Recent content by James L

I have one at work that no one uses.... actually there are two.... blue anodised aluminium...

I'm loosing too much heat... i have now insulated the headspace with high desity foam (as the esky lid didnt have any insulation), but its still dropping a couple of degrees over an hour.. i think my problem is there is too much surface area. I have one of those 47L coleman wide base eskies...

Never had a problem with the BB hopscreen.. money well spent.. pity i cant say the same about my mash tun....

Cheers guys, i didnt realise it was only recently covered. I think i might just save up my clams and get a new one from Westbrew for 150...

Guys, This topic has probably been covered, but i was wondering whether anyone has attempted to reduce a 19L keg to a 9-10L keg by cutting a section out the keg wall, and welding it back together? The reason i ask is, normal kegs are much cheaper to buy than 9L kegs if you wanted to make a 9L...

You can get polycarbonate pint glasses from HOUSE. they come in packs of 4 and are great for picnics or camping. I think i paid about 20 bucks for the 4... the only thing is i find the polycarbonate isnt too flash for holding the head, and it scratches rather easily...

Mika, That protocol is for ensuring there is absolutlely no oxygen in the media. For those strict anaerobes. I'm sure you dont have to be that particular for this application, but it works...

I think by law, companies that make ice need to ensure that the ice they produce is safe for human consumption and therefore sterile.. I think you'd be able to get away with using bagged ice. This is what i got from the Packaged Ice Association of Australasia Inc code of practice: All water...

Asher. when i'm making anaerobic media at work, i tend to boil the media (usually 1L or 2 at a time), cover the bottle with foil, and bubble carbon dioxide through it for 20 minutes as it cools. If you dont do this, as the media cools, it will start absorbing oxygen again. Then you can seal...

could always see how much they'll sell them new.. http://www.cospak.com.au/productdetails.asp?ProductID=13400

Rob, The flavours are quite strange... Funky smell, and bitter/sour taste. very cloudy. very undrinkable... I give the fermenter a good soak with percarbs after its been used, and before i put wort into it, i give it a good rinse, and then chuck 5L or so of iodophor and shake it. I give it a...

Yeh PaulBB that was me... As for the taps, the are made of the same material. But after reading the wikipedia article of HDPE, it is not suitable for autoclaving. Having said that... it can withstand 120C for short periods of time, so i might chuck it in for about 5-10 minutes instead of the...

NaHCO3 is bicarb that you can get from the supermarket, MgSO4 is epsum salt you can get from the supermarket, I think that CaCO3 is antacid tablets, Dunno about gypsum.. and cacl2, you could try the pharmacy...

Yeh, typically autoclaves work at 121C, at 100kpa give or take. If anything, i'll do the taps, and if they shit themselves, i might have to find alternative sterilising methods for the fermenters.

Guys, I have had a recent spout of recurring infections with my brews (could be brett), and i thought istead of throwing out the fermenters, i would take them to work and autoclave them. the only question is, are the standard (i think its polyethylene) fermenters capable of withstanding 121C...