I need your DIY Project!

Hey all,

Our site BrewGeeks has been up for a couple of months now and although the blog is rolling along nicely, we are always looking for more DIY projects to post. It's been quite a challenge looking through the hundreds of pages of threads in this section and sifting through all of the questions. hic!
There are also lots of great older posts, but since I always ask for permission, some people will probably never respond.

So...

If you have a project that is written up with pics, please send me a link because I'd love to add it. We are working on gathering as many great DIY projects as we can find to consolidate them in one place. You can see what we currently have in DIY Projects under each main section (Grain, Hops, Yeast, Water, and Equipment).

Send a pm or contact us on the site with details.
http://www.brewgeeks.com

Also, what do you guys think about a section containing "What not to do" or something about DIY projects that failed. Would that be useful to prevent you following down the same road as someone else?

As always, thanks for your input!

Cheers!

TK

I totally don't get this trawling a forum to boost a blog...

Cheers

I just took a quick glance at your site but it seems to have quite a bit of stuff in it, good job.

tknice said:

Also, what do you guys think about a section containing "What not to do" or something about DIY projects that failed. Would that be useful to prevent you following down the same road as someone else?

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Just my opinion, but as far as DIY projects go I don't like this idea. It sounds like it would stifle peoples creativity more than help them, just because someone else did it wrong does not mean someone else won't get it right.

day_trippr said:

I totally don't get this trawling a forum to boost a blog...

Cheers

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That's nice. I'm trying to give something back here and you give me crap about it? We are not making money with this site... on the contrary it costs money to run, and we are trying to build a place where DIY projects don't get lost in the shuffle and buried under pages of threads.

Homebrewtalk is one of the largest, best homebrew communities I've ever seen that is filled with people who love brewing just like I do. How do you propose I communicate with everyone??

I hope you have suggestions...I'm all ears.

H-ost said:

I just took a quick glance at your site but it seems to have quite a bit of stuff in it, good job.



Just my opinion, but as far as DIY projects go I don't like this idea. It sounds like it would stifle peoples creativity more than help them, just because someone else did it wrong does not mean someone else won't get it right.

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Thanks H-ost. yes.. we do have a blog with updated daily posts, but the main idea is sharing info with permanent sections--it will just take a little while to build the content.

I'm on the fence about the "what no to do" section as well. I think it may end up being confusing and, as you said, someone could find a better/different way to do an idea that didn't work before.

thanks for offering your ideas..

tknice said:

That's nice. I'm trying to give something back here and you give me crap about it? We are not making money with this site... on the contrary it costs money to run, and we are trying to build a place where DIY projects don't get lost in the shuffle and buried under pages of threads.

Homebrewtalk is one of the largest, best homebrew communities I've ever seen that is filled with people who love brewing just like I do. How do you propose I communicate with everyone??

I hope you have suggestions...I'm all ears.

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Regarding threads getting lost... that's true, and falls on the shoulders of the mods here. They can choose to organize this site with stickies and stickied lists. While that does exist, it's VERY weak. They don't get paid, so primarily they play kindergarten cop and spend most of their time policing juvenile behavior (AFAIK, only Txbrew makes money, one guy, so what can you expect). This is just a forum.

(I was going to bash your request to copy from this site to yours, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this site isn't geared towards cataloging projects... they do get lost in the stream of threads that course through here).

Here are some things I made, you are free to copy as much of this to your blog as you like. I think you have your heart in the right place.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/simplest-keggle-cutting-jig-143048/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/double-barrel-bottling-now-twice-fast-257264/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/pressure-gauge-mounted-bottle-cap-268151/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/240vac-toolbox-control-panel-pics-184296/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/inline-thermometer-build-3-4-simple-simple-163779/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/paper-shredder-mill-203515/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/2-1-2-gallon-montana-jar-fermenter-200328/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/autosiphon-holder-solution-revisited-163373/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f128/i-just-bought-microscope-270225/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/chiller-heater-johnson-controller-w-pic-159995/

Just took a quick glance at it and now have it on the favorites. Love the best beer commercial you have on there and the tip on etching glass is pretty sweet. I'll grab a beer and check it out more later tonight. Looked pretty sweet!

I like the site so far. I will defiantly be reading more over there. If the OP of a certain thread/project gives you permission you can use it. Otherwise I don't see HBT liking you taking there articles. Just my two cents from being an admin on another forum.

brewmaster89 said:

If the OP of a certain thread/project gives you permission you can use it. Otherwise I don't see HBT liking you taking there articles. Just my two cents from being an admin on another forum.

