This is the steam condenser from Brew-Boss available here: https://www.brew-boss.com/Condenser-Boss-Boil-Kettle-Condenser-p/cb-bb-apmount.htm This is the basic 1 . 5" tri-clamp mount configuration without any other bells and whistles. Shipping was fast and the box was a bit beat up when I got …

This is a portion of my old propane-fired homebrewing setup for 5 gallon batches. The Gear (above) 10 gallon cooler MLT 30 plate Duda Diesel plate chiller 7 gallon BK Propane burner BK Bayou Classic kettle w/ lid & burner w/ high pressure regulator. Kettle is fitted with ball valves for …

When I originally built the electric brewery, it was located at the back of the garage in front of a window. During boils I would open the window and point a small fan from above the kettle to move steam outside. In our new house, the brewery got moved out of the garage and into its own space in the …

A while back [ok – headed toward 2 years ago now – I’m way behind on blog posts], Creative Market held a Christmas party, giving its employees and community members an opportunity to hang out and interact. As the Creative Market brewer-in-residence, I was asked to provide some beer for the event. …

It’s closing in on two years now since the last blog update. Even though I haven’t been keeping content updated, I’ve still been busy brewing. Maybe a future post will spend a bit more time reflecting on all of those brews. That is not this post. This post is all about the new pilot brewing system I …

Pros Price: It can typically be found on sale online for $16-$20. Temperature Alarm: This works great in the HLT to know when strike or sparge water has reached its target temperature. It can also be used in the boil kettle to notify you when the wort is approaching a boiling point and the most …

The average all grain brew day generally takes between 4 and 6 hours from beginning to end. Some of the steps have a fixed duration. A 60 minute boil will never take any less time than an hour to complete. There’s no way around that fact. However, there are other areas with the potential to optimize …

Cleaning & sanitization Most of the time involved in beer making is a hands off process as the yeast does its work. A comparatively small portion of time is actively spent on preparing the yeast, wort and, later on, packaging the resulting beer. A good deal of any brewer’s hands on time is …

Newcomers to the homebrewing world will quickly encounter a vast landscape of unfamiliar acronyms and bizarre terminology. When you’re still trying to learn the basic brewing processes, finding your way through the slew of unusual jargon adds its own steep learning curve. Here are a few of the most …

1 – Hot Break Achieving a good rolling boil is an important step in the beer making process for several reasons. First, boiling sterilizes the beer, killing any unwanted bacteria that might be hanging around just waiting to spoil your hard work. Boil off reduces the overall volume, concentrating it. …

There is no question that award winning beers can be made using malt extract as the the basis of their recipe. However, when using extracts, much of the work in converting the grain’s starches into usable sugars has already been done for the brewer. This also means that much of the control over the …

There may be almost as many ways to make beer as there are different styles of beer. While the basic formula is to combine a hoppy sugary liquid with yeast to ultimately produce a fermented beverage, the steps to get there can vary greatly. These different approaches also tend to affect brewing …

One of the most common useful pieces of equipment in the home brewery is the thermometer. Measuring, monitoring and ultimately, controlling temperature is a key aspect of producing quality beer. It starts with making sure that the water is being heated to the correct temperature for mashing and …

Beers are typically categorized by their style. Styles are primarily defined by characteristics such as color, bitterness, alcohol content, ingredients, aroma, body, mouthfeel and flavor. They also often carry particular historical and regional significance. For instance, the Berliner Weisse began …

I made my first steam beer about six months ago. It was my first brew of the year (not counting mead) and my first attempt at coming up with my own recipe. While there were a number of milestones that came with that brew, I wasn’t all that thrilled with the resulting beer. It wasn’t bad, but try as …

The brewing process for me often starts with a simple concept or core thematic element. It could be an ingredient, a style, or some other idea serving as the inspiration for the beer. In this case a recent thread in the HBT forums brought up the idea of an end of the world brew. According to some …

It’s been over a year since I’ve brewed something falling into the Belgian style category. My last attempt was a golden strong ale called Blonde Bombshell. It was also my second brewing experience ever. In the intervening time my knowledge and process has changed significantly. I’ve gone from …

As I’ve slowly worked my way through various new styles and ingredients to experiment with, fruit has long been on my list. I’ve been looking forward to making a beer featuring cherries for nearly a year now. The idea first came to me after seeing fresh ripe cherries at a local farmers market one …

Batch #12 – All Grain #7 One of my favorite batches to date has been my Strong Scotch Ale all-grain recipe. One of the signature characteristics of most Scottish ales is a deep, rich malt profile. The flavors often a result of early century procedures producing kettle-scortched wort, modern day …

Batch #11 – All Grain #6 I’m kicking off the 2011 brewing season with what I had anticipated on being my last brew of 2010. I was hoping to get this brew in before the end of the year. Unfortunately, an order shipment delay from MoreBeer followed by a month long chest cold and a grain mill debacle …

I’ve been wanting to branch out from beer and try my hand at brewing mead for quite a while. Other than the suggestion that a fermented alcoholic beverage made from honey and fruit sounds delicious, I really don’t know what I’m getting into. Given that I’m in completely unknown territory here, I …

Batch #9 – All Grain #5 It’s time for a new recipe and all new mistakes. This is batch #2 on my v3.0 brewing system – ninth overall since I started home brewing and the fifth all-grain. This time around I’m finally tackling something that I’ve been wanting to do for almost as long as I’ve been …

It’s been a few months since my last brew. Since then, I’ve moved into a new apartment (to be closer to my brewing assistant, of course). While I still have the kitchen space and stove capacity to do my brewing inside, I’ve decided to move my brewing out of the kitchen and into the back yard. This …

Batch #7 – All Grain #3 Brewed: 8-9-10 Grain Bill 15# Pale 2 Row .5# Aromatic .5# Biscuit .5# Caramunich .5# Special B Hop Schedule 1oz Chinook 11% AA @ 60 minutes 1oz Chinook 11% AA @ 45 minutes 1oz Chinook 11% AA @ 2 minutes 5/8oz Chinook 11% AA @ 2 weeks Yeast WLP001 Misc 3.5oz. American Oak …

Batch #6 – All Grain #2 (05-02-10) The American Homebrewers Association celebrates National Homebrew Day with an event called Big Brew. It is held on the first Saturday of May each year. The idea is that you get a group together and everyone around the world who is participating brews at the same …