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2 very strong arguments for ditching the BE2. If the water doesn't help this batch I'll give DME a shot next time. Another reason to ditch the BE2 then. Thanks for the advice on the possible alternatives.

I've never tasted a good kit+kilo yet, but I've never tried one that someone else has brewed. I have brewed extract beers (with steeping grains) that tasted fine to me, and I still top up my big beers with LME or DME if my mash tun is too small and I have no problems with it. I've never noticed...

I've been looking at some infrared types for about the $40 mark here and they do tend to use less power. They are still limited with a 5 year life span surprisingly, but since they use light and not a chemical reaction I expect they will just lose sensitivity gracefully as the internal LED...

Re: Keggerface/Raspberrypints/taplist.io - Actually that's a separate project we've been working on commercially that's scheduled to launch on Kickstarter in October if all goes to plan. The kegerator control panel idea is basically a replacement PCB like what Kegking sells, but with WiFi, font...

Good points. I'm thinking of doing a replacement control panel for my kegerator with WiFi awesomeness so a CO2 sensor could probably tie into that if the long signal lines aren't too susceptible to interference. I can't seem to find them at Jaycar so a link would be great if you can find them...

Tonight I removed a gas hose from one of my corny kegs and noticed the post hadn't been screwed down tightly. I haven't lost all my CO2 this time, but I have wasted a lot of CO2 in the past with other leaks. Sometimes when I store a keg I find it flat a few weeks later because the poppets...

I'd love this aspect of it. Yes, tasting wort from your gravity readings is useful, but sometimes I don't have time. I pass my the brew shed every time I go to the car so the convenience factor would be great. Please post pics!

Amen. Often the one store selling the fresh hops you need is missing the yeast or specialty malts. I often order from more than one store, but the postage sure adds up when you're brewing single batches.

Genius! - I tend to cool and decant my starters so I might try this one day.

Ahh yes, I did go in on that Chinese hop bulk buy way back. We knew what we were getting into and it was a fun ride, but that's a perfect answer to my question! I do have an old can of Homebrand Lager sitting in my cupboard. I pray that I will never find a use for it. This info is very useful to...

So I've heard it everywhere - recipe guides, forum posts, brewing texts... "only use the best quality ingredients you can source" What does this actually mean? Are they stating the obvious - that you should avoid that bag of hops you found behind the fridge and your left over grain from bulk...

That resistor is probably not out of spec. i.e. It could have a large error in its value without affecting the circuit too much. I'd suspect the LNK564 controller IC caused the issue. Maybe it didn't get the right feedback from the transformer, maybe it got zapped with some static, or maybe it's...

100+ units? What ever you're building it sounds AWESOME!

Oh I get it now, I didn't realise they sold SSRs. I'm fast with a soldering iron but slow to catch on oftentimes :) I do have a "genuine imitation" Fostek that I haven't torn apart yet.

At that price point ($55) I doubt it will use SSRs. I did a lot of design work on temperature controllers a few years back, but when it came to getting (expensive) certifications and going into production the $20 STC1000's were becoming really popular and there's no way I could have competed on...

Good investigating! I can't imagine how you could have botched it then. Perhaps when the probe was connected it tried to energise one of the relays, drawing more current and causing the power supply to fail. Honestly it could be any number of things. Don't sweat it, your new controller should...

Keep us posted, I'd love to hear from AG brewers who have gone back to kits and had better results than when they first started. UPDATE: I went shopping this arvo. Dropped by ALDI and eyed off their 10L water jugs but I couldn't justify spending $12 for brew water. Not until I'm out of cheaper...

Well I'll be... That's a switch mode regulator in there (using that small yellow transformer to step down the voltage). You can see mine use an old fashioned iron core transformer (the big brown square) but your switch mode supply explains why it can run from 110-220v so mystery solved there...

Nope, unfortunately all STC1000's are not all equal. There are a few models circulating and some of them have design flaws that I don't think would meet safety regulations if put to scrutiny. Here are pics inside 2 models I've photographed recently: I've bought 6 STC1000's on various...

Interesting. I do have some campden tablets that I've never used, but Vitamin C sounds like to goods too. Couldn't hurt! Thanks for the detailed info! I heard on BrewStrong once that the goo in kit beers is made not to attenuate well because they know you're going to make up the rest of the malt...