In this tutorial, we learn how to tap a keg with various pumpers. There are around 5 different types of pumps you can use. Make sure your pump matches the keg that you have, to make your beer come out easiest. Also, make sure your keg is completely full when you purchase it, so the beer comes out easier. There are many different types of kegs, but no matter what type you have, place it inside of a large plastic bin with ice to keep the bottom as cold as possible. To use the pump, set it insid...
What's a kegerator, you ask? Why a keg and refrigerator built in one. This short instructional video shows how to find the hot line for the compressor in a home-made keferator. Mount the tap by aligning over the hole and screw it down to the plywood underneath. Carbon dioxide lines run out a hole in the back. Watch this video tutorial and learn how to build a kegerator, keg refrigerator, for your beer out of a Sanyo 4912 fridge.
Learn how to build a remote controlled beer keg. Not only can you deliver beer to friends, but you can control the drinker's access to it. It's sort of like a remote control bartender!
A classic Middle Eastern confection, halvah often appears at banquets and ceremonial occasions, but you can enjoy it any time. Learn how to bake this tasty sesame version of halvah.
With all due respect to the fine folks at DrinkTanks, it's a little surprising that no one came up with their idea sooner. After all, last I checked, beer was pretty darned popular.
A very traditional tea in Japan is green tea. Japanese ceremonial green tea is prepared from a tea powder known as matcha. This tea is not difficult to make at home, and tastes delicious even without the ceremony. Check out this video and learn the steps and ingredients necessary for creating this yummy infusion.
Imagine you're holding a cookout with family and friends. You're having a good time—the grass is green, the sun is shining, and the smell of the burgers sizzling on the grill is irresistible. There's creamy potato salad, mountains of golden brown chips, and a hefty watermelon chilling on the table, but you forgot something—the drinks!
This instructional drum video shows you how to make a Guinean bolong bata drum. The Bolong Bata comes originally from Guinea. The base is made of two half calabashes. One half is covered with goat hide, tied with rope to the bottom of the other calabash. The hole in the upper half is made for acoustic purposes. And if you like the music, you may put some money in it. The Bolong has three or four strings, made of rope, tied to a wooden stick on one side and a wooden keg on the other. The strin...
Even if you're not a hipster with your own self-sufficient garden, making your own edibles at home can be pretty cool. And while it's obviously easier to pick up a bottle of 7-Up at the store, there's something undoubtedly fun about making your own. For those addicted to their fizzy drinks, DIY soda is a great way to save some cash and make their drinks healthier with natural flavors and sweeteners, instead of something like corn syrup or aspartame.
Learn how to make a brew kettle from a keg.
Learn how to make a papier mâché mask. Make a papier-mache mask for Halloween, a masquerade party, Carnival time, or anytime!
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." We've all seen the quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, on numerous shirts, glasses, and bar signs. It's a good, if overused slogan. It makes one clear, indisputable point: beer is great, and life is better with it.
We are living in a golden age of craft beers. Originally invented by the ancient Egyptians, every culture now has its own tastes regarding beer. The process of making beer is so multi-faceted, it's a miracle that any gets made at all.
If you're too old to trick-or-treat (are you ever really?), throwing a Halloween party is the next best thing. You could always just serve beer and jungle juice like most other people will be doing, which will certainly get the job done, but where's the fun in that? Instead, impress (or gross out) your guests with one of these gruesome drinks.
Although I love a good kitchen gadget just as much as the next food writer, the truth is that my drawers are bursting with unused tools. I usually like to take the simpler approach to cooking and prepping, and for everyday cooking, I find that the best gadgets are usually the ones that do more than one thing.
Bringing lunch to work or school is a win-win situation. You save money, you eat better, and you create less waste. But while the virtues of brown-bagging it are undeniable, it also gets kind of boring after a while. How many times can you shove a container of salad or noodles into an insulated sack before you say screw it and buy a $12 burrito for lunch instead?
When you finally turn the privileged age of 21 in the U.S. (or 18 in most other countries), the first thing you'll probably do is sprint to the nearest pub, order a drink, and revel in your new freedom. Congratulations, you've survived two decades on Earth, you've earned that drink.
To be twentysomething is an awkward time for entertaining. As we graduate college and begin to work in “the real world,” there is a yearning to transition from keg parties into dinner soirées. However, though the desire is there, often the bank account is not. Here are some ways to do in the kitchen what twentysomethings do best: fake it until you make it. (In other words, host a fabulous dinner party for four and still be able to make rent this month!)
Indoor electric grills are nothing new; George Foreman grills have been around for over 20 years now, providing healthy, smokeless grilling options for indoor use. Yet as nifty and fun as George Foreman grills are, indoor grills have never been considered a hot item for passionate and avid home cooks.
At first glance, mandolines seem like such a good idea. After all, who wouldn't want a tool that can create picture-perfect and paper-thin slices of fruits and vegetables that would put even the sharpest chef's knife to shame? Your French fry game would never be the same. Salads would become works of art. Your casseroles would cook perfectly evenly, since the ingredients would be cut uniformly.
