Beer!

[MonkeyChops]

Just thought I'd brag about my new gravity feed beer brewing system.

My buddy and I just upgrading our brewing operation. No more pots on the stove, which my wife is plenty happy about. We bought kegs converted to kettle, mash tun, and lauter tun. Also we got 3 big Propane burners. I have an old shed that I'm fixing up to be my brew house. I just need to come up with an exhaust system so we don't kill ourselves making the beer (save that for drinking it). Once I get it all setup we'll be making 12 gallon batches! Can't wait.

It will look something like this:

but not quite as nice, mine has a wooden frame and a few less bells and whistles. More ghetto but every bit as functional.

 

[Sphinxter]

Sure you're not making whiskey, what's the fire for? Doesn't that kind of ruin fermentation?

 

[MonkeyChops]

whiskey would be cool, maybe a future project with completely different equipment. What you see in the picture is just for the sugar extraction and cooking process of the beer brewing. I have 5 gal carbouys and buckets for fermenting. The yeast doesn't get added until the wort is at room temperature, for which I also got an immersion cooler, similar to this:

to speed up the cool down process as it takes a damn long time otherwise.

One of these days I plan to either buy a conical fermenter like this:

or possibly convert another keg into a fermenter. But what I have now will work and what I don't have now is money.

 

[Javacat]

So do you sell it or is it for your own consumption? What sorts of beer you making? Proper ales or crappy american crap?

 

[Fishbong]

Hooray for real-life homebrew!
I've seen some more low-tech beer brewing kits for around 25€, i always felt like giving it a shot but wasn't sure if those are any good.

 

[Ravnos]

Hooray for real-life homebrew!
I've seen some more low-tech beer brewing kits for around 25€, i always felt like giving it a shot but wasn't sure if those are any good.

I've seen some low end homebrew kits in stores, but I don't think they were quite that cheap. My understanding is that they're good for beginners, but that if you're going to get serious about it you'll want to put a bit more money into good gear. It's like everything else, I guess.

 

[MonkeyChops]

selling it is a bitch, maybe someday. its like $5K a year for a license to sell beer in ohio. So its just for consumption. I make ales because lagers require lower fermentation temperatures and I'm not geared up for that yet. Good ales, you can keep the light beers. My next batch will be an oatmeal stout or maybe a sierra nevada clone. I can make 12 gallons for around 50 bucks in material. Around here it costs around 10 bucks for a six of good beer, so I save quite a bit. Plus I like my beer better than store bought stuff, its way smoother.

cheap kits are ok, all you really need is a big ass pot to cook in and a couple food grade buckets with the right accessories. problem is that most kits don't come with the pot. check out: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/ if you are in the states. they have good prices and selection.

 

[Username]

That sounds pretty cool. How long does it take to brew?

 

[MonkeyChops]

it depends on how in depth you want to get with your recipe but I'd say that the fastest you could do a typical all-grain brew would be 5-6 hours, depending on equipment (unless you got creative). My last batch took 8 hours but I did a multi-rest which added time and I didn't have the immersion cooler which added at least an hour. Its not real labor intensive though, a lot of waiting and just making sure things are at the right temp and stirring to make sure the grains don't get scorched. I fully expect my new system to take every bit of 8 hours however, Adding size adds time inherently. The same is true for taking away size also though. My buddy did a quick 3 gallon batch on his stove and he claims it only took him a couple hours.

Of course, if you have never brewed before, you might want to do an all extract brew to begin with. Its way faster and way easier, just not as good of beer IMHO and its more expensive material wise. I did one extract brew when I was 17 and not old enough to buy beer. I figured if I can't buy it, I'll make it. It came out ok, but I quickly moved up to the all-grain method.

 

[WizardStan]

hours?!?! I hope that doesn't include fermenting time.

 

[MonkeyChops]

No, of course not. Fermentation takes 2 weeks to a month plus another 2 weeks to a month in the bottles before its drink time. That is unless you inject carbonation into the beer. Then you could be ready to drink your beer in as little as 17 days from your brewday. I'm almost setup for injecting, I already have the soda keg and the couplers, I just need a co2 tank and a regulator. It really is a fun hobby.

Pic of a typical soda keg setup:

 

[Morpheus384]

hours?!?! I hope that doesn't include fermenting time.

