I know a firefighter. Should I be taking advantage of this??

[amcclai7]

I am looking to get into kegging. I have 5 gallon corny keg but that's it. Is it possible that my firefighter friend would have stuff that could help me in this endeavor? Whether or not his department has extra stuff lying around is a question for him, but what I would need to ask for is a question for this forum.

Any ideas?

 

[jimmarshall]

I can think of nothing that would be useful.


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[k1ngl1ves]

You can use a CO2 fire extinguisher...

 

[LabRatBrewer]

The boots might be nice.

 

[Fuzzymittenbrewing]

Hell yeah, use the truck for beer runs with no stopping for traffic lights!

 

[CastleHollow]

See if he has a jaws of life, I use one all the time when I keg.

 

[geoffm33]

He might be able to get you a deal where they get their o2 filled to get your co2, but beyond that not sure what else.

 

[jrseago]

^ airpacks contain only pressurized air straight from the good ol' out doors. There is absolutely nothing that I can think of that they would have that would be useful to a home brewer. The equipment that firefighters use is far too specialized (at least this is the case on my department) and is owned by the taxpayers.

 

[brew_ny]

they have nice gloves for handling hot things

 

[JonM]

I think your firefighter friend should be saying "I know a homebrewer. How can I take advantage of this?"

 

[brew_ny]

"I know a homebrewer. How can I take advantage of this?"

there is a thought

 

[geoffm33]

^ airpacks contain only pressurized air straight from the good ol' out doors. There is absolutely nothing that I can think of that they would have that would be useful to a home brewer. The equipment that firefighters use is far too specialized (at least this is the case on my department) and is owned by the taxpayers.

Learn something new everyday. Thanks for that.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I always use my fire extinguisher when I find I run out of cold ones in the fridge...

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hShuu1f5olM[/ame]

 

[HopSong]

I'd wonder what right the firefighter would have to give you FD property.. Someone has to pay for it. I wonder who that would be.. Could it be you and me?

 

[LieutenantDan]

They probably have an infrared camera you could use to find the coolant lines in your fridge.

 

[brewmcq]

My dad is the Assistant Chief at his FD. Because of that, I've scored miles and miles of firehose that failed pressure testing.

It's pretty much useless in brewing, but when it's cut and turned inside out, it makes the best gasket ever. In fact, I'm going to use some to line the holes on the conical rack in my ferment closet.

As a Paramedic, I have pretty much unlimited access to all sizes of "medical grade" O2 tanks, regulators, tubing, etc. The only thing I've walked out of work with (with permission from management, of course) is a 60mL syringe that had expired and was headed to the dumpster. Once I add a french suction cath to it, I have a "wine thief"... but I have to wait until I find one of those that's expired as well.

 

[Yooper]

As a Paramedic, I have pretty much unlimited access to all sizes of "medical grade" O2 tanks, regulators, tubing, etc. The only thing I've walked out of work with (with permission from management, of course) is a 60mL syringe that had expired and was headed to the dumpster. Once I add a french suction cath to it, I have a "wine thief"... but I have to wait until I find one of those that's expired as well.

The only thing I"ve taken from work is a needle-less syringe (way back when we did IV push meds with a needled syringe, about a million years ago), and a pair of disposable safety googles that were in someone's drawer and scratched up. I use the syringe still, now for measuring lactic acid additions, and I use the scratched googles for measuring and mixing lye for soap.

It's probably not going to be easy to haul off an 02 tank even if you didn't have a moral problem with it. Those types of things are accounted for.

Otherwise, I can't think of a single thing that would be useful for brewing or kegging that this guy could obtain for free.

 

[Cyclman]

My dad is the Assistant Chief at his FD. Because of that, I've scored miles and miles of firehose that failed pressure testing.

It's pretty much useless in brewing, but when it's cut and turned inside out, it makes the best gasket ever. In fact, I'm going to use some to line the holes on the conical rack in my ferment closet.

As a Paramedic, I have pretty much unlimited access to all sizes of "medical grade" O2 tanks, regulators, tubing, etc. The only thing I've walked out of work with (with permission from management, of course) is a 60mL syringe that had expired and was headed to the dumpster. Once I add a french suction cath to it, I have a "wine thief"... but I have to wait until I find one of those that's expired as well.

