Failures
It's early in the COVID-19 curve in Oregon, so I spent this whole vacation week at home. While most of what free time I have is spent on other projects these days, I did dismantle my brewing cabinet a few months ago, and this week I continued breaking
Brewing Hardware
Before the hiatus, I made an attempt at creating a Continuous Fluid Density Sensor. Here are the primary components: 1. Two dip tubes in the fermenter 2. MPXV7002DP differential pressure sensor 3. ADS1115 16-bit analog to digital converter 4. Generic, chrome plated brass, 2.5 mm hose barb to M3
Brewday
My first brew day since the Core exam was spent making a beer with my buddy Cody. We took a shot at a clone of one of his favorite beers, St. Arnold's Santos. They call this a Dark Kölsch and admit that this is very much a contradiction.
Brewing Hardware
I'm still a slave to the books, but I occasionally decompress with a little eBay browsing. I'm accruing material for projects I've got planned for my glorious post Core Exam days, but I couldn't resist giving one cool little tool a test
Brewday
A couple of friends and I have been planning a brew day, and we've been looking forward to it for months. It was tough to wait this long between brew sessions, but it was well worth it. In building the recipe, we decided to be ambitious and attempt
Brewing Hardware
Merry Christmas, everyone! I just put My Lan to bed and am waiting for the family to get back from the airport, so I thought I'd provide an update. My study schedule has curtailed my tinkering but hasn't extinguished it entirely. I've been slowly
Engineering
The recipe for beer is pretty simple. One important step is boiling the wort, the sweet mixture that yeast will ferment into beer. Boiling sanitizes the beer so that yeast can work its magic, but not before the wort is cooled back down or the yeast meets the same quick,
Brewing Hardware
It's ready for a test drive. The conical fermenter is assembled and in place, ready to make some delicious beer with the convenience of a commercial brewery. The last part needed was a clean-in-place system. Since my fermenter is so challenging to get in and out of its
Brewing Hardware
Trang and My Lan were out of town over the weekend. While I've mostly forgotten what it's like to have the place to myself, I did manage to keep busy working on an academic manuscript and, of course, the brewery. Between the broken cabinet fan, the
Brewing Hardware
I finally pressure tested my fermentor! Several brewers have made conical fermenters using plastic tanks. These tanks have the benefit of a valve at the very bottom. This allows the removal of trub (dead yeast) without transferring to a whole new vessel. The disadvantage is setting up a conical fermenter
Brewing Hardware
In designing my all grain setup, I decided to go the route of the Recirculating Infusion Mash System (RIMS). The Heat Exchanger Recirculating Mash System (HERMS) seems like the best route for most brewers, but it's hard to beat a RIMS if the main objective is automation because
Brewing Hardware
The first steps for my home brew rig were pretty standard projects. I built a keezer, bought a large brew pot with an immersion chiller, and modified the brew pot to include a draining ball valve and thermometer. As a Belgian fan, the yeast is the most important component of