"BrewHacks"

I can think of a few I'd put ahead of that one...

Haunted Beer
120 Minute IPA Clone
Cheap Canadian Extract not Fermenting (and similar tales of woe)
I Drank a Vial of Yeast
Anything with WhatsHisName Ranting

Titles are approximate. Alas, the first four and many of the fifth are now lost to the electron winds.

 

can someone please find the shit rat apple lid-pry lambic thread so we can hassle the OP to see how his nail polish remover/bubonic plague antidote turned out?

 

IMHO (In my humble/hack opinion)

 

#3 (cleans beer off computer screen after spewing it all over the place upon seeing #3)

#4 aint that the friggin' troof.

 

plague antidote? sounds like an attractant. But don''t worry, if science says that plague is bad, there's someone on the internet who doesn't trust science who will advocate the opposite, and claim that plague is good. "It's a natural part of life, a mild childhood ailment that boosts immunity naturally." And if you consider "what some guy on the internet* wrote" as being equivalent to "fact," you're golden, and no amount of flea infested, Yersinia pestis carrying rats/fleas can harm you. Dr Oz probably even endorses it on Oprah.

If my sarcasm here reflects things that might actually be happening in the real world, there's a reason for that

*with a PhD from google university

 

As soon as someone said credibility I knew something like this was coming... Sorry.

 

No need to apologize, just be well aware it will never go away.

 

Brewing shouldn't be about following rules and following lists. It should be about experimenting and learning from your mistakes. Write down everything you do and continue to do what works and fix what doesn't.
OP, I understand what you're trying to do but stop trying to make everything perfect and stress out and RDWHAHB my friend and have fun!!! For goodness sake, it's a hobby, not a job.

 

I now shudder in disgust any time the words "Cape gooseberries" are uttered.

 

oh man, would I love to read these

 

I'll also add:

A mushroom came out of my tap
The dry pumpkin pie-ing thread
And any HB42 vs. JohnnyLiberman thread (i.e. FWH is bullshit)

 

Does anyone have a better way to take the wort sample from the kettle and apply the few drops of wort sample to the refractometer that works better that the cheap flimsy dropper that came with it? The dropper is almost too hot to handle with wort in it, I don't like the fact that I can't really clean the dropper, it will eventually tear/break, and it is difficult the deal with while allowing the sample to cool enough to apply to the refractometer.

 

Any particular reason you need to take a hot sample? I take mine after chilling. Usually I just get a couple drops with the probe of my thermapen. Come to think of it, that would work with hot wort too. You could do the same with your stirring utensil, if it's still in the wort. (Mine usually is, so that I can 'whilpool' to speed up chilling, or to do an actual whirlpool, if needed.)

 

Eliminating the heat issue....

I use the plastic dropper to pull the sample, then I flip it upside down and hold it by the drawing tip. The hot wort then goes into the big bulging end you squeeze to draw the sample. Next I stick that end into a bucket of room temp water (the one I keep next to my brew rig to put my kettle spoon and mash paddle in) for a few seconds to drop the temp super quick. Then I remove the dropper from the bucket of water, flip it over, and squeeze the sample onto the refractometer. I then immediately draw clean water into the dropper several times (squeezing it out each time) to rinse it. I also use larger droppers that I get from brewhardware.com which probably makes cleaning easier BTW.

Eliminating the dropper.....

Just ladle the wort sample with your kettle spoon over the refractometer (if you have an ATC version) and give it a minute to temperature correct.

 

I like knowing what my preboil gravity is so that i can have a heads up on mash efficiency and can plan for possible adjustments. About every 4th or 5th batch I have to make a gravity adjustment, normally with DME to hit my target. (Although I have to say, the more I tweak and fine tune brew cipher, the less is see myself making those adjustments, but it is still a possibility.)

 

That's basically what I do now. I take a small sample with the dropper, tilt it to the bulb end, and place it in the cup I use to measure out water salts with tap water in it. Inevitably, when I rotate the dropper to point the end up, boiling wort is forced out by the hot air inside. Not a major issue, but my current pet peeve on brew day.

Can you post a link or pick of the dropper you referenced? It's just such a CHEAP/FLIMSY dropper, it will eventually break and/or piss me off.

I do not have ATC feature.

 

Try leaving your upside down pipette in the cold water a bit longer then.

I don't have a pic, but here is a link to where you can purchase the oversized plastic pipette's (probably shouldn't have used the word dropper) Just scroll down towards the bottom of the page.

http://brewhardware.com/measurement-devices/refractometer-72

 

Great easy fix to try, my favorite kind.

 

Many thanks.

 

BrewHack Step 1: Spoon some well-mixed wort from kettle
BrewHack Step 2: Let wort sample spooned from kettle cool
BrewHack Step 3: Use dropper to draw sample of cooled wort from spoon
BrewHack Stetp 4: Squeeze dropper containing cooled wort sample from kettle onto refractometer
BrewHack Step 5: Repeat as needed.

BrewHack or BreWhack?