Building my Two Cooler All Grain Brewery

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freedombrew

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Time to stop lurking and start writing. Since I'm basing my all grain setup on what I've learned here, I thought I'd share the progress as I go along. This may take a while, so who knows how long it may be between posts.

I got stars in my eyes looking at all the shiny stainless steel equipment out there, and the engineer in me thought the recirculating versions looked super cool, but the more I thought about it the more I liked the simplicity of coolers.

So here's the plan. Cooler for the HLT, cooler for the MLT, one big pot, one burner and one pump. I want to be able to do 5 to 15 gallons at a time so I got the 70 Quart Ice Cube since it's narrow and tall and should still work for the smaller batches. I brew with a couple of other guys and we usually do 10 gallon batches, but I like the option of going big or going small.

I'm looking at the 20 gallon megapot for my brew kettle (because SOMETHING has to be stainless!). I saw a similar pot sold by Home Brew Stuff that cost less, does anybody have one of these? Opinions?

I plan to batch sparge, so I'll use the one pump to fill the MLT and then heat the water for the HLT while the mash is going. After the boil I'll fill the HLT with ice water and recirculate wort through my immersion chiller to cool it off (because I have to recirculate SOMETHING!).

Any advice or feedback as I go along would be greatly appreciated.

The coolers arrived today. Now I just have to clear some space in the garage so I can get the stand (ok, shelf). Here's what I'm planning (roughly)...

Two Cooler Plan.jpg
 
I ended up getting the coolers through Amazon. They turned out $10 cheaper each vs. the best I could find locally. The site said they were out of stock, but they shipped in about a week.
 
Yup, $45 for the cooler with free shipping. Couldn't pass it up.

As for the two coolers, I'm only doing one burner so I need a place to pump sparge water out of my brew kettle before lautering the mash. I probably wouldn't loose too much heat while draining the MLT, so the cooler might be overkill... but for $45 it's cheap and insulated. I also plan on filling it with ice during the boil and then running the wort through a chiller in the ice bath for cooling.
 
Ok I just bought this 70 quart cooler and I want to build a manifold for it... Any recommendations?
 
TheBeerNerd had a good write up on this cooler, but it looks like the link to his site isn't working now. He used the existing port with an elbow to get the plumbing down to the bottom of the cooler and avoid the dead space at the bottom.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/70-qt-maxcold-cube-174113/

Blktre did a manifold on the 60qt version without the wheels. No odd-shaped lump from the wheels to worry about on the 60, but the idea would be the same.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/igloo-ice-cube-maxcold-70-qt-roller-27741/index2.html

I was planning on using the existing port with an elbow like TheBeerNerd, but after looking at the cooler I changed my mind. There's a pretty deep recess on the port exit and it comes out at an angle, so the placement seemed too awkward for me. Plus, the lid opens to the opposite side.

I'm just going to drill a new hole on the front of the cooler, right at the bottom, and use a braid instead of a manifold. Seems the simplest way to go and keeps the valve and lid opening on the same side.
 
bottlebomber said:
Did you install a valve and thermometer on this kettle? And if so was there any problems?

I have the same pot from update international but 10 gallons. I drilled hole and installed weldless 3 way valve myself with no issues. The 10 gallon pot is 1mm thick and I think once you get to 15g and above it is 1.2mm. Either way should be able to do all the fittings yourself.
 
OK, so here's the process in theory. I'm working up my parts list for fittings. I'm planning to use camlocks to move the hoses around from valve to valve. Any good ideas on hose hangers for over the top of the cooler or kettle?

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By the way, I'm drinking the first bottle from a batch of Denny's Rye IPA while posting this. We did an all-grain BIAB for my birthday (oyster roast!)... man is this GOOD!

I can't wait to get this put together and go all-grain for good. What took me so long?
 
I do something similar with 2 pots and 1 cooler.
1. heat up mash water it pot 1
2. mash in cooler
3. heat sparge water while mash sits
4. drain cooler into pot 2
5. batch sparge from pot (while collecting everything in pot 2)
6. use pump to transfer wort from pot 2 to pot 1

The reason I use pot 1 for heating everything is cause im in an apartment and my pot 1 has a heating element in it.
 
Is your stand tall enough to allow gravity draining of the mash tun into the brew pot? I always had problems when I tried to pump out of my mash tun; stuck sparges, pump losing prime.
 
freedombrew said:
By the way, I'm drinking the first bottle from a batch of Denny's Rye IPA while posting this. We did an all-grain BIAB for my birthday (oyster roast!)... man is this GOOD!

I can't wait to get this put together and go all-grain for good. What took me so long?

Good to hear! We're doing a batch of Denny's Rye IPA next week.
 
Is your stand tall enough to allow gravity draining of the mash tun into the brew pot? I always had problems when I tried to pump out of my mash tun; stuck sparges, pump losing prime.

I'm planning on getting the Blichmann burner with the 24" legs, so I'm not counting on a gravity feed to the pot. Hoping to gravity feed to the carboys.

From what I've heard stuck sparges aren't too big of a deal when doing a batch sparge, but both pumps and sparges are new territory for me so I'm not really sure what to expect.
 
