West Coast Brewer Home Brewing Blog

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Stainless Steel Homebrewing Rig Sale

Stainless Steel Homebrewing Rig Sale

Stainless Steel Homebrewing Rig

Stainless Steel Homebrewing Rig

 

It does not happen very often, but MoreBeer is currently running a promotion on their 20 Gallon Digital Deluxe Stainless Steel Single-Tier BrewSculpture Homebrewing rig.  So if you are in the market for a top of the line homebrewing rig, this is probably the time to act.   This home brewery retails for $6,350 but is currently on sale for $5,715 saving you several hundred dollars.

 

This homebrewing rig is a 20 gallon setup and has just about everything that an all grain home brewer could want including:

 

  • Stainless Steel Diverters
  • Analog Thermometers
  • Two High Flow March Pumps
  • Ultimate Stainless Steel Sparge Arm Assembly
  • 304-Brushed Stainless Steel Frame
  • Digital Control Panel
  • Mash Tun and Hot Liquor Tank Float Switches
  • Mash Tun and Hot Liquor Tank Digital Temperature Control
  • Natural Gas System
  • Automated Hot Liquor Tank Burner
  • Convoluted Wort Chiller
  • Boil Kettle Whirlpool Arm

 

For more details and to take advantage of the sale click the following link:
 
 

Homebrewing Rig Sale 

 

 

Home Brewing Quick Disconnects

For a limited time, save 15% on home brewing stainless steel quick connects and quick disconnects!

 

Home Brewing Quick Disconnects

Home Brewing Quick Disconnects

 

Looking for an excellent way to upgrade your home brewery and save some money? From now until 6/5/2015 you can save 15% are MoreBeer.com on their home brewing quick connects and quick disconnects.  I use them on my home brewing rig and it is a nice time saver when it comes to cleaning and moving pump hoses from kettle to kettle.

 

To take advantage of this limited time coupon code, just enter promo code SSQD15 during checkout to save 15% off our stainless steel quick disconnects!

 

Click Here for a list of available quick connects

 

 

MoreBeer.com 14 Gallon Conical Fermentor

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

 

When I come across a great deal I like to pass on the information.  For today only MoreBeer.com is offering one of their high quality 14 gallon Stainless Steel fermentors at a serious discount.  Typically they run for $995, but today, while supplies last, you can pick one up for only $835.00

 

Click Here for this Special Offer on a 14-Gallon Stainless Steel Conical Fermentor

 

The MoreBeer.com Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter features:

– 304 Stainless Steel
– 1.5 inch butterfly valve
– Threadless racking arm with position indicator
– Professional sanitary sample and transfer valve
– Removable cone for easy cleaning
– Domed lid with 3 inch clover fitting at the top
– Sturdy lid clamp allowing for 5 PSI of pressure (with addition of CO2 Adapter pack)
– Ability to add options such as leg extensions, wheels and blow off

 

First home brewing batch with the new RIMS controller.

Brew beer at home!

Home Brewing Beer

I brewed a batch of Karamel Citra Session IPA over the weekend to test out the new RIMS system that I had built for my home brewery. Sometimes you can test as much as you want, but until you go live with an actually batch of beer, you just never know what is going to happen.  Thankfully everything with this batch seemed to work just about perfectly.

 

There are a couple of things that I would like to make note of for anyone else who is planning on building their own RIMS setup using a similar configuration as mine.  Initially the march pump did not seem to want to pass the wort through the RIMS heating chamber. To correct the issue I bypassed the heating chamber and recirculated directly back into the mash tun for a couple of minutes until the work began to clear a bit.  After that it passed through the heating chamber with out any issues.  Also, as a safety measure I wired my Ranco temperature controller so that the only way that it can be on is if the mash tun pump is active.  I would recommend that you do the same in order to help reduce the chances that the heating element engages with out any fluid in the heating chamber.  You will also want to check on your flow rate periodically to make sure that the march pump is transferring fluid at the expected rate.

 

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller

Stainless Steel Counterflow Wort Chiller

 

For those of you who are trying to go all stainless steel with your home brewery, a stainless steel convoluted counterflow chiller is one of those items that has been almost impossible to find.  You can breathe a little easier as that is no longer the case.  For right around $200, you can pick a stainless steel counterflow chiller up here:

 

Click Here for Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Chillers

 

You can also select add on options for your stainless convoluted counterflow chiller including stainless steel quick disconnects and ball valves!

 

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller for Home Brewing

Stainless Steel Convoluted Counterflow Wort Chiller for Home Brewing

Butterfly Knife Bottle Opener!

