Category Archives: Reviews

Hands on Review: BN-Link Digital Two Stage Temp Controller – Fermentation & Kegerator

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

BN-LINK Controller

BN-LINK Is a relatively new company, with its parent company Century Product Inc being founded in early 2014. The specific brand BN-LINK was created in 2019. And throughout all of this time, they’ve focused on the home electronics market with switches and smart controllers of various types. For homebrewing, there are probably some creative things you could do with some of the smart outlets or timers, but the most direct homebrew-use tool is the temperature controller.

The two-stage outlet controller has two outlets, one for your heating element, one for your cooling element/pump. The power rating is up to 1875W, which is a higher rating than even most All-In-One brewing units. The functional temperature range of the controller is from -40F to 176F, so you might be able to use it for heating strike water or for mash control, but it definitely shines for fermentation control. It has adjustable resolution, so you can set your target temperature in either full degree increments or 0.1 degree increments. It comes with a temperature probe with a nearly 6-ft long cable (71 inches). The probe is waterproof, but the controller is not, so make sure you keep distance between your probe and the controller. The display shows you both the current temperature and the target temperature you have set.

Controller and Probe

With two outlets, you plug in both your heating and cooling device at the same time. You set your target temperature and then a Cooling Differential value, which just says how warm above your target temperature before it kicks on the cooling device. Likewise, there’s a Heating Differential value, and you decide how cold you’ll let the probe measure before kicking on the heating device. The controller also has a programmable alarm you can set to alert you if it gets too hot, or too cold. There’s an overload reset switch in case you accidentally send too much current through it- designed to trip the switch instead of burn out the circuit board. And the last bit of functionality is a compressor delay, which sets a minimum amount of time for the compressor to be off before it switches on again, to protect the compressor of your cooling device from switching on & off too frequently and damaging it.

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Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BrewVision Thermometer!

blichmann engineering brewvision review

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Blichmann BrewVision Thermometer

There is a wide array of homebrew gear out there. Most anything you buy has options or comes in various designs. Specific to this review, there are tons of different thermometers. But one of Blichmann’s offerings sets itself apart by coupling some very useful software with its digital thermometer. The BrewVision has been on the market for 5-6 years, but just recently they lowered the price substantially, making it even lower than their analog dial-gauge thermometer.

The BrewVision comes in two configurations based on the length of the temperature probe you need in your particular setup. It has a standard ½” NPT thread to screw into a female NPT fitting, paired with their weldless bulkhead fitting, or coupled with their TC mounting flange. The package contains the probe and the threaded installation collar, and a large sealed transmitter housing that contains 2x AAA batteries, the on/off button, and the Bluetooth transmitting hardware.

The power of the BrewVision lies in the software interface you install on your phone. It doesn’t require the latest smartphone (compatible with even the 2010 iPhone 4, or any Android phones) to run their software. You can run the software with whatever level of sophistication you want. At its simplest, your phone functions as the pressure readout gauge. There is no display on the body of the BrewVision itself, so it requires you to have your Bluetooth smartphone paired and running the Blichmann app. While this might seem like a hassle to some, the benefit is you no longer have to be right next to your thermometer to know the temperature, you just have to be in Bluetooth range. Stay in your comfy chair relaxing while your strike water heats, or dodge the winter weather during your mash while you sit inside with the heat on.

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Hands on Review: Kegland Hang Tab Keg Lids – works on ball lock & pin lock kegs

Kegland, based in Australia, produces a broad array of homebrewing gear. fermenters, electric brewing systems, loads of draft stuff (including DuoTight!) and lots more.

It’s obvious these folks are homebrewers at heart, because they’ve come up some really innovative stuff. The other thing they’ve generally done is hit really good price points. There is a balance between cost, features and quality and they seem to be hitting a lot of bullseyes.

This is a hands on look at their unique keg lid with integrated hang tag model KL02868.

Close of up of the lid. Reads… Caution Release Pressure to Remove Lid. Maximum Working Pressure 130 PSI.

