TOM-O’S BREW PAGE
a
collection of quasi-useful information.
The following are tools
and information that I have created for myself, and which I want to share you
with, “Joe Homebrewer”, because giving something back is good beer karma. I hope some of this information helps you in
your brewing!
Brewing Quote of the
month:
“Brew as if beer is a gift from a benevolent universe. Because it is. Brew
as if it’s a magic spell… Brew like a
good shephard… Brew as an act of benevolence…
Brew like an artist… Brew with balance… Brew with simplicity… Brew with
reckless abandon… Brew with meaning…
Brew beer with all of this in mind, and the
world will remain an amazing place.”
-Randy Mosher in the most
inspiring homebrew book ever written, Radical
Brewing
PARTI-GYLE
BREWING:
TOM-O's PARTI-GYLE CIPHERIN' SHEET (NEW)
HERE IT IS, MY LIFES WORK! … ok, it was only
part of a Saturday’s work, but
it could change the freeworld as we know it!!
Here is another great
calculator sheet, that I wish I had seen earlier!
A
frequently asked question list for parti-gyle brewing.
WATER CHEMISTRY
CHARTS/TOOLS/CALCULATORS:
A comprehensive spreadsheet
used to calculate brewing salt additions,
specifically for Residual Alkalinity.. No water calculators currently
calculate it. Use to optimize your
brewing water for any given style.
Spreadsheet based on AJ
DeLange’s Brewery.org article on acid additions.
Use to calculate how much
acid is needed to change water pH to a given
pH, or to neutralize a certain level of alkalinity.
Article I wrote for a newsletter, covers the basics of brewing water chemistry.
Residual Alkalinity Chart - by AJ
DeLange (NEW)
This is a scan from AJ’s
excellent New Brewer article. A great
quick way to check
to see where you water hits out, compared to other
water, and what impact it has to
mash pH.
ALL-GRAIN TOOLS/CHARTS
Strike Temp Graph - using 1.25
quarts per lb (NEW)
This graph shows the strike
temp needed to hit a single infusion temp.
Boiling Water Infusion Graph -
using 1.25 quarts per lb (NEW)
This graph shows the
amount of boiling water needed to boost a mash temp.
(from protein rest to sacc temps, for example). No Promash™ required!
Batch Sparging - Flowchart (NEW)
I got this from somewhere
a few years ago, and modified it to fit how I currently
brew. I don’t know
the original source to give credit for the cool graphics. If you
made it let me know!
HARDWARE
“HOW-TO” ARTICLES:
New:
DO IT YOURSELF WELDLESS FITTINGS
Covers two types of weldless fittings, and how to adopt them to different
equipment
Converting an
Ice Cube Cooler into a Mash Tun
Article
detailing how to make a cheap mash tun.
Weldless Kettle
Conversion (cheapo method)
This is an article I
wrote which covers all aspects of weldless kettle conversion.
I am slowly changing out these fittings for the weldless fitting type shown in
the ice cube article above, which are much more expensive but sturdier.
Putting
together a water filter.
Building a
Mini-fridge Kegerator
How-to
article on building a kegerator from a 4.8 cu ft dorm fridge.
OTHER
SPREADSHEETS / CALCULATORS:
Carboy
Cooling/Heating Calculator
Spreadsheet based on the
November/December 2002 Zymurgy article which
gave an empirical formula for determining the exponential rate of temperature
change of a carboy being heated or cooled by ambient temperature. (Put
in fridge temp and it tells you how long it takes to cool down).
Spreadsheet
(Excel) which estimates ABV and calories of beer when given
the measured OG and FG. Its awesome to put
calories on a label.
GENERAL
ADVICE ARTICLES:
A list of what I consider
the most common errors of beginning brewers.
Sometimes it is just as important to know what not to do.
BREWING
SCIENCE/PROCEDURE ARTICLES:
Yeast Pitching
Rate Info Sheet
Handy sheet of
information and tidbits I have been gathering from various
Sources.
Excellent
article on preparing and using yeast slants, written by
member Mike Sims.
LABELS:
Mail me at
tom at