Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Discussions about beer and wine making.

Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sat Feb 20, 2016 3:38 pm

So with a long and ... well... not so great talk with the missus im going to be shutting up shop with distilling after i run my last batches. No reopen date in the foreseeable future :shock:
And Im told the still needs to go :scared-eek:


Love home brew though so didnt go without a fight. still lost though :laughing-rolling: and knowing this is a distilling forum there are still a lot of members here that have brewed beer from what i have read.
So im going to start making beer. gave it a thought long time ago but loved distilling more. So with beer making legal she came around... took a while though :angry-banghead:

Ill have 16L of 66% WB/CF stuff aging so wont run out for a while if i sub in beer

I'll take a trip to my local home brew shop, being Annerly, which im not fond of, and ill ask them a few questions on what i need to brew beer successfully. Not fond of this because they will try and sell the whole shop to me :violence-smack: Could try a different one if any brissy beer makers know of a good one for beer?

Im wondering if anyone can help me out and tell me what i will need to make beer. Tools and Equipment? such as bottle brushes for bottles or something? All the basic small stuff beginners never think of when starting. heat belt or pad for winter? the alcometer a beginner might not think of or SG meter. got the alco and SG meters but im sure there are lots of things ill find i need and would rather know what i can first before i go in head first.
I will be doing a fair amount of googling and YouTubeing too. Unlike distilling i will have this researched before i start

My boiler and power controller will be gone too so cant use those. so thought i could boil grains in a large stock pot?


If im not distilling ill make beer so any advice on what i should gather up to make it successfully will be greatly appreciated

Thanks to anyone who can help me out in this dark day b-(
Cheers
WTDist
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby bluc » Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:00 pm

Bummer ya have to hang up ya hat. I am doing some ginger beer and beer as far as bottling goes it sux. I bought a tap a draft system bascially 4 x 6 litre bottles that use small co2 cartridges for a draft beer. Half way between bottles and kegs. May be worth a look for ya.
bluc
Site Donor
 
Posts: 8967
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 5:47 pm
Location: sunshine coast
equipment: 2" pot with 2" shotty 400mm long 5x 1/2" on a t500 boiler.
50l keg boiler 4" still mount 4" sight glass 1" drain..
4 plate 4" bubbler, 600mm packed section

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby rumdidlydum » Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:09 pm

Thats sucks wt. Can't you convince her your using it to purify water for the beer or something?
rumdidlydum
 
Posts: 2619
Joined: Sun Oct 27, 2013 7:20 pm
Location: CQ
equipment: The infamous Illuminated chicken leg boiler, Rum glass and other bits and bobs

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:11 pm

Tried. didnt work. brew kits on ebay remind me of the T500 kit :laughing-rolling:
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:23 pm

the boiler will go with the still. going to ask a family friend if he wants to buy it all off me and if he doesnt ill put the lot up in the for sale section, sooo many jars and bottles. basically everything i have for home brew/distilling except one fermenter. pretty sure i spend close to $400 in the last year making just the still and the power controller :angry-banghead:

oh well ill work out a price in my head when im finished my batches and organize if my mate wants it or the for sale section. Only bonus selling to him would be i could use it every now and again prob but he would want it for less than what is desirable
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby Doubleuj » Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:41 pm

Damn mate, that's no good! Was it just the legality issue that she had a problem? Move to NZ. :laughing-rolling:
Doubleuj
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 3630
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 7:15 pm
Location: rockhampton qld
equipment: 4" stainless glasser

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sat Feb 20, 2016 4:55 pm

haha yea she says shes having nightmares. Ive been battling this for a year and half so i did well i guess. its why my builds took a while also
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby bluess57 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 5:20 pm

I assume you want to do AG beers and not extract kits.
You need a vessel to boil about 30l of wort. Pots at this size are expensive.
Keep your keg boiler and cut out the top.
You want a mashing vessel. You can use the keg boiler with insulation or go with a modified Esky.
Collect 750ml long neck Cooper's bottles or go a kegging setup.
bluess57
 
Posts: 473
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:28 pm
Location: ACT
equipment: keg boiler - 4" copper bubbler

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby Adam007 » Sat Feb 20, 2016 5:44 pm

WTD check out craft brewer they are in Brisbane.