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Hands on Review: Kegland Ball Lock Kegs!

Updated: November 30, 2024

Kegland, based in Australia, produces a broad array of homebrewing gear. fermenters, electric brewing systems, loads of draft stuff (including DuoTight!) and lots more.

It’s obvious these folks are homebrewers at heart, because they’ve come up some really innovative stuff. The other thing they’ve generally done is hit really good price points. There is a balance between cost, features and quality and they seem to be hitting a lot of bullseyes.

This is an in depth hands on look at Kegland’s 5 gallon ball lock keg.

Limited Time Deal.. Black Friday Deal!

kegland ball lock keg

MoreBeer Black Friday Sale!

These are included in the mix. 5 gallon are on sale for just $87.99. 2.5 gallon are $83.99. Shipping is also free to most US addresses.

Hands on Review Kegland 5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg

A look at the boxThe other side of the box. This is one of the better looking keg boxes I’ve run across.

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Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker G2 Kettle Customization

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker G2 Customized Kettle

Blichmann has made brew kettles for a long time, but it is only recently they added the ability for you to custom configure the G2 BoilerMaker Kettle to your liking. Although customization can feel like it makes things more complicated than just getting a “standard kettle”, it can also be viewed as making things simpler because you don’t have to invent a complicated workaround because your kettle doesn’t have the features you want. And doing internet searches of all the options out there can leave your head swimming as you try to find exactly what you want. If you find yourself in this scenario, custom kettle configuration is a great thing.

The most obvious customization choice is the kettle size. Blichmann offers choices on the smaller side that some vendors don’t (as small as 7.5 gallons), and they go up on the big size beyond others (as big as 55 gallons). Once you decide on the size of your kettle, you need to decide what type of ports/fittings you want. They give you the option of both the age-old standard of 1/2″ NPT, or the latest preference of Tri-Clamp (or Tri-Clover if you prefer, or simply TC). The 1/2″ NPT is handled via weldless fittings with o-rings.

Blichmann BoilerMaker G2 Kettle

This is built around Blichmann’s G2 Kettle.  See our Hands on Review of the G2

Related: Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker G2 Mash Tun

Your customization order is done online through Blichmann’s website. You first pick which style of fittings you want on your kettle- TC or Threaded NPT. The minimum kettle requirement is a port for a drain valve. Everything else is optional. You can add a thermometer port, and you pick the location of it, as well as whether you want an analog or digital thermometer to be kitted for you. You can add the sight glass for volume markings or go without. You also have the option of adding any of these: AutoSparge, HERMS Coil, BoilCoil, Whirlpool port/valve, False Bottom, and HopBlocker. You can make it as complicated or as simple as you want it.

1-inch TC Sight Glass Added to Output

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Hands on Review: Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker G2 Mash Tun

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Blichmann Engineering Mash Tun

When selecting a mash tun, there are lots of choices out there. There are all-in-one electric systems, converted Igloo coolers, aluminum stovetop pots, and many different types of stainless steel kettles. If you’re not going down the path of the all-in-one unit, stainless steel is usually the predominant choice. That’s because it is sturdy, easy to clean, has a very broad temperature range, and doesn’t contain questionable stuff that comes with that California Prop 65 warning.

Blichmann BoilerMaker G2 Kettle

This mash tun is built around Blichmann’s G2 Kettle.  See our Hands on Review of the G2

Handles with Cool Grip Comfort Pads

Blichmann’s kettle offering is the BoilerMaker G2. It’s made from 304 Stainless Steel and has a brushed finish. According to Blichmann, although both inside & out have a brushed finish, the inside is a bit smoother to make stuff less likely to cling to it. The kettle has volume markings on it, but instead of etched or stamped markings, it uses a borosilicate sight glass with volume markings on the outside of the kettle. The handles are located at the front and rear of the kettle, so when you’re carrying it, you don’t have the drain valve sticking out in front of you at risk of banging into things or facing the other way and digging into your leg.

