Brew Day Stories and/or Pics

1. first biab

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   First post by Rad, 13 years ago

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   I finaly got around to doing my first biab yesterday arvo, i think everything went smother than expected and i realy enjoyed doing it. I've never done AG or biab before the only experiance i have is with brews out of a can so it will be good to be able to compare the difference.
   
   Ive never realy worried about SG before (apart from testing when a brew has finished fermenting) or efficiency so all of this is new to me.
   
   I wrote down some readings to keep record and when i lean how to calculate...

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   Congratulations rad and welcome to the forum :peace:
   
   Feel free before your next brew to post your proposed recipe to this thread and someone will help you out.
   
   All recipes need some sort of conversion unless you are using exactly the same type of equipment as the person supplying the recipe so don't be worried if you didn't get the same readings as the source recipe.
   
   Good on you :salute:
   PP
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   Last post by PistolPatch
   13 years ago
2. I finally took the plunge. :)

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   First post by Snapdragon, 13 years ago

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   Did my first BIAB on Monday, and it went smoothly enough, can't think why I didnt do this a year ago!
   
   Evaluation. I need to get a hop bag, hops clogged the tap and made draining a PITA.
   Evaluation 2. Think I could chill better, small 12v pump, copper coil, and a sink full of cold water, replace cold water when it's as hot as the beer.
   
   Question. I 'no chilled' into a FV. While hot, there was a lot of small particles in suspension in the beer, and I was thinking it was either sugars ready for...

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   :champ: SD. Good on you!
   Chill or No-Chill* : Chilling requires some sort of chiller. No-chilling requires a vessell in which the wort can chill. It's not an easy subject but here's a few things to get you thinking or started...
   
   Chilling: Forget the pump. Just use one of your household or garden taps to power the chiller. If you use a pump, you will find the sink-full of water becoming too hot in probably less than a minute. You also need a specialised pump to handle such high temperatures....
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   Last post by Snapdragon
   13 years ago
3. Barley Belly's Biab Brewrig

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   First post by Barley Belly, 13 years ago

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   Just upgraded my old 3V system to a single vessel BIAB 40ltr Urn and are yet to crack my cherry.
   
   In keeping with the tradition naming brew setups I have christened mine Grunt Brewko the Mighty BIAB Urn or just Brewko for short. :smoke:
   
   Got a Gryphon grain bag ready to go and are just waiting on Craftbrewer to send me my hop bag and some new silicone hose and I'll be ready to kick her in the guts. I also lashed out on a staino mash paddle and a staino sifter to use as a false bottom so I can...

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   It just keeps getting better, :clap: Is there no end to all this bling :party:
   I've shown the pics to SHMBO and all she said was one word,, NO! :argh: Looks like I'm gonna be stuck with my dull ally stock pot for a while :sad:
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   Last post by Yeasty
   13 years ago
4. First 2 BIAB and a batch calculator

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   First post by CSchenk, 13 years ago

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   Hey everyone, I just got done with my 2nd BIAB brew a few days ago. My first brew was a ESB and the second was an Sierra Nevada Stout clone. For both I did the maxi-brew with sparging and volume dilution at the end (thanks Ralph for the great guide). I have a 5 gal stock pot with a 30 cm bottom diameter. I can’t emphasis enough that I’m hooked. This was my first time brewing all Grain and my 3rd brew overall.
   
   It took me a while to find voile and to sew the bag by hand, but once I got it...

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   PistolPatch
   
   I started a new topic in Measurement and Records
   
   CS
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   Last post by CSchenk
   13 years ago
5. Barley Belly's Maiden Biab Brew Day

   20 Replies 23729 Views

   First post by Barley Belly, 13 years ago

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   After 26 2V/3V AG brews under my belt I decided to take the step up to BIAB and I have the pictures to prove it.
   
   WARNING:- There are heaps of pictures
   
   Here is a brew log and some pictures of my cherry poppin maiden Biab brew day for your pleasure/critique (feel free to comment on any improvements I can make or mistakes I might of made):-
   
   12.45PM Fill to 32ltr 26 degrees celcius water, urn temp control 110c, 2400w handheld in, lid on
   12.55PM Water 50C
   1.05PM Water 70C
   1.10PM False bottom...

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   MODERATOR NOTE
   We should split the bag draining into another thread :)
   
   A very sensible suggestion stux. I commenced splitting this topic but realised it would require several hours of editing individual posts etc to make a 'smooth' read. Instead I have started a new topic here .
   
   This is the best I can do. Hopefully those of you who have written above on the subject of bag draining will edit and copy some of what you have written here to the new thread.
   
   To prevent this sort of thing...
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   Last post by Nuff
   13 years ago
6. Two If By Sea Brewing's BIAB Rig

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   First post by Two If By Sea, 13 years ago

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   My bag material, Voile curtain material that I sewed up myself. $10 got me enough material for 2 bags.
   
