BrewMagician\’s Blog

Got myself an account at LinkedIn to network myself.  My brother works at GE and he told me about it.  Really this is just a post to add a button to my profile:

Just got my ridiculously strong magnets from ThinkGeek.com.

They are no joke.  They work like a champ.  I can get a 1/2 “tornado” in the water.  I think their full name is “Ridiculously Strong Magnets.”

Anywho, I will use them to build up the starter for our club’s 50 gallon batch next Saturday…

So I got my stir bar today, but the rare earth magnet just kind of bounces it around in the water in the flask…

I think I need something with more polarity…  Or more power… 

I’m going to see what there is to see on the web and Radio Shack…

Updated the “Save Recipe” function, as well as the OG Calculator and Carbonation functions.  Added a “Continue Editing” link after you save a recipe.

Still need: Add ingredients, and look into the import mash temps issue…

I’ve been planning to make one of these forever.  I’ve known where all my parts were, what I was planning to do, etc….  Just never got around to it.

 My original plan was to buy a switch, a potentiometer (Variable Resistor for controlling speed), and a project box from Radio Shack, then install those plus an old computer fan, magnet from a hard drive, and DC power supply from one of the many old and broken devices I own.

 So, I went to Lowe’s to get some plumbing for my keg topper, and figured I’d pick up the potentiometer and switch.

 My main concern was that most potentiometers have a power rating of 0.5 watts to 3 watts, then they get expensive.  My fan is 12 volts, with .45 A, giving me a 5.2 Watt power rating.  I didn’t want to have to keep replacing switches, so I wanted to get one rated for the power, or design a shunt resistor to wick away some of the current.

So Lowe’s only had 0.5 watt pots.  Bummer ’cause I really wanted to make this.  The guy there said I could use a dimmer switch because they are rated for 300 Watts.  I got excited and bought one for $8.  On the way home, my mind was racing on how to wire it up.  I realized that the dimmer switch had such a high power rating because it is an AC device.  I was planning on only having DC coming into the box….

So I rewired it for AC into the box, controlled by the dimmer switch, then that signal is converted to DC by the power supply hardware:

1) Computer cord
2) Dimmer Switch
3) Transformer, Full Wave Bridge circuit, and RC Pi Filter from a 12 volt, 1000 mA AC-to-DC power source
4) Fan (12 volt, 450 mA)
5) Rare Earth Magnet - Harvested from Maxtor 80 Gig HD - (Much nicer than the ones I got from 2 Western Digital drives.)

So, I cut the computer cord close to the female end and threw the female plug in the trash.  Then I soldered together:

1) Ground wires of plug and dimmer switch (Green wires)
2) Black wires of plug and dimmer switch together
(NOTE: Both switch leads on dimmer switch are black.  Polarity does not matter in this case.)
3) One of the Dimmer switch leads to the power IN leads on the step down transformer
4) White wire of plug to the other power IN lead on the step down transformer

5) Cut off connectors from RC filter and fan, and soldered DC wires together.

I tested that out and it worked!  So here I have a functioning circuit to run my stir plate.  For $8.

Now, other costs I will incur:

1) Project Box from Radio Shack: $7
2) Mountings (Tape or Screws): $2
3) Stir Bar: $7

So, $16 more dollars.  I can live with that.  Especially when these things cost upwards of $100.

I’ll post pictures soon.  My camera is out of batteries…

Brewed on Saturday with Rich, our resident gruit master.  I was amazed by how much beer he has fermenting in his cellar.  There were about 14 carboys fermenting as secondaries!  I don’t know where he finds the time or patience to brew, then give most of it away.  We brewed his 140 Shilling Ale, which has heather tips in it, and an OG over 1.100, and I had to leave before the second batch was done boiling, but it had Bog Myrtle and Heather Tips in it and it smelled great.

I’ll definitely be doing some more gruit brewing in the future…

I’ve discussed with some members changing up how my club accepts members.

We have a ton of inactive brewers who are still on the list.  Right now, there is no incentive to pay dues.  I need to make a “Members Only” section of the site, but for now I’m going to cull the list down to only dues-paying members.

It may make it more expensive to go to the Southern Brewer’s Fest for us, but we’ve never really had trouble getting people to go to that.  So, we could sell passes like we did last year to brewer’s who just want to go, but aren’t contributing any beer to the cause at a higher rate to offset the cost of the Big Brews.

I feel like it will make the club a more tight-knit group…

I fixed the Yeast Add / Delete routines.

 Still have:

1) Save Recipe not working
2) Import has mash temps off
3) Change Recalculate to Save and Continue
    -At this point I will go live. 
    (Or I may just disable recalculate….)
4) Allow Comments to be added

Very cool.  Looking to replace the Sanke spear pain in my ass with this.

 It is basically a 2″ end cap for a tri-clamp with connectors, tubes, and a PRV welded onto it.  Then, a gasket and 2″ clamp make a tight seal.  NICE.

 $95 for the cap and a gasket, $8 for the clamp.  Could be a winner for me….

Today I brewed with Chris Hunt over at Moccasin Bend Brewing company in the St. Elmo region of Chattanooga.  We made up a batch of Pumpkin Seed Pale Ale.  Maris Otter and Crystal with Fuggles and Simcoe.  I now understand Joe’s fascination with Simcoe.  They smelled like tangerines in pine trees.  Delicious.  I would love some of those in a nice tall glass of IPA.

 It’s good to brew with other brewers, because everyone does something different.

I learned a great deal from him about troubleshooting and emergency engineering.  Mainly because his gear kept falling apart.

I can’t jab at him, he has the capacity to mash a 5 barrel batch, and most of that they built themselves.  I wish I had a 5-barrel version of the Brew Magic.  It could have ladders and slides and such to get to all the levers.  Like an adult version of the child’s game, but twice as fun.

 Anywho, I’m sore and tired now, going to bed.