Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stage 2

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Fil
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by Fil » Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:00 am

+3 Lovely stuff, have a great brewday with it.. whats on the menu?
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

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jmc
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by jmc » Sun Mar 10, 2013 2:24 am

Good work. What will you brew for AG#1?

lord groan
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by lord groan » Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:02 pm

Not sure yet about first AG brew, I'm browsing through Graham Wheelers BYOBritish Real Ale, thinking about a Gales clone as I'm Hampshire based and reckon I could ignore any thoughts of water treatment because of this. Still being pulled towards Courage Directors though.

Can anyone advise me on something, I realise I've got the boiler working with a tiny deadspace, <100ml, I suddenly thought have I been too clever, will this cause all the cold break muck to be pulled into the FV too? Should I increase the deadspace somehow?
Thanks
lg

Belter

Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by Belter » Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:40 pm

You've done the right thing. leave the boiler to settle after flame out and the hops will filter most of the cold break. Cold break in the fermenter isn't actually a problem

darkonnis

Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by darkonnis » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:12 am

Nought wrong with cold break, does your beer no harm and the yeast will devour it in short order. Anything that doesnt get eaten can be solved by leaving the FV i nthe garage or outside (in a shelter or something) to go cold and itll fall out at the end of fermentation.

good build though, looking forward to seeing how it all turns out and what amendments you make.... seems no matter how much or little or how much you think you've over engineered things, there are always changes to be made....
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stevetk189
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by stevetk189 » Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:55 am

Nice work, all looking great so far! There's more to great beer than great looking, mega kit. Knowing how the kit works and understanding it is the important bit and you obviously have that. Your first pint will probably be the best pint you've ever tasted. Your second one will probably be the best pint you've ever tasted. And so on.

Great work.
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by dean_wales » Mon Mar 11, 2013 1:26 pm

Still loving the ghetto beauty of this build.
Click here for my cider pressing...
Click here to see my 20% Damson port experiment...
Click here for red wine from my allotment vine...

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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by lord groan » Mon Mar 11, 2013 9:47 pm

Thanks for the positive comments everyone, Dean you're a genius, if you've not got copyright on that comment it's not going to be Steptoes anymore, I'm going to rename it the "Ghetto Brewery" and name my first recipe "Ghetto Beauty" after that quote! That's a glorious description of my build - cheers
lg

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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by timbo41 » Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:28 pm

Been following this thread with interest... my signature says it all. Thought i would chip in with a couple of little suggestions if you dont mind, and will edit with piccys later

NO BOTTLE TREE.. no worries. pop to local co-op/corner store and blag a couple of old bread baskets.. they nearly all have a couple floating about. These are made to fit inside one another but spun around will wedge together nicely leaving a couple of inches bottle neck space. After rinsing/ sanitising invert bottles stick them through the holes.With a bit of judicious juggling, with my set up i can store over 50 bottles including different styles..and lift them in one :D SAVING 20 quid ish

Image
Image









Starsan dispenser.. Pound store pump up weed killer bottle with adjustable nozzle. Remove brass nozzle ,fit a bit of braided tube left over from another project onto plastic spout. in my case i then managed to secure it sideways onto an old table in man cave. Fill with sanitiser , pump up... obvious really. Wear marigolds though!! Saving 8 nuggets..can even reuse rinser if you put a funnel and bottle set up under the business end 8)
Last edited by timbo41 on Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Just like trying new ideas!

lord groan
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by lord groan » Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:36 pm

I like it timbo - a man after my own heart, I'd been wondering how to make a cheap bottle tree. also trying to find a good plastic crate for storing bottles. Blagged a couple of poly crates
Image
from my local corner shop, and they hold 12 pint bottles beautifully, with room to stack even when holding swing-tops, then they nest together when empty so can be stored away easier, just need about 10 more now!
Anyone know where these can be obtained? My corner shop guy looked a bit sick when I suggested I might want a few more so I think I might have to find somewhere else.
cheers
lg

DrewBrews

Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by DrewBrews » Thu Mar 14, 2013 1:16 pm

Nice work,

There's nothing like the satisfaction of knowing that you've got a good result with a minimal spend :)

I'd be interested to know how your foam boiler insulation works out. I nearly used expanding foam but the can I had said it was only stable up to temperatures of 60C.

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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by timbo41 » Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:08 pm

piccys above now
Just like trying new ideas!

lord groan
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Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by lord groan » Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:35 pm

@ Drewsbrews - I'll post when I've made my first brew and checked the foam afterwards
lg

haz66

Re: Steptoes cheap and cheerful ag build stage 1, & now stag

Post by haz66 » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:57 pm

Nice build, nothing wrong with being tight, i`m a Yorkshireman :D
love it when people can build stuff from almost nothing

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