My wife and a couple of friends got me some brew gear for my birthday. I now have the Blichmann burner with 24" legs and a 20 Gal Megapot. I had assumed it would be a generic pot of some kind, but this one says Polarware on the bottom (for what it's worth).

I looked around at pots and knew what the dimensions were (21" diameter and 17" high), but knowing and seeing are two different things. When I opened the box all I could think was "That thing is HUGE!".

Together these two pieces are almost half of the cost of my entire build. Did I mention I love my wife? I assembled everything and tested it out today, I am going to love brewing with this! Going to use it next weekend for a Honey Porter.

Here's a picture of the new burner and pot next to the old turkey fryer I've been using.

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i started out with something very similar...and its a lot of jockeying......so i made some tweaks.

heres my set up. i made the HLT electric, with a 1500 watt element and controller. IT simplified the steps significantly. I pump form the HLT into the MT, and use gravity everywheres else.....

two tier.jpg
 
I like how you're keeping it simple. That's the one concern I had going in to this... is all the hose swapping going to get old? I started out thinking I'd do a three tier gravity system, but I didn't like how tall it would end up. Your setup sounds like a nice blend between the two.
 
New Chugger pump arrived in the mail yesterday. Got notice they were finally in stock, so I ordered one the same day. They shipped almost instantly.

With any luck I should have a box full of fittings waiting for me when I get home. Never thought I'd get excited about a bunch of plumbing parts!
 
What is the advantage of the Chugger over a march?

price...Chugger copied March on the design so everything is pretty much the same. Negative to chugger is it is not USA made and you don't get the support from Walter who is a march pump owners best friend. Not trying to bash chugger but if you have the money I would get March.
 
Thanks.. Yes I believe in spending the extra buck to get the best quality equipment. In my experience it usually pays down the road.
 
I decided on the Chugger based on the stainless head. The two seemed pretty close as far as performance and I thought I'd avoid any issues (granted minimal) with plastic threads. I looked around and saw pros and cons for each, but neither had a clear advantage.
 
Started working on my MLT conversion tonight. I'm using Bobby_M's idea for a PVC spacer to support the cooler wall. All went well until I tried screwing the camlock fitting into the valve. Either the teflon tape wasn't up to the task, or the threads were too messed up, but I jammed it good. Took a while to get them back apart and it only went in a couple of threads deep.

Saw someone recommend Loctite 567 for stainless fittings instead of the teflon tape. I'm going to get some and give it another try. Anybody else have trouble with this? I was expecting this to be the easy part.

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My wire shelving arrived and I had to laugh when I saw the product code. Guess I picked the right tool for the job, these shelves say "ALE" right on the box!

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For the record, I have to say Loctite 567 is some pretty good stuff. I put it on the threads I mangled and was able to rescue the parts. You can see from the pictures that it's not screwed in as far as the rest of the fittings, but as long as it doesn't leak I'm a happy guy.

I put together all of the fittings tonight and I'm just waiting on the tubing to test it out. Trying to have it ready to brew by May 6th. We're planning on doing a 15 gal batch of cream ale to get summer started.

Here are some pics to show the difference with and without the Loctite on my fittings. Also my HLT and MLT along with the ALE shelves!

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Brewed on the new setup for the first time today. I didn't think about it before the weekend that we would be brewing the day after National Homebrew Day. Nice.

Took a lot longer than I expected, mostly because the process and equipment were new. That and we'd never done 15 gallons before.

Here's a picture of the switch I wired for the pump. You can also see the clamp I added to the shelving to make it easier to carry around. The wire shelves just sit on a plastic fitting with gravity to hold them on. The clamp keeps everything in place while we move it to the backyard.

Also note the super-cool cardboard box splash guard! I think that's the last piece I'm missing to finish this build. Still trying to figure out what I'm going to do for that.

Another unexpected bonus... the shelves made a nice lid holder.

Last one shows recirculating the mash before lautering.

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Finally put the splash guard on. I used an empty jug that had washer fluid in it before. It was about the right size and easy to cut, but a little flimsy. We'll see how long it survives before I decide to try something more substantial.

Final cost ended up around $1250. I was surprised how much the little things added up, and I could have saved a lot by skipping the stainless in places, but I'm happy with the result.

Now I just have to get a few more brews under my belt to work out the differences in our process. Homework... sweet homework.

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It's all so beautiful. I have to hold off for awhile on buying any sort of pump, but I did just acquire a 9G blichman pot with a spigot vs just your basic turkey fryer brew pot which means you are always pouring or siphoning. Ive been using my mash tun for 4 or 5 brews now though, and just letting it drain instead of pouring 5-7 gallons of hot wort is magical. I just don't know how the hell to setup a nice basic gravity fed AG stand. I don't mind a few lifts, just don't like the pouring. I may just start a thread about it.
 
I've been brewing the same way - single burner, single pump, 2 coolers on a wooden stand that I made. I've been eyeing a wire shelf setup with wheels like yours. Where did you get the shelving from?
 
Looks great! I am looking forward to the after brew review of how it all works!

How did you decide on fittings/connectors? I am in the same process you are in but, can not deiced on what connectors to use.

OH yeah those costco stands are real workhorses!
 
I went with the camlocks because it kept things simple and let me move the hoses around quickly. I'll admit it can get a bit busy shuffling connections on brew day, but it's good enough for me.
 
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