Kettle with Temperature Port Offset to Side

The kettle comes with either welded 1.5” TC ports or weldless ½” NPT Threaded fittings for a drain valve attachment and a thermometer port. For the thermometer port you can get either an analog dial thermometer with an adjustable angle face, or a digital BrewVision. The kettle comes with the Blichmann Linear Flow Valve for the drain, but the TC kettle also has an option for a butterfly valve. The Linear Flow Valve’s exit comes out at a 90-degree angle from the inlet, and you can point it in whatever direction you want to eliminate tight hose bends or having to add an additional 90-degree elbow fitting.

Welded TC Port on OutsideWelded TC Port on Inside

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The Boilermaker comes with many customization options. If you want it to be an electric boil kettle, you can order it with the Blichmann Boil Coil. You can even take the customization further and select additional ports and add-on additional Blichmann kettle accessories. Beyond the add-on features, you can pick the size- from as small as 7.5 gallons to as big as 55 gallons.

If you plan to use the kettle as a mash tun, the Blichmann Button Louver false bottom is made to fit inside the kettle and connect with the pickup tube that feeds the drain valve. The false bottom sits on the stepped bottom rim in the kettle, and the pickup tube passes through a hole in the false bottom, drawing wort from below it. The false bottom is covered with small 1” circular stampings (where the “button” part of the name comes from) which are slit along the sides (for the “louver” part of the name). With this design, the gaps are on a vertical edge, not on the flat horizontal face. That means you don’t have gallons of water and grain pushing down on your cracked grains, trying to push them through slits or holes like most false bottoms do.

Last on the list of nifty features is the lid. Lids don’t do much on kettles, and generally are pretty boring. Blichmann made their lid do something others don’t. Instead of the normal handle bracket welded on both ends, they left one end open, so it forms a type of hook/hanger. With the cantilevered hanger design, not only can you hook it to the kettle handle, but you can hang it from any side of the kettle, simply by hooking it over the rim.

Hands on Review

I evaluated a 10 Gallon G2 kettle with the Button Louver false bottom, to use as a Mash Lauter Tun in my 2-vessel brewing setup. The 10 Gallon size worked great for 5-gallon batches. The look of the kettle right away stood out as different. The brushed finish made it less shiny than highly polished kettles I’ve used before when pulling it out of the box. However, the brushed finished meant it stayed bright and consistent after several brews. I found the brushed finish inside seemed to require a bit more effort to clean afterwards than my smooth kettles. But if I compared the amount of effort to get my smooth kettles shiny and new looking, the brushed finish was easier to get it back to “like new” finish. So what initially seemed like a downside, was actually a benefit.

The other thing I noticed when pulling it out of the box was its weight. It felt lighter than other kettles. Sometimes there are legit reasons to brag about gauge thickness of your kettle. The beefier it is, generally the more resistant to wear & tear and potential denting. However, when you’re talking about kettles in the region of 5-gallon batches, clean-up usually means lugging them somewhere to clean/rinse them. And when you’re doing that, you appreciate a kettle that isn’t thicker just for bragging rights. The Blichmann kettle seemed robust enough to be considered sturdy, and it seemed a good balance when lugging it around for cleaning.

Hands down the most impressive feature of using the Blichmann BoilerMaker as a mash tun was the Button Louver false bottom. Technically this is an add-on, and not part of the kettle. But if you buy the kettle to use as a mash tun, you of course buy the false bottom. I’ve used different designs of false bottoms in different mash tuns, but none have worked as well as the Button Louver one. I had previously optimized my grain crush on another mash tun to be at a point that I didn’t get a stuck mash, but still had good mash efficiency. I was milling my grain at a 0.033” gap on a 3-roller MM-3 Monster Mill. On my other mash tun this resulted in good mash efficiency, no stuck mashes, and a small amount of grain fragments that made their way into the boil kettle. This same grain crush setup on the Blichmann false bottom gave me the same mash efficiency, no stuck mashes, but I was shocked to see no grain bits in the boil kettle. I thought this was a fluke on my first batch, but I watched it on a total of seven test batches with the same results.

