What have you done to your brewery today?

[brenmurph]

no prob, I shud be able to get more and will let u know. if I forget and u see me giving them away remind me ur first on the list

I get 10 litre and 15 litre ones from the local chippy.. any chippy will b dumping these. the chipp ones are mayonaise and tomato ketchup. the have the glass and fork symbol as well

[Hop Bomb]

My aparagus pot arrived this week from here http://www.ebay.com/itm/260941998675  Free p&p to Ireland with parcel motel! Its for my herms pot. It holds a little over 2.5 litres so with the coil probably a lot less. Its a HBC element with a KM8 M40 1.5mm bearing lock nut (a must imo for HBC elements as they come with a crappy plastic nut) Buy them here (thanks CH) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221142275991&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:US:3160




The corny dry hopper came in the post from http://www.stainlessbrewing.com/  45USD + 40 USD p&p. No duty or customs. The build quality is excellent. The SS mesh is super fine & designed to hold hop pellet gunk in place. Ive an IPA on now which Ive dry hopped in the fermenter (thats cold crashing now - Il then transfer that to corny, carbonate & do another dry hop with the new dry hopper)



I got some SS disconnects from mybeer&wine also. They worked out about 12e cheaper than buying from the USA & that doesnt include the duty Id probably have had to pay. The disconnects are npt & my taps are bsp (i think - bought from HBW). As you can see they thread on perfectly & make it almost all the way in. Ive found a supplier of half inch ID silicone hose in UK so will be getting some of that for my QD hoses.

[brenmurph]

got the 40 ltr conical fermenter....see all about it here  http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,3888.0.html

[Hop Bomb]

I added a dip tube to my HLT at the weekend. Works beautifully. No more dead space (it drains dry - pic was taken near the end of the sparge)



I think I may need another heating element in there though as my mash this morning was 20 litres & 42 litres. The 42 litres took 80 mins to get to temp (so I ended up mashing for 80 mins) A bit annoying.

We have a night meter here in the house. Does anyone use their domestic hot water tank water for mash & sparge?

[brenmurph]

got first batch fermenting in new conical

all is well fermenting away and valves leak free.
34 litres fitting just perfectly allowing 2 x cornys to be filled

[Ciderhead]

We have a night meter here in the house. Does anyone use their domestic hot water tank water for mash & sparge?

Have a look in you loft tank or next time you are replacing your cylinder and that will tell you why no one does.

[brenmurph]

ye dodgy.. stick with mains water at worse...ideally get some treatment e.g a carbon filter 100 euros or RO at 170

[Hop Bomb]

Picked up my new 100 litre pot & 80 litre mash tun yesterday. Thanks Damun for bringing them to Galway. Thanks Padraic for the sale. Hope to convert these by end of Oct.

[Padraic]

Picked up my new 100 litre pot & 80 litre mash tun yesterday. Thanks Damun for bringing them to Galway. Thanks Padraic for the sale. Hope to convert these by end of Oct.

Best of luck with them! May you get them finished unlike their previous owner!

[Hop Bomb]

Todays progress on the pots. Mash tun on the left & boil kettle on the right:



No false bottom yet for the mash tun & I still have to sort a HLT. It will be electric powered. Not sure what to do.  Get an 80 litre insulated thermo pot like the pot on the left or a 100 litre stock pot like the on the right? The skin on the thermo pot is thin. Fitting & sealing electric elements in them will be a PITA. But it'd hold the heat very well. The stock pots are real easy cut with the qmax cutters so fitting elements & getting a good seal would be way easier on that pot. What ya think?

[barkar]

Nice work  , I cut through in the outer skin and was then able to fit a bottom and a burco element.you may need to insulate where you have cut through

[Hop Bomb]

How big is the hole for a burco element? Was it hard to get a seal on the thin inner skin?

[Rats]

How big is the hole for a burco element? Was it hard to get a seal on the thin inner skin?

1 9/16  or  39.68mm

[barkar]

The q max cutters i gave enda was suitable for it no bother , 3kw burco element they retail €20 on fleabay + free postage ( i think) , you will need to wire up and earth etc.
Havent seen any leaks

Can i ask re the fancy ball valves what do you intend using them for have you a spray arm etc. for the tun?

[Hop Bomb]

Ive got two HBC elements on my old HLT so was planning on using those. If i use a thermo pot for hlt il have to cut the outer skin larger than the element so I can fit one of those lock nuts on. I know this would be a breeze on a standard stainless pot but Im leaning toward to the thermo pot as it holds the heat. What you reckon? How is yours working out? 

The taps at the top are for return feed from the pump. 90 degree stainless elbow on the inside - on the mash tun there is a half inch nipple on that elbow which will have silicone hose to the grain bed for sparging. The tap will allow me to control the flow in & match flow rates.




On the boil kettle there is a 90 degree elbow on both top & bottom taps with stainless compression fittings & stainless tubing. Bottom tap syphons from the floor/kettle wall. 400ml dead space.
The top tap will have a piece of stainless steel tube curved to match the wall of the pot. Thats the whirlpool return arm from the pump & plate chiller. Its not at all as complicated as it sounds.