What’s your brew setup? Wondering what’s most common.
Currently I use my retaining wall, BBQ grill, a chair and a cinder block to hold my stainless pots so I can brew outdoors on camp chef burners. Hoping to go indoor electric before snowfall.
-OCD
I normally brew 10 gallon batches, batch sparge and always outside. Brewing is a great excuse for me to be outdoors. I like in the south though so the weather cooperates.
I am in the process of building an electric system that I will unveil it here in a few weeks or so.
Many of the Brewrats put together a “HOW WE BREW” page a few years back.
Some good stuff…
As it is with many brewers, my brewing has evolved over the years. I actually moved back inside.
These days I mash in my 30qt turkey fryer pot on an electric stove. By doing so I can easily run step mashes (Hochkurz, i.e. 63 C –> 70 C –> 76 C, is my favorite) and don’t have to worry about getting the strike water temp just right. I have been able to do back-to-back batches with only 1% wort fermentability difference. I only have to stir during heating and rest the mash wrapped in blankets during the rests. I then use my old MLT as just LT and batch sparge.
Boiling is done in the same 30qt pot on the deck.
Brewing inside allows me to brew at night (I can easily start at 7 and pitch by midnight which includes a pretty long whirlpool rest in ice water) and watch the kids.
Kai
Click on the All-Grain Pictorial link in my sig to see how I brew. Actually, I should probably do a new pictorial soon since some of my practices have changed slightly in the past year.
One thing I do since I mash in a cooler is is I use a “bucket heater” and a Digital Johnson controller w/thermowell. Set my mash-in temp the night before and get my water ready so I can just dough-in first thing the next AM after a cup of coffee or three. Works like a champ!!
I have 3 techniques
- extract w/ steeping grains for when time’s tight, although with batch sparging I’ve been able to knock off batches in 4 hrs
- 5 gal All grain: I have a 10-gallon brewpot that I’ll heat my strike water in. Mashing in a 7-gal gott cooler. Water for batch sparging is heated in my “original” 3.5 gallon brewpot.
- 10 gal All Grain: I use my 10-gallon brewpot (w/ false bottom) as a mash tun, use the 7-gal gott cooler as a HLT, and the kettle is a converted keg.
It’s kinda nice that several of my vessels can do double duty depending on the need.
I’ll post pictures sometime.
I can’t wait to see the new system major. I’m in the process of building a Brutus 10 system .It will be a few months before it’s complete.
Right now…I have a 15 gallon keggle for my kettle and a cooler for a mash tun. It’s similiar to Denny’s system.
i’m doing 5 gallon extract with grains batches currently. propane burner and ten gal. stainless brew kettle with the ball valve (i guess that’s what it’s called). i brew just outside my garage on the back of my house so i can listen to music while i brew.
i hope to make the jump to all grain in the next few months just to have some more control over the beers.
Usually 10 gallons at a time. Equipment consists of:
Barley Crusher
70 qt Coleman X-Treme cooler w/ss braid
60 qt pot w/ball valve (should have bought an 80)
Propane cooker
Homemade 15 gallon conical fermenter made from an induction tank
Homemade fermentation chamber w/air conditioner, controlled by a Ranco ETC-111000-000
Kegerator w/3 Perlick 525’s & room for 6 kegs
A very, very patient wife!!
This one is based on the Brutus X too, kinda. We are actually going gas first and then intstalling the electric as we go. We are testing it tomorrow. I will give a little hint - it uses three 55 gallon stainless steel drums. ;D
All grain brewer using a 70 qt Coleman Xtreme cooler for a mashtun. I setup my walkout basement, aka mancave, to do my mash and setup my Bayou Classic burner just outside. I have my TV, DVD player, and PC ( for playing Brewing Network podcasts while I brew ). Basically the family doesn’t see me for 5-6 hours on brewday.
You can see my setup at dennybrew.com
Wow…are you opening a pilot scale brewery or what…?
My normal batch size now is 24 gallons…
I do often make 45 gallons of several brews that I want around for a while
I brew 5 and 10 gallon batches. I have two blue coolers, a small one for 5 gallon batches and small 10 gallon batches and the big one is for most 10 gallon batches and really BIG 5 gal batches. Both have stainless braid, with the big one having two braids running the length. Boiling is done in a converted keg with newly affixed valve. Don’t know why I didn’t do that sooner. Other than that, I use a wooden kitchen cart so I can gravity feed into my fermenters from the BK. Oh yeah, KAB5 for the fire.
I use mainly buckets for fermenting and one glass carboy for Brett beer aging.
Brewday takes place in my garage, with the laptop set up to surf Tastybrew and play my iTunes. Mainly Drive-By Truckers on brewday.
I mash and batch sparge in the basement.Then I do the wort boil outside. Nice to have a walk out basement.
Without the walk out basement part- I started thinking it’d be cool if someone pumped their wort up and outside to boil it, then gravity drain back down into the basement to ferment after a gravity feed through a chiller.
-OCD
I havent brewed in a long time …March this year, but I’ve brewed beer for a while. I went from 5 gal batches to
2.5 to 3 gal batches mainly cuz I lazy and my health aint so good , so I brew on th stove still, use a 4 gal pot
to mash in( I still step mash alot,decoct too) and boil in a 5 gal pot, sparge in an old bucket w/false bottom( have to
x-fer from MT)-still fly spage, fement in a 5 gal carboy and secondary in 2.5-3 gal carboys(yeah I still do that too)
Nothin’ Fancy
I think I hurt somethin lookin at Skotrats stuff ;)
Matthew
I have a Sabco System and do all grain. Normally 5 gallon batches with the occasional 10 gallon batch.