Mr Bigins

Recipes 

I usually did 2 - 5 gallon batches at a time, but since I haven't brewed since the late '90's, I did 2 batches one at a time just for the expierience. My first batch on Friday was an "Octane IPA" kit that has 9.3lb of liquid malt. My 2nd brew on Saturday was my recipe I call "Whoopass Stout" which has 9lb of liquid malt, alot of grains and hops.



IPA on right and the Stout on left(like that needed to be said). But both brews went great and they kicked in about 10 hours each, liquid yeast, and I pitched at 73 degrees in a 72-73 degree controlled invirement.


When I stopped brewing I told myself that if I ever get back into brewing, I'm keg brewing. I have a Magic Chef 4.4 cubic foot mini fridge that I decided to turn into my keg fridge. According to the energy guide, it costs $28 a year to operate.



5lb CO2 tank fits easily in the back.



SOB, the 2 - 5 gallon kegs arn't going to fit. Screw that, if you knew me, you'd know I never say die. Out comes the inside linning.



Cut to the thermostate. Thermostate moved to the back.

__________________
Primary
1. Moved
2. Moved
Secondary
1. Nada
2. Nada
Keg Conditioning
1. Nada
2. Nada
On Tap
1. Whoopass Stout(my recipe)
2. Octane IPA
On Deck
1. Nada
2. Nada

Mr Bigins

Recipes 

Not the easiest to remove, put some weight into pulling it out.



Now they fit, Bigins FTW!. It's hardened foam that you can make form to the kegs.



Duel tap, it came with these cheesy 13/64 drilled holes and screws. I drilled the 4 holes on the tap to 1/4". Got a 3/8" 15x15 piece of plywood that fits perfect in the upper part of the frige, drilled the 1/4" holes and used 3" - 1/4" bolts, 1/4" large washers, lock nuts and bolts. I couldn't have attached the tap any better or more perfectly. Solid!

4.4cf fridge $130 at Home Depot. All related equiptment needed $480 - 10% off = $432. After pricing everything out, I called Midwest here and talked to the owner and got him to give me a 1 time 10% discount.

Total $562


Now it's just a matter of time, which leads me to my questions.

I pitched my IPA on Friday and it kicked well all day yesterday. But it's already becoming quiet and I expect the same after today for the Stout.

How long do I want to wait until I put them into secondary glass carboys? I know to wait 2 weeks after that before I keg.

After fermintation, what is the ideal tempature to age the beer in the secondary?




^^^^^ Soon!

__________________
Primary
1. Moved
2. Moved
Secondary
1. Nada
2. Nada
Keg Conditioning
1. Nada
2. Nada
On Tap
1. Whoopass Stout(my recipe)
2. Octane IPA
On Deck
1. Nada
2. Nada

Mr Bigins

Recipes 

40 looks but no reply's? ^^^^^ Can someone answer those questions for me?

__________________
Primary
1. Moved
2. Moved
Secondary
1. Nada
2. Nada
Keg Conditioning
1. Nada
2. Nada
On Tap
1. Whoopass Stout(my recipe)
2. Octane IPA
On Deck
1. Nada
2. Nada

Spyk'd

Recipes 

er...I'll bite.


I can't believe you tore out the entire insides to that poor, defenseless fridge!


Why didn't you just go get a Sanyo 4912M? You'd have to do nothing to get two cornies and a 5lb CO2 tank into it.

Like this:





Oh well, function over form again. As long as it works for you.



The only question that stood out to me was about going from primary to secondary and basically you transfer when it's ready. How can you tell? This is a debatable point, but I personally wait about 10-14 days and/or wait until there is only one bubble per 30 secs or less coming from the airlock.

Hope this helps!

__________________
Primary:
Bleach
Secondary:
American Red
Keg Conditioning:
Gruit
On Tap:
ESB
Bottled:
Nada...
On Deck:
Porter, Belgian Abbey Ale

Sephro

Recipes 

whoa! Nice setup!!
since you look to be using glass as a primary you can see when the krausen falls. On average I do the 1-2-"3" method (1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary and 3 weeks bottle) I put the quotes around the 3 because some beers will be good after 1 week with force carbonation.. Others need a little more time to mature... So keg them up after the 3rd week and give them a try till you think they taste good

__________________
Kegged - Munich ale
Secondary - Rye IPA
Aging – Mead

Mr Bigins

Recipes 

^^^^^ Thanks!

I was thinking I use to wait 1 week or so before putting them in secondary.


That looks like a nice set up, How much is it? This is the closest one I could find to it.

http://www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer/kegerators/BC-1206S-2.shtml

Plus $100 shipping = $829, and you have to still buy the kegs and whatever else.


I bought the fridge back in 2004 for a home theater room I was making with a 50" Samsung DLP HDTV set and a Paradigm Monitor surround sound system(you can see the TV in the backround of the final pic of the taps), but I never used it. A friend of mine has been pressing me to get back into brewing, he even had me plant a couple of hop roots in my yard. Man the Cascade is over 5' already.

Anywho, I had the fridge that was unused and taking up space, I decided to get back into brewing but this time kegging. I like building things like computers. Then I can say "I built that, and it works", lol.

But to be honest, you're better off now buying a pre-built PC. After piecing an AMD duel core PC, I found it MUCH cheaper to buy the HP. $809, $50 MIR, I opened a Micro Center CC and got another $100 MIR bringing the total to $669. 6 months interest free financing so the first bill I'll pay it down to $500, and then pay $100 a month paying it off.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0237173

Sorry for going off topic, But everyone should know about this incredible deal on this super powerfull computer. It's hooked up to my 2nd 26" LCD HDTV widescreen.


Since I already had the fridge, it cost me $432 for everything that I needed.


After I transfer the brew into the secondary, what is the ideal tempature envirement do I want them to be in, is 70c degrees ok or is 65 degrees better?

Thanks!

__________________
Primary
1. Moved
2. Moved
Secondary
1. Nada
2. Nada
Keg Conditioning
1. Nada
2. Nada
On Tap
1. Whoopass Stout(my recipe)
2. Octane IPA
On Deck
1. Nada
2. Nada

Sephro

Recipes 

The temp depends on the yeast. But with those two they will be using pretty standard ale yeasts so 70 would be good. Check out the yeast manufactures website to see the range of the yeasts you used. I normally do everything at about 70.

__________________
Kegged - Munich ale
Secondary - Rye IPA
Aging – Mead

Mr Bigins

Recipes 

Ok cool, that will be easy to maintain.


Thanks!

__________________
Primary
1. Moved
2. Moved
Secondary
1. Nada
2. Nada
Keg Conditioning
1. Nada
2. Nada
On Tap
1. Whoopass Stout(my recipe)
2. Octane IPA
On Deck
1. Nada
2. Nada

AdIn

Recipes 

If in doubt I’d measured gravity before transferring to secondary and especially before bottling.

__________________
Non-alcoholic beer is a first step to a rubber woman

Spyk'd

Recipes 

Ah, you already had the fridge, that makes more sense. You priced it up in your total, so I thought you bought it for this project.


Oh, BTW the Sanyo 4912M varies in price, but is only $189.00 at Best Buy:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7046118&type=product&id=10993970 15586

You priced yours at $130.00, so it would only be $59.00 for no hassle and a more "finished" product. Like I said though, as long as it works and you're happy!


Cheers!

__________________
Primary:
Bleach
Secondary:
American Red
Keg Conditioning:
Gruit
On Tap:
ESB
Bottled:
Nada...
On Deck:
Porter, Belgian Abbey Ale