DIY full mash equippment

[Bert]

Hey,

I've been brewing can kits since march, and I wanna move up to a full mash, in order to make better beer, but the equipment needed is a bit pricey, and being an arts student , I have a small budget, and a need for beer. Does anyone know how i can DIY any of the brewing gear

I have a few mates who are electricians, boiler makers, fitters and turners, carpenters, and engineers, so I figure there's no reason why i shouldn't be able to get the stuff reasonably cheaply, and pay them in beer. It's just that I'd like to use designs that are already tried and true, rather than mucking around experimenting.

Cheers, guys!

[ACTbrewer]

You can make a mash tun out of an esky, or plastic buckets. But I think the most important bit of kit is a big pot (until you go full on with a converted keg). The bigger the better. I can't afford a new one, so I have all the family on the lookout for a 20-30L one.
Remember, google is your friend!

[lethaldog]

Im sure your mates could make up something pretty trick with all those trades, i have only seen one homemade job and the boilers were made out of old comercial beer kegs, cut the top off and use as the lid, put a tap in the bottom and all you need is a burner, looked like a pretty good setup but alot of work involved to get it setup

[chris.]

Check out Denny Conn's setup. His setup is far from flash & he's quite an accomplished brewer:

http://www.hbd.org/cascade/dennybrew/

http://www.brewiki.org/ is a another good site worth checking out for some idea's

[OldBugman]

picked up a 19L pot with a glass top from Big W tonight for $19.80.

Also picked up one of them tripod BBQs for $50 so I can cook up my wort outside and keep the misses happy now.

[rwh]

And then there's brewing in a bag! It's a bit out of the ordinary though. And I haven't tried it.

[velophile]

And then there's brewing in a bag! It's a bit out of the ordinary though. And I haven't tried it.

I'll second the Brew In A Bag idea.
It would have to be the quickest, easiest & cheapest way into All Grain brewing. The other bonus is you can buy/build a mash tun & Hot Liquor Tank later if you wish or as finances allow.

So first thing is buy that really big pot. (Really big = at least 45 litres) & yes, aluminium is OK, it won't give you alzheimer's. I recommend your closest asian cookware shop.

[rwh]

Yeah, I just bought a 16.5L stainless steel pot with copper plate in the bottom. Really high quality, but also really high price ($100) . Now I feel the need to go buy a 45L pot. I'd say it's going to be the cheapest one I can find as I'm trying to keep my brewing equipment costs below what I have saved from homebrewing instead of buying commercial beer. That way I at least break even!

I wonder... my housemate has one of those little round gas BBQs. Can I use that under a 45L pot to do my boils? Do I have to remove the plate from the top before hand? And do I really need a wort chiller?

[DarkFaerytale]

RWH: "And do I really need a wort chiller?"

i'v heard of people leaving there wort out over night with a lid on to chill it, no idea if this is a good or bad idea, i'v never boiled more than 13 ltrs and 20 mins in ice water is usually good enough to chill it down enough that when i add cold tap water it comes out just right, thats for a partial tho...

-Phill

[drtom]

If you put the lid on at flameout, so that the steam sterilizes the inside of the lid, you might be okay. The risk of leaving it overnight is that any wild yeast or bacteria that get in will have free reign without serious impediment until you pitch the yeast. Once you've pitched, the huge number of yeast cells will tend to out-compete any stray nasties, so the chance of infection is drastically reduced.

One technique which I've used with kit and extract brewing which should adapt is to boil water, put it in sealed sanitized 1L containers and freeze them to make 1L ice blocks. You can then add them to the hot wort to cool it quickly. With kit brewing, I do it because I get impatient and don't want to have to wait around for the wort to cool before pitching (i.e. I can do the whole thing from opening the brewing equipment cupboard, to setting the filled, pitched fermenter in its place in about 1/2 an hour).

Does require advance planning though.

T.

[lethaldog]

Yeah, I just bought a 16.5L stainless steel pot with copper plate in the bottom. Really high quality, but also really high price ($100) . Now I feel the need to go buy a 45L pot. I'd say it's going to be the cheapest one I can find as I'm trying to keep my brewing equipment costs below what I have saved from homebrewing instead of buying commercial beer. That way I at least break even!

I wonder... my housemate has one of those little round gas BBQs. Can I use that under a 45L pot to do my boils? Do I have to remove the plate from the top before hand? And do I really need a wort chiller?

You will find that most of those little round BBQs have a little wire grate thing connected to the legs that just slides off, fits straight in on top after you remove the plate and its great for boiling the billy on when your camping and dont have a fire goin, not sure how they would hold up under alot of weight though

And as far as the cool down, couldnt you just cool it a bit then convert to the fermenter, fill to desired volume and whack the lid on and fill the airlock and leave to cool more if necassary, should be pretty safe id reckon at least better than a big pot with the lid on

[velophile]

<snip>

I wonder... my housemate has one of those little round gas BBQs. Can I use that under a 45L pot to do my boils? Do I have to remove the plate from the top before hand? And do I really need a wort chiller?

The BBQ burner might boil 45 litres. I'd say you would be best removing the plate & using a grill or piece of mesh to hold the pot about 50 - 100 mm above the burner. Most AG guys are using some type of high-output gas burner see - turkey burner, Mongolian burner, or a cheaper ring burner
I'm hoping that an old once green cast iron 2-ring gas burner will boil my monster new brewing pot. I plan to test boil it with plain water prior to brew day.

You can do without a chiller.
Easier this time of year in Melb without too many probs. I'm planning to "no-chill" my first AG brew. I'll rack the hot wort directly into a sanitised cube, lid it & leave to cool overnight.
Some reading on the no-chill-method.
Another idea.

[ACTbrewer]

Check these beasts

http://search.ebay.com.au/stainless-ste ... sofocusZbs