Rise of the brewery bots

Rise of the brewery bots

I feel like an old friend you haven’t seen in years who just pops in and says “hi! Wanna be friends again? Let’s have a beer, and talk about our new beer robot overlords!” Hi, I’m DJ Spiess from fermentarium.com. Thanks for hanging out...
Building a recirculating wort chiller

Building a recirculating wort chiller

I decided I needed to find a better way to chill my beer, so I altered my immersion chiller to recirculate the water. The problem For wort chilling, I have always used a counter-flow wort chiller.  It worked well and usually reduced the temperature from boiling to...
What do you really need to start making wine?

What do you really need to start making wine?

Equipment for making wine from a wine kit Making wine from a wine kit is very easy. Just like making beer, the no-rinse sanitizer is required.  A no-rinse sanitizer makes sanitizing your equipment very easy.  Simply mix water with a measured amount of sanitizer...
What do you really need to start brewing beer?

What do you really need to start brewing beer?

There are several ways to make beer, each with their own list of equipment requirements.  You’ll need less equipment if you’re making an extract beer than you would if you were making an all-grain beer.  But what is the minimum you will need? The goal here...
How many BTUs does my burner need?

How many BTUs does my burner need?

The other day I made beer with my new 25 gallon pot and I confirmed what I suspected:  A 55,000 BTU burner cannot boil 15 gallons of wort in any reasonable amount of time.  My brewing day was cold and windy, so I never got the wort above 200°F (93°C).  The question I...