Button Louver Closeup

The one exception to this “grain free” performance happened once during my trials. I found later that what happened was I dislodged the washer on the pickup tube where it goes through the false bottom. The washer is a loose piece that has a tight clearance around the pickup tube and blocks an oversized hole in the false bottom. While stirring the grains during mashing in, I stirred too deeply and scraped this washer up. Grain got under it, and I then had a large hole where grain could get through while recirculating the mash. By the end of my 60-minute mash, the grain was able to set up a decent filter bed, and I only got a few debris in the boil kettle during sparging. But I did have to do some clearing of my recirculation tubing at the start of the mash to get the giant slug of grain out of there. Now I know to not stir so deep as to scrape across that washer.

Linear Flow Valve with TC Ends

Conclusions

The G2 BoilerMaker kettle worked well for me. The lighter weight made it nicer when it came time to cleaning and moving the kettle over to the sink. The brushed finish grew on me after a few batches, as I recognized it kept the kettle looking as good after several brews as it did when I pulled it out of the box. The Button Louver false bottom earned a spot in my unofficial list of “favorite brewing gear” with its stellar performance of keeping grain particles out yet still providing plenty of pass-through liquid slots. With the ability to custom-order the kettles with the types of fittings, number of fittings, and location of fittings, it can be a great tool for many types of use.

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More Photos

Brushed Finish InteriorPickup Tube with Over-molded GasketTri-Clamp with GasketWasher Accidentally Lifted Allowing Grain to Pass Underneath

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More Tri-Clover/Tri-Clamp!  Tri-Clamp Fittings at Proflow Dynamics

Special Thanks to Blichmann Engineering for providing the unit used for evaluation in this review.

By Brad Probert.  Check out Brad’s website – beersnobby.com

Make sure the components you use are compatible and rated for your intended application.  Contact manufacturer with questions about suitability or a specific application.  Always read and follow manufacturer directions.

Price, promotions and availability can change quickly. Check the product page for current price, description and availability. review:blichmash tag:tpr

Hands on Review: Kegland Fill-O-Meter

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Kegland Fill-O-Meter

Homebrewing is full of gadgets. There are some things that are high tech versions of common equipment everyone has and uses. Then there are gadgets that are unique in what they do. They maybe aren’t a requirement for brewing, or aren’t things you’d find in every brewer’s toolbox. The Kegland Fill-O-Meter is definitely one of these. The Fill-O-Meter has two functions- turning on & off the water flow, and measuring the amount of water that goes through it. The intersection of these two functions is where it becomes a handy tool in the home brewery.

Fill-O-Meter in BoxSpecs on Side of Box

The Fill-O-Meter has ½” threaded inlet and outlet ports. They are BSP thread, not NPT, so you need to be extra careful when tightening on any NPT fittings to make sure you don’t strip out any threads or end up with leaks. The solenoid inside has a fail-safe such that if you lose power for some reason, the solenoid stays closed and prevents water from flowing. The unit comes with a 24V power supply plug to run the on/off solenoid, as well as the LCD backlit digital screen. The screen displays the current flow rate (in gallons/minute or liters/minute), your target water volume, and how much water has flowed past it since you turned it on. You can select for the display to be in units of US Gallons, or in Liters. You also have the option to display language in English or Chinese (if you’re in the mood). You can also tweak the flowmeter calibration constant to improve the accuracy for your given setup or if you’re going to measure in US gallons (adjustment needed, as explained in my hands on review section).

Contents of Box- Meter and Power Supply

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Hands on Review: BrüMate Hopsulator Trio

brumate hopsulator trio review

BrüMate Hopsulator Trio

I received a BruMate Hopsulator Trio as a birthday present from my beloved daugher. I had seem them around, but hadn’t had a chance to pick one up yet, so I was excited about the present.

BruMate makes a number of can coolers or high end coozies. These generally double wall insulated stainless steel construction and are designed to work with different sizes of cans and for some models (like the Trio), they’ll also function as tumblers all by themselves.

