything

Glass jar
https://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-USDA-Fermentation-Glass-Jar/dp/B006ZRBGSC/ref=sr_1_3_m?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1481986875&sr=1-3&keywords=gallon+glass+jar

Scoby
https://www.amazon.com/Poseymom-Kombucha-Scoby-Cup-Starter/dp/B00J3U9RMK/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1481988107&sr=8-4&keywords=kombucha+scoby

Some bottles for transport https://www.amazon.com/Chefs-Star-CASE-Bottles-CLEAR/dp/B011SGS8U8/ref=pd_sim_79_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8GX2CTXPKCQN47F3H629

Is it really this easy, I've brewed beer before and the materials and process were significantly more difficult. Anything I'm missing?

Yea I feel ya. I'm getting this co2 tank with this regulator

I wanted to get the 5lb cause it will last a long time and is only like $15 to refill at the welding supply near me. I hopefully won't have to upgrade until I get my 250g tank and ill be getting a 20lb for that one.

How big are your batches?

6.5 is fine for 5 gallons

2 gallon bucket for 1 gallon batches

7.8 gallon bucket for 6 gallon batches

Am I missing anything? Or better reccomendations?

Tank

Regulator

Diffuser

Picknick tap, the cheapest co2 regulator and bottle you can find and a 5 gallon ball lock keg. Eventually you will want them cold too, and then you can build a keggerator.

https://www.amazon.com/PERA-ball-lock-assembly-making/dp/B079MF7RMP

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Home-Brew-Keg-Stainless/dp/B01HKZUQIs

https://www.amazon.com/Brewin-Gauge-Draft-Dispensing-Regulator/dp/B013J44ILA

https://www.amazon.com/Luxfer-CO2-5LB-LUXZebra-Aluminum-CGA320-Brushed/dp/B0085282UK

There is a shopping list, I am sure you can find cheaper on craigslist/the internet with some patience.

I'd like to find something that I could pop the ball-lock connector right on, currently I just use a keg filled with sanitizer.

Something like this but works for both gas and liquid disconnects
http://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0

you need something like this

I have 2 aquariums. The first is a 15gal at home, the second is a 55gal in a public space. The 15g uses a 2L DIY system, the 55gal uses the following:

Bare minimum: $165

• Regulator with solenoid -- $89 -- http://www.amazon.com/Milwaukee-Instruments-Solenoid-Regulator-Counter/dp/B001DTNWF2/
  
• 5lbs CO2 tank -- $65 -- http://www.amazon.com/CO2-Tank-Aluminum-Cylinder-Valve/dp/B0085282UK/
  
• diffuser -- $11 -- http://www.amazon.com/S-T-International-Aquarium-Glass-Diffuser/dp/B00I3M988M/
  
• CO2 tubing: -- $10 -- http://www.amazon.com/AQUATEK-CO2-Proof-Tubing-16-Feet/dp/B008UCOFJW/
  
  Upgrades:
  
  
• CO2 bubble counter with integrated check valve. (Replaces the existing unit, protects the regulator itself) -- $ 20 -- http://www.amazon.com/AQUATEK-Brass-Bubble-Counter-Integrated/dp/B009WTMQ3Y/
  
• PH controller (Turns CO2 system on off based off water ph) -- $120 -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Z4J500/r

I bought this... and this

It ended up following around in the middle the first time and formed a second on the top so now I have two.

Would something like this suffice for a kit? It says Beer, but it's one of the results when typing in "mead making kit"

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Brew-Home-Brewing-K6/dp/B01467U8KY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1453592482&sr=8-4&keywords=mead+making+kit

>in day 3-4 and then closed transfer to a keg with 3oz loose in the keg

Personally I do mine on day 1 or 2, at high krausen. As for loose, save yourself the hassle of clogged posts and get something like this for keg hopping. Works great. I've never had grassy/off flavors doing this, and I tend to take a solid month or two to kill a keg.

Or you can get some 2 L bottles, one or more carbonator caps, and a ball lock fitting and air hose. You can hook those up to your tank's regulator and carbonate all the bottles you want.

You can also get a CO2 Charger and a ball lock fitting if you don't want to buy the big tank up front, but the running costs are a lot higher.

