Category Archives: Reviews & Top Posts

Hands on Review: Brewers Hardware The Dry Hopper!

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.

Brewers Hardware Dry Hopper

Dry hops. Homebrewers debate their favorite dry hop, how to calculate their IBU contribution, and when is the best time to add dry hops. While many love them, the technical challenge of adding them “right” is a hefty one. Whether you’ve heard of hop creep, or tasted an oxidized IPA, you are interested in minimizing the introduction of oxygen to your beer when you add dry hops.

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FREE Hop Growing Resources

oregonstate.edu hop resources

Are you wanting to grow your own hops at home? Here’s a list of free resources to help you learn how. If you keep reading there are also sources for rhizomes and lots more about hops.

FREE Hop Growing Resources


Sourcing Rhizomes

Pictured – MoreBeer’s Rhizome Pre Sale – Check it out

A few retailers have an annual rhizome pre-sales.  The earlier you “hop” (did you see what I did there) on these sales, the better.  That will give you a better chance to reserve the varieties you want to grow in your hop garden.


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BIAB: Brew in a Bag – Easy All Grain Homebrew! – Gear, Resources & Reviews

Brew in a Bag, also known as BIAB is a bit of a misnomer.  Brewing in synonym for boiling.  We’re not really boiling in a bag.  BIAB deals with the mashing, lautering and sparging phase of all grain brewing.  What’s really going on is Mash in a Bag or MIAB.  Having said that, BIAB is the term that’s commonly used and we’ll stick with that.

What is BIAB and how is it different from traditional mashing?

In traditional all grain homebrewing a mash takes place in a mash vessel aptly called a mash tun.  During the mash enzymes convert complex carbohydrates into simple sugars that can be fermented by brewer’s yeast.  Homebrew mash tuns take many forms but a typical setup is a cooler combined with a false bottom or screen. After the mash is complete a sparge takes place to rinse residual sugars from the now spent grains.  This can take a couple of different forms in homebrewing either fly/continuous sparging or batch sparging.



in BIAB we simply substitute a bag filter for the false bottom and any required fittings and ball valves.  The cooler is typically replaced by your boil kettle.  Same chemistry behind the scenes and the same basic outcome – complex carbohydrates converted to simple sugars ready to be fermenter.  Just a change in equipment.

More about BIAB!

Why Won’t My Homebrew Bottles Carbonate?

Is a pretty common issue. Bottle conditioned beers just not carbonating. You wait a couple of weeks and eagerly pop the top on one to taste your creation and… completely flat.

When bottle conditioned beers there four primary reasons…

  1. Warm up the bottles. The vast majority of the time “my beer won’t carbonate” is because the beers are stored too cold. Yeast need some warmth to be roused up and encouraged to ferment bottling sugars. I generally recommend a couple degrees (F) warmer than your fermentation temperature.
  2. Not enough priming sugar – If you under primed you’re going to get under carbonated beer. A solution to this is to chill uncap the bottles and add a carbonation drop and re-cap. You want to be careful with this and make sure #1 isn’t your real issue because this can result in over-carbonated beers.
  3. Priming sugar not equally dispersed. This one can be diagnosed by bottles that are over carbonated and others that are under carbonated. To fix this on your next batch make sure to add dissolved priming sugar to your bottling bucket before transferring beer to the bucket. You can also use a sanitized spoon to gently stir the beer to make sure sugar is equally distributed.
  4. Misshapen crimping cup! Crimping cups can become warped over time. The produces an incomplete crimp and allows co2 to escape. That translates to low or now carbonation.

Bottle cappers have replaceable crimping cups/crimping bells for a couple different reasons. First, you may want to crimp different size crowns. Second… these can become warped and misshapen.

Some sources for replacement crimping cups

Spare Crimping Cup 29/31mm

I believe this particular model fits some of the most common cappers including Super Agata Italian Bench Capper, Agata Italian Bench Capper and Red Baron Capper Double Lever With Magnet. I think it also fits Black Beauty Cappers.

Related: Why Won’t My Homebrew Keg Carbonate?

