I had planned on writing a post detailing my Electric HERMS once it was complete, but we moved houses shortly after it was. Since I needed to change the system to accommodate the new house, I figured I would wait until I had everything settled before I bothered. I've brewed a few batches on the system in it's current state, and I'm pretty confident I won't be making any changes in the near-term. So here's a breakdown of what I'm using now.

I was planning on brewing a Double Jack clone this weekend (that keeps getting pushed back), but with the move looming, I never got around to making a starter this week. So on Saturday I scrapped that idea, and flipped through the future batches I have planned to see what could use dry yeast. My Amber Ale fit the bill nicely. I've brewed this beer a few times, and most recently back in February. The recipe is pretty close to where I want it, so I only made a few small tweaks this time around. I dropped the C60 to 14oz, and the C120 to 7oz. We added 8oz more Munich, and threw in 1oz Chocolate (up from a pinch) to make up the color difference. Finally there's .5oz of Galaxy added to the dry hop.

PBW is awesome. Unfortunetly, it's also expensive. Many homebrewers (myself included) turn to Oxiclean as a suitable alternative. It's main ingredients are pretty similar to PBW -- sodium carbonate (washing soda), and sodium percabonate (the oxidizing agent). The problem is: Oxiclean simply doesn't work as well as PBW. It doesn't remove caked on crap as well as PBW does, it doesn't rinse away as easily, and if you have hard water, it can leave hard water scale on your equipment. So where's the missing link?

...or the list of things I would still buy "if I had to do it all over again"

Home Brewing Starter kit

This is without a doubt the one thing every person wanting to start home brewing should buy. It seems like a no-brainer, but people ask me all the time if the kits are 'worth it'. The basic home brewing starter kit will come with just about everything needed to brew a batch of beer, and you'll continue to use everything in the kit, for years to come. Carboys look cool, but they aren't necessary (hell, I still use buckets). The capper, hydrometer, and bottling wand are all super handy. And most importantly, buying a home brew kit will start you down the road of home brewing; best money I've spent on this hobby.

It's that time of year again, time for the invasion of Pumpkin Ales. Wait? They were on the shelves in August? Ok. What. The. Fuck. Pumpkin beers remind me of Halloween, and cool Sunday afternoons in November watching football. Can someone please let the kind people at Boston Beer and BMC know that in Arizona it's still 105* or higher in August, and the last thing on earth we want is a god damned pumpkin ale when it's 105*? Pumpkin is a harvest ingredient. Pumpkins are harvested in the fall. Anyway, you get the idea....

I've yet to sort out my refrigerator woes from last week, but there's still beer that needs brewed. My Crossfit box, East Valley Crossfit is hosting a huge breast-cancer fundraiser called Barbells for Boobs on October 6th. Here's a link to the event page on Facebook if anyone is interested; it's a pretty cool event that raises money for breast cancer exams. The event centers around the Crossfit workout 'Grace', which is 30 Clean and Jerks (ground-to-overhead) @ 135lbs for time. Since this is one of only 10 stops on the Pink Bra Tour, there are going to be a TON of people there, so I'm brewing 10 gallons for this, knowing even that won't be close to enough.

My Fiance and I are moving a few miles down the road, and our current condo is up for rent. We're starting to pack things up, and that unfortunately includes all my brewing gear. I still have a few beers in the pipeline, so you'll see a couple posts in the coming month or two. Although after that, expect a bit of a lull, as I won't be brewing much in the next 4-6 weeks.

On the bright side, our new place has a two car garage, backyard, and back porch, so brewing will be much, much easier. I have to admit, I won't miss brewing in this tiny condo. Anyway, stay tuned, I've got some fun stuff on the way.