Journeyman

All those comedians out of work & you're looking for a job?

Do you do 1 FV at a time? Or a heat belt for each? I think the heat pad I got was low power - 1st thing IB asked was about the wattage. Picked up a 2nd hand heat lamp yesterday - need to re-wire it for safety (frayed at plug) but apart from being a bit big it should do - runs 175W bulb so should only be on for like a minute at a time.

Not with 2 x FV's in there. Also I tried a heat pad & it couldn't get the temp above, at best, 10° above ambient so Kveik wasn't working. I talked to Inkbird & that was the best I could expect.

In my ferment fridge I've been using a globe inside a peaches can, hanging upside down. Worked great for a couple of years. The the (incandecent) globe blew & when I went to replace it I could only get a halogen one. Then that blew & as I pulled it out the socket fell apart. Not sure if the halogen one heated more than the incandecent or if it was a long term thing. Looking around it seems impossible to find either incandecent bulbs OR bayonet (B22) sockets that are not all plastic & rated for no more than 25W - 30W - from experience that's not really enough to turn up the heat enough to run Kveik brews. So I would up getting a clip-on desk lamp, E27 & some socket adapters to take the B22 bulbs I got cheap on ebay. Bulbs started blowing - I'd get maybe a couple of days & off they'd go. I thought it through & back to ebay & got a clip on fan. Double adapter in the Inkbird, point fan at light & it works a charm - lamp can't get hot enough to blow the bulbs. The physics? Across the years I'd go to the brew room & probably 75% of the time the IB would be in heating mode. Didn't worry me even on a 60W bulb. Since the fam I'd guesstimate the times the heating is on would be maybe 1 in 15 times I go out there. What I think is happening is, the fan pushes the heat evenly around the fridge, warming all surfaces as well as the brew before the IB shuts the light off. So there is a much longer period where things cool slowly than before when top of fridge got warm & there was a temperature gradient to the bottom. The convection from just the light isn't anywhere near as complete as with the fan.

I remember years back when I got trained in PR they had actual research showing 2 things that stuck with me - 1. a disappointed or upset customer will tell at least 10 people about the bad service while a happy one will tell maybe 1 or 2 people, & 2. a happy customer gives around 100x the good PR you can get from ANY form of advertising. That may seem odd figures but what they meant was, the PR you get from a happy customer is far, FAR more likely to bring you other customers because we all trust our mates who tell us they did a good deal rather than a talking head in an advert. So I've always made it a point to beat the odds in telling people where the good businisses. That lesson isn't the only thing many businesses have abandoned these days. are.

OK, so I sent an email to KL - pretty much my OP above with this added... I got an email saying "that's odd, I'll double check & replace it. We want you to get what you paid for." Then an hour later, a shipping confirmation of 2 x FWK's being sent! Like, WOW! That is above & beyond. I thought at best I'd get a credit towards my next buy but entire shipment replaced is excellent!

That's a point. While I have plenty of stock for HB it's nice to sometimes just pour & hop it so I'll let them know.

I considered it... but I like B&T's so no biggie for me.

I should'a taken pics. le sigh... Free beer cos I doubt they'd pay to have them shipped back.

I bought a couple of FWK's from KL, 1 an IPA & the other an Oat Stout. When decanting the bags into FV's I noticed the IPA seemed darker than the stout. I went onto KL & double checked the item number against their listings & the labels on the boxes said the same as the listings. I thought, "well, that's odd, maybe it will change when ferment complets" & kinda forgot it. A day or so later (I was using Kveik at 35°) I dry hopped the IPA. Come completion it turns out no matter what the labels said I had a stout in the IPA box & vicki verka. So I had a non-hopped IPA & a decently hopped (for me anyway) stout. After carbing in the kegs they tasted ...OK but odd. The fortuitous accident? They make a wickedly good black & tan! Anyone else had 'Uh-Oh!' moments that came out good?

I use a Sunbeam EM0480 grinder. They have a range of similar ones but I have 3 of these because I'm a coffeesnob. (no really, there's a website called that n'all ) I took out the bottom burr & removed the shims & then I grind on the highest number (25 on the ring dial) & it comes out perfect as well as very even & hardly any dust. Top of pic is the pre-ground from LHBS, lower is after a pass through the grinder.

It was a bit of a decision given low income, but I usually havwe a priority of staying off pharmaceutical solutions as much as possible. I tried the injection the 1st time but it doesn't last long & when the 2nd shoulder started I saved up - Afterpay helps as well.

I got myself one of these for my bursitis (both shoulders. Works well... https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/354125041020

To get the bug back, I have recently done 2 x FWK's from KL & 2 x K&K's just to get full kegs in the fridge. Plans are to spend a little time after NYE being beer-free (waistline related - got a clean bill of health on all the usual suspect effects from drinking - Doc is a bit pissed about that - he can't tell me to lay off the grog when he can't see it in my bloods. ) then I want to try some beer experiments. 1st will be to run a normal FV at 18° along with a pressure FV at 24° & a Kveik at 35°, all the same beer, likely an IPA but perhaps an XPA instead. The reason is - I think maybe kveik brews are different in a significant way to what I recall using Nott. I'm guessing that the normal Nott brew & the Nott pressure brew will come out very similar & the Kveik with be distinctly different, but unless I do side-by-side it's hard to say. I also plan to schedule my drinking, reducing from the 'every night' pattern I got into once I got kegs & get back to the Thrusday/Friday I used to do. That should help motivate me to get other things done, like write the books I got a computer for 35 years ago & never got to because computers took over my life. Of course if 2023 turns out to continue the descending pattern establisehd by govts & bankster manipulators recently, I may scrap all that & watch in blissful haze as the world commits hari-kiri.