Butterfly Beer Bottle Opener

Butterfly Bottle Opener

 

 

 

Every once in a while I come across something a little cool \ crazy that I just need to blog about. This is one of those times.

 

On a recent beer excursion in Northern California, after having a few to several beers, I wandered upon this butterfly knife beer bottle opener!  I always appreciate ideas and designs that are a little outside of the box and this certainly fit the bill.  It works like a functional butterfly knife, but instead of stabbing one of your friends, you can open their beer for them!

 

If you are interest in purchasing a butterfly bottle opener, you can pick one up here for about $15.

Butterfly Knife Beer Bottle Opener

Growlers for your home brew!

Growlers

Growlers for your home brewed beer.

 

So you brewed an incredible pale ale and now it is time to share it with some friends.  If you are anything like me you are too lazy to clean and sanitize 40 bottles each time you brew a new batch of beer so you keg; but a keg is a pain to transport, what to do, what to do.  The answer is a growler!  Most beer growlers hold half a US gallon or 64 ounces, some are a bit larger and there are also 32 oz half growlers.

 

Typically what I do is if I go to a brewery that I really like I will pick up a growler of their beer and just re-use those growlers for my home brew as well.  That way if I am heading to an event, going on a camping trip or a buddy wants some beer to bring home I have several available.  I recently also purchased a couple of really nice stainless steel growlers.  I like them because they are nearly indestructible, has a cap that you never need to replace and is also far more compact then a typical growler yet still holds 64 ounces.  It also looks like a miniature keg which I also like.

 

Stainless Steel Mini Keg Home Brew Growler

Mini Keg Growler

 You can find these stainless steel mini keg growlers for purchase here

 

Stainless Steel Fermentors for Home Brewing

Stainless Steel Conical Fermenter

Stainless Steel Fermentor

 

I have good news for my fellow home brewers.  If you have always wanted a stainless steel fermentor for your home brewing setup but have been scared away from making the purchase by either the cost or the size than this might be the fermentor for you.

 

Last month MoreBeer.com released these new 7 gallon stainless steel conical fermentors and I picked up 2 of them.  They currently retail for $225.  There are several things that I like about these stainless steel fermentation buckets.  First off is that they are small enough where the still fit in the chest freezer that I use as a fermentation chamber.  Secondly, they have strong handles on the side that permit you to carry and move them around when they are full.  Something that would be far more tricky with a larger 14 gallon conical stainless steel fermentor.  Another thing that is great is that they have volume markers engraved into the side of the fermentor which is awesome!

 

Stainless Steel Fermenter

Stainless Steel Fermenter

Perhaps the best thing about this stainless steel fermentor is that it wont crack, chip, break or possibly shatter if you drop it and embed large shards of glass into your leg!  In most cases this will also make the need for a racking cane obsolete.  It is also larger than standard carboys! With its plus sized 6.95 gallon capacity you wont have to worry much about head space during high krausen on a 5 gallon batch. Lastly what I like about it is that it is far easier to scrub than a carboy since the large lid comes off so that you have full access to the inside of the fermentor.  Honestly about the only thing about a carboy that I miss is being able to watch the fermentation take place.  It would also have been nice to have another valve on the very bottom so that you could remove trub or harvest yeast from the fermentor.  Those two points aside, if you are looking to purchase a reasonably priced, high quality stainless steel fermentor or stainless steel brew bucket as they call this, than this is a great choice.

 

You can purchase this stainless steel fermentor here:

Stainless Steel Fermenter

 

 

 

More expensive is not always better! Racking your homemade beer.

Beer Racking Cane

Transferring your home brewed beer.

 

Racking your home brewed beer.

A saying that typically holds true in home brewing is that you get what you pay for, but that is not always the case!  Do not always get drawn in to the most expensive home brewing products, thinking that they are superior to their less expensive counterparts.  One example of this is home brewing racking canes used to transfer your home brew.

 

When I first started home brewing, some of the first items that I purchased were my extract ingredient kit, 5 gallon stove top brewing kettle, wort chiller, fermentation bucket and my auto siphon racking cane.  The only item that I still use from that initial purchase is that old $12 racking cane.  It is not that I have not wanted to replace it, I have.  I have purchased $20 stainless steel racking cane setups to transfer my beer, but none have been as effective, sanitary or as unlikely to oxidize my beer as my old trusty auto siphon racking cane.

 

The home brewing auto siphon is a fantastic racking cane that makes it very simple to transfer your beer from a primary fermenter to a secondary fermenter or to a keg.  It can also make bottling your beer a snap.   Here are some simple instruction on how to use an auto siphon racking cane.

 

1 – Sanitize the auto siphon racking cane and the container you will be transferring to.