   My bag in the kettle. Office binder clips hold the bag in place and allows me to put the lid on still.
   
   The canning rack in the bottom to hold the bag off the kettle.
   
   The whole rig
   
   My rig during the mash, Patriotic, no?
   
   My pulley system. They told me in the other forums that 11# of wet grain would be too much...nope. I've done 23# in my bag just using my back and arms. I won't say it...

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   Well, most of the beers behind the labels are long gone. *burp*
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   Last post by Two If By Sea
   13 years ago
7. First BIAB attempt

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   First post by oz11, 13 years ago

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   Just finished cleaning and mopping-up after my first go at a BIAB, I followed the recipe for a mini Amarillo APA, aiming for about 10.5L into the feremnter.
   
   My previous brewing history is one kit (wherry) and two 20ish L extract brews.
   
   The quantites I used for my set up were:
   2012g Pale Malt
   406g Munich
   206g CaraAmber
   
   2624g total.
   
   This was dropped into a total water volume of 18.14L (not sure how I got to that figure now, but never mind!)
   
   I was using a Ritchie's Mash/Sparge bag in a...

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   Thanks for the plug PP.
   
   I hold back the steeping grains and add them in at mashout. I do this with all my beers, it improves the complexity of the beer as PP has said.
   
   Basically means you can taste the various grains instead of them becoming homogeneous.
   
   Schwartzbier brewed as an ale is a top beer :)
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   Last post by hashie
   13 years ago
8. BIAB number 2 under way!!

   11 Replies 11352 Views

   First post by Mysticmead, 13 years ago

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   Today will be BIAB number 2. Brewing an Oatmeal Stout. Should end up very dark, very chewy, malty/toasty/roasted with just enough hops to make it not cloying but not overly bitter.
   
   Dwarven Warrior Oatmeal Stout
   9lbs Pale Malt
   1lb Oat flakes (toasted at 350F for 20 minutes)
   1lb Oat malt
   12 oz. chocolate Malt (412 SRM)
   12 oz. caraaroma Malt (130 SRM)
   1 oz East Kent Goldings FWH (60 minute boil)
   1 oz. East Kent Goldings 30 minutes
   1 whirlflock (10 minutes )
   WLP002 English Ale yeast (Whitelabs)...

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   Right in style, it will be fantastic! Er, which efficiency?
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   Last post by Two If By Sea
   13 years ago
9. First BIAB set for this Sunday

   21 Replies 18336 Views

   First post by Mysticmead, 13 years ago

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   Everything is coming together nicely for my first BIAB this Sunday. I went today and picked up my grains, hops and yeast. tomorrow my wonderful wife will be sewing my bag for me (she can sew anything and make it last forever). I'll also be marking my mash paddle with increments for liquid levels starting at 5 gallons tomorrow. since the temps on brew day are predicted to have a high of 47F (8.3C) I'll be doing a no-chill. buckets, carboys, airlocks are all cleaned and ready to be sanitized....

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   no worries PP. Better late than never. I got this batch bottled last night. As far as cold temps. A day brewing is better than a day working for the wife. I'll be doing my second BIAB this coming weekend. Again temps are forecast to be around 35F
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   Last post by Mysticmead
   13 years ago
10. I've lost my BIAB cherry

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    First post by soupdragon, 13 years ago

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    Hi all
    
    Well I've gone and done it. My 1st BIAB is finally done and is conditioning in barrel :P
    The whole process was just so easy, from start to finish, no problems at all. My extraction was a little low but that's something I can work on. My voile square really worked well, I was so impressed how well it took all the break material out after I'd tipped the brew into my fermenter. The yeast cake was actually a nice creamy colour rather than the muddy brown that I've been getting with my old...

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    Thanks all :P
    
    Congrats to both of you, soupdragon and Mysticmead!
    
    Brewing in a bag is a wonderfully simple and easy process which I personally enjoy much more than other traditional methods.
    
    When you think of how the monks started brewing all those billions of years ago, I sometimes wonder if all the additional complications of modern man really have added that much to the quality of the final brew? Why make things more complicated than than they need to be? If it's simple, more people...
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    Last post by soupdragon
    13 years ago
11. Second BIAB and some more/different problems

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    First post by BobtheBrewer, 13 years ago

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    I did my second BIAB on Sunday and put it into the fermenter today. It was an American Amber Ale and I unashamedly stole the recipe from somewhere on this forum (thanks to the author). I ran it through the Calculator and away I went. Upped my strike temp from last time and started the mash at 67deg C. Mashed for 90 mins and finished at 66 deg. Pat on back. SG at the start of the boil was 1040 (if I can believe the converter I used, from a site called Brewmate) as opposed the the Calc which said...