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I think that's why he's, in this very thread, explicitly asking HB users to share their DIY projects with him. I find that to be a pretty darn good example of web etiquette.

Thanks guys.. yes, I don't expect Txbrew or even any of the mods to catalog projects (other than the occasional sticky like you said)...it would be too much. Our goal is to build a nice searchable library of projects and eventually to have at least one example of every common brewing DIY for people to see.. as well as some that none of us would ever think of! LOL

I should pm Txbrew to see if he has a problem with me asking his members to share their projects. I guess I thought of it more as the brewing community and that person's idea than the property of homebrewtalk. It's certainly my mistake if he doesn't feel that way.

I'd like to point out too, that the projects listed on brewgeeks come from all over the web, not just here. The Aussies were very happy to share and have lots of great ideas (although they were pissed at my constant use of imperial instead of metric lol--which I'm always trying to fix), and there are lots of other sites and forums who's members have offered their projects to post.

Again, thanks for not bashing, my buddy scoundrel and I look at HBT and post in threads just like you guys every day and are just trying to do our part to help promote homebrewing and have a little fun at the same time (we are programmers by profession).

p.s. Thanks for the links passedpawn, gonna check them out once I get the kids fed.

I would like to preface this comment with the fact that I have never added a "how to" or DIY threay, but I would like to offer a suggestion.

Matbe, instead of having a 'what not to do' section, you could instead have a section with common mistakes that are made and how to avoid making them? Drawing from experiences in other aspects of life outside of home brewing, the best way to learn if from mistakes that are made. If someone can read about, and even see, mistake that were made, why they were made, and how to avoid making the same ones, I feel as though it would be a great resource to people who may be reluctant to tackle the project in the first place.

Good luck with your website, and all the best in the future.

StainlessBrewing said:

the tip on etching glass is pretty sweet........ I'll grab a beer and check it out more later tonight.

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That caught my eye too, and now I am doing the second part.

Thursday said:

I would like to preface this comment with the fact that I have never added a "how to" or DIY threay, but I would like to offer a suggestion.

Matbe, instead of having a 'what not to do' section, you could instead have
a section with common mistakes that are made and how to avoid making them? Drawing from experiences in other aspects of life outside of home brewing, the best way to learn if from mistakes that are made. If someone can read about, and even see, mistake that were made, why they were made, and how to avoid making the same ones, I feel as though it would be a great resource to people who may be reluctant to tackle the project in the first place.

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This is great, it just reminded me of my own experience with learning to drill through stainless...

love the site! if you make a facebook page i'll "like" it

jasonkeithscott said:

I think that's why he's, in this very thread, explicitly asking HB users to share their DIY projects with him. I find that to be a pretty darn good example of web etiquette.

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Yeah I was agreeing with the OP. Just stating it again for the others who thought it was wrong.

Nice site! Favorited

Thanks for adding the favorite guys! We actually did create a facebook fan page but I haven't had time to get it all set up yet.

Also, I put up your double-barrel bottling DIY this morning passedpawn and will post some of the others in the coming weeks. Thanks again!

Anyone else have any DIY links they would like to share? I need to get a stirplate build up there but I haven't found the right one yet. I want to make sure there are wiring details along with the rest of the info. Now that I think about it, I did see one or two that were perfect but the person hasn't responded that I can use it.

I just checked out your site. Very nice ! That tap line cleaner is a great idea.

Mine is still under construction but you can use it:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-single-tier-build-289260/

tknice, I used the "making multiple starters" tutorial from your site and that is how I make all my starter wort now so you are welcomed to reference any my builds in my sig.

Here is my fermentation chamber build out of a old mini fridge.

http://www.lewybrewing.com/2011/07/son-of-fermenter-build.html

Or my Keg Cleaner inspired by Tasty and Doc on the brewing network

http://www.lewybrewing.com/p/automatic-keg-cleaner.html

n2fooz said:

Mine is still under construction but you can use it:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-single-tier-build-289260/

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Thanks n2fooz, looks incredible. What is left to complete?

aubiecat said:

tknice, I used the "making multiple starters" tutorial from your site and that is how I make all my starter wort now so you are welcomed to reference any my builds in my sig.

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Hey aubiecat, glad the starters guide helped you! Your E-BIAB build is jaw dropping and definitely where I want to be one day. I think I'm up for the challenge but the wiring may be tricky for me. Will definitely post this if you don't mind but it will take some work to get it written up for the site. Lot's of info there!

