(Part 3) Best products from r/TheBrewery

This is my full list of books from /r/homebrewing but it includes pro level books:

New Brewers:

• How to Brew - John Palmer
  
• Brewing classic styles- Jamil Zainasheff
  
• Designing Great Beers - Ray Daniels
  
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - Charlie Papazian
  
  Continued Learning:
  
  
• Water - Palmer and Kaminsky
  
• Yeast - Zainicheff and White
  
• Malt - Mallet
  
• Hops - Hieronymous
  
• Experimental Brewing - Drew Beechum and Denny Conn
  
• Radical Brewing - Randy Mosher
  
• Brewing Better Beer - Gordon Strong
  
  Specialty/Advanced/Other:
  
  
• American Sour Beers - Michael Tonsmeire (/u/oldsock)
  
• Brewing with Wheat - Stan Hieronymus
  
• IPA: Brewing Techniques - Mitch Steele
  
• Farmhouse Ales - Phil Markowski
  
• Brew Like a Monk - Stan Hieronymus
  
• New Brewing Lager Beers - Gregory J. Noonan
  
• Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers- Stephen Harrod Buhner
  
• Drink: a cultural history of alcohol - Iain gately
  
• Principals of Brewing Science - George Fix
  
  Business Books:
  
  
• Brewing Up a Business - Sam Calagione
  
• Brewers association Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery - Cantwell, among others
  
• SO you want to start a brewery - Tony magee
  
• Beyond the Pale: The Story of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co - Ken Grossman
  
• Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery Paperback –Steve Hindy & Tom Potter
  
  Technical Readings (Textbooks might be expensive):
  
  
• Brewery Operations Manual - Tom Hennessy
  
• Beer Packaging - Master Brewers Association
  
• Technology Brewing and Malting - W. Kunze, 5th Edition
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 1 - Many Authors
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 2 - Many Authors
  
• Brewing yeast and fermentation - Boulton and Quain

These are the first boots I ever used in the brewery. I found their fit to be relatively comfortable, and they lasted me near a year before holes developed. However, because of their material, they don't breathe, and even with some damn fine water wicking socks, my feet were still pretty damp/moist at the end of the day, and lead to some "trench foot". Ever since I have been using various other types of boots. Just got a pair of Timberland PRO Rigmasters The fit is very good, and they feel very comfortable and robust. The inserts in them agree with most people. Several of my coworkers went with the more expensive Timberland PRO Boondock and swear by them. I'm a bit frugal for that.

Either way, I want to post a WARNING for all potential boot buyers: I advise AGAINST buying the Georgia Boot Muddog. 6 people in our brewery all purchased these boots within a few months of each other. They are comfortable and look good, and the rubber encased bottom design seems smart. However, every single one of our boots began to die after only a few short months, in EXACTLY the same way. The leather began to separate from the rubber portion on Lateral/Anterior edge. The boots were quite worthless within 6 months. And this is with Mink Oil Application every couple of days. I got mine to last 11 months with judicial use of various boot repairing goo's and glues.

Frozen and vacuum packed you shouldn't need to purge with CO2 or N2, but it wouldn't hurt.

If you're just using this occasionally go for something off the shelf residential and foodsaver bags, super easy to use. If you need something more heavy duty for daily use I've been using this guy for years: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GP81R2. I still recommend the foodsaver bags to get a good vacuum and all the air pulled out.

Depends on your brewery and your position. I swear by rubber boots. Other people swear by leather. I’m currently wearing Servus boots and they’ve been great so far. They’re very similar to XtraTuff, which you’ll see recommended often, but they moved their production to China a few years ago and quality hasn’t been the same IMO. Other popular rubber brands are Muck and Red Wing - both more expensive. I got surprisingly long use out of these cheap Dunlop’s, if you can’t commit to $100+.

No matter what you choose, make sure you get steel toes and, as others have said, some nice socks. I wear ski socks every day and they’re a life saver.

If you're planning on getting a camera just stick with a monocular. I have a binocular and it's really nice for viewing especially doing the long count method but if you can just get a camera. It's so much better.

There are plenty of decent ones on Amazon. Omax is a good brand.

Promotion Set: OMAX 40X-2000X Lab LED Binocular Compound Microscope with Double Layer Mechanical Stage + 100 Glass Blank Slides & Covers + 100 Lens Cleaning Paper https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0094JTZOU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SDnwxbS0A9GYK

For a hemocytometer... Don't buy the shitty $30 one on Amazon. It fucking sucks giant donkey balls. I had that one and I seriously wanted to crush it repeatedly with our forklift. Buy nice or buy twice. Get the $130 one from sigma Aldrich. Bright line. Make sure you have the proper coverslips. Not your regular ones that come with the microscope. The sigma one comes with 2 I believe. Don't lose them or break them!!! You can order more though if it happens.

Not strictly a brewing book, but I'd recommend Tasting Beer by Randy Mosher. A fantastic book about beer that I'd definitely recommend every beer drinker and brewer read.

I actually have this cheap-o Milwaukee meter.

I've had it for about a year, and seems to work just fine - calibrates without issue. Get some buffers for calibration though, the sachets that come with the meter are good for like one go. I replace mine weekly.

Other than that, I've heard people have good luck with Hanna meters. This is probably fine.

Definitely don’t put it in your auger. That’s a real quick way to have a bad day.

My advice would be to get a large bin similar to this one
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077ZFDC6X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0EXyCbD500QSH

Put the whole bag in, and just run a box cutter down the length of the bag. Probably will burst open but you can break it up a lot easier then.

As far as being unmessy, good luck. The folks who package those things just want to watch the world burn.

> I also keep a dedicated dump hose in the brewery

This is something I've wanted to do for a while.

As for shallow trays of sani, I've found that a wallpaper tray is the perfect solution for things like carb stones and whatnot. It also makes a perfect drip tray for jockey boxes.

Here is one on Amazon, the lever arm is shorter but I'm sure you can make something work;

http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Limit-Switch-Straight-Action/dp/B0050HKB8O

Google for 'spdt switch lever arm' for other examples.

Good luck with your seamer!

I've been wondering this same thing, since we use pitchers as well. I bought one of these recently for use as a water bottle, but have been thinking that this may be a good chemical thing as well once you put some lines for measuring on it, since it's made with HDPE. Anyone with a stronger chemical background want to confirm this?

This stuff is amazing, we used some towelette samples and loved it. https://wowezfinish.com/buy-now/


Looks like it's also on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GEZU8M/

There's a famous line "If You Have to Ask the Price, You Can't Afford It" but when it comes to breweries that extends to blood, sweat and tears. The factors vary so much that you're going to hear a range of answers based on: market, legal bullshit, owners & experience. In Minneapolis most breweries open four to six months behind schedule and I'm guessing it's a 500k-1m investment.

If I were in your shoes I would do two things. First, read every book out there on the brewing industry (start here and here). Then I would talk to your local brewers guild and breweries to answer these questions. If you were doing this in MN everyone would be fairly honest and supportive plus you'd get better answers than reddit (no offense). Cheers!

I've never read it, but there is this book.

This book should get you started. Some of those questions are questions that are dependent on your situation.

I suggest you buy and read Dick Cantwell's book.

https://www.brewerspublications.com/products/guide-to-starting-your-own-brewery-2nd-edition

Pro tip: Amazon has it much cheaper.

Snarky Comment: If you think it's too expensive, then you don't have enough money to start a brewery. :)