Rubbermaid cooler

[Clean Brewer]

Its not a bad idea to get stuff from the US with the Aussie dollar the way it is...

I really need a temp controlled HLT cos i cant be bothered putting one together myself...

Yeah the postage was around the $70 mark but i figuered what the hell, even delivered from the US for that large amount it is still cheaper than what i could have gotten the same thing here for and cheers for the info on the falsie ill have to address that when it arrives.

4 kegs for $80 and $70 postage?? What site is that??

I had a squizz in the US and I can get say 10 kegs for $142 , problem is it's $460 postage = $600, still $60 a keg??

[lethaldog]

Not talking kegs here, it was a mash tun

[Kevnlis]

Back last year when you could still get USPS to do surface (slow boat) post it was MUCH cheaper!

[Clean Brewer]

Not talking kegs here, it was a mash tun

Sorry, lethaldog.. Wrong person..

G'day Lethal,
B3 is an excellent site - I've bought gear off them and they deliver pretty quickly considering they're in the US...Their 10 Gal homebrew system is a beauty. The killer has always been postage. I bought 4 kegs on another site for US$80 and the postage was US$70!!

Back last year when you could still get USPS to do surface (slow boat) post it was MUCH cheaper!

I guess the only cheap way to do it is buy a container load of kegs? Who wants that many? I guess thats what Ross@craftbrewer does?

[Trough Lolly]

Excellent, ive now used it twice and the results have been fantastic + having a proper full setup makes life so much easier

G'day Lethal,
How's the clarity of the mash runoff? I found that to be a bit of a challenge when I was getting used to the new mashtun setup...

Cheers,
TL

[lethaldog]

Excellent, ive now used it twice and the results have been fantastic + having a proper full setup makes life so much easier

G'day Lethal,
How's the clarity of the mash runoff? I found that to be a bit of a challenge when I was getting used to the new mashtun setup...

Cheers,
TL

Have not had any problems yet but i will still have to put that hose around the falsie so i dont get any grain in there, has not been much getting in but it could be less, did a triple decoction pilsner today and she came out clear as a bell

[Trough Lolly]

Looks good - I decided to challenge the conventional wisdom of the hose around the mash screen (I first read it on a US forum years ago) and did a couple of brews without it and found not a great deal of difference. Probably due to the weight of the mash above the screen and the rigid silicon hose that I've got between the tap fitting and the mash screen. It's not as though the mash screen will be flapping around during the mash out and sparge!!

Cheers,
TL

[Kevnlis]

Well TL I think that greatly depends on what method of sparging you use. For people that batch sparge (and most give a good mix) it would probably vreate a problem. For fly sparge not so much...

[Trough Lolly]

Well TL I think that greatly depends on what method of sparging you use. For people that batch sparge (and most give a good mix) it would probably vreate a problem. For fly sparge not so much...

Yes, you'd think so, but actual experience with using the equipment has demonstrated that you still need to vorlauf approximately the same volume before the wort clears - and I've both batch and fly sparged using this setup. Stirring the mash is a hotly debated topic as it is, and I would recommend against going all the way down and stir up the grain that's sitting in direct contact with the mash screen anyway. A common argument in favour of the no-stir mash is the use of underletting...

Cheers,
TL

[Kevnlis]

But if you batch sparge you need to clear the wort at least twice... with fly sparge once you have clear run off you just keep going until you hit target gravity...

[Trough Lolly]

But if you batch sparge you need to clear the wort at least twice... with fly sparge once you have clear run off you just keep going until you hit target gravity...

...or, you do a single batch sparge...I fill the mashtun with the entire sparge volume, vorlauf, recirculate to the top of the mashtun and then drain the mashtun into the kettle. Obviously, having a 10 Gallon mashtun helps!

I make sure the sparge water is hot enough to constitute mashout and basically the only difference between this approach and fly sparging is the depth of sparge water sitting above the grainbed...and I can turn the tap on and walk away.

Cheers,
TL

[Biernut]

Go to spacepac.com.au for rubbermaid products. Phone 1300 763 444 or Fax +61 2 4226 2208 They have a round orange
37.8L cooler part No. #1610-0111, much the same as TL's pic. Price around the 150 dollar mark going on memory. Spacepac are a company based in Wollongong NSW and handle a heap of products. Saw one on ebay for 40 bucks but it was used and I thought Quarantine in Australia might have an issue with it so I passed it up. You got yours cheap TL, lucky man.

[Biernut]

I went the same way as " lethal" and ordered a rubbermaid cooler from Moorebeer in the USA. It arrived today after being shipped out of California eight days ago which I thought was an incredibly fast delivery to southern Tasmania. The cooler is of excellent quality being very well made. It arrived complete with false bottom, and tap fitted with a metre of hose and a barb fitting. Also a 3" temperature gauge as in TL's pics. Moorebeer are a great company to deal with with good comm's, and keen prices, especially with the aussie dollar almost on par. This purchase all up with shipping was $240.00. Looking forward to doing my first AG as juggling pots and strainers doing partials was a real PITA although the outcome was great.
TL I will have to pick your brains on fitting the temperature gauge up as the thread is only 10mm long and as the cooler wall is 32mm thick I will need some sort of adapter to connect to it. An internally threaded tube with a flange and silicon washer to the inside wall maybe. Any suggestions gratefully received.

