Almost done with my 1/2BBL single-tier

Here's the pic from tonight before I drilled and installed my HERMS coil. Gonna mount both heating elements and hook up the control panel tomorrow and I should be brewing by this weekend! More pics to come!

HUGE thanks to the HBT community for this one. I couldn't have done it without some very personal help from multiple members on here, as well as the great feature of a forum where I can eavesdrop on years worth of discussions!

That center kettle looks especially nice

Looking good. Whats the inagural brew going to be?

SpikeBrewing said:

That center kettle looks especially nice

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Hahaha that it does. In retrospect I should have just ordered all my pots from you guys, but I was trying to bargain hunt. I did save some money, but it was more headache than it needed to be. Also I'm not super excited to drill the 1.25" hole for the heating element in the big kettle on the right. It's 3mm stainless. I'm gonna be there all night.

tally350z said:

Looking good. Whats the inagural brew going to be?

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I think I'm going to break it in with a nice easy beer I've done before, so 15 gallons of "Oktobourbon." I went with a low ABV beer because I've heard that recirculating mash systems routinely achieve 80-85% efficiency, compared with 70-75% from my old system. I figured it was better to overshoot on a 5.5% beer than an 8% beer.

But after that I have an imperial pumpkin pie ale that I just love, and it's definitely on the way!

BudzAndSudz said:

Hahaha that it does. In retrospect I should have just ordered all my pots from you guys, but I was trying to bargain hunt. I did save some money, but it was more headache than it needed to be. Also I'm not super excited to drill the 1.25" hole for the heating element in the big kettle on the right. It's 3mm stainless. I'm gonna be there all night.

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First where the hell did you get a 3mm thick stainless kettle?? That thing must weigh 50 pounds!

Second, in regards to the bargain hunting... I'm all for saving money but I keep telling people that you can get one of our kettles for almost the same price as a putting together a weldless kettle if you take into account the headache it can be to put it together. Nobody listens to me though ha ha

Enjoy the kettle!

It does weigh literally 50 lbs or more. It's some bullet proof bombshell of a kettle that some crazy dude on here made and I bought from him in the classifieds section. It's a pretty impressive piece of work, but heavy enough that it was the sole reason I decided to go electric. No way I want to use enough propane to heat 50lbs of steel on top of 20 gallons of wort!

You guys do a BUNCH of craigslist advertising in my area. Does that work for you? I'll spread the word on your kettles as best I can by word of mouth as well.

We get grief from a few people about "Not following Craigslist posting rules" but rules were made to be broken right?? We do extremely well from Craigslist. We offer a great kettle for an even better price. It matches up with the typical CL buyer who doesn't want to drop $400 on a new kettle.

Colorado is one of the hotter markets for homebrewing! We appreciate the word of mouth marketing!

-Ben

You should contact the Boulder LHBS. All they sell are those ridiculously overpriced Blichmann pots that are half the quality and three times the price of your stuff. If you could get on the shelves there you'd really bank it.

I think another product you could really cash in on would be a nice alternative to the Blichmann false bottom (which actually is awesome) but one that can work in flat bottom pots, instead of needing that "step" welded into the kettle. If you had a ring welded into the false bottom so that it could be used in kettles without that step, I think you could really steal some massive market share.

BudzAndSudz said:

It does weigh literally 50 lbs or more. It's some bullet proof bombshell of a kettle that some crazy dude on here made and I bought from him in the classifieds section. It's a pretty impressive piece of work, but heavy enough that it was the sole reason I decided to go electric. No way I want to use enough propane to heat 50lbs of steel on top of 20 gallons of wort!

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haha your welcome!

1000th post!! :rockin:

Haha there he is now! Getting the pot from coalcracker was thankfully not a headache. Acquiring the stand and power source for my controller on the other hand....

Looks awesome man! Congrats and good luck on the maiden brew.

Getting my Spa panel wired up as we speak! First brew might literally be later today.....


I also might literally soil myself with excitement.

Well, I didn't soil myself, but I did soil the floor a little bit. I have some kinks to work out with disconnecting hoses and remembering where all my ball-valves are, lol.

Had my first brew day yesterday, made 15 gallons of Oktobourbon (bourbon-oak aged Oktoberfest lager) as advertised. Hit just about 85% efficiency which is a nice step up from my old system. usually locked in about 70-75% in my cooler MLT, so saving the money on that grain will really be nice.

Pics!

The full setup!



Some random shot I took trying to show how clear the runnings are. Instead you just see the amber color and my awesome mountain-y backyard.


Mash! I didn't have the vorlauf hose that far up the whole time, just for a pic.


And finally, my 60-plate chiller from Kegcowboy.com. I'm so glad I never have to use an immersion chiller again, this thing is a HOSS.

How did that chiller work? Debating whether to get that or a chillzilla. Wasn't happy with my last plate chiller.

I posted a review in the Kegcowboy.com discount thread in the vendor area. Honestly I've never used a plate chiller before so I can't give a comparison vs the other options, but it just DESTROYED the immersion chiller I've been using on 5 gallon batches. Cranked my entire 15.5 gallon batch from a boil to pitching temps in about 15 minutes. I'm sure with some more use I'll get it dialed in to about 10 minutes or so. I really really liked how it worked.