Jim's Beer Kit

Hi all, I'm going to try all grain for the first time this summer; to that end I've almost finished making a HLT, which has a 27l capacity. However I've now gone and got some cornies which are only 19L capacity, and rather than brewing smaller batches than I'd planned it would be nice to go with lar...

Hi All, some of you recently helped overcome my misgivings about cornelius kegs, so I paid a trip to norman to pick a few up. I cut about 10mm off the dip tubes, and then last night was the grand occasion; I got some beer into them for the first time!! The biggest test was if I could get them to dis...

I saw Norman recently and he didn't have regulators for disposible welding gas canisters. Machine Mart do one without guages or I found this one with them: http://www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=417 However, in the end I went for one of his refillable cylinders - by my calculations even if you ...

Compression fittings should be up to the temperatures. Though they could be slightly harder to clean than soldered ones. I think the 'too low' bit is down to preference and the effectiveness of your hop strainer. My boiler's pipe goes out the bottom so its very low down indeed - I do tend to discard...

Thanks boingy, yes that sounds potential, I'd not thought about putting something inside to swish around. And also yes its the encrusted bits that are the concern. Maybe I'll give it a go with my usual FVs but without manual scrubbing and see how well they'll clean up.

Cheers
Kev

Hi All, I recently made a fermenting cupboard from a fridge and a pipe heater. I was thinking of extending it with plywood and insulation to take two FVs. However I realised that by removing a few protuberances I could just about fit two of these water cans in the fridge without extending it : http:...

Ah, well done. Must be a simpler version than mine was then, but if its out then thats all that matters! If you think you may not need to put the pin back, I'd give it a try without; don't hold the metal valve with your fingers as it could freeze you, but either holding the cap or the valve in a wre...

I found it tricky too - I don't think its you. The middle picture is the important one, but unfortunately its a bit blurry so I can't really make enough detail out - my pin unscrewed so I'm guessing yours may, but I suppose if the design is different it may just pull out? Could be worth contacting t...

I've tried that kind of fan. In itself the air flow isn't enough to exchange the room's air/steam (even in a smallish room) quickly enough. However I then tried it with a sort of improvised 'cooker' hood directly over the boiler and 4" aluminium foil duct to the fan - this was considerably better bu...

I had one that sounds like this, though i can't be certain its the same. Just like with Dr. Dextrin's, on mine you don't need to remove the valve from the cap, you just need to uncrew the pin from inside the valve, turn it over and screw it back in again the other way up. This is because the bulbs n...

Sounds good. Good luck with the brewing!

Cheers
Kev

so, slightly confused. Do I *need* to buy a connector for it? I can't just put some tubing directly over the tap?? Sorry, I probably got too long winded: Yes, Scooby's clarification is right - the're designed to take the hozelock-type connectors, but you could probably get away by pushing pipe on d...

(I think they also do packs of two and three - check out the seller's other items). If you mean the water butt taps with hozelock compatible nozles, then as you probably know they are designed to fit the hose pipe connectors made by hozelock but I think third parties such as B&Q also make compatible...

Similar to john's suggestion: I had good results from sticking the PB in a rain water butt full of cold water for a summer BBQ, its a bit ungainly for everyday use inside though. I'm intending to make a cooled dual purpose 'conditioning and serving cabinet' from an old fridge at some point, but gett...

I'd go for at least some type of thermostatically controlled heater. A simple beer belt can be okay but doesn't respond to temperature changes and can heat too much if the weather warms; I tried fiddling with timers to switch it on at night and off in the day but it wasn't entirely successful. lots ...