Look at Keep It simple (KIS) brewer. Much simpler design. I'm seriously considering buying it. I've built Duely Brewer but it's just too much hassle. More and more are switching to KIS brewer from Dueley brewer plus they sell compost including fungal compost and food kit to grow microbes. They think the price for KIS brewer is well worth it. They have been tested many many with great results you are pretty much safe with it. You just don't know what you're getting from mushroom compost and elsewhere from the store. Undisturbed forest floor (the few inches of leaves layer on top of soil) is probably a great one to brew with. Very rich in microbes esp fungal. You might also want to buy Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels from Amazon website. Full of good info there. Soil Food Web by Elaine Ingham is the place to start. Read all those e-zines on the website. Bill - that's really a bad advice you're giving there. Please stop that. You have no idea what you're really talking about. Leave it to someone else who really knows about improving soil with compost tea.

Thank you both for your replies. I am leery about making manure teas, so I usually just stick with the plant stuff. David...I am trying to resurrect a portion of my lawn that has died. Large bare spots with compacted soil. I have applied various grains (alfalfa, cornmeal, soybean) but the St. Augustinegrass is not creeping into the bare spots. So I came to the conclusion that I must not have a good microherd/good soil - hence the mushroom compost and tea (made with vericompost, mushroom compost, alfalfa pellets, molasses, seaweed, and a handful of garden soil). This weekend I filled the bare areas with a blend of builders sand, mushroom compost, and peat hoping that a substrate will build to support the grass stolons. I do let the tap water off gas for a few days before brewing compost tea - I was wondering if running my sprinker system (fed off tap water)will hinder the growth of microbes in the soil. I did read here on the forum that water emitted through sprinklers has time to off gas before hitting the soil. What do you two think? Thanks in advance for any insight!

What I have seen happen, around here, with new developments is someone comes in and strips the "topsoil" to go to some other development and then after the houses are built they haul in more "topsoil" and spread a thin layer and either lay sod or seed that. Then people try to keep that lawn growing by pouring a lot of "fertilizer" on it which can make for a lush green, but sick lawn with numerous problems that then need pesticides to control. Short of tilling in what yuu have and starting over spreading compost is a good idea, mulch mow the grass to recycle in place those grass clippings which will help add more organic matter to the soil. If you have deciduous trees those leaves that fall from them every year can be mulch mowed in to provide evenmore organic matter. What organic matter will do in sandy soils is help keep moisture and nutrients in the root zone so the grass plants can be fed by the soil bacteia that digest that organic matter. In clay soils the OM seperates the soil particles so the plants roots can move about more freely and makes moisture and nutrients more readily available. Compost tea can provide some bacteria, and nutrients, tht would then feed on the organic matter in the soil. However, soils lacking sufficient levels of OM won't have much of anything for those bacteria to feed on so spraying the compost tea would be, largely, a waste of time, energy, and maybe money. Molasses can provide a food source for soil bacteria, if they are present because of adequate levels of organic matter. Spraying molasses onto soils lacking sufficient amounts of organic matter will not do much except waste your time, energy, and money.

I thought one applies compost tea using a watering can? Anyhow, it is probably best to do this in the evening(no sunlight) and not water afterwards.