When I dabbled with beer I bought some hops and that other stuff you make beer with from them :P
Adam007
 
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:08 pm
Location: North QLD
equipment: 2" Boka
2" Pot
50L Keg Boiler 2400W

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:24 pm

THx bluess.
Ill get a 30L SS pot. Misses wants the boiler gone and ill sell it whole with everything when i get around to it.

planing on making a wort chiller before i start also. Ill prob do a few of those malt extract ones as a learning curve and evolve into AG so a esky would be good. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

ill give the craft brewer a go. round the corner from where i used to live
cheers
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby sp0rk » Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:32 pm

WTDist wrote:THx bluess.
Ill get a 30L SS pot. Misses wants the boiler gone and ill sell it whole with everything when i get around to it.

planing on making a wort chiller before i start also. Ill prob do a few of those malt extract ones as a learning curve and evolve into AG so a esky would be good. :handgestures-thumbupleft:

ill give the craft brewer a go. round the corner from where i used to live
cheers

Go straight to at least a 50L pot. 30L is just too small IMHO
also just No Chill to begin with, get your brewing process down pat before you introduce chilling
sp0rk
 
Posts: 697
Joined: Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:20 am
Location: Mulletbrook
equipment: 2.5" pot still
2.5" shotty PC
50L boiler
2.5" Tee Plate Boka
4" 4 plate glass bubbler in the build stage

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby bluc » Sat Feb 20, 2016 7:42 pm

T500 boiler with power controller works great for mashing :pray: otherwise ya gotta stuff round setting up a heat source for a stock pot...
bluc
Site Donor
 
Posts: 8967
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2015 5:47 pm
Location: sunshine coast
equipment: 2" pot with 2" shotty 400mm long 5x 1/2" on a t500 boiler.
50l keg boiler 4" still mount 4" sight glass 1" drain..
4 plate 4" bubbler, 600mm packed section

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:07 pm

if i was to get a 50L pot, would a $50 keg with the top cut off do the job? and an FSD element? just thinking at the moment. the reason i mentioned a 30l pot was from a you tube vid i watched. my fermenter is 30L so it will have to be only big enough to fill that to a reasonable capacity. thought a 30L might fit on the stove? :))

reason i wanted a chiller was i saw on a few vids that after boiling it you need to get it down to a good temp faster the better to avoid infection. just something to chill it to yeast pitching temp. like this
Image

but just enough for what i need. can make it myself dont need to buy it :handgestures-thumbupleft:

would it really be hard to bring it down to temp? But yes im a little concerned about my brewing process. my hygiene with distilling was a hose spraying out the fermenters :))
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby Sam. » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:18 pm

check this out :handgestures-thumbupleft:
Sam.
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 10405
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:19 pm
Location: South Oz Straya
equipment: Original FSD 5 plate 4 inch modular bubbler SSG with hand crafted plates and parrot by Mac.
18 Gal boiler.
2 x 2400W elements and power controller.
.

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby Wobblyboot » Sat Feb 20, 2016 9:22 pm

Just watch out for the handy pot lid tho :teasing-tease:
Wobblyboot
 
Posts: 669
Images: 0
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:41 pm
Location: Melb
equipment: 4" glass bubbler

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby Sam. » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:03 pm

Wobblyboot wrote:Just watch out for the handy pot lid tho :teasing-tease:


:laughing-rolling: I still don't think the extra tannins will make the whisky undrinkable :D
Sam.
Lifetime Member
 
Posts: 10405
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:19 pm
Location: South Oz Straya
equipment: Original FSD 5 plate 4 inch modular bubbler SSG with hand crafted plates and parrot by Mac.
18 Gal boiler.
2 x 2400W elements and power controller.
.

