Evening all.
Been reading and reading and reading on the site for some time now, and it occurred to me I can’t see a thread on tools and equipment that serve as support to the main game here, little things that help make some of the harder tasks easier. Ignoring the core stuff of fermenters, stills etc. I thought I’d list a few I have and maybe it’ll be a conversation starter? What about you lot? :D
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I’ve found a refractometer a useful tool for checking ABV when an alcometer just won’t work. Similar vein, electronic ph metre is great for checking over generations - I haven’t been brave enough to ph buffer yet (eg sea shells).
I love my little MKII style pump (25w) with stainless head upgrade meaning I can transfer boiling liquid with it. The original plastic pump is the one I use for messy stuff like rum washes. Plenty of power, 15L a minute, gives time to think and react. Not a whole lot of head available, but enough for normal use.
I’ve got the corny keg style stainless floats with filters that normally draw from the top of the keg. Great for dropping in a fermenter and drawing off. This along with my pump let’s me know hen I’ve hit sludge, then I change to a secondary fermenter to settle for another week. By the time I’ve got a couple of racked washes like this I’ve got enough for another strip run.
Cordless drill and paint mixers make short work of mixing and dissolving things in your wash. Take it easy on anything that already has yeast in it though.
I keep sodium benzoate for some of the cocktail preservatives, liquid lecithin for anything that fights me on staying in solution, and all the usual cleaning and sanitising stuff - but a small pressure washer is great to have too.
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My Wishlist items are some corny kegs and to replace 3 of my fermenters with heated stainless ones, and that’s really about it. SWMBO is giving me a whole lot of side eye whilst expanding recently as the bank account has definitely been going down, and has told me no on 100L milk can boiler :cry: (50 will do), but doesn’t complain at the sight of the bar! :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Having the original bottles saves printing labels, right?