[lethaldog]

I went the same way as " lethal" and ordered a rubbermaid cooler from Moorebeer in the USA. It arrived today after being shipped out of California eight days ago which I thought was an incredibly fast delivery to southern Tasmania. The cooler is of excellent quality being very well made. It arrived complete with false bottom, and tap fitted with a metre of hose and a barb fitting. Also a 3" temperature gauge as in TL's pics. Moorebeer are a great company to deal with with good comm's, and keen prices, especially with the aussie dollar almost on par. This purchase all up with shipping was $240.00. Looking forward to doing my first AG as juggling pots and strainers doing partials was a real PITA although the outcome was great.
TL I will have to pick your brains on fitting the temperature gauge up as the thread is only 10mm long and as the cooler wall is 32mm thick I will need some sort of adapter to connect to it. An internally threaded tube with a flange and silicon washer to the inside wall maybe. Any suggestions gratefully received.

As far as i know the thermos from morebeer need a bulkhead fitting to be installed, the one that me and TL have got doesnt need any extra fittings it came with everything ( from Ross at craftbrewer) just drill and fit, i have not looked for a bulkhead fitting on craftbrewer ( never needed one ) but i did spot one on the Beerbelly site http://www.beerbelly.com.au/fittings.html Just scroll down and they are on the right.

[Biernut]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I ordered the gauge as an after thought and didn't think about fittings and it arrived in a box as is. Looking at the Beer Belly site the bulkhead fitting is the answer but would need cutting down as it is 50mm long. Also I would need to incorporate a socket to join the two external threads together. S/S fittings don't come cheap but then neither does good beer. Is that a silicon seal behind the flange and do you strip the gauge and tap out for cleaning .

cheers

Brian

[Trough Lolly]

I use silicon O rings for the thermometer but I don't strip down the tap - just run boiling water through it and then some Iodophor or Star San...

Cheers,
TL

[Chris]

I don't know about anyone else, but the Rubber Maid sounds erotic to me.

[James L]

shit mate.. time to cut you off.... HAHA jokes...

[Biernut]

Well finally got temp gauge mounted with S/S socket and hex nipple with washer and silicon washer cut out of the bottom of a silicon pie dish, works like a treat no leaks and at 15 bucks bought local, cheaper proposition than beer belly. Thanks again Leigh for showing me the way. Never thought of rubbermaid that way chris maybe rubbermistress would be more appropriate, your evil mind is corrupting me. Tried to PM you TL Re 60L ex beer kegs modified into boilers & HLT but can't get this function to work this end ..........I will keep trying, bound to crack it sooner or later.


Cheers all

[Trough Lolly]

Well finally got temp gauge mounted with S/S socket and hex nipple with washer and silicon washer cut out of the bottom of a silicon pie dish, works like a treat no leaks and at 15 bucks bought local, cheaper proposition than beer belly. Thanks again Leigh for showing me the way. Never thought of rubbermaid that way chris maybe rubbermistress would be more appropriate, your evil mind is corrupting me. Tried to PM you TL Re 60L ex beer kegs modified into boilers & HLT but can't get this function to work this end ..........I will keep trying, bound to crack it sooner or later.


Cheers all

No probs - the article that sorted everything out for me was this great post on how to convert kegs...

Admittedly they used a dremel tool to do it but to be honest, I just got medieval with the de walt grinder. Just make sure that you relieve all of the pressure out of the keg (a nail will do the trick - just cover the beer out with a towel to avoid giving yourself an impromptu stale beer shower). Mark out the circle with some string and a texta as per their article. Then the easy bit, cutting....

All I did (and trust me it was a piece of wee wee) was to invert the grinder so the top of it was resting against the handrail (and thus the disc is away from you) and by holding the grinder steady against the rail, simply run the disc along the texta line and avoid going too slowly so you don't temper the steel. You should be able to go all the way around on no more than two discs. One tip - don't make the opening to wide. IMHO, you are much better off having a slightly smaller opening than the one pictured in the above article. Make good the razor sharp edge with some sandpaper and you're all done.

Some cutting compound and a 20mm hole saw (buy a Morse holesaw with pilot drill from your local pro plumbing supplier) and you'll be ready to fit a ball valve and recycle a kettle or hlt...you want to locate the hole as low as possible, just above the bottom weld seam and make sure the hole is between the vent holes in the bottom chunnel so you don't overheat your ball valve if you're planning on direct heating with a burner underneath.

I'm not sure if this deserves moving to a "keg conversion" sticky, but anyway it's pretty easy to do and let me know if what I've suggested doesn't make sense or needs clarification...

Cheers,
TL