Either way, you can use your equipment to carbonate the water and use sodastream (or any other) syrup... or make and carbonate your own drinks.

Try amazon, this one says they can ship to finland. Shipping would be ~30 bucks though. Might buy the whole assembly in that case.

Ball Lock and hose

Coupler and valve assembly

As for getting the tank filled, I would go to your nearest bar or restaurant that uses co2 for their soda/beer and just see who their vendor is.

Well if you're using the same yeast nutrient I use you should have pitched about 2.5 tbs. My instructions said 1-1.5 teaspoons per gallon, and you started out with 3 teaspoons in five gallons (1.5 tsp up front, 1.5 tsp later, right?), so by my math you're still significantly lacking nutrients.

If you add more later do it slow and careful. Last time I tried to pitch additional nutrients was five days into the ferment and had a dissapointing crop of farts going on. I realized I'd done exactly what you did, only pitched 1.5 tsp of nutrients, popped the top and frantically dumped in an additional tablespoon. GUSH!

Meh, I use one of these not that exact one but one that fits my tap. I just turn the flow down to a trickle and it fills bottles or growlers fine.

Side note: If you do use an airlock for long term, get this type....

https://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bubble-Airlock-Carboy-Bung/dp/B00A6TRKO4/

versus this type....

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brewing-Supplies-48-9AJX-W965-Econolock-6pk/dp/B0041F2DL4/

I currently have six carboys on the rack coming up on 12 months and they all have the first type of airlock with the double chamber. At most I have lost 5mm of water over that period. I use a sharpie to mark a line so I can see if they are evaporating. With the second type of airlock, I can't go three months before having to add water. They also have a tendency to open a pathway for air to get to the wine while looking like they are okay for fill level.

You might be able to, If you went with a pin lock keg they are cheaper. Only problem with the mini fridge is that you may have to modify the fridge to get the C02 lines into the fridge, unless the tank, regulator, and keg can fit in there. I use this regulator https://www.amazon.com/Kegco-KC-LH-542-Premium-Regulator/dp/B003WX772G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1491405625&sr=8-1&keywords=c02+regulator with the dual output. This one is a little cheaper. You will need lines I suggest 5/16th for air and 3/16th for serving. 5 feet each should get you in a good situation for kegs. See if you can find a C02 tank on say craigslist or an old one. I swapped a really old tank at Airgas that was no longer fillable for a decently new one.

You would probably also want a picnic tap for your setup.

My wife drinks 3-4 bottles of carbonated water every day. We used to buy Pelligrino at Costco, at $14/case, or around $60/mo. That was 3 years ago. This thing paid for itself a long, long time ago for me.

On top of that, I purchased a 5 pound tank from Amazon, and an adapter which hooks the tank up to the SodaStream. The tank costs $23 to refill, but has far more capacity than the little bottles the SS comes with. I have to refill it about once every two months.

Links:

https://co2doctor.com/freedomoonespec.htm

http://www.amazon.com/CO2-Tank-Aluminum-Cylinder-Valve/dp/B0085282UK/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393961834&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=7ln+co2+tank

Note: You can get a tank and swap it at some local shops, but where I live I can't find anyone who does that, so I had to buy the new tank.

Here is what I plan on getting for the 10 gallon. I also plan on buying a Finnex Planted+ II whenever it comes out.

CO2 Regulator- http://greenleafaquariums.com/products/gla-gro-co2-regulator.html
Fertilizer- http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/pps-pro-fertilizer-package.html
CO2 indicator solution- http://greenleafaquariums.com/products/cal-aqua-double-check-indicator-solution.html
Drop Checker- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J594UVM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1XASUQHYFCLHB&coliid=I3NWGM7JZJRTSD
CO2 Tank- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085282UK/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1XASUQHYFCLHB&coliid=I2XE9EO3Z2DAGA&psc=1
Subtrate- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DH0QM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1XASUQHYFCLHB&coliid=I10PPPB3TWL6ZG

Amazon has it, and it'll be delivered by tomorrow: http://www.amazon.com/Beer-Bottle-Caps-Absorbing-Homebrew/dp/B000Q64T8M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410318689&sr=8-1&keywords=homebrew+bottle+caps

Brian May even uses them: http://i.imgur.com/r42kJne.jpg and you can get them on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Grolsch-Bottle-Replacement-Washers-Pack/dp/B004NXUJ06.