2 – Submerge the auto siphon into the fermenter, just above the yeast cake as not to disturb it.

3 – Place the the tubing into the container you’re racking to.

4 – Slowly pull the inner tube of the auto siphon up from the body until the liquid fills the tube.  You will want to make sure that the base of the container that you are transferring from is higher then the fill line of the container that you are transferring to so that you will not disrupt the flow of the auto siphon once the siphon has began.

5 – Depress the inner tube of the auto siphon back down and siphoning will begin.

it is that easy to rack or transfer your beer.  If you are in the market to purchase a home brewing racking cane or auto siphon, you can find them here at a reasonable price.

Home Brewing Auto Siphon and Racking Cane

Stainless Steel Quick Connects and Disconnects

Stainless Steel Quick Connects

Stainless Steel 1/2″ Quick Connects

 

Stainless Steel 1/2″ Home Brewing Quick Connects and Disconnects

 

To many home brewers one of the primary marks of a good home brewer is efficiency, both in grain conversion and time.  Quick disconnects are a means of achieving a shorter brew day while at the same time preserving the integrity of the threads on your home brewing equipment.  In addition to the time savings during the brewing process, it may also help save time during cleaning and storage.

 

I switched over to 1/2″ stainless steel quick disconnects on my brew kettles, march pumps, wort chiller and sparge arm about 4 months ago and have been very happy with the decision thus far.  It allows me to connect and disconnect hoses in a matter of a couple of seconds which is nice when the gear is burning hot!  The hose swaps are quick and best of all I no longer have to worry about where I left my wrench or screw driver.  I had previously tried the Blichhman quick disconnects but found these spring loaded version to work much better.  They have been leak free for me and have made clean up allot easier and quicker.  The only downside that I can really see is the cost.  You are looking at about $10 per connect and disconnect as compared to a 50 cent worm clamp.  Personally, I think it is a good long term investment.

 

If you are looking to pick up a few quick connects and disconnects, you can find them here at a good price:

Stainless Steel Quick Connects and Quick Disconnects

Stainless steel mini keg growler!

Stainless Steel Mini Keg Growler

Stainless Steel Mini Keg Growler

 

Have I found the worlds best growler?

When I first viewed this stainless steel mini keg growler online I was not too sure what to think.  My initial thought was that it was just another way for a home brewing supplies to get another $35 of my dollars.  I needed to buy something else in order to qualify for free shipping and this looked interesting so I thought what the heck, I will give it a shot.

 

My stainless steel mini keg growler arrived about 2 weeks ago and when I first saw it and the small box that it came in I started regretting my purchase.  The box was so small in comparison to a traditional glass growler that I figured I would be lucky if this new growler held 2 pints, but thankfully I was wrong.  One of the best parts of this stainless steel growler is that the walls of it are so much thinner than a glass growler that it can be much more compact but still hold the same amount of beer.  Best of all if I were to drop this mini keg growler, I might dent it but not shatter into 10,000 glass shards like a regular growler.

 

Since buying this mini keg growler I have already used it on 2 separate occasions and everyone who sees it has expressed how great they think the design is.  When I walked in with it I think I think people initially thought I was transporting uranium but when I came a little closer they could see that it was a miniature keg and could not wait to try the beer.  Another thing that I really like about it is the lid.  The cap is also made of stainless steel, it is very sturdy with an o-ring at the top of it that holds a perfect and air tight seal.  The cap is just about indestructible, easy to clean and should never need to be replaced as opposed to a standard growler cap.

 

If I had to find a problem with this stainless steel mini keg growler, I suppose that it would be that it does a poor job of retaining its cold.  Since you can just keep it in a fridge or a cooler, that is a really small issue in comparison to all of the benefits that it brings.  Overall this has to be my favorite growler that I own and I would highly recommend it.  It is also a great gift idea for the home brewer that already has everything.

 

The stainless steel mini keg growler can be purchased here:

Click here for the stainless steel mini growler

Growler

Growlers are large capacity beer containers that are typically made of glass, ceramic, or stainless steel. In the late 1990s, growlers began gaining in popularity at craft breweries and brewpubs as an easy way for patrons to take beer home when traditional bottling was not a reasonable option. A typical growler holds 64 or 68 fluid ounces, but they come in a variety of sizes. The top of the growler creates an airtight seal using either a screw cap or a hinge/latch style cap and can keep beer fresh for over a week if maintained properly.

Below is an example of five different styles of beer growlers: a ceramic Widmer Gasthaus growler, a Deschutes latch top glass growler, a small screw top glass growler, a Russian River latch top circular growler, and a Firestone large screw top growler.

An example of 5 different beer growlers

An example of five different beer growlers.

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