I'm sure he's refering to the brew day to get to the fermentation stage. Typically in all grain brewing 4-5 hrs of the time is spent imersing the Malted/crushed Grain in hot water of different temperatures and steeping(rests)to break down the starches in the grain into sugars. The Grains are then lautered(Drained)and sparged(rinsed with hot brewing water) to get all the sugars out, which can then be brewed with hops/cooled and then fermented to make the Beer. Ale fermentation times can take 1-2 weeks depending on the sugar content(e.g. how strong the final brew will be). Lagers are cold fermented and can take 6 weeks to 6 months to finish up for bottling. Personally I'm an ale hound and have no patience. Quick brews rule the day in my home. Only occasionally will I brew a lager. I also dont bottle, as soon as I stepped up to 10 gallon batches I started using 5 gallon Cornelius Kegs.

Congradulations On setting up your Home Brewery!! I dont have any space or even a garage to set mine up permanently. I have to set the whole thing up outside every time I brew and then take the whle thing down after.The only fun part is I get lots of people who stop by and ask me what the hell I'm doing out there which leads to alot of great beer talk.

Cheers!

 

[MonkeyChops]

thanks Morpheus, but I'm not setup yet, hopefully I'm make a dent in my garage/shed this weekend. I'm dying to try out my new equipment.

Where do you buy your grains and your soda kegs from?

You'd prob appreciate this site: http://pico-brewing.com/index.html
the next step?

 

[Morpheus384]

thanks Morpheus, but I'm not setup yet, hopefully I'm make a dent in my garage/shed this weekend. I'm dying to try out my new equipment.

Where do you buy your grains and your soda kegs from?

You'd prob appreciate this site: http://pico-brewing.com/index.html
the next step?

I buy my Grains and ingredients from a small homebrew shop just 2 blocks from my house. They have a good grain mill there and I usually use theirs to prep my grains the same day as the brewing. I lucked out when I stepped up to using the Cornelius 5 gal Soda canisters. My friend knew a hockey coach that had a refridgerated chiller system that he used to throw field day parties for his team and their familys. He bought the soda in the canisters and since, at least at that time, there was no redemption on them, just kept throwing them in his barn after they were spent and just never got around to returning them. I came home one fall day to find 26 of them in my back yard. After a 2 day cleaning session and about 50.00 worth of O-rings(the seals on the kegs had absorbed the soda smell and its almost impossible to get out, and scents the beer if you use the original seals) and a tubing cutter(to trim the dip tubes for natural conditioning) from the hardware store, I was in business. I bought a regulator for the CO2 from my homebrew shop and never looked back.

The Hobby is great fun if your a gearhead like me. I had a blast fabricating equipment. My 12 gallon system was fabricated from (3)15.5 gallon Kegs I got salvage for 20 dollars. Burners (king cookers)from Garage sales and an inline chiller I built from scratch from copper tubing/PVC from the hardware store. I splurged and bought a Phils Sparge arm for my Lautering process. Hooking up regulators,taps and constructing my counterpressure filler was so much fun and, at the end of the day led to great beer.

I've lusted over Pico systems and other Brew Gear suppliers products, but at the end of the day I like to tinker with everything, and like to fashion things myself on a shoestring-I have learned more that way.

I recommend this book Highly:

Brewware: How to Find adapt and Build Homebrew Equipment

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0882669265/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

Cheers!

 

[Username]

If I were to try to set one of these up in my tool shed, about how much would it cost for a basic setup? And would there be any fire hazards/other precautions to consider?

 

[Morpheus384]

If I were to try to set one of these up in my tool shed, about how much would it cost for a basic setup? And would there be any fire hazards/other precautions to consider?

My recommendation is to start off small with a kit,and try out the process in your kitchen. The basic kits are only 50.00US or so and make good beer of any style you desire. If you catch the bug, and become a brewing addict, then consider constructing an all grain system like we're discribing. Usually folks brew for several seasons before making the leap to doing all grain brewing. At that point it seems like the path of least resistance to build a tiered brewing system like these. Because your dealing with such large volumes of hot liquids that the kitchen becomes outmoded/impractical. Cost for building one can be as cheap as 200.00 or so, if you fabricate most of the stuff yourself(yes, the raw materials arnt always cheap). Or they sell Huge 20 gallon turnkey "Brew Sculptures" with all the bells and whistles for 3,000.00+US. The burners on these can put off up to 210,000 BTU which is a consideration in close quarters, since some brew rigs have 3 burners. Venting of steam as the OP stated is also a concern in an enclosed space. It all depends on your knowledgability and your need. Such brew setups dont make your beer any better(mostly more plentiful), they just add to the ease of operation/and or economise time by brewing in larger quantities over cheaper/more labor intensive methods.