Just pretty much the one on Coopers website, but I play around with some of the amounts on occasion.

I'm in Murray Bridge & the LHBS charges a fortune for everything. 2 years ago he wanted $19 for Original Series Coopers cans - I hate to think what he charges now. I became a Coopers member (free at https://www.diybeer.com/au/customer/account/login/ & get my cans from them. Each month they have a ROTM, (Recipe Of The Month) email & you can get free shipping for over $100 or over $80 - alternates month to month. Only a 6 can per order limit AFAIK but that's been more than enough to give me a stock of 20+ cans in the cupboard waiting for an FV. I get other supplies online - e.g. https://cheapyeast.com.au/ is usually good for yeast with free shipping in batches of 7, kegland.com.au often has good prices on hops (but look around because they can be beaten) & others will recommend their favs. Having said that I may visit BigW today & grab a couple of Pale Ale cans - they're down to $15.75 at present & make a great base for my XPA clones.

Today we went to Adelaide for some Xmas Costco shopping. After we went to Dan's in Gepps Cross. I felt the need for relief & Dan's security guy pointed across to a bar. I walked in to find the loo & was greeted by a bar with about 10 Coopers taps! Unfortunately SWMBO hates to drive in the city so I only had time for one so I had a Coopers IPA on tap. Lovely drop! I've never been in a pub with so many Coopers taps! Will have to organise to get back there. Coopers Ale House in Blair Athol, Adelaide.

I've been away a while but back into things with 2 x FVWK's kegged & tasting better by the day & 2 x K&K's in FV's with Kveik @ 35°. 1 is Coopers English Bitter - planning on 40g EKG for that one & been wondering about the Coopers IPA one. I'm thinking I might try 30g each of Amarillo & Mandarina Bavaria for a try at a citrus IPA. Haven't used the MB before - I got it a while back when everyone was out of lemon drop that I use for my XPA clones. I've been humming & hahing about also doing some lemon drop but figure for a 1st time that might be overkill on the citrus.

I'm not really sure why the bug went away for a while - just kinda put it off for a bit, originally planning on revamping the keg fridge & workspace & didn't get going again until now. (fridge & workspace still unvamped ) The FWK's were deliberate intention - simple to do to get me back in the groove. K&K's were next step so once they are in the kegs I'll look at further 'enhancements.' All the best for the season for you and other HB'ers on here. Enjoy the golden brews!

Long time Nosey... Or... I'm baaaa-aaack! After too many months off (& paying through the nose for craft beer at BWS, even with the 25% off) I got a couple of FWK's from KL - beerbelly never seem to have them these days - a lager & an IPA. Add 4L water to bring them up to 19L, Kveik & dry enzyme & 35° & 2 days later both had dropped from 1.050 to 0.098. Dry hops - L = 40gPoR, I = 40g mosaic, 25g lemon drop. 2 days CC then kegged - I did a 40psi for a minute or so as I shook the kegs, set it on 30 psi overnight then shook them at that & dropped it to serving ~12 psi. Tried last night (so 2 days in keg) & young but quite drinkable. So that's a week from FWK arriving to in the glass. Yesterday I did 2 x K&K's. Nothing fancy, just Coopers IPA & an English Bitter. Kveik at 35° again. Once I have 4 kegs in the fridge I'll maybe slow it down with a Nott brew or 2 - which may also go under pressure so rapid ferment again - but gotta say I like the performance of Kveik. Now to try & use wasitline to moderate the drinking.

And we will come visit you in hospital @ozdevil

No wonder you have the prayer avatar.

I have a 'remineraliser' after the membrane to add back in essential minerals. I read a paper that looked at what RO purity can do to the liver and kidneys - it may not apply to beer nor to anyone with a healthy diet but 90% of people do NOT have a healthy diet these days and RO can leave essentials out of liver and kidneys as they both need things like calcium and magnesium to function properly. So I add it back in anyway, even though my deit IS healthy. I'm not sure why you need a pump. Mains pressure is fine to push through the membrane and adding a pump may just destroy the membrane in short order. Unless you mean to pump the water OUT of an RO collection tank? I got my system on eBay - for about $150 or so I got the 5 filters, & the remineraliser - I already had a 9L tank under the sink from the previous set. I went the new lot because a 4 filter setup from a place in QLD cost me north of $400 - it was much cheaper to buy a whole new setup than just replace filters from there. Might want to step up from the 50gpd versions though - I got a 75gpd and wish I'd gone for the 100gpd but the flow rate is noticeably better than the previous set up.

Bugga! I hope you're OK now and taste buds haven't all gone away.

I've done quite a few XPA-clones and just steep the LCM in 3L in the fridge overnight, then a quick boil to add the hops. Comes out very nice.