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Lalbrew Lona Yeast for Homebrewers? for brewing low alcohol beers

LalBrew LoNa Yeast

LalBrew® LoNa™ is the first maltose-negative Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain specifically developed using hybridization for brewing clean low-alcohol and non-alcohol beers (reduced worty flavors, POF-negative and H2S-negative). Advanced classical and non-GMO breeding methods were used to select a strain that does not consume maltose or maltotriose, resulting in very low attenuation. As a S. cerevisiae strain, LalBrew® LoNa™ performs like an ale yeast producing a clean and neutral aroma profile with no phenolic flavors, and significantly reducing aldehydes that cause worty flavors. Additionally, the patented technology from the University of California Davis (USA) ensures that the strain will not produce sulfurous off-flavors, allowing the malt and hop flavors to shine through.

Pasteurization is required when brewing with LalBrew® LoNa™ to avoid refermentation after packaging and ensure beer stability.

Keep reading for more about Lona

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The 2024 Edition of Our Annual Guide!… The Homebrewer’s Gift Guide!

THE Homebrewer’s Gift Guide!

Looking for that perfect gift for the Homebrewer or Craft Beer Lover in your life or… for yourself.  Here’s some of our favorite gear!

Need Help?  Got a question or looking for a particular gift for your loved one?  Email me and I’ll do my best to help.

A New Book!

Maltose Falcons 50th Anniversary Recipe Book: Recipes from 50 Years of Homebrew Silliness

Maltose Falcons 50th Anniversary Recipe Book: Recipes from 50 Years of Homebrew Silliness

For 50 years, the Maltose Falcons, America’s Oldest Homebrew Club, have been exploring the art of making beer at home. First out of a love of beers not available in the 1970’s and now for the continued love and learning. This book collects recipes and tips from various members over the years and includes a complete collection off the Anniversary beers we’ve done for the past 30 years.

Learn all you’d ever need about making lagers, IPAs, barleywines, meads and more!

Maltose Falcons 50th Anniversary Recipe Book: Recipes from 50 Years of Homebrew Silliness – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link


Recently Released Gen 2 Nukatap Flow Control Faucets!

NukaTap® Stainless Steel Beer Faucet | Flow Control Gen 2 | Forward Sealing

NukaTap® Stainless Steel Beer Faucet | Flow Control Gen 2 | Forward Sealing

More Info

From the product description, check product page for current description, price and availability:

  • G2 model features redesigned flow control mechanism for improved shank sealing and flow control
  • Make instant adjustments to beverage flow as you pour
  • Switch from pouring pints to filling growlers without adjusting your CO2 regulator
  • Reduced first pour foam due to low thermal mass
  • Forward-sealing design prevents beer residue from gumming up the faucet
  • Unique shuttle design greatly improves laminar flow, improving the pour of carbonated beverages
  • Compatible with all Intertap faucet accessories and shanks

Generation 2
The NukaTap Flow Control G2 uses a completely new flow control mechanism with better sealing properties against the shank as well as improved flow control.

Control the Flow
The flow control model is a great option for users that often switch between beer styles with different carbonation levels. No need to rebalance your lines or play with your regulator settings. Instantly make adjustments as you pour to dial in the flow rate. This is also a super convenient feature for when you want to grab a quick growler on your way out. By dialing back the flow rate, you can gently fill your growler so CO2 stays in solution and your beer doesn’t pour flat when it comes time to share. The NukaTap Flow Control faucet is also the first FC model to be fully compatible with the optional self-closing spring.

First Pour Foam Reduction
Every kegerator owner knows the letdown of pouring your first pint of the day and getting too much foam. Even with perfectly balanced draft lines, first pour foam is sometimes unavoidable simply due to the temperature of the faucet itself. Running beer through the faucet will drop the temperature, and the foaming will subside, but not without a bit of wasted beer from pouring off excess head. The NukaTap beer faucet drops to beer serving temperature much faster thanks to its lower thermal mass. Simply put, the bulkier the faucet is, the more beer is needed to flow through and chill the tap. The NukaTap is over 20% lighter than its Intertap predecessor, and even lighter still compared to other brands of faucets.