Hands on Review

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Review: Barebottle Brewing Company Torcido Lager – Homebrew Recipe Kit

Updated: July 10, 2024

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Torcido Lager is a Mexican Lager. Sort of. I don’t know much about the style definition of a Mexican Lager, but MoreBeer’s site describes the recipe creation from Barebottle Brewing (San Francisco, CA) as non-traditional. Apparently, Barebottle likes mixing things up, so they describe this beer as a Mexican Pilsner with a German Helles twist. For Barebottle, this beer scored a Gold in the 2019 GABF, so crazy description aside, I figured the beer had some cred behind it.

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MoreBeer Recipe Kit Deals!

MoreBeer.com Recipe Kit Deals

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Hands on Review: Kegland 2.5 Gallon Ball Lock Kegs!

Updated: November 13, 2024

Kegland, based in Australia, produces a broad array of homebrewing gear. fermenters, electric brewing systems, loads of draft stuff (including DuoTight!) and lots more.

It’s obvious these folks are homebrewers at heart, because they’ve come up some really innovative stuff. The other thing they’ve generally done is hit really good price points. There is a balance between cost, features and quality and they seem to be hitting a lot of bullseyes.

This is an in depth hands on look at Kegland’s 2.5 gallon ball lock keg.

Why a 2.5 Gallon Keg?

2.5 gallon kegs are great for splitting batches, small batch brewers, doing one-off beers from split from a 5 gallon batch… or for easily serving on the go.  Purge with CO2, fill from your tap and place in ice in a 5 gallon bucket…. whammo! You can also use these in conjunction with an inline secondary as a CO2 source for portable serving.

Hands on Review Kegland 2.5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg

A look at the boxThe other side of the box. This is one of the better looking keg boxes I’ve run across.

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Hands on Review: Kegland Digital Gauges!

Kegland’s DuoTight system along with their EVABarrier Tubing are amazing. Check out my extensive hands on review for a deep dive into the system.

Kegland has released a digital gauge option that works with their great inline secondary regulator and BlowTie Spunding Valve.  They have also released a DuoTight version. This is a hands on look at both including upgrades of the inline regulator and BlowTie.

MoreBeer

William’s Brewing

Keg Connection

Gauge Features

  • These gauges both read from 0 to 90 PSI.
  • They features backlight illumination
  • Use easy to source CR2032 batteries
  • Estimated battery life of more than 2 years (using the gauge once daily).
  • Auto off after 15 seconds.
  • The DuoTight version is made for 8mm connections

MoreBeer’s Description sheds some more light on the construction and design of these gauges.

Get instant pressure reads with the back illuminated Digital Mini Pressure Gauge from KegLand. Compatible with 8 mm Duotight fittings and Gray Ball Lock QDs. If you’re using the original BlowTie spunding valve without pressure gauge, you can use a Duotight tee fitting in-line between the ball lock QD and the BlowTie to take pressure readings with the Digital Mini Gauge.

KegLand has developed the world’s most compact mini digital gauge with backlight illumination. This very compact design retains high accuracy while still meeting the desirable small form factor. This meets the growing need as mini keg systems, mini regulators and other more compact keg dispensing solutions are required.

Traditional analogue gauges require a small capillary mechanism where a small pipe expands and unravels under pressure. This in turn drives a mechanical cog to rotate the gauge needle. This age-old technique works quite well especially in large gauges but as this mechanism is manufactured smaller and smaller a tradeoff between accuracy and size becomes the issue. With very small gauges such as a 27mm x 27mm Mini Gauge, it’s difficult to make them better than 10% accuracy due to the physical constraints of the mechanical components.

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Hands on Review: NukaTap Flow Control Faucets!