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    Make sure you buy a decent hydrometer tube i.e. a wide one that allows your hydrometer plenty of room. Most tubes supplied with hydrometers are pretty bad - way too narrow. After you have pitched your yeast into the fermenter and aerated it, take a hydrometer sample, put the hydrometer in it and sit the sample beside your fermenter through the entire ferment. (If possible, cover it so stuff can't fall in.) Doing this will enable you to watch the gravity slowly change and also observe the...
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    Last post by BobtheBrewer
    13 years ago
12. First BIAB - some problems

    16 Replies 14643 Views

    First post by BobtheBrewer, 13 years ago

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    I did my first BIAB yesterday. I've had all the gear for two weeks, and have been reading everything I could find to avoid stuffing up, but Murphy was still there. I have a 40 litre concealed element urn with a camping mat wrapped around it. I used the recipe for NRB's All Amarillo APA (recipe for 70 litres) and, not being sure how to use the calculator, scaled back the grain and hops using basic maths - I think! Anyway, I used 4.5kg of grain, mashed in 36 litres of water (doughed in at 69 deg,...

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    You could try doing double batches, and no-chilling the second of the batch for later fermentation. That way you can throw one on when you have an empty fermenter idling rather than a k+k :)
    
    Its essentially exactly the same as a Full Wort Kit
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    Last post by stux
    13 years ago
13. AArgh*%#

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    First post by BobtheBrewer, 13 years ago

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    I did my third BIAB today and really thought that I had everything sussed out. Started the mash at 67 deg and finished at 66. Great. Then the shit hit the fan. Somehow I got the bag snagged on the don't boil dry sensor in my urn. Must have knocked the cover off somehow. Anyway I tore a hole in the bag and some grain escaped. SG's all over the place. On the positive side I ended up with the volume that I was aiming for. Used my other willow cube and it buckled just like the first one. Will be...

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    BTW, with your latte bag, I would boil it for a while before using it to get rid of any dyes etc. Maybe even change the water a couple of times depending on how much you boil it in. I'd be a bit scared to use it, raw.
    
    Yeah mate, my thoughts exactly. I've also found a round stainless steel plate with heaps of holes in it, 26cm radius (who knows what it was originally for, obviously something to do with cooking) which I might put in the bottom of my urn to avoid any more snags. I doubt that the...
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    Last post by BobtheBrewer
    13 years ago
14. q's about my first BIAB brew session

    13 Replies 14163 Views

    First post by kristfin, 13 years ago

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    hi all,
    
    i'm planning my first BIAB brew tonight or tomorrow. i've brewed over 30 batches of all grain and several extract ones so i'm not stranger to brewing.
    
    that said, after having looked at the calculator supplied here, i have some questions.
    
    here is the recipe, equipment and method aside.
    
    Pilsner 93,00 %
    Carapils 4,00 %
    Caramunich II 2,00 %
    Caraaroma 1,00 %
    Northern Brewer Pellets (60 min) 33,5 IBU
    Goldings, US (20 min) 3,3 IBU
    Goldings, US (5 min) 1,6 IBU
    
    my equipment is a 50...

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    i heated up 32 liters.
    i'm not sure about the time it took, since i just set the controller to 72°C and prepared dinner.
    i guess it took some 20-30 minutes from 8°C.
    then i stirred the grain in and closed the lid for 5 minutes, to heat it up.
    stirred more until the temp was 67°C and then gave it 70 minutes.
    
    the heating element is 5.5kw and the boiler is pretty well insulated. at least compared to my old boiler it is much faster. most of my time, earlier, was spent waiting for it to boil.
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    Last post by kristfin
    13 years ago
15. Doing my first BIAB right NOW!

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    First post by Nikobrew, 13 years ago

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    :)
    
    Here's the recipe, I'll add the cane sugar during the ferment and the candi syrup at flame out. Will do a no chill, so I'll be pushing all these hop additions up 20 minutes. I really don't care how the IBU's land, just looking for tastiness not style. Mash temp I'm shooting for anywhere from 150-160.

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    Ha! I was wondering whether you had any affiliation with the Nikobrew shop .. I just figured a coincidence ;)
    
    Anyway, I guess you have to see yourself about that pdf ;)
    
    Yup I'm niko of nikobrew.com :) I don't sell grain online though, too much $ to ship, though I get bags of it in for my local peeps.
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    Last post by Nikobrew
    13 years ago
16. First BIAB Attempt

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    First post by SacSoul, 13 years ago

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    Tried my first BIAB last night. The recipe was a brown ale recipe that I tweaked to bring into the robust porter range:
    
    8.65lbs 2 Row base
    1.3lbs CaraPils
    1.25lbs Crystal 40L
    0.6lbs Chocolate
    0.5lbs Flaked Barley
    
    1oz Norther Brewer 60min
    1oz Cascade 30min
    0.5oz Cascade 10min
    0.5oz Cascade 0min
    
    I ended up going with Thames Valley yeast... not really sure how that will turn out but I have high hopes :)
    
    This being my first all grain run, I ran into the temperature control problems that it...

