I guess that's the rub. For some folks—better overall flavor, nuance, and mouthfeel are the ultimate goals—conversion just tags along if you do everything else right. Of course currently modified grains don't need a decoction for conversion and that isn't why I do that mash process for certain...

And location. My friends with pre-built electric systems have found an issue where some have the probe right above the element, which causes it to cycle off too soon and thus doesn't get to the desired mash temp as presumed. In such a system, which all use recirculating mashes, the solution is...

Please tell me you're running the 4 relays from 4 separate circuits... Nevermind, I see your diagram now...

Maybe there's a misunderstanding: there are no 240V breakers in my system currently. I would have to add one, as well as the 10ga+cabling run to whatever outlet I wanted for brewing. (my dryer is gas) The expense to run it even myself in materials alone is almost, or is, the cost of installing...

Funny you mention gardening. I got into it 20 years ago and tried to go 'full farmer'. That was a classic mistake. I picked it up again a few years ago and this time - one 4x4ft box at a time. This is how I approached homebrew too. Crawl first, learn the process, learn the ingredients (no...

As discussed in another thread, consider a water bath for your fermenter. Masses don't like to change temp. With your fermenter in a water bath initially (ideally) at the desired fermentation temp, or in the middle of the happy range for the yeast, the beer won't want to rise or fall as it is...

I wired my own house. I have room for 240V and plans to add it for a few things, maybe, but I run heavy appliances on Natural Gas, so I haven't needed it yet. (nearly 20 years since I re-wired) My lighting circuits are 15A, but all of my outlets are 20A save for the bedrooms which were required...

Equipment is also a fixed cost. Short of ditching it for a full upgrade, if you buy quality, and put it to good use, it will more than likely outlast however many batches you are going to throw at it. Once you make the leap to that great tap room in the sky, the per-batch/bottle/pint cost of...

Your math isn't wrong. An old joke is that brewing is 2 hours of work squeezed into 8 hours. Most of the time is spent during the mash and boil. Setup is relatively fixed, and cleanup depends on the complexity of the system. (how many parts) Other than that, the only differences in batch sizes...

Yeah, my issue is I'm not wired for anything 240V, and that would be another huge expense. (even doing it myself - materials are through the roof right now) I found a high wattage 120V/20A element from BrewHardware that I'm interested in. But that's the rub. It can burn ≈2150 watts but...

Great Fermentations has "Pre-Prohibition' 6-row from Sugar Creek out of Indiana. I bought some for a Kentucky Common. Sugar Creek also sells direct to home brewers.

I heard rumor from a pro brewer that they were bought by AB. Can anyone confirm this?

What kills me are the folks who get into homebrewing and proceed to only make light international lagers! Yes, palates age like fine liquor. I certainly will be brewing hopefully for many years yet, but even at my young age I've determined Bourbon & Rum are as close to Heaven as one can get on...

Our club is about to build a loaner system. Just bring your own ingredients. (we can even loan you bottles and kegs, no caps or CO2 though - that's on you!) It is patterned off my own slowly built and improved system. The goal is to introduce folks to propane BIAB for simplicity. (or extract if...

We used to rehydrate with distilled during the brew day, now we pull off some wort after 15 min into the boil for this. (but without the stir plate) What you are describing can be done with liquid yeast too. It is what Drew & Denny of Experimental Homebrewing call a 'vitality starter'.

You lager on the yeast for months and have no off-flavor issues?

Fermonsters are also available with a spigot, avoiding the cane.

I found out very quickly that a good rule of thumb is to plan to rack to fermenter 10% more than you want to package. This has been very consistent, over 100 batches in. Thus, if you want 5gallons packaged, plan to get 5.5gal to the fermenter. Walk your system losses backwards from there to...

Also, if anyone is even half-way seriously considering decoction mashing, read this: https://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php/Decoction_Mashing That is about as homebrew-science as you can get on the subject.

Needed for what? Conversion? True. But that wasn't why decoctions were done. They are leftover from an ancient process where it was difficult to raise the mash to the next temp rest. Removing a portion of the solids in a smaller vessel, bringing those slowly to a boil, then returning them, is...