Could keg condition, get 1 gas in and 1 beer out disconnect, some hose and clamps, one of these, and some co2 cartridges. Ice down the bottom of the upright keg in a spare cooler or bucket.

Just be careful with the keg charger. The first time i used mine i way over pressurized and got cups of head.

You can just buy the washers, Amazon has them for $10 here

Ah, then they probably AREN'T oxygen resistant caps. You'll want something along the lines of https://www.amazon.com/Beer-Bottle-Caps-Absorbing-Homebrew/dp/B000Q64T8M

And let us know if it's an anomaly!

Just an FYI, you could cut out the sodastream alltogether with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0

Just pop it on a bottle and attach your CO2 line using the same ball lock that you use to attach it to a keg. I watched my LHB use it to carbonate a 1 liter bottle of water in about 30 seconds.

I would stay away from using commercial air compressors and pesticide sprayers.

Just buy a Cornelius keg (they're about 50 bucks) and get a mobile keg charger like this. You can then connect a 1/4 vinyl line and then get a ball lock or pin lock disconnect (depends on the type of corny keg you buy) and then attach a picnic tap at the end. If you want it to spray just buy a bottle filling wand or a racking cane and shove it into the outlet of the picnic tap.

Or buy a CO2 inflator like this to initially pressure it.


http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Innovations-G5040-Charger-Black/dp/B000NV9CE6

Also a newbie, waiting for all my equipment to arrive from Amazon... But I picked up this 2 gallon bucket:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064O8WWE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_BssFybCMY4GHZ

You could just use a plastic bottle and a carbonator cap.

I've got this thing to go with my perlick taps on my kegorator. I haven't tried it yet though.

http://www.amazon.com/CO2-Tank-Aluminum-Cylinder-Valve/dp/B0085282UK

You could check out one of these

http://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-Glass-Jar-fermenting-Kombucha/dp/B006ZRBGSC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1397529260&sr=8-2&keywords=gallon+glass+jar

If you're into DIY, you might be able to do something with these:
Carbonate
Cap

You can get plastic lids for the ball jars. They also make half-gallon ball jars. You can get gallon sized glass jars as well

You can also buy the washers by themselves...

http://www.amazon.com/Grolsch-Bottle-Replacement-Washers-Pack/dp/B004NXUJ06/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1462308922&sr=8-2&keywords=grolsch

The working man's strap lock.

http://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0

Or this

see if you can purchase one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0/ref=pd_sim_328_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=41PaQkKulFL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=FSRQ012AAS1W8W5868W4

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Bottling-Bucket-Spigot-Beer/dp/B000E62H8I

https://www.amazon.ca/Grolsch-Bottle-Replacement-Washers-Pack/dp/B004NXUJ06?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duc12-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B004NXUJ06

Way cheaper. Although, you probably don’t need 100 of them. 🤷‍♂️

Cheapest straplocks

just bought this one for father's day, haven't used it: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NV9CE6/ref=psdc_979840011_t3_B01IFXQAYS

I use these...

https://www.amazon.com/Gallon-Plastic-Fermenter-drilled-lid/dp/B0064O8WWE/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?crid=3BOCV43TCMST7&keywords=2+gallon+fermenting+bucket&qid=1551151619&s=gateway&sprefix=2+gallon+ferm&sr=8-2

Most of the online retailers carry them. For example. Northern Brewer has them for $29.99/dozen (amber, 16 oz.) Amazon has them too.

Is there some other facet of this search that I'm not getting?

Lids: White Plastic Standard Mason Jar... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017IT8U2U?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Airlock: Home Brewing Supplies... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041F2DL4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Grommets: Home Brew Ohio black Replacement... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0149K5RZY?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Do you have one of these?

This?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004NXUJ06?pc_redir=1398414039&robot_redir=1

Pack of 100

FWIW, I ended up buying a tank on Amazon for $64, and then immediately swapping it out for a full tank for $20 at a welding supply store in the Bronx (http://www.awisco.com/). Even with cab fare there and back, it still beats the $150 for a refill and empty tank that website recommended.