Updated: July 14, 2024

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

Nukatap Flow Control Keg Faucet

There are a wide variety of options for how to take your kegged homebrew with you to a party or meet up with friends. There is a big draw to kegging your homebrew because of how it simplifies the process of serving your beer after it’s finished in the fermentor. But it’s obviously less portable than individual bottles. There are mini keg/growlers you can fill from the tap, or bottle fillers that you can connect right to your tap. But these options all come with the extra step of cleaning and filling additional “stuff”. Being able to serve directly from the keg has advantages from that perspective.

Flow Control Faucet Disassembled

The most common option of serving from the keg is the picnic tap/cobra tap attached to a length of beer tubing. The downside of cobra taps is their propensity to fail, or propensity of your partygoers to not know what they’re doing and end up spilling/wasting a lot of beer. A jockey box is great for a bigger event where you’re going to be pouring a lot of beer over a longer period of time. But these are expensive, big/bulky to haul around, and makes another thing that has an involved cleaning process afterwards.

There have been ball lock keg faucets out on the market for some time. But unless you’re using these on a growler with a restrictive dip tube in it, these aren’t very practical. Putting a regular faucet on a keg gives you a cup of mostly foam unless you take special care to nearly de-carb your beer first (and who likes flat beer?). For these to work properly when directly attached to a keg, you need a flow control faucet. Kegland’s ball lock shank – Review – has the same interface as a regular keg shank like you have on your keezer, so they just mate this to their regular Nukatap. Then you can serve directly from the keg, and it’s not a big piece of gear to haul around with you or clean up later.

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NukaTap Faucets come in three variations. Stainless, Stealth (Matte Black) and Flow Control. All feature stainless steel construction, forward seal design and all the other NukaTap innovations.

I’m also linking to Intertap faucets and accessories where applicable because all Intertap spouts work with NukaTap

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Hands on Review: AMCYL Ball Lock Kegs!

Updated: November 24, 2024

AMCYL manufacturers compressed gas cylinders, kegs and brewing equipment.

According to AMCYL, as of this posting, their kegs are made of food grade 304 stainless and are NSF approved. They produce both sanke and ball lock style kegs. Their ball lock kegs are available in 2.5, 3 and 5 gallon sizes and come in single and double handle versions. This is a hands on look at the double rubber handle 5 gallon keg.

Limited Time Black Friday Deal!

Beverage Elements Black Friday Sale is on!  The sale features some epic prices that look a whole like deals we’d see 5 or 10 years ago.

Reconditioned kegs start out at just $42.95 while brand new kegs start at just $69.95.

Beverage Elements Black Friday Sale

Hands on Review AMCYL Ball Lock Kegs

Here’s the box. This particular keg is showing as part # CK-N5-DRH-INX. Capacity 5 Gallons. Made in India.A look at the seam side of the keg. Generally speaking the body of a keg is cut from a sheet of stainless steel. A rectangle is bent into a cylinder and then welded. This vertical line is that weld.Close up of the T, where the vortical weld meets the top most weld.Top down view

Single Handle vs Double Handle: There are two main styles of keg handles – double rubber handles and single strap handles. I prefer double handles because… you’ve got two handles 🙂 and, more importantly, the even top means you can invert a keg to drain or dry and potentially stack kegs. Single strap handle kegs are tougher to invert, but they’re also generally a little less expensive.

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New 5 Gallon...image
New 5 Gallon Ball Lock AMCYL Keg with Dual Rubber Handle
$68.50
New 3 Gallon...image
New 3 Gallon Ball Lock AMCYL Keg with Dual Handle
$75.95
AMCYL New 2.5...image
AMCYL New 2.5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg with Dual Rubber Handle
$75.50
AMCYL New 5...image
AMCYL New 5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg with Single Handle
$67.50
AMCYL CKN3INX 3...image
AMCYL CKN3INX 3 gal Amyl Keg New Ball Lock
$75.50
2.5 Gallon Amcyl...image
2.5 Gallon Amcyl Keg New Ball Lock Single Handle
$86.50

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Hands on Review: Valuebrew’s EPDM Keg O-Rings

Updated: August 21, 2024

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

In the world of homebrewing, you can surround yourself by as little or as much science as you want. O-rings, seals, and gaskets come in different varieties in homebrewing. The most commonly found material is silicone, and it’s often elevated as the “best” material. As with most things, there are benefits/drawbacks to each different type of material. Silicone has a very wide temperature range, making a good gasket seal choice at cold temperatures, as well as at hot/boiling temperatures. Its high flexibility makes it well-suited to sealing uneven gaps or perhaps non-ideal sealing surfaces.