Plus if your a gearhead and like to constantly try out new things its a logical progression.

Sorry for Hijacking your thread MonkeyChops!

 

[MonkeyChops]

its cool, sounds like you have more experience than me anyways.

I agree with morpheus about starting small, big setups that do 12+ gallons at a time do cost a lot and you may find that its too much work for what you get out of it or that you'd just rather buy the beer. If your not into microbrews or import beer I'd say just buy your bud light from the store. But if you love good beer like me and have a passion for creating then it could be right up your alley.

A Large brew system indoors is a pain in butt. The main thing I'm worried about is the fumes from the propane burners. I figure a large hood over the setup with an exhaust fan should take care of it. Although I'd like to go all electric if I could. You can get heater elements used for hot water heaters and mount them in your kettles. This would give you greater control of the temperature because you can wire them up to a thermostat. You can even hook them up to some relays and us a computer program to control the temperature changes you need. That's my dream setup, someday it will be mine.

Morpheus, have you ever heard of induction heating or it ever being used for brewing? I ran across induction burners while I was surfing the other night and I instantly thought it would be perfect for homebrew. no fumes and supposedly very powerful. Some of the top restaurants in the country use them for cooking. Induction heaters actually heat the steel that touches it but it itself is cool to the touch. pretty cool in a geeky kind of way.

 

[Morpheus384]

its cool, sounds like you have more experience than me anyways.

I agree with morpheus about starting small, big setups that do 12+ gallons at a time do cost a lot and you may find that its too much work for what you get out of it or that you'd just rather buy the beer. If your not into microbrews or import beer I'd say just buy your bud light from the store. But if you love good beer like me and have a passion for creating then it could be right up your alley.

A Large brew system indoors is a pain in butt. The main thing I'm worried about is the fumes from the propane burners. I figure a large hood over the setup with an exhaust fan should take care of it. Although I'd like to go all electric if I could. You can get heater elements used for hot water heaters and mount them in your kettles. This would give you greater control of the temperature because you can wire them up to a thermostat. You can even hook them up to some relays and us a computer program to control the temperature changes you need. That's my dream setup, someday it will be mine.

Morpheus, have you ever heard of induction heating or it ever being used for brewing? I ran across induction burners while I was surfing the other night and I instantly thought it would be perfect for homebrew. no fumes and supposedly very powerful. Some of the top restaurants in the country use them for cooking. Induction heaters actually heat the steel that touches it but it itself is cool to the touch. pretty cool in a geeky kind of way.

Sorry I havent Posted I've been at my Fathers house today working on A MAMECab I've been building from scratch(he's got a garage which I covet). Knowlege is subjective. Its just like computers. No matter how much you know you always know someone who has more experience/ and or knowledge. I started brewing after getting a basic homebrew Kit for Xmas in in '94. I jumped up to 10 gallon batches 3 months later, and started all grain brewing 6 months after that. The couple that run my local Homebrew shop have been brewing since 1985 and even after brewing over 100 batches of beer they've still got me beat. But brewers are great folks who love to share knowledge, good conversation and BEER!

Actually I haven't heard of using induction heating in Homebrewing. Shoot me a link I'd love to learn about it. The primary reason I like using propane is the control. I started off in my kitchen using an electric burner stove. Oh how I miss the boilovers....not. The burners never seem to cool off fast enough and boilovers happened frequently. The heat from the burners also caused carmelisation in my lighter colored Nut Brown ales. I trashed that stove a month later(it came with the house when I bought it) and bought a gas stove in its place. I loved the greater precision it offered especially when doing rests in all grain brewing; so when I built the 12G system I of course went with propane for the same reasons.

Check out the Brew Sculptures at Morebeer.com. They have both RIMS and HERMES Systems with "Smart technology"-automated thermostaticly controlled burners and Digital thermometers/timers for mashing. Clear pyrex volume tubes mounted to the kettles to know exactly how much wort you have in the kettle, and when your brew will fit your fermenter. I drooled over them for several years after I built my system, Then I came to the realisation that I could never afford one. They did give me ideas to eventually incorporate into my rig. Sometimes when I'm operating my makeshift system I feel like Doctor Who trying to wrestle the T.A.R.D.I.S. to a course destination. But its all about the beer and its a labor of love.

Art+Science=Beer.