One of this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KTJXOBO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0041F2DL4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I found these grommets and airlocks are bigger than the ones I got from my lhbs.

Buy this and you can use your keg CO2 lines to carb it up in a soda bottle. You just gotta drink it relatively quickly or it'll show signs of oxidation soon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01039C0Z0/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1505856195&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=carbonation+cap&dpPl=1&dpID=410qbFqxN3L&ref=plSrch

i currently use a carafe with an airlock but am looking to buy this which is for making kimchi and sauerkraut


http://amzn.com/B00M40ANMO

My setup is something like this:

• 5lb CO2 tank, about $40-50.
  
• Regulator, about $50
  
• Gas line w/ ball lock valve, about $10
  
• Stainless steel carbonator caps, about $12 each
  
  Homebrew shops generally carry the tanks, and can fill them for you. You're probably looking at $120-$150 initial cost, but your cost per carbonation is pretty close zero: just the cost to refill the tank.
  
  With this setup, you carbonate directly in plastic soda bottles. I generally use seltzer bottles, since they don't have any residual flavors in them, and they're designed to hold the pressure.
  
  Transfer whatever you want to carbonate into a plastic bottle (about 3/4 full). Get it as cold as possible: for sodas, that's as close to 32-F as you can get; for cocktails, it's maybe 20 to 25-F. Squeeze the excess air out, screw on the carbonator cap, attach the gas hose, and shake the hell out of the bottle. Release the pressure (carefully; some mixtures can foam a lot), and repeat once or twice if you want really strong carbonation. For water, I usually carbonate around 35 psi. For cocktails, closer to 45 psi.
  
  To bottle cocktails or sodas once they're carbonated, you can use 187ml champagne bottles and an inexpensive bottle capper. Your local homebrew shop probably carries both.

If you’re not carbonating, then a cheap handcorker will do. It can be a pain to cork a lot of bottles though.

Beer bottles with bottle caps and capper are easier.

I recommend bottles that are rounded. I've had a couple bottles explode in the past, but they were the type pictured, the ones with corners. I think those create weak points, perhaps? My kombucha is extrememly bubbly, but it never breaks the rounded bottles!

http://www.amazon.com/CASE-12-Beer-Bottles-AMBER/dp/B005CIFIDO?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

this is incredible over-priced, or am I missing something? I use essential the same set-up and it cost a little under $20.

https://www.amazon.com/1-gallon-USDA-Fermentation-Glass-Jar/dp/B006ZRBGSC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1491232715&sr=8-3&keywords=gallon+jar

https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Quality-Nut-Milk-Bag/dp/B00KLT6X9W/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1491232680&sr=1-3-spons&keywords=nut+milk+bag&psc=1

Dudebro. You need one (some?) of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Carbonation-Carbacap-Coupling-Carbonate-Fruit/dp/B01039C0Z0

I'm assuming that if you have a keg, you have a kegerator, and therefore have a CO² tank at the ready. As long as you have proper regulation and a ball lock connector, you're in business.

The way these things work: first, get a plastic bottle--20 oz, 2 liter, whatever. If you're going to serve within a couple of hours, I usually just clean/rinse. If you're going to keep it several days, everything needs to soak in sanitizer. Fill the bottle with however much beer you want to take, but make sure to leave at least some headroom. Take the bottle to the sink, screw the cap on tightly, depress the pin with a screwdriver or your thumbnail or something, and squeeze all of the foam out until you're squeezing beer out. Release the pin while being careful not to let the bottle suck any air back in. Then you just plug your CO² to the cap, the bottle pressurizes, you're in business. I tend to find hitting it with about 20psi works well--you want to be higher than serving pressure.

I can't tell you how much easier and expedient it is to use these carb caps instead of traditional bottling.

I do the same thing, only I keep the spring assembly in the bottle filler in place. You can keep the cobra tap open the whole time, and push down to release the beer. I spill less this way.

I also MacGyvered up a hand held co2 charger to purge the bottles, as I fear the oxygen goblins.

How about this: http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Innovations-G5040-Charger-Black/dp/B000NV9CE6

No regulator, but it is technically C02. And you can keep the little refills in the cooler to chill them and bring as many as you want.

Obviously carb your keg at home with this solution. It would just be a way to expel the beer.