I've decided to make the move over to 'all-grain' brewing for 2 main reasons: 1) To have more control over the flavor profile of my beers and 2) for repeatability. Using a temperature controlled mashing system allows you to have a fine level of control over the enzymatic conversion of sugars. The HERMS is now complete (save for a few minor tweaks). Everything is working well and I've completed a batch that converted fairly well (70-80%), but I'll be working to get that number even higher. Even though the system is 'complete' I'll continue to add updates to this page to give a little more detail into how it was built and the tweaks needed to make it work at peak performance. Part 1: Building the system Part 2: Brewing the beer Date started: Mar 20, 2012 Completed?: Yes

I decided that with this batch of spring-time ale I would try my hand at creating a how-to video documenting the techniques and materials that I use to brew beer at home. [Part 1 - Brewing and Fermenting] [Part 2 - Kegging and Carbonation] Date started: Feb 27, 2012 Completed?: Yes

I finally moved into a place with a nice big back yard. And what goes better in a back yard than a picnic table? Well, maybe a picnic table with BBQ on it. So I started looking around for one in the stores but I was amazed by the prices that I saw. I had no idea that people would spend upwards of $1000 for a piece of furniture that they would leave outside. Looking at these prices motivated me to make one of my own. It's really not that hard, and relatively cheap. I also get the satisfaction of making something with my own hands. [Read more...] Date started: Feb 18, 2012 Completed?: Yes

Update: I've just completed a successful prototype build of a high watt driver that will allow me to be able to run those great super bright 3 watt LEDs to make an awesome, crazy bight, mood light! The Arduino is a quick prototyping micro controller platform for creating just about anything you can come up with. So far I've just created some simple programs but my hope is to be able to begin creating intelligent pieces of art. I want to create something that allows a person to interact with art instead of just looking at it. I'm a bit far from realizing that vision just yet but it's a good start. [Read more...] Date started: Sep 15, 2008 Completed?: Yes