Also, I may post your fermentation build as well because mine is overkill for most people and your's is nice and clean and well written up.

lewybrewing said:

Here is my fermentation chamber build out of a old mini fridge.

http://www.lewybrewing.com/2011/07/son-of-fermenter-build.html

Or my Keg Cleaner inspired by Tasty and Doc on the brewing network

http://www.lewybrewing.com/p/automatic-keg-cleaner.html

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I love both of your builds lewybrewing. I'll post them soon, maybe later this week or the weekend.

I don't mind you using the fermentation build. Glad you liked it.

Ferm-chamber build. Things been operational for about 2 months and holds the temp solid at 66.5 deg. I've actually only heard the heater and/or refer come on once in that 2 months.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ferm-build-progress-pics-tons-pics-312828/

buckley28 said:

Ferm-chamber build. Things been operational for about 2 months and holds the temp solid at 66.5 deg. I've actually only heard the heater and/or refer come on once in that 2 months.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ferm-build-progress-pics-tons-pics-312828/

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Nice build buckley28. She is a bute Clark!

What temperature probe did you use? I need something like that for my main bar keezer.

Hey man, cool site! I can see it growing nicely! I like the idea of a "What not to do; DIY". In any new DIY project I'm doing, what not to do is usually the part I look for first. It seems to really help in avoiding simple mistakes. Again, cool site, keep it up!

Wow! Just quickly skimmed some of your site on my iPhone. The mobile version is very nice & clean. The info seems very complete as well though I only had time to look at one area.

Well done and thank you!

DirtyDirty said:

Hey man, cool site! I can see it growing nicely! I like the idea of a "What not to do; DIY". In any new DIY project I'm doing, what not to do is usually the part I look for first. It seems to really help in avoiding simple mistakes. Again, cool site, keep it up!

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Yeah, I'm really torn on the what not to do section. I really think it can offer some good info for people but we need to decide on the best way to add it that is not confusing. thx for visiting.

SkyHighBrew88 said:

Wow! Just quickly skimmed some of your site on my iPhone. The mobile version is very nice & clean. The info seems very complete as well though I only had time to look at one area.

Well done and thank you!

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I was excited about how well it looks on mobile as well! The site actually does most of that automatically.

p.s. Any more project links would be helpful.

tknice said:

Thanks n2fooz, looks incredible. What is left to complete?

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Thanks, I'm working on temp automation for HLT and MLT and finishing up the plumbing

tknice said:

Nice build buckley28. She is a bute Clark!

What temperature probe did you use? I need something like that for my main bar keezer.

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Using the STC-1000
I did experience some issues w/ the high temps we recently experienced in North Cal over the past weekend. 90 degrees outside and the chamber was not able to hold the inside temp at 66 like I had anticipated. What I think was the problem was I had an exterior piece of plywood that was covering the back of the fridge. I have since taken that piece of plywood off and all seems well so far. But we're back to about 62 degrees here and expect high to mid 80's over the weekend so we'll see what happens. A good way to help ease the strain on the compressor in the fridge is to wire a fan on the same circuit as the fridge so that it turns on directly facing the compressor when the fridge turns on. That way your cooling off the and allowing airflow to the compressor so it does not overheat.

Nice work. Bookmarked! Can never have too much info from others.

buckley28 said:

Using the STC-1000
I did experience some issues w/ the high temps we recently experienced in North Cal over the past weekend. 90 degrees outside and the chamber was not able to hold the inside temp at 66 like I had anticipated. What I think was the problem was I had an exterior piece of plywood that was covering the back of the fridge. I have since taken that piece of plywood off and all seems well so far. But we're back to about 62 degrees here and expect high to mid 80's over the weekend so we'll see what happens. A good way to help ease the strain on the compressor in the fridge is to wire a fan on the same circuit as the fridge so that it turns on directly facing the compressor when the fridge turns on. That way your cooling off the and allowing airflow to the compressor so it does not overheat.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I had a similar problem and wasn't able to get into the 50's like I was hoping for lagering. Some of it was cost restrictions and the freezer I'm using and also that I still need to foam insulate the holes where water tubes enter each chamber. Like you said though, 66 is still very good and brings ale temps into a consistant range--regardless of outside ambient temp. That is worth it alone.

I haven't gotten your pics and build written up yet, but I plan to soon.

Thanks again for sharing.