5 Cool Products To Improve Your Brewing Experience

Author: The Brülosophy Crew

When you really break it down, brewing beer is nowhere near as complicated as some seem to think—steep grains in warm water, separate those grains from the resultant wort, boil, chill, and ferment. However, in order to accomplish these tasks as effectively as possible, one must possess the proper gear, which comes in myriad shapes and sizes.

Over the last couple decades, the equipment available to homebrewers has grown massively, with options ranging from super simple Brew In A Bag setups to miniature versions of professional rigs. Given all that’s out there, it’s easy to lose sight of some of the smaller and arguably less essential bits of gear that can add a nice dose of convenience to the overall brewing experience.

Our goal with this article is to share some of the stuff we’ve been using lately that, while not necessarily integral to the production of beer, we’ve found to be really helpful and think others might as well.

Craft Master CO2 Pressurized Growler

Brian Hall

One of the things I love most about brewing is sharing what I’ve created with others. Whether beer, cider, mead, or some other concoction, serving family and friends a fresh glass of something I made myself is incredibly rewarding. With multiple taps at my house, this is most easily accomplished when people come to place, but there are often times I’m invited to events where I’m expected to bring something to share, which means I have to figure out a way to get my beer there. My go-to packaging options for such situations has been PET soda bottles and glass growlers, both of which allow oxygen in while letting CO2 out with every pour, and neither keep the beverage cool for very long. Over the last few years, a number of new products have been released to help with these issues, one of which is the Craft Master CO2 Pressurized Growler.

The Craft Master CO2 Pressurized Growler is a high-end piece of gear that promises to improve the overall experience of transporting and serving beer. Its durable 304 stainless steel double-wall vacuum insulation allows cold beverages to stay cool much longer than other containers while looking super sexy to boot. Using a standard CO2 cartridge to pressurize the growler makes for easy post-fill purging and subsequent serving out of the attached faucet. It has a wide mouth for easy filling and cleaning, while the sight glass provides visual confirmation of how much liquid is left is in the growler. This thing is packed with features that I’ve found to be incredibly useful when travelling with beer.

As simple as the Craft Master CO2 Pressurized Growler is to use, I had a few initial issues up front. First off, the regulator on the CO2 cap is so small that it doesn’t take much twisting to get the needle to move, making it easy to add a little too much pressure, which leads to excessive foaming when poured. The PRV is handy for situations like this, but it’d be nice if tuning the pressure didn’t require such a fine touch. Once dialed in, beers pour nearly as if they were coming out of the keg.

Another obvious use for the Crafter Master CO2 Insulated Growler is bringing beer home from the local brewery, as it can be purged and kept under pressure to prolong its life, plus its shape and swiveling faucet make it easy to store in various refrigerator locations.

I’ve been using this unit for a couple months and think it’s a pretty solid solution for many issues associated with travelling with beer. I do wonder how the faucet will hold-up over time, but so far it hasn’t given me any issues at all, and with proper care, I’m confident it’ll work great for years.

WASH Brewery Cleaner

Marshall Schott

When it comes to crafting a tasty batch of beer, there’s little denying that cleanliness of one’s brewing gear is of utmost importance. From the moment that first kit is purchased, brewers are implored to do everything they can to ensure the sanitary conditions possible, which can only be done if the gear is properly clean first. Over the years, I’ve used a number of cleaners that have done a decent enough job, though I’ve often had to return after a long, hot soak to remove remnant gunk, which is particularly difficult with small-mouthed vessels like PET carboys and kegs.

When the folks from Exchilerator informed me a few months ago that they were developing a proprietary cleaner that would be stronger than what’s currently available yet perfectly safe to use, I was admittedly skeptical and shared this with them. They explained the primary purpose of this new formula to give users of their counterflow chillers more confidence since they’re unable to visibly inspect the inside of their chillers. In response to my obvious skepticism, they asked if I’d be open to trying out and letting them know what I think with no expectation of anything else in return. Why the hell not?

I’ve since used the Exchilerator cleaner to clean heating elements, kettles, and various other brewing bits with great success. Recently, while giving my grill a thorough cleaning, I decided to soak the embarrassingly dirty grates and heat plates in cleaner. Almost instantly, the water changed color and flecks of ashy junk began floating on the surface. With just a little wire brushing, everything cleaned up well, better than anything I’ve used before. Needless to say, I’m sold on WASH Brewery Cleaner.

Turbonik Brush

Matt Del Fiacco

I do the majority of my fermenting in glass carboys and 5 gallon/19 liter corny kegs, both of which make fantastic fermenters, though can be a bit difficult to clean. Removing every last bit of kräusen typically involves a relatively long soak in hot cleaning solution to loosen the debris followed by a bit of a scrub. When the folks at Exchilerator offered to let me try out an odd looking new carboy and keg cleaner, I jumped at the opportunity, curious to see how it would impact by cleaning process.

