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I'm in a sort of interlude with brewing/drinking due to needing the time and energy needed to be a Dad. I'm down to about two 1/2 full corny's and commercial brews are a much bigger percentage of what I drink but that's ok, it's research :-) I've slowly been working towards efficiency so that...

I'm planning out a cleaning setup that uses a cleaning manifold and multiple attachment types (1/4 flare shutoff valve, 1/4 mfl shutoff valves, ball lock posts etc). It looks like I can get all these parts on a gas manifold. My last holdup is the materials that the shutoff valves and manifold...

I came across some pretty intense discussions on chemistry in my searches on this topic but definitely lacking clarity. Also, looked through Claude Jolicoueur's book. When I am drinking my cider frequently, I start to feel the acidity in my stomach and I had one friend who said the same thing...

I have 8 corny kegs that I converted to brew with and I've been using a giant easel to keep track of my brews. I've tried sorting by the brew and by the brewing vessel but they both have their pros and cons. So it sounds like I'll have to go more modern and use brewing software. Is there any...

I've got a Hotpoint 9.4 chest freezer and I'm finally getting ready to do some drilling. I want to keep the CO2 tank outside the keezer and put the gas lines through the edge of the door. I noticed the back of the freezer has an existing hole with a plastic cover (picture attached). The hole...

I did a couple different things with two of my most recent batches (in part due to being really busy) and ended up with cider that is more cloudy and buttery than I'm used to. They are part local blended sweet cider and part Whole Foods glass jug juice, champagne yeast, with fermax yeast...

Greetings, I'm building a cleaning station and I only want to do it once. I just started getting into beer (after only doing cider) and I'm wondering if I were to get a true brew kettle in the future, what's the maximum diameter I should build my cleaning station to handle? Also, do they make...

Searched but couldn't find anything. I'm about to do my first extract kit (pilsner). I've learned with fermenting my cider in corny's that I can get away with almost no headspace if the temperature is on the low side. I'm wondering if I can do the same thing with beer. Ideally, I would only...

Greetings Beer Side of this forum. I've been cidermaking for the past two years and I'm getting ready to brew my first beer using a Brewer's Best Pale Ale kit (5 gal). The kit instructs me to do a "rolling boil" (for adding/steeping extract, hops, etc) but doesn't recommend a specific...

I'm interested in re-using commercial screw top cans (like Bud Light) for gifting homebrew to others. I mostly brew cider so the extra layer of safety for bottle bombs makes me feel better when gifting homebrew. I wonder if washing and sanitizing them with the standard chemicals (Oxygen...

I saw an old post saying that good sparkling wine is more difficult to make. Why is this? I only have experience making cider but I have a lot of interest in winemaking. I've noticed that carbonation with my ciders tends to improve the flavor, bringing out the apple flavors while subduing the...

Are there any keg brands that use universal posts by default? I do a lot of brewing in kegs and end up using jumpers and what not. It would make things simpler if I had kegs with universal posts (posts that you can connect either a gas or liquid QD to). I realize I might be able to just...

I recently started 4 batches of cider (in corny kegs). It's half Whole Foods juice and half real cider with no preservatives other than the Vitamin C in the WF stuff. 2 kegs have champagne yeast, one has saison yeast, and the other has Mangrove Jack yeast. Each got yeast nutrient and 2 of the...

I found a freezer that (according to measurements and someone else's conversion) will fit 6 ball lock corny kegs with some room left over. I'm not doing a collar (putting draft tower on top of door) and I want to put 4 CO2 lines in from outside. That means I'll have to drill about a 2" hole...

Anyone else have this happen? After ever brew session, I wipe down counters with the express idea of removing any oxygen cleaner. However, I may have missed some spots because the laminate surface is pitted now in spots. It looks white/hazy unless the counters are wet, then the spots...

Greetings, Does anyone know a good model of chest freezer that could fit 7 corny kegs, 5lb CO2 tank, regulator and CO2 manifold without adding a collar? Also, what is preferred for a keezer, manual or automatic defrost? Thanks

Greetings gang, My kegerator crapped out a while back and I'm thinking about my next setup. My main goal right now is reducing the hangover inducing properties of my cider. Unless I'm mistaken, public enemy #1 is fermentation temperatures when it comes to fusel alcohols. What are your...

As if 2020 wasn't bad enough, my CL kegerator that's worked great for about a year has completely stopped cooling. It's an older Summit kegerator. I was starting to have issues with foam (a month or so ago) and never figured out if it was the CO2 pressure or if the kegerator was having trouble...

Claude Jolicoeur's "The New Cider Maker's Handbook" states that one of the benefits of an early first racking is that it separates the cider from sediment/nitrogen and slows the fermentation down so that you can end up with some sweetness in the final cider. Does the reduction in nutrients also...

I have gone through my first few kegs of homebrew Cider and noticed that everything was easier to clean compared to my beer tap (from local microbrew). Is that the case with beer vs cider in general (that cider stuff is easier to clean)? All the cider lines were crystal clear after finishing...