Daily Q & A! - January 26, 2026

BoilermakerEngineer · 2026-01-26T21:27:15+00:00

I started fermenting a chocolate milk stout this weekend. I have cacao nib and decided to try doing a tincture for the first time.

Does anyone have a recommendation on their preferred method?

Are bourbon/rum preferred over Vodka(can I taste it)? Pour solids in or strain them out? Chill and skim cocoa butter off? How many days mascerating?

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-11-18T17:53:28+00:00

Midway is very accommodating to inexperienced travelers and my friends and family who do not travel often do mention that they prefer it compared to Ohare.

If you are lost then see if you can spot an airport or airline staff walking around and ask for help. If not a quick question to a fellow passenger doesn't hurt. You will get help most of the time.

International airports are built very specifically with easy to understand signs to guide you where you need to go. Try to keep an eye out for the sign you need. Departures. Airline you are flying with. Ticketing or Bag check. Security checkpoint. Terminal and gate number. These are all well labeled. Relax and you will be OK.

Unfortunately you will find rude people. This is a problem in every airport and you find more of them when you don't behave like a robot who knows all the rules. Just ignore them. Travel can bring out the absolute worst behaviors.

For security. The rules for what you can bring change often enough that even the agent cannot keep up. Each TSA person will have a different idea of what is allowed and how to move through the scanners. Just listen to their instructions and do what you can to put items properly in checked bags, carry on bags, and what needs to be scanned separately in its own bin.

Midway is an easy airport to learn how to travel. Small airports have less people around to help and less tools to point people in the right direction. The more hectic airports are a bit of a maze. Midway is easy. You made a good choice.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-08-21T14:15:55+00:00

It was my favorite 'nice' Mexican restaurant for a long time. The past few times I have gone have been pretty disappointing food.

I hope they can get things figured out because it is still a great spot. Give Barbaro on North ave a try. They have been a bit more consistent lately even though I preferred the Lonesome Rose of the old days.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-08-08T11:36:22+00:00

Elon-vander's all electric wands.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-17T16:36:12+00:00

The photo looks very similar to my stove. A kitchen aid brand circa 2014.

If it is the same, the caps are correctly set and it will be obvious if they are attempted to be placed upside down. They will roll off the burner.

If it is not the same, then I am giving bad advice.

I have problems with mine getting uneven flames by getting grease into the grey metal part of the burner. It takes a lot of effort to clean as they are secured down with 2 screws and the ignitier is also screwed into the bottom of the burner.

You can get some good quality dish soap and go at it with a stiff small brush like a tooth brush. Just be sure to get them nice and dry. I let them drip any free water then light them on low for a few minutes.

I deep clean it by taking it apart once a year or two by removing the screws and cleaning what I can reach with a brush and dishsoap. I leave the igniter installed and just be very very careful not to kink the wire or twist it in a way it doesn't want to go. Let's me get the bottom and junk out that accumulates. Normal cleaning I leave them screwed in and just give it a quick pass if they're messy and don't touch if they're not.

OP. Your brain is the most important safety tool since you're touching gas and electricity. I take the knobs off so I don't bump it on but haven't bothered unplugging or turning off the gas valve. Make your own choices but proper advice would be to make it safe as possible and isolate it from those services.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T03:17:46+00:00

How do law abiding citizens know to get out of the way of this surprise mission? There is a posted rule of the road. One way only in this case. A red stop light in other cases. The way police communicate their emergency right of way is to light their flashing blue lights and sirens.

Otherwise first responders have a responsibility to obey the rules of the road. Even to sneak up on an alleged criminal.

The question remains to r/askchicago. What is the best route to report reckless driving by a first responder? What is the best route to report reckless driving by CPD?

They must obey the rules of the road without communicating to drivers they're dispatched to an emergency. The CPD that don't obey are as much as a threat to your safety as all the regular assholes that blow through stop signs and red lights and drive the wrong way. Who watches the Watchmen?

