Pics of a brew day

[James L]

Seems that beerbelly is a little busy at the moment... but at least that'll give me a chance to get some money together... I might need some financial backers (dad/brothers)...

So this is what i plan on getting..
50L Robinox Pot (modified with 1/2inch hole, tap and hosetail) 275.90
Hopscreen (and hopefully the modified pickup to suit). 44.95 + 15ish
Complete esky mashtun conversion kit. 139.95
30 Plate Chiller (bare). 119.95
1 1/2inch teepiece (to connect the thermometer to the outlet of the chiller). 10 ish
4 additional hosetails (for the chiller and teepiece) 29.00
Stub Dial thermometer 24.95
3-4m of helical wound PVC tubing. 43.80 (4 metres).

All up including freight to WA i reckon is going to cost somewhere close to 700-800 bucks. 703.50 (not including freight).

Am i missing anything?

If i cant find a decent burner and stand, i might have to get them too....

It seems like alot of money, but its just the initial setup cost. And for the rest of my life, i'll be able to make top quality beer for less than 1 dollar per litre.

There goes my new exhaust....

[drsmurto]

Looks like you are taking the same route as me. Get it all done properly the first time. I'm sure i could teach myself to build soemthing that would work but Wayne has done all the hard work for me and now brew day is painless (except when you forget to tighten nut on false bottom and have to stick your hand in the mash...).

The NASA is a bewdy, i finally emptied my 9kg gas bottle and using the low pressure reg i got 12 AGs out of it!

[James L]

so thats about 2 bucks worth of gas a brew (if you have the 24 dollar bottle swap....) does it come with a stand? and did you buy the HP regulator, or can you use the one off the BBQ for brews smaller than 30L?

[rwh]

The NASA is a bewdy, i finally emptied my 9kg gas bottle and using the low pressure reg i got 12 AGs out of it!

I'm going to have to get me one of those babies!

[drsmurto]

so thats about 2 bucks worth of gas a brew (if you have the 24 dollar bottle swap....) does it come with a stand? and did you buy the HP regulator, or can you use the one off the BBQ for brews smaller than 30L?

It comes with a stand which will be perfect for your pot - wayne had to mod the stand a bit on mie as the keg sits funny on it but with a few additions its all good.

I bought the low pressure reg at the same time, its fine as i only do 20-25L batches but i will be testing it out on a 40L batch soon. 50L kettle so i reckon i might be able to sneak 40L (or close to) batches out. I turn it up to full (and it roars) to bring the wort to the boil, takes about 15-20 mins depending on how windy it is and if i clean it between uses. Then i turn it down to between 1-4 and let it boil for a min of 60 mins, up to 90. Bloody economical! Think its about $26-28 to fill it up (i support my local man) and i have the back up on the BBQ.

[James L]

Shit.... your getting me excited.... just need to wait for wayne to get back to me....

[drsmurto]

Get in touch with Kai over on AHB. He is in Perth and recetnly bought a setup off Wayne. He is also a brewer at Little Creatures.

[James L]

Order has been placed... Although it was inevitable, DrS you were the one who tipped the scales. It'll be delivered to my door in a few weeks... till then i'll read up on grain brewing, ask heaps of questions, try to get my hands on a HLT, and purchase a 36L esky... I have a pair of 300L fridges arriving today to be quickly converted to brew fridges....

i think it must've been the pictures that did it....

Cheers

James

[drsmurto]

Nice work James.

The hobby/obsession only gets worse from now on...... next you will be ordering a mill, buying 25kg bags of grain and lets not even start talking about kegging setups!

[Kevnlis]

K-Mart has 25% off esky's James...

[James L]

I already have a modified marga mill,
I've teed up some malted grain (my mate can sell it to me for 1 dollar a kilo as he buys it by the tonne).
I was looking at getting a Nylex esky, but i think the only ones that kmart have are Willow....

But i have a bit of time to get organised before the stuff arrives.

[Kevnlis]

My local K-Mart has Nylex I think. Have a look anyway, they might have just what your after!

[drsmurto]

How about this one James - Link

[Trough Lolly]

...Nothing stuck under it so far TL, its been working a treat! Used a heap of EKG and cascade plugs recently in an LPCA ish clone and none came thru.

Cheers
DrSmurto

Thanks for that - Have you used pellets in your kettle with this screen?

Cheers,
TL

[drsmurto]

...Nothing stuck under it so far TL, its been working a treat! Used a heap of EKG and cascade plugs recently in an LPCA ish clone and none came thru.

Cheers
DrSmurto

Thanks for that - Have you used pellets in your kettle with this screen?

Cheers,
TL

Pellets and plugs so far and nothing comes thru, left with a nice big pile of hop debris and hot break and i even tip to get as much out as possible.

Got a bag each of B-Saaz and Nelson Sauvin flowers to try next (in separate brews).

[Trough Lolly]

Noice! Thanks for that...

Cheers,
TL

[Tickstar]

Hi Doc,

Noticed in your pic of the false bottom you had what look liked something clipped to the bottom. Is yours the open bottom as it's sold, or have you made some mods? Reason I'm asking is, I have the same falsie from Wayne but am having some trouble with grain getting underneath and making its way into the kettle and causing stuck sparges due to it clogging the pickup.

[drsmurto]

Wayne modified mine as my esky doesnt have a flat bottom. One of the advantages of being a local, i can drop in with my gear so he knows exactly how it all fits together. I just left it with him and he made the decision to add a flat sheet of s/s that clips to the bottom of the falsie which means no grain can get in. Nice clear runoff, even with 60% wheat (altho speed was reduced).

If you add water first then the grain i dont see why you should get too much grain under it but that depends on how vigorous your stirring is. I stir like a mad man for a good 5 mins before closing the lid to ensure as homogeneous a mash as possible without continuous stirring.

[Tickstar]

Thanks for the info Doc. I think my issue is also due to the fact my 45L coleman esky bottom is somewhat undulating, to say the least. But for $10 bucks at a garage sale, I wont complain. I also stir like a mad b*stard to ensure even temp, so probably knock the falsie around a fair bit.

My father in law is a mechanical engineer and works a lot with metal, so I thin I'll take the pic of your modified one and see if he can do the same for me.

Thanks again Doc.

P.S - Just to make it clear, my issue is an uneven esky bottom, caused by areas which have de-laminated from the foam insulation, and has nothing to do with the falsie. I would recommend the falsie to anyone. Did my efficiency the world of good, and c'mon, which bloke doesn't like shiny stainless in their brewery!

[James L]

geez... now you tell me Doc.... ha... ohh well...

So those willow esky's dont have a flat base? I have a spare nylex esky kicking around at work i might "borrow". They have a nice flat base but the one i can get is only 36L. If worst comes to worst, i'll get a base made like yours... then everyones happy.