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby warramungas » Sat Feb 20, 2016 11:19 pm

Google robobrew. Not sure if the site owners are okay with links to other brewshops.
Cheapest semi automated grain brewer I've seen and a great thing to do with the money you get for your gear that's if you want to go all grain that is.
Me for the most part I brew my beer cheap with coopers extract which is still pretty good, needs minimum equipment and stuff all fiddling around and only done a couple of partial mashes in my boiler to make a couple of Belgian tripels for shits and giggles (expensive giggles).
Something I found useful are those wide plastic bread crates. The holes are perfect size to put your bottles in upside down to drain after a tub and to store upside down on a shelf in the shed. Like a makeshift bottle tree that can hold 40 or 50 bottles (big ones).
Also stick with glass bottles. Don't go plastic. More durable, less porous, will last forever and if twist top still seal fine and easier to undo. Prefer the 750s as less mucking around than the smaller ones and seriously, who ever has just one beer?
warramungas
 
Posts: 1436
Joined: Sun Oct 18, 2015 9:38 pm
Location: Nor Perth
equipment: 180 litre fermenter x 2
30 liter boiler
PDA-1
2" four plate modular bubbler
2" one meter long LM column
110 liter boiler with 25 liter (max) inline thumper
4" x 4 plate bubble cap still

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:01 pm

thanks guys.
the robobrew might be out of my price range. if i sell it to my mate (still and everything i own for distilling including bottles jars... everything) it will most likely be $300 as i may be able to use it still with him, on rare occasions :)) plus he is a tight arse :? but i am thinking around 500 for the lot of my stuff maybe 450. ill see. the still and controller alone cost me 400$ in just parts in the last year to make myself so with everything im thinking 500 may be my budget. or 300 if my mate gets it.

Thx for the link Sam. got me rolling on the idea of getting a gas burner and keg since i have gas bottles laying around i dont use. plus a keg is same price as a cheap 20L ss pot .

What do people think of this burner.. 3.3333 kW/h single burner on stand. $54 (including delivery) might be slow heat up but is within budget i think.

list im thinking up so far is

keg $50
above burner $54
Grain mill $28
Hopsock Large (500 micron) $20
bottle brush $5
heat belt under $20
siphon and bottling wand, cane too. $25?
bottle capper $27.95
bottles :think: looks cheaper/better/funner to buy a few cartons of beer and reuse them :)) maybe $80
sanitiser $14
colander from the kitchen :whistle:
decent thermometer, or reuse my T500 one with the cord on it. most likely
hydrometer (mine will go with still) and tube $16
blankets n stuff to wrap the keg to keep heat in when needed.... i have about 5 sleeping bags here that never get used
25L blue bunnings water drum for bottling day $22
I guess i can freeze 1.25L soda bottles and use them to cool in beginning but a wort chiller would be good maybe.

above comes to $362. I guess that works in with my super mates rate. wont have to outlay much but i would rather sell it on here for closer to what its worth. havent considered grain/recipe packs n stuff yet and im sure that will be a decent cost.

can any beer brewers see something i missed that is vital in beginning? burner to big/small? do i need a grain mill for brewing beer either AG or not AG?? im sure i could maybe get that mill to work on a drill???
ill start with a few easy packs of beer to make then move into AG

been working on this actual post for what seems hours. glad its finished :))

PS even though i wont be distilling ill still be on the forum :laughing-rolling:
might work in with my mate with AG. ill brew it he distills it :think:

Cheers
WTD
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby Adam007 » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:14 pm

Craftbrewer will mill anything above 500g when you purchase it from them.
Adam007
 
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:08 pm
Location: North QLD
equipment: 2" Boka
2" Pot
50L Keg Boiler 2400W

Re: Beer Brewing Essentials - Equipment Advice

Postby WTDist » Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:33 pm

Adam007 wrote:Craftbrewer will mill anything above 500g when you purchase it from them.


Thats good. i plan on dealing with a decent HBS that does a lot of beers. Annerly i think is in more sales of essenses n T500's.. logan has a low selection of grains looking on their website.

Guess i can wipe mill of my list

Cheers
WTDist
 
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 11:32 am
Location: Brisbane
equipment: Building a 4" bubbler with 8" glass thumper

Next

Return to Beer & Wine



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests

x