My best friend's wedding present

Alright, I finally got back to Lubbock and brought a good camera so I could take pictures of my creation. I made this for my friend for his wedding present and thought I would share it with you guys. Basically, it is a 5 gallon Maxcold cooler I bought from Wal-Mart (my first time in 2 yrs, I hate Wally World) and an ice cream motor. I did a ton of soldering and if done again I would use wooden dowels instead of copper for the stirrer. Here are some pics and links to more pics for all interested. Let me know what you guys think.

I personally think this is one lucky S.O.B. lol, now he just has to use it.

here are the rest





I told him about steam infusion and so we are planning to put a quick disconnect on the ball valve for the steam to enter and for wort transfer.

Very nice!

So how does it work? Do you get good mixing with the copper pipe stir blades? Can we get a picture of how you attached the stir blade to the motor shaft?

Sorry, no picture of the copper to motor shaft assembly. Actually it wasn't very pretty. I basically put all my glue in the motor gear, centered the motor over the hole in the lid upside down, and glued it to the top of the with JB weld. Then I put my pre-soldered piece of copper tubing and FPT through the hole in the lid, turned on the motor, and centered as best I could (kinda like starting clay for pottery). It took some gingerly movement to center it, but once non-wobbly I turned off the motor and let the glue set for a couple of days. During the drying I soldered up all the copper for the remainder of the mash rake. I didn't show the steam setup because he loaned his pressure cooker out, but when he gets up and running in 4 months when he gets back from Corpus he will have to post some pics. The rake works nicely and with the steam coming in from the bottom it mixes very well. I would suggest, however, that a solid copper tube be inside of the stainless screen and grooves be cut into the bottom of the tube for better steam dispersion. Also, it deformed the bottom during water testing so a flattened piece of something less meltable should probably be placed underneath the screen and tubing. Other than that it worked like a charm. He is even going to talk to the local brewpub and ask if he can order grain through them since Lubbock has no LHBS and since 50-55# bags of grain are expensive to ship. He is going to make a cement roller grist mill or buy a mill to get completely self reliant for AG. It was a fun little project, but the copper made it expensive so next time I am using big dowel rods and just seal them good (like the wooden mash rakes the sell at LHBS). I also built him an identical HLT with the exception of the ice cream motor and rake. It looks very nice setup, and he has a huge stockpot for a kettle so a few more odds and ends and he's a self-sufficient AG newbie.

Edit: I now have photos of the rest of the project.

An interesting approach, using horizontal rods instead of vertical ones. Since the whole goal is to eliminate channeling and even things out across the mash, this is a very good idea. You could probably use smaller rods to reduce the resistance.

David, after building this "pretty little thing" (copper is my favorite metal) I will definitely go with wooden dowel rods next time. You are right about the resistance, but this thing really churns with some power from that ice cream motor but a large wooden dowel with a lot of smaller "fingers" would be way better. We tried it once, and now like I said, he loaned out the pressure cooker before I could take pictures. Wishes and buts. He's moving to Corpus for 4 months and upon return promises to start using it.

Interesting.... Something I may look into.

It was a really fun project. Honestly after building it and using it once to demonstrate to him, I think the steam would only be used if you miss strike, or want to do a mash out with out adding more water. The ice cream motor should be enough to do my 15 gallon mash tun. I also really like the braided stainless as a screen. I had never used anything like that before I built his and wow. It really does an excellent job filtering the grist. He really needs to post when he gets up and running all on his own.

Hey if he needs any 'help' with that thing while he's in corpus let me know!

It is in Lubbock. He didn't have enough room in his truck for the two coolers (I made him a similar HLT. That would have been great though for him to go to Corpus and have help from a brewer, lol. He's one interesting guy. They basically get to house sit his wife's parents house and they subletted their house in Lubbock. So..... when he gets back there should be no talk of not enough money for a new hobby, lol. He's gotta a pretty sweet setup with grain too, he's getting to know the brewer at the local brew pub pretty well. It wouldn't be much for the brewer to throw a couple of extra bags of grain on an order, and yeast would be free. Ahhhh, I envy that man. LOL:rockin:

haha cool, well still....the offer stands.

Tell him if he decides to brew while he's here to NOT go to the toddy shop.....it's "the largest homebrew supply shop in Corpus Christi" but it's a peice of CRAP.

DO tell him to check out B&J's Pizza though, great pizza and the best beer selection in town. Also, there is a nice liquor shop on Alameda thats got quite a selection....

Can we get part numbers on the motor?

I have no idea on part numbers on the motor. It is a Rival ice cream machine motor. I checked at Wal-Mart and they have them for around $30.

wortmonger said:

I have no idea on part numbers on the motor. It is a Rival ice cream machine motor. I checked at Wal-Mart and they have them for around $30.

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Cool Thanks!

I can't wait to use the darn thing!!!!!!

Mmmm... beer.

I have to say that was the second best present that I got for the Wedding (first was a week in Europe).

Hey, you finally made it to the community Justin, lol. You will be reading for weeks.