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    jmbinhgham - If like me, you can't understand fancy beer talk, I have copied SS's layman's description he wrote in another thread below :).
    
    It amazingly turned out to be one of the best beers I have ever brewed (and it wasn't just me, my friends and family thought so too ;) ).
    
    That's language I do understand :). Top stuff SacSoul!
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    13 years ago
17. First BIAB beer on its way

    5 Replies 7044 Views

    First post by looBrew, 13 years ago

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    Good Day BIABers,
    My first BIAB is busy fermenting. Brewed on Saturday using a 50L Urn. Planned on using 42L for mashing, but only filled up to 40L when i saw possible overflowing problems.
    
    Mashed 7.5Kg of grain and expected around 1.056 OG and hit 1.055 (Sparged with 2L 70C water and 90min boil). Was worried that the home made bag might give in with the big load but it held nicely.
    
    Used an immersion chiller to about 30C and dumped the whole kettle in my conical fermentation vessel. Not...

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    If you are worried about temperature read about my first attempt:
    
    It amazingly turned out to be one of the best beers I have ever brewed (and it wasn't just me, my friends and family thought so too ;) ). Lesson to be learned: Relax and have a homebrew!!
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    Last post by SacSoul
    13 years ago
18. Lessons from a first BIAB

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    First post by widdley, 13 years ago

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    Well I finally got my act together to attempt a BIAB, and since I hadn't worked out how to download the helpful files on this site (until just now :oops: ) I used the ancient art of flying by the seat of my pants - although I tried to think things through in advance... Here's a bit of what I learnt, as it may help others. I chose (like a lot of others) Dr Smurto's GA as I new it to be tried and tested.
    
    1. I assembled most of my gear the night before - i.e.:
    a second hand Crown Urn wrapped in...

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    Just had a read of the developing your palate bit on RateBeer SS.
    
    Nicely written. After reading it, I stopped for a second and thought to myself, How often do you actually stop and savour a beer fully?
    
    The answer was, Hardly ever. My mind is often racing at a hundred miles an hour which is not always a great thing. When I taste beers it is usually with fellow brewers and half your mind is concentrating on chatting :). Occasionally I do get to just have a beer quietly. Maybe I should...
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    13 years ago
19. First BIAB Almost ready!

    11 Replies 12512 Views

    First post by brad, 13 years ago

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    So, after quite a long time, I now have my first BIAB in the keg, and will be ready for consumption tonight! I had a taste as it was filtering, and it wasnt too bad for the first go!
    
    I was aiming for a czech style pilsner, but the recipe is a bit of a mix n mash from other stuff I have read on some forums.
    
    5kg pilsner
    300gms light munich
    200gms wheat
    40gms saaz @70mins
    32gms saaz @40mins
    28gms saaz @10mins
    Yeast W34/70
    
    I was only planning on a 60min boil, but as that was approaching, I was...

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    Evening Brad :),
    
    LOL on it not lasting much longer!
    
    I think LloydieP's Kolsch * fermented at the low temps is a great way for lager lovers to go.
    
    I'm not too sure what to advise you on ales becasue I am not sure what type of ales you emjoy. There are so many to choose from. If you like American Pale Ales as I do, then, without a doubt, brew this one . It's a truly great recipe for a wide spectrum of palates.
    
    Thanks for letting us know how you've been going brad.
    
    Cheers,
    PP
    
    * Lloydie's...
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    Last post by PistolPatch
    13 years ago
20. finally one of the gang

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    First post by jmbingham, 14 years ago

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    finally did my first BIAB a english brown ale (new castle clone), lots of fun, couple of issues knocked over my water as i was trying to relight the burner thankfully it was still cold. Had to go to the store get more water
    got home started over and it started to rain :shock: Moved to the carport all good :D My burner has two burners decided to fry some fish for dinner ,talking to my son and lmost droppe a peice of breaded sea trout into the wort instead of the hot grease :shock: the came the...

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    thanks guys it was easy and a blast can't wait to taste :D I def. plan on saving a bottle or two if i can keep all the new friends out of them :D
    PP - i was using my uncles frier and it has two shelves on the sides that aren't really supported enough for 5 gallons of water :D no biggie made for good laughs
    I have city water which comes straight from the florida aquifer then they add chlorine and chlorimine I have to hook up my water filter because buying ten gallons of water i getting old...
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    Last post by jmbingham
    14 years ago