Pages: 1 2
Marching twards a March pump
I'm glad to see your using those english ale glasses that you received from a very thankful guest. ha ha
Yea, I'm hoping to get a stainless steel cart from work. It has wheels with locks on them, so I can wheel everything closer to my cellar window, after i'm done with the boil.
I'm hoping to eventually just chill and drop the batch right through my cellar window into a 20 gallon drum. Made from NSF Plastic, also from work.
I'm trying to make things more streamlined and eventually cut my batch time down to about 5 hours instead of 7
bruguru wrote:
I'm hoping to eventually just chill and drop the batch right through my cellar window into a 20 gallon drum. Made from NSF Plastic, also from work.
That sounds freakin cool
thirsty wrote:
bruguru wrote:
I'm hoping to eventually just chill and drop the batch right through my cellar window into a 20 gallon drum. Made from NSF Plastic, also from work.
That sounds freakin cool
That does sound freaking cool.
brewchez/Thirsty wrote:
That sounds freakin cool
That does sound freaking cool
I can't remember where I saw this idea, on the web, or in a book, but it's not an original Idea. It would just work well with the house, an the cellar windows are pretty close to the garage.
Mostly I just hate dragging shit down the cluttered cellar stairs. I swear my obituary is going to say death by thomas the train on the cellar stairs.
Speaking of marching towards a March pump...
I had a birthday this past weekend and the wife gave the OK for me to get the bigger chiller I have been looking at. But she told everyone else in the family to just get me gift certificates to MoreBeer. So I have almost enough to get a pump too.
My only dilema is do I use that money to get a pump and maybe improve process or do I use the money to get several batches worth of ingredients and brew more batches than I would otherwise this year?????
Decisions decisions....
well, ask yourself a simple question: "Do I want to brew beer or do I want to sit a stare at an idle brew system with a nice new pretty chiller and pump?" I'd go with former than later. There's always Father's Day! 
1n1m3g wrote:
well, ask yourself a simple question: "Do I want to brew beer or do I want to sit a stare at an idle brew system with a nice new pretty chiller and pump?" I'd go with former than later. There's always Father's Day!
Spoken like a man looking forward to his first Fathers day? (or maybe your second I can't remember the timing of your baby thinking back to Thirsty's brew day)
I was leaning towards ingredients too. Better to brew with a proven system than to spend the year tweaking a system upgrade with fewer batches.
If I didn't need a pump I wouldn't have one. I mean it's nice and all, but it's kind of a PITA throttling the ball valve on the pump to make sure I'm not pumping the wort out too quickly which leads to air ending up in the tubing. Granted I'm a batch sparger due to space limitations, so I only need the pump to get the wort from the MT into the kettle. If I were a fly sparger, or had a fancier set up it might be different.
I'd go with ingredients. Brew more beer now, buy pump at a later date. As you already said, why mess with a proven system just so you can brew less?
brewchez wrote:
[
I was leaning towards ingredients too. Better to brew with a proven system than to spend the year tweaking a system upgrade with fewer batches.
A real connundrum you have here.
You do 10 gallon batches dont you? What current method do you have to fill your MT with strike water? Wouldnt it be nice to flick a switch and have your tun filled right up?
And you mentioned a bigger badder chiller, going counterflow, plate or superIC? I can only assume this will leave your old chiller sitting idle, which now gives way to a free HERMS coil. A couple pieces of tubing and youre there.
I vote while you have the ability to do it, do it.
thirsty wrote:
brewchez wrote:
[
I was leaning towards ingredients too. Better to brew with a proven system than to spend the year tweaking a system upgrade with fewer batches.A real connundrum you have here.
You do 10 gallon batches dont you? What current method do you have to fill your MT with strike water? Wouldnt it be nice to flick a switch and have your tun filled right up?
And you mentioned a bigger badder chiller, going counterflow, plate or superIC? I can only assume this will leave your old chiller sitting idle, which now gives way to a free HERMS coil. A couple pieces of tubing and youre there.
I vote while you have the ability to do it, do it.
YOU BASTARD!!!!
Actually , so heres the deal. I do 10 gallon batches about half the time. Maybe only 40% of the time. Although with less brewing time these days maybe I'll move to full time 10 gallon batches.
I am goin with a 50' Immersion and using my current 25' for a prechiller in the summer. Summer chilling has always been an issue for me. I want to do a plate chiller, but I have not dedicated myself to getting really good at wort clarification post boil... and I don't trust my cleaning to keep a plate chiller clean. Again my brew sessions are getting harder to schedule with a child and I don't always fully clean up the day I brew. I often clean out the kettle and lines and stuff the next morning before anyone gets up. (Hey, I'm just being honest friends)
My plan is to stick with the IC because when I do get a pump someday I think I'll just do an whirlpool immersion chilling setup.
Of course I could better design my rig and process to be doing the cleaning with a pump all as one process.
Its a tough decision to make.
Couple all this with still needing to save some cash to get back into a beer fridge for my kegs and some sort of set up for temp control.
brewchez wrote:
My plan is to stick with the IC because when I do get a pump someday I think I'll just do an whirlpool immersion chilling setup.
Of course I could better design my rig and process to be doing the cleaning with a pump all as one process.
How long have you been married? If your wife is ok with it, and you have the money. Do it, do it now, actually I hope your not at the computer, and your at the LHBS now.
Wives are subject to whims, whims are surrounded by fancy, and their free time, quickly becomes together time, and your shit is left rusting in the garage.
Marriage is great, it's 50 years of love and togetherness. This love and togetherness is spotted by glorious moments of free time. brewchez, make your free time all that it can be, and get the pump.
Pages: 1 2
Search Home Brewing Knowledge Base
Custom Search
|