 Brewing
Equipment Gathers No Moss
Is our brewery closed for the summer. All that equipment packed away till
Fall. Why not put it to work and reward yourself with some real savings
on Summertime fun. As you have seen on page one, beer is not the only brewed
product to be made at home. A glass carboy makes the perfect solar ice
tea brewery. Pick up a few gallons of your favorite bottled water, combine
6 to 8 tea bags per gallon in your carboy. Add the airlock and sit it in
the sun until the tea suits your taste. Rack the tea back to the water
jugs and put them in the refrigerator. |
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Nothing, except homebrew, tastes as good on a hot day as homemade lemonade
and the trusty bottling bucket is the perfect way to make and serve it.
Heat 3/4 cup of sugar in 1 quart of water till sugar is dissolved. Cut
in half 4 lemons, ream into 2 quart pitcher, add sugar syrup and lemon
halves. Stir in ice and let chill. Add more lemon or sugar to taste. If
you have a false bottom for the bucket it will hold back the peels and
pulp. |
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Those of you with CO2 systems and a spare keg will be happy to know that
all of our soft drink kits are only $3.95. These
kits will work just fine in empty beer, soda or Pet bottles too! Imagine
the look on the kids faces when you bring out a 5 gallon keg of our own
root beer. Better yet, have the kids make it. |
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Even the heavy hardware has a place in the sun. My brew pot and burner
spend a lot of time during the summer months making corn on the cob and
clam bakes. |
Back
to Brewing Getting your brewery ready for a new season
As hard as we homebrewers try to care for our equipment there is always
the chance of unforeseen problems. This is truest in the fall when the
weather cools and brewing increases. A little preventive maintenance prior
to your first batch this autumn is in order. I start each brewing season
with a little cheap insurance, an inspection of my equipment, a review
of last years brew log and shake down batch of beer. |
Cheap Insurance: At 20 cents a foot it is better to replace siphon
hoses then waste time inspecting them. Rubber stoppers can dry out and
they do shrink. Instead of having an old one wind up inside your carboy,
air lock and all, test fit it and if there is any doubt, it can be replaced
for less than a dollar. Remove the tip of your spring loaded bottling wand
(the red tip type). Inspect the parts for wear. The plunger should not
be bent or warn, springs should have good tension and the body should be
free of ware. Individual replacement parts are available. If it is in real
bad shape you may want to consider
upgrading to one that reduces
CO2 pick up. |
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Equipment Inspection: Bottling bucket spigots use a rubber gasket to
seal tight. Once again, rubber will dry out and in this case can wear out.
Remove the spigot from the bucket and inspect it. If you have the Italian
made (red) spigot you should consider replacing it with a Wellington (white)
one. Fit the spigot back on to the bucket and test for leaks. Remove and
inspect the air lock grommet on plastic fermenter lids (rubber again).
Replacements are available. The lid should also be tested for wear. Fill
the fermenter half way with water. Attach the lid and fit the air lock
in to place. Plug the air lock with a cork or tightly wrapped piece of
cloth. Turn the fermenter upside down and check for leaks. If it leaks,
try to determine if the problem is with the lid or the rim of the bucket.
Replace the faulty part. Plastic fermenters and bottling buckets need to
be inspected for scratches. A tiny scratch on the inside of the pail can
hold millions of beer loving bugs, even through the sanitation process. |