Some Old Dip Tube O-rings Were in Rough Shape

However, one of its drawbacks is it does not handle acid-based cleaners well, so Star San sanitizing can deteriorate the material. The occasional sanitizing spray might not be a significant degradation, but you definitely don’t want to soak silicone parts in Star San for extended periods of time. When you’re dealing with the cold side like fermentors or kegs, you’ll be sanitizing frequently, and this compatibility might be a consideration for you.

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Note that Valuebrew has regularly struggled keeping products in stock. If something you’re looking for is out of stock, connect with us and we’ll keep you up to date on availability issues.


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Hands on Review: AEB Italian Made Ball Lock Kegs!

Updated: October 30, 2024

AEB has been manufacturing stainless steel drums, tanks and… kegs in their facility in Andalo Valtellino, Italy for over 30 years.

AEB leans hard into their Italian roots… “THE MADE IN ITALY IS OUR IDENTITY” can be seen plastered on their website in all caps. If I were to take a read on homebrewing, my read is that the general sentiment is that AEB kegs are among the highest quality kegs available to homebrewers. Just a guess and certainly a generalization.

Hands on Review AEB Ball Lock Kegs

A look at the boxA.E.B. Made in Italy. AEB leans heavily on their Italian identity. That makes sense to me as I generally think Italian made = high quality. That’s a broad stroke, but my espresso machine was made in Italy and it’s amazing. So, fair or unfair, that’s where I’m at.Close up of the keg imprint. NSF P/N 29744PS, Max Capacity 5 GAL, Year 2020, A.E.B. Made in Italy, N 004420, Warning, Never Exceed Maximum Working Pressure of 130 PSI.

Tip: If you’re looking for replacement parts look for your keg’s imprint. It should show the manufacturer and model number.

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AEB New 5...image
AEB New 5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg - Dual Rubber Handle
$109.95
AEB 2.5 Gallon...image
AEB 2.5 Gallon Keg Ball Lock Connections Dual Handle
$117.95
AEB New 3...image
AEB New 3 Gallon Keg Ball Lock Dual Handle Keg
$104.95
AEB New 5...image
AEB New 5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg with Single Handle
$108.95
AEB CKN3-SH-AEB New...image
AEB CKN3-SH-AEB New AEB 3 gal Ball Lock Keg - Single Handle
$107.95
AEB 2.5 Gallon...image
AEB 2.5 Gallon Ball Lock Keg
$103.95

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Hands on Review: KegLand Ball Lock Disconnect With Shank

Kegland is making some great stuff. Really well thought out, innovative and generally well-priced gear. When I see something new from Kegland I’m generally left with one of two responses, 1. I’ve been wanting something like this for a long time or, 2. I would have never thought of this tweak/product, it’s ingenious.

Kegland’s Ball Lock QD with integrated shank is par for the course. A really good idea. I’ll take a closer look at it in this review and also discuss the general idea behind this and similar solutions.

But first, what does a shank adapter do?

Corny Keg Faucet Adapters have been around for a long time. They allow a keg QD to connect to a compatible faucet. An MFL/male flare QD, ball lock or pin lock, connects to the FFL/female flare side of the converter. Basically you’re adding mini shank to your QD. Dandy!

Old style faucet converter and QDThis allows you connect a compatible faucet to a keg QD. No tubing necessary. Really nice for mobile serving and more.

Hands on Review: KegLand Ball Lock With Shank

Kegland’s Ball Lock QD with shank has a standard looking ball lock QD body. Instead of a flare or barb outlet it features and integrated shank and sleeve.

