PPOT homebrew thread. BEER!

[Shuie]

When I did my first AG batch I used the bucket from my homebrew kit for the primary. My wife called me into the pantry where it was stored the next afternoon and asked 'Is this normal?'. The airlock had overflowed until it clogged and lid on the bucket was bulged 3-4" vertically. I was pie faced. I didn't expect such a violent fermentation at any point. I really didn't even expect to see the first bubbles in the airlock until that evening. Im pretty sure my brewing career would have ended the moment the bucket exploded in the pantry

[krichard]

I just started AG brewing myself. I read John Palmer's book and made the transition from extract. Here are some pics of the setup I built.

[Shuie]

Awesome. I'm using a converted keg also, but I only have the one setup as a mash tun/boil kettle right now. I mash in the keg, heat up the sparge water in my old thinwall pot, batch sparge & collect the wort in a clean PET bucket, clean grain out of the mash tun, dump the wort from bucket back into clean kettle, and finally boil in it. It takes me no less than 6 hrs to do a 5gal batch. It's a time consuming and physically tiring PITA, but at the end of 3 weeks it makes beer

While I'm not currently (and probably never will be) at a point where I feel like my current equipment is limiting my ability, I really want to move to a 3 kettle system soon. I'm in the process of planning and acquiring tools & material for a single tier temperature controlled "Brutus 10" type build as I continue to learn and get my process in order.

This isn't mine. I'm not smart enough to figure stuff like this out on my own, so I bought the plans from this guy

alenuts.com - Home of Brutus "Ten"

[red-beard]

Geez you guys are high tech compared to my setup. I used a rectangular cooler and developed a triple infusion mashing system.

I crushed my grain with a Schmidling mill the night before and put it in the cooler. I "doughed in" with hot tap water, about 5 am, and went back to sleep.

I would then do a protein rest with boiling water.

A conversion rest with boiling water

And then mash out with boiling water.

I also tried a few other methods, a decoction mashout and a "steam" mashout. But the easiest was the above system.

Drain and recirculate a few pints until the wort ran clear, and then hot sparge water on top. Drain until sg was about 1.1, although you could go lower with acidified sparge water.

Several guys were building RIMS systems with PID controls and circulation pumps.

I used a large stainless steel pot (used cooking store) for my wort boiling and a propane burner. I was trying to find a really big Gasoline fueled Coleman type stove, since gasoline was about 1/3rd the price of propane.

Primary fermentation in 6 gallon acid carboys, secondary and tertiary in 5 gallon glass water bottles. I mostly kegged in 5 gallon corny kegs. I found several junk yards with lots of kegs, and picked them up for like a $1 each. I had about 100 at one point, and sold almost all of them. I think I still have about a half dozen.

I brewed about 50 batches with this setup, pretty much made 5 gallons a week for a couple of years.

[nynor]

5 gallons a week is a lot of suds. damn!

[red-beard]

I had a lot of good friends coming by, and I drank a lot more then...I also weighed a lot more...

[Shuie]

Just finished the first two shakedown runs of my upgraded AG 10gal home brewery. I went electric. The eBrewery uses two vessels, a heat exchanger coil for recirculation & cooling, and a single pump for recirculation, cooling, & transfer. I still need to tweak a couple of things, but it's working really well so far.

The control box is wired for 240V & 120V and fed from a 30A GFI. The 240V 4500W heating element is switched through a temperature controlled solid state relay. The desired temp is dialed in on the PID and the element gets switched on/off base on the readings. So, if I want to mash at 151 degrees for 90 minutes, I just program the controller and wait for 90 minutes. No more compromised mash schedules, overshooting temps, and no more propane!

[azasadny]

Nice setups here! I'll be brewing some mead soon since my 8 year old batch was ruined (oxidized). I'll brew a batch of stout for the neighbors since I can't drink beer any more. I really enjoy the brewing process!

[Shuie]

Art updated his beer thread so I figured I would update mine.

I completed a phase II upgrade of my electric brewery about a month ago and have run a few batches through the system successfully since then. I added a 3rd electric kettle that provides enough capacity to do full 10 gallon batches of any beer. I added recirculation provisions and quick disconnects to all of the kettles & hoses that make heating and wort transfer a little quicker, easier and cleaner. Also added a 2nd March pump and a plate chiller that has reduced my chill time from 2hrs to about 10 minutes. The last big addition was a temp controlled chest freezer that regulates fermentation temps and moves the process out of the house pantry and stairwell.

[krichard]

I think I'm on phase 4 or 5 since I contributed to this thread. I really like your electric setup and strongly considered it myself but I've scaled up to 20-25 gallon batches the power requirements were beyond what I had easily available. My latest setup is made up of three 30 gallon boilermaker pots, two march pumps, plate chiller, cold room for fermentation and freezer for cold crashing and carbonating. Oh and a six tap kegerator on the back porch. I'm bordering on obsession at this point.

[Shuie]

That is awesome. Forget gas, you need a steam boiler

[masraum]

THis guy doesn't need all of that fancy equipment.

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[Shuie]

A new standard in brewhouse efficiency...

THis guy doesn't need all of that fancy equipment.



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[azasadny]

Wow, just... Wow!!

[krichard]

Originally Posted by masraum

THis guy doesn't need all of that fancy equipment.

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I didn't see this guy with a booth at the brewers fest today. He might have blow through his beers quick..... bada boom!!

[Head416]

I brewed my first beer today! I just bought a simple setup with a pot on the stove and a bucket fermenter. This was an amber ale recipe with extract and grains. What kills me is, I'm so excited and want to try my beer NOW!

[azasadny]

That's great! Brewing is a fantastic hobby and I've been doing it for 20 years and still have fun with every batch. My ginger wheat turned out really nice!!

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Head416

I brewed my first beer today! I just bought a simple setup with a pot on the stove and a bucket fermenter. This was an amber ale recipe with extract and grains. What kills me is, I'm so excited and want to try my beer NOW!

And that is why I could never make wine. Too impatient!

[azasadny]

If you use 5 gallon Corny kegs, you can be drinking your beer 2 weeks after brew day. After fermentation is done, you put the beer into the keg, force carbonate and cool it and you're ready to go!

[azasadny]