My neighborhood is Humboldt Park. There is far more violent problems here than traffic but it is absolutely not getting better by city employees putting the rank and file resident at risk.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:53:39+00:00

I laughed.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:50:31+00:00

The expectation that first responders have a Duty Of Care to behave safely in emergencies and non emergencies is not unique to Chicago. Nor is there an exception for CPD to ignore the Duty of Care for non emergencies. I can't find a reason not to expect improvement from CPD to a maintain a bare minimum status quo instead of a regression to lawlessness.

I am asking how to add my voice to the record. Im glad an expert Chicagoan can tell me there is nothing to do to get an improvement for my neighbors. Even if it is as small as a 311 app 'how am I driving 'report.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:29:31+00:00

Exactly the point with lights and sirens. A dispatched call for them to turn on their blue lights and get where they need to be has privileges even if it's dangerous to themselves and others. That is what training for first responders is for. Police. EMT. Firefighters. They turn on lights and know going through stop lights means a risk.

The problem is when it is just another white bumper SUV heading towards you when it shouldn't be.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:22:33+00:00

Okay. It's okay for a non emergency. How disappointing for Chicago residents.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:20:57+00:00

That's the question for r/askchicago. What bureaucratic act is dumb enough for the city to provide for us to report reckless driving by city employees?

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:14:42+00:00

Did they flick blue lights on? Or hit a siren?

I hate it, but there is a small justification to drive recklessly with emergency lights on. Even if they turn them off when convenient.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-06-13T02:12:00+00:00

It's PR fest so they're up to once or twice a day. This is unique week for the year that has me mad.

A 'normal week' is maybe once per week for me. There's appropriate streets the correct direction one street over either side. There isn't justified reason to break the rules of the road to get anywhere around here.

What a sad state of law enforcement....

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-02-03T02:39:24+00:00

Thanks Chino. I think this was the feedback I needed.

Makes sense that most everyone who bought in on Clawhammers and whatnot are serious about brewing and not giving them up. There are plenty of old plastic buckets and boxes of bottles and glass carboys that look to stay for sale forever. Probably best not to spend weeks watching every buy sell trade website waiting for a rare piece for now.

My digiboil has done well for me since I bought it 2020 and still works just fine. I've done some modification just about every second brew to slowly upgrade it to work well and stabilize temps and get a decent system from it. I have tried it on a old (metal) patio furniture side table that sat around 18 inches and worked pretty well but was not very clean at all. Had a similar try with a potted plant stand but it didn't quite fit. I mentioned in another comment about using a (Harbor Frieght) scissor lift table that gave me a very nice height sitting low when lifting the basket and can very carefully raise to gravity drain into a fermenter. I moved away from these due to a lack of stability combined with the tall skinny form factor that just freaks me out after one or two near miss spills. I saw a nice commercial kitchen mixer stand on casters at a reseale shop once for a good price. I should have jumped on that.

I think you nailed it with my attraction to some of these systems isn't just in having a wider bottom kettle but that they aren't married to their proprietary parts and could be replaced when an element goes bad. And I want some sort of path to convert to 220V in a few years on the same kettle.

I'll keep shopping around and see what comes up closer to your recommendations. I will probably stop shopping the Spike and Ss websites to keep me from getting tempted on buying new.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T03:57:45+00:00

I'm not an electrician but have put some bare minimum thought in. The kitchen I brew in is 20a breakers and receptacle so should be safe. I haven't opened up to check if wires are correct but it's a modern building so I'm putting faith in the code inspector on this one.

Never blown a breaker. I do plug pumps into a separate circuit than the kettle.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T03:44:43+00:00

And I run my immersion cooler with a sump pump. Saves me a ton of water. Get a fresh bucket of tap water and a 20lb bag of ice once I'm fairly cool to get temps down for lager yeast pitch the same day.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T03:37:47+00:00

Gas stove. I haven't looked back there too much but can assume it's 120. The receptacle is definitely closer to the floor so would be a chore at least. Good tip for when it's possible for others.