Summer means watermelon. Juicy, pink-fleshed, and ever-so-tasty, this pepo is a seasonal sensation. But while cost effective, purchasing a whole, large watermelon can lead to melon monotony and maybe even a rotting rind in the fridge. To keep that from ever happening, here are 15 creative ways to use up that wondrous watermelon. Waste not, want not!
If you love sitting poolside with a slice of watermelon, then I've got a real treat for you. Picture yourself cooling off with a slice of juicy watermelon topped with fresh ingredients like soft cheeses, herbs, and fresh summer fruits. Watermelon pizza is a wondrous thing—a creative take on the classic watermelon salad, only pizza-fied!
If you love quenching your thirst with an ice-cold glass of lemonade but aren't a fan of artificial powder mixes, then this hack is for you. When your next lemonade craving strikes, instead of reaching for a glorified Kool-Aid packet, get an instant sip of summer by using pre-made, frozen lemon cubes to create your favorite drink. And this recipe isn't just easy to make, it's perfect for any number of servings, from single to several, or even a pitcher, if necessary.
Beer isn't just for drinking anymore. There are many useful and surprising things that an ice-cold brewski can help you accomplish, from household chores to better-tasting food. It can even help you look and feel healthier.
When I first heard about the Thermomix, an all-in-one kitchen appliance from Australia, it sounded like an old SNL commercial parody: It slices! It dices! It heats! It kneads! Is there ANYTHING this machine CAN'T do?
Any beer aficionado who's been to Ireland will always talk about how the Guinness there "just tastes different." But save your eye rolls, skeptics: it turns out your favorite lagerhead actually has a valid point.
Watermelon is the perfect snack for hot temperatures. It's hydrating, crisp, and refreshing, especially when it's chilled. Yet some people aren't content with leaving a good thing alone, which has given us many watermelon-based innovations, some great (vodka-filled watermelons) and some delightfully strange (square watermelons).
Though nobody's going to hide the fact that they're getting sloshed on major holidays, you might want to be more discreet when it comes to your morning pick-me-up or lunchtime tipple during the rest of the year. It used to be that having four martinis at lunch was acceptable and even desirable, but that's really not the case anymore.
There is an easier way to get in shape—and you can do it from the comfort and privacy of your own home if you so prefer. There are a few low impact pieces of exercise equipment that you can use to tone and shape your body; and often these simple tools can produce dramatic results. In these exercise videos, learn how to workout with a resistance band and a fitness ball. Through the power of the internet, our expert can be your personal trainer and lead you through several exercises to tone you...
The big night is less than a week away, so how do you not have a costume yet?! In my world, Halloween is the night of all nights. It's the only day of the year when it's socially acceptable to dress and walk around like an insane person, eat too much sugar, and scare the hell out of total strangers. What's not to love?
Tonic water, seltzer water, club soda, and mineral water: these 4 types of "bubbly water" are often, erroneously, used interchangeably. But the truth is that each possesses unique qualities and uses that set them apart from each other.
Fall is my favorite time of year, yet I cringe every time it begins. Why? Because it seems like every business is in a frenzy to start the Christmas shopping season the day after Halloween ends. For those of us who are fans of pumpkins, that's a buzzkill.
Fight me all you want, but it ain't a party without alcohol—whether it's a Halloween party, Christmas party, dinner party, or even a damn wedding. (If you think that people will stick around after dinner for a dry wedding, then you're sorely mistaken.)
Sometimes I forget that I'm also a fiction writer, so I thought it might be a nice change of pace to share one of my stories with you. I wrote this piece awhile ago for an anthology that never came together and I'm tired of just sitting on it.
You can brew your own beer on the stove, in a keg, or even inside a pumpkin, but those all look boring next to The Wobbly Boot Pico Brewery, the most sophisticated home-brewing system you'll ever see. Built by Ben_B, an engineer at National Instruments, the brewery sits on a steel frame with two incredibly shiny kegs. There's an LCD touch-panel PC, and Ben even made his own app to make it fully automated. The app lets him save recipes and also monitors the temperature of the beer. It keeps tr...
Purdue mechanical engineering undergrad Ross Wehner built a gadget Homer Simpson would envy- a working, arduino-powered beer catapult fridge.
If you’re planning to hold a party this October, what better event to model your event after than Oktoberfest? The German beer festival began in Bavaria, Germany in 1810 to celebrate a royal marriage. Since then, it has been celebrated annually by millions of attendees these past decades and has spread throughout the world. Of course, Oktoberfest would not come to be without the beer.
Throwing a pool party before autumn arrives? Truly emphasize the festivity of summer by making a floating beer and soda cooler out of foam noodles, waterproof rope, and a large-lipped container.
Scrabble Bingo of the Day: * FINNESKO [n/pl.] A finnesko is a boot made of tanned reindeer skin, with the reindeer's fur on the outside. It's an especially good, warm boot for subarctic regions. These boots originate from the Sami, indigenous people from the cultural region of Sápmi, located across four countries in the Arctic Circle; Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. This area is also referred to as Fennoscandia.
Hey bros, broettes, and normal people. This post is all about INSPIRATION, a word that we hear a lot during years when the Olympics are on, but screw that, they don't own the copyright and I'm using it.