Improved Laminar Flow
The inspiration for the NukaTap name comes from its uniquely designed “nuke-shaped” shuttle that resides on the inside of the faucet. The NukaShuttle went through numerous rounds of redesigns and countless hours of testing to find a shape that provides superior laminar flow. This means that liquid passes by the shuttle with very little resistance, allowing highly carbonated beers or hard seltzers to pour like a dream.

Sanitary Design
The NukaShuttle is the world’s first seamless single-piece design. Traditional taps feature an o-ring seated on a stainless steel shuttle, which can cause a couple of issues. After many pours, the stainless shuttle rubbing against the internal body of the faucet will create small fissures that become potential infection sites, and the seated o-ring can be difficult to clean in place, making your draft cleaning and sanitizing process less effective than you realize. The NukaShuttle is an advanced TPV rubber matrix that has been seamlessly formed over a durable PP skeleton. This single-piece design eliminates the pitfalls of older manufacturing methods, making it one of the most sanitary faucets on the market.

Forward Sealing vs. Rear Sealing
From tap rooms to home bars, forward-sealing faucets are the ideal choice for any draft setup. In traditional rear-sealing taps, beer will drain out of the entire faucet when it’s in the closed position. This means the internal mechanism is coated in beer, which then dries and becomes a sticky residue. Forward-sealing faucets, on the other hand, keep the tap full of beer so it never has a chance to dry and gunk up the internal parts. This makes the faucet much easier to clean and also reduces the chance of off flavors transferring to your beer while you pour.

  • Made from stainless steel
  • Shuttle made from TPV
  • O-rings made from EPDM

Kegland Part Number: KL15523


 

Flow control faucets feature a built in flow compensator that allows you to adjust the resistance your faucet is exerting.  That means less tubing and potentially less foaming and wasted beer. The compensation feature also makes it easier to serve higher carbonation beers as you can set the faucet to provide resistance to offset the increased pressure needed to store and serve these beers at higher pressures.  Instead of replacing your beer line with ever increasing lengths of tubing, you simply turn a knob to increase resistance.

NukaTap® Stainless Steel Beer Faucet | Flow Control Gen 2 | Forward Sealing

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Hands on Review: Kegland Cannular Can and Bottle Filler!

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 Cannular Can and Bottle Filler

Those of us that have been in the hobby a while, typically keg our beer. It’s much less time consuming than bottling a batch of beer, and you can get your carbonation much more reliably. There is some pretty good gear out there to take your kegs mobile with you, but individual bottles/cans still have their place. Particularly if you’re sharing a batch of beer amongst friends. Bottles can be cleaned and reused multiple times without too much fuss. So even if you keg everything you make, if you’re sharing a batch, you’re probably pulling out the bottles and a bag of caps.

I’ve tried several different tools for bottling my beer. A beer gun kind of worked, but it required a lot of extra hoops to jump through to keep the beer under control enough to not end up with half a bottle of foam. The counterpressure bottle filler resulted in a good bottle of beer, but it could be a little messy at times and take longer than you may want to spend if you’re doing a large number of bottles. Kegland introduced a semi-automated Cannular Can & Bottle Filler, and it notably speeds up the bottling process. It can be used to fill either cans or bottles.

The Kegland Cannular Filler is a smallish unit that you mount to something. It has holes if you want to mount it to a vertical surface like a wall, or horizontal surface like a table. Since it fills your bottle/can hands-free, it needs to be attached to something that can support it while you’re doing something else. It has two ball lock posts- one for the incoming beer from your keg, and one for CO2 to purge the bottle before it starts to fill with beer. There’s a small digital LED screen readout and a couple buttons for you to adjust menu settings and lastly a “GO” button that begins the fill. The final control feature it has is a manual fill button that can be used if any fine-tuning is needed for unique bottle shapes, etc.