Syringe wine thief, genius! And cool.

 

[dmarc85]

Lol


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[Ramitt]

I used a toomey syringe and an ng tube for a while. But honestly for 10 bucks or less the fermtech wine thief is much nicer.
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/fermtech-wine-thief.html

 

[HumulusHead]

Maybe you could get one of those fancy gas masks they have and then you could brew inside during cold weather!

Ha don't actually do that


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[butterpants]

In my experience, hose draggers are only good for BBQs and making lots of noise on a big silly truck. Neither pertains to brewing.

 

[Hello]

What a random question. I know a gardener, anything I can ask him to rip off to help me with home brewing? OP, what kind of stuff do you think firefighters use that may be helpful?

 

[sandyeggoxj]

My dad is the Assistant Chief at his FD. Because of that, I've scored miles and miles of firehose that failed pressure testing.

It's pretty much useless in brewing, but when it's cut and turned inside out, it makes the best gasket ever. In fact, I'm going to use some to line the holes on the conical rack in my ferment closet.

I love used fire hose. I have 3/4" toy all the way to 2.5" double wall. It makes such a great abrasion resistant layer. I use it all the time to protect my straps when I'm hauling stuff. I also keep a stick of toy around that for odd things around the yard. It leaks but there are times I just need a little more hose and don't care if it leaks. Once it is too bad you can add some more holes and water the garden with it.

Anyway, back to the op. You can ask your firefighter friend for a high-five and have him bring beers to the next bbq. :fro:

 

[amcclai7]

What a random question. I know a gardener, anything I can ask him to rip off to help me with home brewing? OP, what kind of stuff do you think firefighters use that may be helpful?

Old tanks, fittings, tubing etc. stuff to help with kegging. There is a store in Knoxville called "Firefighter" and I know of homebrewers that go there frequently. I know nothing at all about kegging and didn't know if he could help me out. I guess the answer is a resounding no.

 

[amcclai7]

Also, for the record, I had no intention of asking him to steal anything. Grocery stores, hospitals, schools, breweries, farms, etc. Always have a ton of crap lying around that they either throw away or beg people to come take. (Spent grain, Boxes, Pallets, rotten fruit) They are junk to those businesses but these scraps often help to sustain others. I didn't know if there was something like that in a fire house that would be of use to a homebrewer. Guess not.

 

[bigken462]

Get your FF friend into homebrewing then you could have a homebrew firefighting buddy to help extinguish any fires that you start, anything other than that, you're just taking advantage of your friend.

25 years in public safety, I can't think of much that you could resource from him. The only two things I can think of is maybe some O2 which would be theft on his part and the use of their SCBA air compressor which could also be frowned upon.

O2 used in brewing is easily obtained pretty much anywhere and a little bit goes a long ways. Co2 can usually be obtained from the same places you get the O2 from, so that should not be a issue.

I have never heard of fire departments filling their own extinguishers so I can't think of why they would have that resource - but they very well could. The only thing I can think of is the use of C02 to clean your keg tubing when you could use compressed air from a SCBA/SCUBA filling station instead of wasting C02 when cleaning lines.

Since I have tons of scuba gear, I use a regulator attached to the second stage of a scuba tank to clean my lines with. This air which has been filtered of most impurities will not contaminate your system like it would if you were using your home air compressor. When I'm done running water, Oxy and Starsan through the system, then I'll flush it with C02.

Some fire departments have dive teams and fills those cylinders for their departments. This is the only thing your buddy might could help you with if you could procure a cpl scuba cylinders. But then you're going to be running into other cost such as yearly VIS inspections, 5 year hydro's etc. If you're not already into scuba diving, it's hardly worth the cost. You live in Knoxville so chances are there are tons of scuba shops around you. A air fill only cost a few bucks so its hardly worth the hassle of asking your buddy for fills.

Aside from that, just pony up the scoobies and pay for the stuff to get started. The cost of air and C02 are pennies when compared to other brewing cost.

Get you're buddy into brewing. Just having a friend there to enjoy the fun with is worth it alone.