Author Topic: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread  (Read 29518 times)

Steve

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Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« on: November 19, 2011, 12:31:56 PM »
It's clear that quite a few of us are into home brewing alcohol, so I figured I would create a running topic for it.

Last night I was at Walmart and saw they got in a brand new shipment of empty five gallon water jugs, and they were PTE #1 and manufactured by Better Bottle. Empty they were only $5.99 so I bought up six to use are Carboy's. Better Bottle has said time and time again they are the same bottles, and that they are forced to stamp them "suitable for water only" when shipping them to the water companies.

So for $40 I got six fermenters instead of two  :dblthumb2:
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2011, 01:27:11 PM »
Any of you guys using Beersmith? Just found out it will run through Wine, and it's appealing because I loose notebooks alot, and tape falls of fermenters. And the tape that doesn't leaves a mess. With this I could simply label the fermenters and track in Beersmith.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Rob

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2011, 04:23:53 AM »
Made this a sticky for you Steve.

Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2011, 06:21:00 AM »
Made this a sticky for you Steve.

Thanks Rob :)
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2011, 06:23:02 AM »
apexbrewwares.com

This place is awesome. Jeremy is all about getting what you order to your door. I placed an order for some yeast, sugar, new air locks, etc Friday night (Saturday morning ~3amish) with standard ground shipping and the package will be here today. Granted he is located 4 hours away, but he didn't have to put it all together on a Saturday, ship it, and have it here today.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

hans

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2011, 02:33:45 PM »
There's a local shop by me (midwestsupplies.com). I picked up their beginner kit with the glass carboy and I'm planning on going back and getting a couple 3gal ones for smaller batches. Then I'll use the 5 gal's for the primary fermenters and make 2.5 gal batches for testing out recipes. I went a bit overboard but I think I'll enjoy this hobby. Got myself a copper wort chiller too. I was planning on my first batch last weekend but had time problems so it'll probably be this weekend instead. Hoping to have xmas gifts to give out.

My first batch is going to be their Hop head double IPA kit. Mmmmmm.
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Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2011, 02:36:56 PM »
Be careful with the glass carboy, when they break it's ugly.

http://brewing.lustreking.com/articles/brokencarboys.html
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

hans

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2011, 05:46:27 PM »
Yup, read all about that.
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Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2011, 05:52:27 PM »
I opted for plastic, but some even say that the glass gives a better final product. Seems to be one of those things, like amd vs intel.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Govtcheez

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2011, 06:39:08 PM »
The big negative I've heard about plastic carboys is that if you clean them well with a brush, you can easily scratch the inside of it and that's a haven for bacteria.

Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #10 on: November 22, 2011, 10:05:21 AM »
The big negative I've heard about plastic carboys is that if you clean them well with a brush, you can easily scratch the inside of it and that's a haven for bacteria.

Correct. There are many new-age brushes that are more like flexible squeege's then brushes. What I have is a hose that connects to the sink faucet and runs to a thin pressure end that looks like what the dentist uses. So i crank the hot water and "power wash" it with soap and water, and then with a bleach solution. Then I sterilize it with Star San.

The trickiest part with mine is the handles, but I can get in there pretty well with the pressure wash. If you never let them sit after brewing and store them with star San in them it's pretty easy to keep them clean.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

hans

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #11 on: November 22, 2011, 11:32:53 AM »
The better bottles at my supply shop don't have handles on them anymore. They're just squared off jugs.

I'm gonna start old school with the glass and then decide. I might get one of each in the 3 gal and see which I think it better. I've never really been a big fan of plastic though in other things cooking related.
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Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #12 on: November 22, 2011, 08:06:14 PM »
The better bottles at my supply shop don't have handles on them anymore. They're just squared off jugs.

I'm gonna start old school with the glass and then decide. I might get one of each in the 3 gal and see which I think it better. I've never really been a big fan of plastic though in other things cooking related.

Well if I was heating anything I would absolutely be using glass, but I have not been since the need for a carboy arose so the plastic ones have been perfect.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Steve

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #13 on: November 22, 2011, 08:42:51 PM »
Do you guys have any good tricks for getting bottles locally? Wine bottles are fucking expensive. I wanted to get 1L swing top bottles, but they are $30 for 12 + shipping and I need 22 of them.
hey ethic if you and i were both courting lily allen..... oh wait, which one of us has a relationship that lasted more than the bus ride home?

Govtcheez

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Re: Official Esink Home Brewing Thread
« Reply #14 on: November 22, 2011, 08:55:59 PM »
Buy a bunch of beer at the store that comes in 1L bottles.  It'll be more expensive but a lot more fun