Check Current Pricing & Availability:

Related Reviews:

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Free Homebrew Club Insurance for Qualifying Clubs + STACKING Deals to Help You Qualify

If you’re not a member of the American Homebrewer’s Association, I think you should consider joining – Here’s Why

The benefits of AHA membership are numerous and valuable.  Membership offers more than just individual benefits. qualifying homebrew clubs receive benefits as well.

Free Club Insurance! From The AHA: “Clubs that demonstrate an AHA membership rate of 75 percent or more are eligible to have their general liability and liquor liability insurance premium payments reimbursed by the American Homebrewers Association. If at least 75 percent of your club’s members are also AHA members, we will issue a check to reimburse your club’s insurance premium after each open enrollment period ends annually on September 1, December 1, and March 1, depending on which policy term your club is enrolled in.” [details]

If you’re a club looking to increase membership numbers, the AHA periodically has promos to help out with that, to encourage membership.  We track those.  Share this page with your club to get the word out about club benefits and let people know what deals are going on to help.

Free Book AND Stacking $5 Off Coupon

Want to learn medal-winning mead techniques, explore easy recipes for hard seltzer, or find fermented food fixes? Turn to the experts at the American Homebrewers Association!

Claim a free copy of Designing Great Beers or choose from 60 different books to meet your goals by visiting HomebrewersAssociation.org/book

STACKS With $5 Off Coupon…

Get $5 off AHA memberships when you use coupon code HBF. Applies to new and renewed memberships and print or digital.

This makes print membership $44 and digital membership $38 which matches the discounted gift cards above.

$5 Off AHA Membership! – remember promo code HBF

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Building a Dry Hopper for Corny Kegs – Dry Hop Under Pressure!

Thanks to /u/NachoTacocat on r/homebrew for this photo and build info!

Benefits of Fermenting Under Pressure + The Challenges of Dry Hopping Under Pressure

Fermenting under pressure has some great benefits. One of the challenges that using this method presents is… dry hopping. When fermenting under pressure the beer is carbonated. Adding dry hops to a fermented and carbonated beer, especially one at relatively warm fermentation temps equates to a Mentos+Diet Coke sort of situation. The hops provide lots and lots of nucleation points that can cause the beer to erupt expelling foam all over the place in the process denaturing head retaining proteins.

FermZilla fermenters from Kegland have a ready made solution called the Hop Bong. It allows you easily dry hop under pressure. Since the beer and dry hops are under pressure you don’t have foaming problems when dry hopping.

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Omega Yeast Labs Homebrew Strain Guide

omega yeast strain guide


Each of the Omega packs contains 100mL liquid yeast slurry and at least 150 billion cells.

  • Through Omega’s proprietary process, they generate the optimal number of yeast cells, which vary from strain to strain, to yield the best and most consistent performance for each.
  • As a result of genetic differences, Omega Yeast Labs has observed strain to strain variation in cell counts even under identical growth conditions. Certain strains may contain up to 500 billion cells per pack while other strains may contain slightly less than 150 billion cells per pack.
  • Most importantly, all packs contain the optimal number of viable yeast cells to ferment 5 gallons of wort up to 1.060 OG at the time of packaging.

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Check Your CO2 Regulator for Leaks!

We get a lot of people contacting us when trying to track down a C02 gas leak in their draft systems, and wondering how to test their regulator to make sure it is not leaking C02. This little knurled shut off cap is the answer. This 1/4″ female flare shut off cap features a sealing O ring, and knurling so you can tighten it without tools. Great for shutting off an unwanted 1/4″ male flare gas line.

Also is a good tool to use if you suspect your regulator is leaking gas. See the above picture for details on how to do this.

1/4″ Flare Shut Off Cap – Regulator Leak Tester

Related:

Also at William’s Brewing: C02 Tank Extension Hose

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How to get a keg ready for first use? New Keg Cleaning and Prep

I’ve had the go-to post on rebuilding and reconditioning kegs for a long time now. My procedure is thorough and produces better looking and better functioning kegs.

New kegs require some special treatment too. Dirt, oils and chemicals from the manufacturing process need to be thoroughly cleaned before use. Here’s a walkthrough to help you ready your brand new keg.