The Turbonik Brush is a carboy cleaner designed to fit into a wide variety of vessels and containers including the narrow opening of most carboys. I’ll admit, when I first opened it up I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it, but my skepticism was soon put to the side after giving it a shot. After putting about 2 liters of cleaning solution into my dirty carboy, I connected my garden hose to the Turbonik Brush, attached it to my drill, and let ‘er rip. As the drill revved up, the nylon appendages at the end of the brush spun around, flicking bits of sediment off of the carboy wall while flowing water rinsed it away. I’ve since used the Turbonik Brush to clean numerous kegs and it works great, without question, some of the quickest and easiest cleaning experiences of my brewing life.

Overall, I think the Turbonik Brush is a great buy for anyone looking to speed up their fermenter and keg cleaning routine. It’s sturdy, well-built, and does what it’s intended to do at a very reasonable price. The only real downside I can think of is that using the Turbonik Brush requires a garden hose, which may not be feasible for some brewers, and it does require slightly more setup time.

Tapcooler Counter Pressure Bottle Filler

Phil Rusher

One of the best parts about homebrewing is being able to share my beer with others, though getting it from my keg to the bottle for transport may be one of the worst parts. This is mainly due to the fact it involves extra steps and effort to ensure a sanitary bottle that’s been packaged with as little exposure to oxygen as possible. There have been numerous packaging products released over the years with a wide range of technicality, some being as simple as a lone piece of tubing while others involve multiple moving parts. Counter-pressure fillers are popular among brewers because they typically don’t require a reduction in serving pressure, making for a less convoluted process. Rather, a tube extends down into the bottle while a stopper seals the opening, then when the tap is opened, beer flows until pressure in the bottle equals that of the pressure in the keg, after which the stopper is gently released to allow pressure to slowly escape and the beer to flow again, thus minimizing CO2 loss and oxygen exposure.

I’ve used counter-pressure fillers in the past, but nothing quite as unique as the new Tapcooler Counter Pressure Bottle Filler. Similar in function to other bottle fillers, the Tapcooler has some features that make it much easier to use, one of my favorites being the telescoping stainless shaft, as it allows for filling of various vessel sizes, from stubby bottles to growlers.

The Tapcooler is designed to work seamlessly with Intertap faucets, though they offer accessories to allow it to work with most forward-sealing faucets on the market. Using the Tapcooler couldn’t be easier. After attaching a gas line from my keezer to the add-on ball lock disconnect, I connected the fitting to my forward-sealing faucet and extended the telescopic shaft to fit the size of my bottle. Next, I inserted the shaft into a clean and sanitized bottle and depressed the button on the top of the device to purge the bottle of oxygen. After lifting up on the bottle to create a seal and pressurize it, I opened up the faucet and began slowly filling the bottle with beer. To keep the beer flowing at a steady pace, I used the PRV to allow pressure to escape. Once the bottle was full, I closed the faucet and let the small amount of beer left in the shaft drip into the bottle before purging the headspace with CO2 and capping.

Being able to fill bottles without having to mess around with my kegs or CO2 regulator is simply delightful on its own, and the fact it’s all done under pressure is icing on the cake. Since using the Tapcooler Counter Pressure Bottle Filler, I’ve been much less concerned about exposing my beer to oxygen or losing carbonation when filling bottles and growlers from my keg. For those who do this regularly, particularly if it’s for the purposes of competition, I strongly recommend this clever product!

Duotight Push-In Fittings & EVABarrier Tubing

Andy Carter

Invariably, as homebrewers matriculate through the hobby, there is a draw to serving beer from a draft system. In addition to requiring less work than bottling and allowing one to serve fresh beer, being able to serve someone a pint of beer off your own tap is just awesome. Of course, when considering a draft system, there are a bunch of options available for all the various parts, though something that’s often overlooked is beer line maintenance.

I take tubing seriously because I like to serve great beer with every pour, which means ensuring as little flavor pickup and oxygen ingress from the beer lines as possible. Over the years, I’ve used a few different types of tubing to serve beer through, some that were conveniently pliable but stained quickly and held onto flavors, while others remained clean yet were rigid and difficult to work with. In my search for a solution to these issues, I discovered the DuoTight Push-In Fittings and EVABarrier tubing.

Duotight fittings attach over, rather than into, the beverage line with internal o-rings and stainless steel cleats that create a seal capable of withstanding up to 100 psi. There are Duotight fittings that attach to the flare on pin- and ball-lock disconnects and standard shanks.

EVABarrier tubing is a double-walled PVC and BPA free beverage line that has an outer barrier to reduce the risk of oxygen exposure. It’s also slightly stiffer than standard beer line, making it the tubing of choice when using Duotight. With the fittings attached to the shank and disconnect, all you have to do is slip the ends of the EVABarrier tubing into each fitting to create a perfect seal without the need for hose clamps or a bowl of scalding hot water to soften the tubing. When it comes time to clean or replace the tubing, just push the collet in and pull the hose out, it’s as easy as that.

Since installing my Duotight fittings and EVABarrier tubing last year, my experience has been excellent! No leaks, no staining, less flavor carryover, and I love how easy it is to remove the beer line to clean disconnects between kegs. At about $10 per keg, this upgrade is a no-brainer in my book, and one I think most people who keg their beer would appreciate just as much as me.

If you have any experience with or questions about the products reviewed, please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

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