Pages: 1 2
New Article: Brewing on a Budget
Yes,secondhand is a very cheap way to go.For example:I just picked up 3-6 gallon carboys with fermometers,brew caps and handles,4-5 gallon corny kegs,1-5# co2 bottle and dual gague regulator,1-4 way co2 manifold,2 beer out ball lock connectors,3 co2 in ball lock connectors,2 beer faucets and 3 airlocks for 100$ what a score huh.And i found it on craigslist.I've got my fridge setup in the garage with a super cheap kegerator now,just waiting on a couple batches to ferment and then i'll have draught homebrew yay!
I read Jamil's article on his whirlpool/immersion chiller technique from www.mrmalty.com and was thinking through the improvements I could do using my immersion chiller, which typically took like 45 minutes and lots of water. I tried a variation this afternoon, when I was brewing an oatmeal stout. I use to use a black HDPE paint stirrer chucked into my drill to try and whip additional air into the wort right before pitching. More recently, I have been using oxygen injection and was no longer using the stirrer. However, I chucked it up and strapped my drill to a pipe and suspended it over my wort with the stirrer inside of my chiller loops. With it running at high speed, it induced a pretty good whirlpool. My 6 gallon brew went from boiling to 100 degrees in six minutes, and was down to 70 degrees in another 5 minutes. Be much cooler to use Jamil's method, but a pump will run be over a hundred bucks and is not likely in the near future for me. For now,. I can live with my drill induced whirlpool, and it cost me nothing and used way less cooling water. Not bad.
forget the immersion chiller, and get the plate chiller "shirron". This costs about 95 bucks, but it cools so much faster than anything I've ever seen. It's really one of the best kept secrets in brewing, I can't believe that everyone doesn't have these.
from boiling to 60F as soon as it's out of the chiller. I just put it right into my fermenters. This time of year with the pump it takes me 5 minutes to cool and have it in the fermenters, it's absolutely crazy. Especially if you where used to chilling with Ice like I used to do. Seeing somthing cool this fast blows your mind.
Pages: 1 2