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gratefuldisc · 10-26-2009, 01:12 AM

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I am dying to start brewing but money is tight at the moment. I am casually keeping my eyes open for deals on equipment for when I get the opportunity to buy a starter kit.

Today I stopped at a tag sale and I picked up a glass carboy for $5, seemed like a good deal. I see most kits come with a primary fermenter bucket and a bottling bucket. Would the carboy replace the primary bucket and then I would use the bottling bucket for a secondary? or would it be kettle into carboy primary into bucket secondary into bottling bucket into bottles? or something else?

I would also like to get a turkey fryer for boiling, would I be able to clean a used one enough or would there always be oil residue that I would never be able to get rid of? Or do you have to start with something new that has never been touched by oil?

Thanks in advance.

shortyjacobs · 10-26-2009, 01:28 AM

Welcome to the obsession, and welcome to HBT!

You can primary in your glass Carboy. I primary in my glass carboys for 3 weeks, then transfer straight to a keg. You could primary for 3 weeks, then rack to a bottling bucket and bottle from there.

As for the turkey fryer, I got a used one and it works great. I soaked it with a mixture of hot water and a scoop of OxyClean Free, (no dyes). After an hour of soaking, I sponged it, dumped out the oxy, rinsed with more water, then filled it nearly to the brim with water and brought the water to a boil. This made a "passivated" layer of oxidation on the aluminum.

Works great.

mparmer · 10-26-2009, 01:29 AM

I picked up a turkey fryer today at Sams club that had a nice aluminum 9 gallon pot for less than $70... of course, it's worthless to me until I get a wort chiller.

gratefuldisc · 10-26-2009, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shortyjacobs

Welcome to the obsession, and welcome to HBT!

You can primary in your glass Carboy. I primary in my glass carboys for 3 weeks, then transfer straight to a keg. You could primary for 3 weeks, then rack to a bottling bucket and bottle from there.

As for the turkey fryer, I got a used one and it works great. I soaked it with a mixture of hot water and a scoop of OxyClean Free, (no dyes). After an hour of soaking, I sponged it, dumped out the oxy, rinsed with more water, then filled it nearly to the brim with water and brought the water to a boil. This made a "passivated" layer of oxidation on the aluminum.

Works great.

so do you secondary in the bottling bucket? I know secondary is not necessary but I think I want to do it.

Great news on the turkey fryer, but "This made a "passivated" layer of oxidation on the aluminum" huh?

I was thinking the turkey fryer would be a good idea to keep the wife from complaining about me stinking up the house when brewing.

I was thinking it would be pretty easy to make a wort chiller, coiled up copper tubing and means of attaching it to the faucet right?

Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, I haven't even brewed a batch yet. I can already see how its easy to get obsessed. Drinking a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

and fantasizing about what I am going to do for my first batch...

Gammon N Beer · 10-26-2009, 01:52 AM

Become well acquainted with my good friend, Craigslist.

shortyjacobs · 10-26-2009, 02:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gratefuldisc

so do you secondary in the bottling bucket? I know secondary is not necessary but I think I want to do it.

Great news on the turkey fryer, but "This made a "passivated" layer of oxidation on the aluminum" huh?

I was thinking the turkey fryer would be a good idea to keep the wife from complaining about me stinking up the house when brewing.

I was thinking it would be pretty easy to make a wort chiller, coiled up copper tubing and means of attaching it to the faucet right?

Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, I haven't even brewed a batch yet. I can already see how its easy to get obsessed. Drinking a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

and fantasizing about what I am going to do for my first batch...

I don't secondary, and generally secondarys are done in carboys due to them having less headspace and more air-tightedness, but it's certainly possible to secondary in a bottling bucket.

As for the passivated layer: to avoid any "metal" tastes in your beer, you want to allow the aluminum to protect itself. When you boil water in it, it will form an aluminum oxide layer, which will look dark grey. This layer (which is very hard), will protect the aluminum from the beer, and vice versa. You only have to do this once. After that, only use a sponge to clean the pot, (no steel wool), so you don't scratch the layer off.

Yes, it really is that easy to make a chiller. I used 50' of 1/2" tubing, put fittings on the ends that allowed me to screw a garden hose on them, and voila.

Good luck!

BulldogBrewer · 10-26-2009, 02:58 AM

I started with a used turkey fryer. I hit it real good with a pressure washer. Before I had my own pressure washer I would just take it down to one of those coin-op car washes to clean it. Then scrub it good and it always works well for me.

gratefuldisc · 10-30-2009, 02:38 AM

How about one of these granite ware pots?

any downside to using this as a brew kettle? maybe hard to judge the color of your wort?

mparmer · 10-30-2009, 11:05 AM

My understanding is that it would be fine as long as you always check it to make sure it doesn't have any cracks/rusty spots develop in the enamel. If I ever go to 10 gal batches I'm pretty sure it's what I'll use.

shortyjacobs · 10-30-2009, 02:59 PM

Those graniteware pots are GRAC (Generally Regarded As Crap). Go aluminum if you want to keep costs down. The graniteware inevitably chips, and then the pot is junk. I know many people who started with that and quickly gave up on it.