New Toys!

Real life has gotten in the way of updating the blog, but I come bearing good news! I have a couple new brew toys! I bought a new thermometer which was desperately needed. I also got an immersion chiller. Until I can get some fermentation temperature control figured out the immersion chiller will have a huge effect on the quality of my beer. I will now be able to get the wort down to pitching temperature quickly. No more making tons of ice and sitting around for an hour+ to get the wort to cool.

The cheapest thing I purchased was a little pvc elbow from Lowes for $0.87.

When bottling by myself I have always had difficulty tipping the bucket to get the end of the wort out. Trying to keep the bucket balanced while filling bottles is just asking for disaster. The elbow acts as a dip tube and gets close to the bottom of the bucket. That will still pull the wort out without needing to tip the bucket.

When I bottled my special bitter last night the elbow worked like a charm. No tipping the bucket. It only left a few ounces of beer in the bucket as well as a little crud that came through in the siphon.