Setting up, on the cheap

[Kristoff]

Hi, i'm contemplating going to grain brewing and was pricing up and making the equipment as cheaply as possible

I've found a few possibilities and would like to know what anyone thought or if anyone has any better ideas

Here's my idea for a boiler/mash tun

ebay item no. 320312341109

I was thinking of the blue 50 litre one, of which i would buy two of and cut out the base of one to use as a false bottom
for mashing, and would be fitted with a bagain basment kettle element and tap

My idea for a wort chiller would be

http://www.tradingdepot.co.uk/DEF/produ ... %20x%2010m

which i would wrap around a suitable sized cylinder and bend into shape and fit appropriately.

Are there any other major bits of kit I would need? I've got all the basics from kit brewing.

Any thoughts or should I just save my pennies and buy from HBS?

[Northern Brewer]

As a Yorkshireman, I'm all up for saving brass, but when it comes to home brewing I'm not so sure. Until you've tasted your first AG, you're not going to believe how good it tastes, and that you're heading into something that's going to stick with you for a long time.

On that basis, a coolbox mash tun is a must have. They're about £50 to buy and a little cheaper to make. £3 barrels ain't the way to go.

Similarly, you need to buy a boiler. There's food grade plastic, and there's food grade plastic. Not all of it will suitable for boiling temperatures. Personally, I'd prefer a stainless boiler anyway, and second-hand Burcos are fairly easy to hunt down.

Finally, you don't need a wort chiller. I must be the only person who posts here who doesn't get all exercised about this subject, but with 200+ AGs under my belt I've managed maybe 3 slightly-hazy beers, and all of those can be more attributed to poor hot break, rather than anything to do with cold break.

So spend the £100, get on with it, and enjoy! Then start saving-up for cornies

[cooldad]

Do a search for boilers , mash tuns and immersion chillers (ic) on this site there is alot of good information on how to build your own, if not that way inclined hop and grape sell it already made for you .

[ChrisG]

I built all my own equipment with a lot of help from the folk here. Its the same as Hop and Grapes ready made but cost half the price.

I have only just starte All Grain but like Northern Brewer says once you taste your first self made beer it will blow your mind at just how much better it is from commercial brews.

So yeah jump on board and get building!!!!

[haz66]

My first AG brew was done in pans and without much equiptment at all, and it turned out very well, i`ve since added various bits to make brew days a lot more quicker and easier, you can spend a lot or a little it depends on how much time and money you want to put in, but i`d have to say that a well equipt system just makes it a lot easier but you dont have to spend a fortune, i got a basic boiler from Layland homebrew for about £36 (best thing ever) i added my own tap to a cool box that i already had for my mash tun, i`m currently making a manifold to fit to it, i bought a couple of FV for about £7 and added taps, i built my own sparger for a couple of quid, i also bought one keg and blagged another so i now have enough equiptment to do a brew every week,plus i have been saving beer bottles for a long time so i can bottle and keg.
But have a go with what you have and you`ll still brew a decent brew, hopefully

[wetdog]

I agree up to a point with Northern Brewer in so much as I don't see the chiller as essential and it was the last peice of equipment I bought. I didn't buy anything complete, prefering to build from scratch. The guestimate costs were;
boiler made from hop & grape 10 Gallon bucket, 2 kettle elements, boiler tap and copper hop strainer - £50
mash tun made from Argos coolbox, copper manifold, drum tap, lagged with polystyrene sheets & duck tape - £30
hot liquer tun made from 5 gallon fermenter, boiler tap and kettle element - £19
immersion chiller made from 10m x 10mm copper tube, hose pipe, hose connectors £26
basic total £125 give or take a fiver
There's always extras that seem to mug you though and they can add up depending on how much equipment you have already. I think the total spend for all my gear including barrels, scales, thermometer, extra FV's is around £300, thats not to mention a boiler bucket I knackered, a kettle element I burnt out and a cool box I bought that was too small...

[ADDLED]

Hi Kriss, good luck with whatever you decide. Wetdog gave me a good link for a cheapo coolbox

http://www.tentastic.co.uk/acatalog/Cool.html

(Wetdog I hope thats not the one you said was too small! )

[wetdog]

Hi Kriss, good luck with whatever you decide. Wetdog gave me a good link for a cheapo coolbox

http://www.tentastic.co.uk/acatalog/Cool.html

(Wetdog I hope thats not the one you said was too small! )

ah no I think you've got me mixed up with someone else. that link is news to me - the small coolbox was from tesco but the one I'm using now was from Argos

[ADDLED]

Aaaah, I remember now... My apologies for involving you in stuff you werent involved in... this time (its late )
Anyhow, I ordered the Coleman 28L Icetime Coolbox for £9.99 and they sent a 32 litre Camping Gaz one for the same money, which was nice.

[Carpking]

Hi Kris.
I tried all grain for the first time a while ago. The difference in the end product makes it all worth while. I am mashing and boiling in the biggest pans i have and dividing the grain roughly in proportion with the size of each pan. I pour it through a grain bag into my primary and divide the grains agian for a batch sparge, juggling the heat all the time and using a thermometer to keep around 66 degrees. Then i boil as much of my 23 litres (about 19) in my pans for the hop boil and again through the grain bag into the primary. To cool its into the bath with cold water and i put pet bottles with frozen water into my wort.
This is far from ideal but the results are still great. I am looking at a burco boiler now - i am hooked!
But go for it. You wont look back!


By the way.... anyone out there use a burco boiler? Do you think you could squeeze 23 liters into the 20 liter one? Anyone know where to get one? I am looking on ebay at the moment. A 20l one wet for under 40 quid which included p and p. A 30 liter one went for 59 quid.

[fivetide]

I have a 27L/30L one (it gets described differently in different places). I squeeze 32L into it at the start of the boil. Somewhere on here I posted photos of different volumes in it so you can see how full it gets. I'll try and find the link.

[fivetide]

Here we go!

[Carpking]

Thanks for that. Do you think i could go above the max line and get 23 liters in then? Or do i omit 3 liters from the boil.
So did you buy a used one? They are pretty pricey new.

[Kristoff]

Thanks guys for the informative an interesting replies,

I've now got my self (hopefully) some suitable equipment, i've found a Massive stockpot at my parents house,
which i'm going to "borrow" - it will hold up to the brim 29 litres, so I should be able to boil a good 25 litres
and top up though the boil (is this a good idea?)

I've got another stockpot which is 10 litres which can be a back up Boiler or HLT

And for a mash tun i'm going to make a version of Daabs false bottom mash tun from an old fermenter
wrapped in bubble wrap and blankets.

As for chilling the brew I was going to leave to cool overnight under airlock, or has anyone any better ideas without
using a copper coil?

I'm going to try on the cooker for my first brew, then if everything goes ok, i will be getting a propane boil ring
and do the brewing in the shed/outside, which will suit me better.

If this works, it will certainly be on the cheap, total so far.... £00.00

[Northern Brewer]

Carpking

My C20T Burco appears to be a 20 litre one. The MAX indicating line is 3" beneath the rim. I have marked the point where it holds 23 litres, and that is 1" beneath the rim. I boil my excess wort in a large stock pot, returning it to the Burco with the 15 minute hops. At the end of boil I remove the hop bags and top up the boiler to my 23 litre mark with boiling water. In my case I then simply bang the lid on, seal this in place with a wrap of cling film, and cool things down with a circulating fan for a few hours before transferring to the fermenter. Whether I ultimately decide to rack or not, that 23 litres ends up producing more beer than will eventually fit in a Corni.