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Hands On Review: Winco 1 Pint Measuring Cup

Homebrewers measure a lot of things around the home brewery… pH, gravity, temperature and volumes. This is a look at Winco’s 1 Pint Measuring Cup.

Hands on Review Winco PMCP-50 Pint Measuring Cup

This measuring cup features polycarbonate construction and two measuring scales. I found an unofficial source that says this is heat resistant up to 210 degrees F. Here are the pint/cup markings. These are in red.

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Winco PMCP-50 PintWinco Measuring Cup, Polycarbonate, 1-Pint, Clear – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link

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Hands on Review: Kegland DuoTight Rigid Joiners

Rigid Joiner pictured with a check valve and DuoTight Ball Lock QD

Updated: 5/15/2024

Kegland’s DuoTight system along with their EVABarrier Tubing are amazing. Check out my extensive hands on review for a deep dive into the system.

This is a look at Kegland Rigid Joiners, part number KL18012.

These are designed to easily join DuoTight fittings together without using EVABarrier tubing.  That’s handy for close connections and if… gasp, you aren’t a DuoTight/EVABarrier user.  The rigid joiners allow you to put DuoTight parts and pieces together without purchasing an entire roll of EVABarrier.

Rigid Joiners, part number KL18012. To my knowledge these are available in 8mm only. I’d venture a guess that this is the most common size.

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Hands on Review: Inkbird Vacuum Sealer!

Why would you want a Vacuum Sealer for homebrewing?

Vacuum sealers are indispensable for storing hops.  You can save money by getting in on bulk hop buys – See: Recent Hop Finds. Use your vacuum sealer to break these up and to preserve freshness.  You can also store specialty grains in vacuum bags.  Other uses include: storing base grains, partial dry yeast packs and storing and preserving other beer ingredients.

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Hands on Review: FLOTit 2.0 Floating Dip Tube w/DFI, Double Filter Inlet!

Updated: September 3, 2024

This review is by Homebrew Finds Contributor Brad Probert.  Brad is an engineer, expert homebrewer and experienced reviewer.  Grab a link to Brad’s website at the end of this review.

FLOTit Floating Dip Tube

Floating dip tubes are a hot commodity in the homebrewing world lately.  Many people are ditching their fixed steel tubes and replacing them with a length of silicone tubing attached to a stainless ball float.  If you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know the point of the floating dip tube, it’s pretty simple.  It floats on top of your beer so that as you draw out beer, you get clear beer from the top while everything else precipitates out and makes its way to the bottom

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Also available at Keg Connection: FLOTit 2.0 Stainless Steel Floating Dip Tube | NO BEER LEFT BEHIND

A version is also available that works as an upgrade to traditional ball float floating dip tubes

FLOTit 2.0 – Double Filter Inlet (DFI) with 500/300 micron mesh for floating dip tube with a ball float for always clear beer, less beer waste, and no clogging. Best upgrade for pressure fermenter – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link

FLOTit 2.0 -...image
FLOTit 2.0 - No Beer Left Behind Floating Dip Tube with Double Filter Inlet (DFI) of 500/300 micron for always clear beer, less beer waste and no clogging. Made in USA.
$29.00
FLOTit 2.0 with...image
FLOTit 2.0 with Max Headroom gas dip tube & a HOOK tool - No Beer Left Behind Floating Dip Tube with DFI for always clear beer, less beer waste and no clogging. Ideal for fermenting in kegs.
$34.00
FLOTit 2.0 –...image
FLOTit 2.0 – Double Filter Inlet (DFI) with 500/300 micron mesh for floating dip tube with a ball float for always clear beer, less beer waste, and no clogging.
$22.00
FLOTit 2.0 with...image
FLOTit 2.0 with UNI dip tube - No Beer Left Behind Floating Dip Tube with Double Filter Inlet (DFI) of 500/300 micron for always clear beer, less beer waste and no clogging.

Related:

Related: Fermenting Under Pressure!

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