Preparing New Homebrew Kegs for First Use

Hey… here’s a new keg!  In this case it’s a 2.5 gallon single handle AMCYL ball lock kegMore AMCYL kegsHands on Review

Strong PBW Soak

PBW is my go-to for homebrew cleansing. I’ll admit here… typically I underdose PBW. I eyeball it and most of the time, I use less than the directions call for. That changes when it comes to a brand new keg. For new keg prep I like to prepare a very strong solution. Somewhere around double strength.

Related: Five Star PBW Homebrew Cleanser Tips & Tricks!

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Hands On Review: Blichmann Engineering BoilerMaker G2 Homebrew Kettles

Review of Blichmann Engineering G2 BoilerMaker Kettle

Blichmann Engineering’s G2 Kettle is available in 7.5 through 55 gallon sizes.  The BoilerMaker G2 is designed and manufactured in the US.  It includes a Sight Glass w/Laser Etched Volume Markers, Adjustable Angle BrewMometer Thermometer, Linear Flow Valve and tool-less dip tube.  The G2 also features a 1.2 height to diameter ratio.


Compare Models, Prices and Availability, Review Continues Below:

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Portable Draft Beer Serving Options!

portable serving

Looking for options to serve your draft beer home brew on the go?  Here’s a roundup of some of the available options for your next tailgate, party or get together.

Included in this Post:

  • Growlers
  • Carbonation Caps – used with PET Bottles
  • Small Draft Systems
  • Tips and Tools for Filling Growlers and Small Draft Containers
  • Techniques and equipment for dispensing full corny kegs of beer
  • Finding Smaller Homebrew Kegs
  • Coolers and Ice Packs
  • Chilling and Keeping Your Keg Cold
  • Cloudiness

Limited Time Deal on Jockey Boxes!

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The Growler Saver Pressurized Growler Cap

Hands on Review: GrowlerSaver Pressurized Growler Cap

The Growler Saver Pressurized Cap was designed to work on standard growlers. You could charge the growler with CO2 using a handheld charger to maintain carbonation and preserve freshness. It had a built in PRV to help protect against over pressurization.

The Growler Saver Cap.  Left side is the CO2 port.  Right side is the Pressure Relief Valve.


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Homebrew Recipe for Pliny the Elder – Brewing MoreBeer’s Pliny the Elder Recipe Kit

Updated: 6/17/2024

MoreBeer has collaborated directly with Vinnie Cilurzo, owner and brewer at Russian River Brewing Company, to bring you recipe kits for Pliny the Elder double IPA as part of their BrewMaster Series of recipe kits.  From the description “This is THE original Pliny recipe”.

Recipe Kits To Consider


Check Current Price and Availability:


An Hour Long Chat with Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River!


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Use a Wallpaper Prep Tray for Cleaning, Sanitizing and Storage of Longer Brewing Items

Pictured: Zinsser 98030 30-Inch Wallpaper Prep Tray – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link

Updated: 5/22/2024

Part of Our Homebrew Tips and Tricks Series.  Check out the complete list – Homebrewing Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts! This is a Top Post! See: All Top Posts

I use a wallpaper try to clean and sanitize longer items like racking canes, auto-siphons, spoons, tubing and beverage out dip tubes.  It works great.

These also work well for storing longer items.  If you’re going to store things in these, I would recommend stacking a couple together to give them some extra strength.

What are Other’s Saying?   Search this product’s Amazon reviews for “brew” – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link

Another similar option are planter boxes.  They are generally sturdier than wallpaper prep trays and they’re about the same length.  Since you can get away with one your total cost may end up being less.

Zinsser 98030 30-Inch Wallpaper Prep Tray – affiliate link, note that multiple variations of this product may be available, as such a different version may appear at this link

Also:

Related Resources and Categories


Do Not Soak In Star San

Five Star recommends limited contact time with ALL plastics.  See: Star San Tips – Materials Compatibility + Do Not Soak.

Star San Tips and Tricks

More Homebrew Finds!

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greatdeals

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. tag:lnksfxd 12.20.10 toppost:wptray rp:tips#32 tag:tpr