Gibbo

He posted on AHB today -- looks like everything is fine, he's just having issues with intermittent internet access at the moment.

Was down at Bacchus Brewing on the weekend and tried their Hibiscus Wheat Saison ("Hibis-Kiss") -- was wonderfully tart/hoppy/flowery while remaining incredibly well-balanced. I doubt Ross would be inclined to give away the actual recipe, but he would most likely give a few hints if anyone was keen to make a similar beer themselves.

I use BrewPi to control my temps -- can either use a static setpoint or set up temperature profiles to suit the yeast I'm using. Pretty much everything else aside from temperature is controlled by the scripts, though I think the hysteresis is a bit less than 0.3° C and the minimum fridge delays are 3 mins ON and 5 minutes OFF. The temperature profiles were one of the main reasons I went with BrewPi over an STC, but the ability to log in from anywhere in the world and check on my beer (or change temperatures/profiles on the fly) was the clincher.

Bit too early for a porters -- it's lager drinking season after all!

Nope' date=' has been fairly inconsistent, though they were coming out towards the end of the month for a while. Based on last month or two, I reckon you could expect them sometime in the next week or so. Also, there's a rumour that the full-size ROTM will be based on one of the new TC kits... [img']bandit[/img]

Pitched a smackpack of 3522 into my Belgian Blond on 21st December and had decent krausen 2-3 days later -- it ended up sticking around until New Year's day, around a week and a half later.

Could be a variation on a Magnaman special? Fits the bill, kind of...

Didn't mean to overlook your kind comments, MM -- thanks very much! The hop spider cost around $12 in Big Green Shed bux, and the bitterness in the first batch I used it for seems to be just about bang-on, so it doesn't seem to have affected hop utilisation (or it only affected it marginally).

Pretty sure Gash's video was where I got the original inspiration, but have since seen a few other projects doing a similar thing. I work in elec engineering, so have a good working knowledge of AS/NZS 3000 -- one thing Gash doesn't do with his elements/kettle that I've done with mine is earthing the actual pot itself, in case the refractory material in the element breaks down and the metalwork becomes live.

Happy New Year, lads & ladies!

Figured I'd update my last post because I'll never get around to doing a proper write-up anyway. Pot struggled to hold 95° at full tilt, so I insulated it with a little less than half of a NBR foam yoga mat (now reaches & holds ~105° comfortably): Added a ball valve & barb to make transferring boiling wort easier: Rolling boil during first brew-day after installation of the valve -- everything works & no major leaks! (also pictured - ghetto hop spider made out of a PVC reducer, S/S hose clamp & small paint strainer bag): Etched some volume markings into the pot (original guide on HBT forums) so I don't have to measure/estimate on brew day:

Emptied fermenter #1 on Sunday, bottling my Belgian Blond (have I mentioned how much I love 3522 yet? ). Fermenters #2 & #3 are currently bubbling away on a couple of stouts that are part of an ongoing two-pronged exbeeriment -- TC Irish Stout kit tin split into 2 brews, cubed in July last year & stored until the weekend just gone; fermented in a couple of DIY fermenters I made out of 15L Frantelle water cubes (HDPE) with some snap-taps purchased from ebay:

Not to look a gift horse in the mouth' date=' but I just received my can of TC Bootmaker Pale Ale, & there were no adjuncts included in the package.[/quote'] I didn't get any adjuncts either, Beeblebrox. Have enough to make up the brew anyway, but thought Coopers was sending some with the new brew can.

11 brews this year, despite having breaks between Jan and May, and July to Dec.