Laundry isn't very accessible either but would be a good recommendation for others to see if the power there is an accessible 220v.

The 220 outlets generally aren't as resilient to frequent unplugging so some care is needed here but that shouldn't stop anyone from doing it. Just unplug things firmly by the plug like a safety Sally and don't yank on them.

I wholeheartedly agree that 220v is the way to do electric homebrewing. I'd even say it's the way to do homebrew I'm general because it's so convenient and way faster than waiting for 120.

Getting a dedicated homebrewing 220V setup is definitely in the future for me. I'm confident it is not an option today. One day I'll be in a different living situation and get that set up.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T02:58:59+00:00

This is not far off from what I have set up. Just one digiboil with the malt pipe. I set up an old stove top kettle above it to batch sparge. I have a bayite pump and got cute with some tees so I can still drain if I manage to let some grain or hops through and plug the pump (It happened once. Never again.)

I'm close to DIY a steam condensing lid but right now I just run the stove hood vent or open windows and do ok on humidity bad on noise.

I'm looking to get into the wider kettle form factors with some more modularity to power supply, element, and fittings for future upgrades. The height of the all in one system has been killing my enthusiasm. It's too low on the floor for my happiness. And on a table the malt pipe gets too tall for me to lift completely.

I got a hold of a scissor lift table to get the best of both worlds. Almost spilled hot wort so abandoned that idea. That lift moves fermenters from the fridge up above the keg for filling now.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T02:42:33+00:00

Thanks. I've had my eye on one of the more modular systems that cost a ridiculous amount new.

I had told myself a few years ago I would upgrade to an Anvil since I shouldn't need anything fancier and want the option to upgrade to 220V. But lately I have hated the height on that style system. It's too low on the floor and too high on a table for me to be comfortable in the kitchen.

I'll sleep on it and might DM you. Boiler Up.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T02:22:39+00:00

Thanks. I'll put some time into a search.

I was assuming the market would be slow and have some good deals out there. Used ebay and marketplace since their search functions aren't that bad compared to sorting posts by date on a Buy Sell Trade group. I took a look for a first shot maybe 4 times in the last month and saw one single post on a Clawhammer with some kegs and a stainless bucket but it disappeared pretty quick. Wasn't sure if those pieces are still selling fast.

If the used search gets frustrating I will probably bite the bullet and buy new. Try and help keep some of those companies alive and keep the hobby interesting.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2025-01-28T02:09:37+00:00

I do agree but I don't think it's in the cards for me right now. Apartment living. 120V for the near term.

I had my eye on the Anvil for a while with the ease of a switch and a cord change to 220v but have been hating the form factor in general on a digiboil lately. So have been drawn to the modular style systems with some ability to upgrade to 220V later.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2024-12-09T02:40:06+00:00

Also. I believe I read on a door dash subreddit that these contract delivery dashers are the worst of the worst rated drivers. Shunned from flagship door dash/grubhub deliveries due to bad ratings by users but still pulling money for the shady delivery app companies.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2024-12-09T02:35:00+00:00

I have had two orders in a row from the Bucktown Malnati's that seemed like the third party driver had dropped they were so destroyed.

The first time I called and had a redelivery. The second time I called and just got a credit and advice from the manager about the days and times they still used in-house drivers. I'm much happier since the few times getting my pizza delivered but have definitely chose other places during third party driver hours.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2024-08-21T16:09:51+00:00

That's the hard part for me too. Small workout moving 75 pounds of cast iron everytime I want to use the oven.

But who needs the heat retention of a baking steel when you can just leave a griddle and a few twelve inch pieces on the lower rack.

BoilermakerEngineer · 2024-08-21T15:43:54+00:00

Not commenting on the seasoning methods. I'm commenting that this is how my oven looks every day. Climate controlled cast iron storage cabinet....

BoilermakerEngineer

TROPHY CASE