It's not much

[AUMonkeyBoy]

Actually, it's just a couple of shelves, but it keeps me organized. I just had to move into an apartment and have an outdoor closet by the balcony that I plan on brewing from. It's insulated, so when I put the primary on the shelf I can leave it there until I move it into the secondary below the shelf. It's hard to tell but the shelf is a couple feet off the ground. I added the extra shelf on top to get my wort chiller off the ground and out of the way. I will have to get used to not having a hose on hand, but I am more organized than when I was in a house.

 

[H-ost]

Thin wort chiller, do you brew in a corny? Electric or propane?

 

[EarthBound]

What is DIY about this? The top shelf?

 

[AUMonkeyBoy]

If you read it, I said there are two shelves, the bottom one is a couple feet of the ground. I also said it was actually just a couple of shelves. Thanks for stopping by.

To answer the first question, I have 50 feet of 3/8in tubing with two 1/4in prechillers to keep a strong flow of water coming through. Truth be told I tried 1/4in tubing to save money, but didn't get a good flow. Ice goes in the blue container. Works in under 13 minutes. Propane as well.

 

[Hang Glider]

fermenting in a closet? what do you do for temp control after pitching your yeast?
right now, October/November, you might be good, but even with the room is insulated, the temp is going to be hard to hold at 60F consistently.

jus sayin'

 

[crazyseany]

looks good! Throw a piece of pegboard up behind it and have a place to hang things...

nice to have stuff in one area... I've got stuff everywhere!

 

[ThinkingOutLoud]

It doesn't HAVE to be much. The point is it's YOURS! We all start somewhere, and I think your setup is cool. I've been wanting to make my own wort chiller. I like what you made. You said the flow through 1/4" didn't work so well, how is it through the two 1/4" pre-chillers? Can you post more pics of them?

-Drew

 

[Tinga]

My chiller is three lengths of 20' 1/4 in copper tubing. Gets from boiling to pitching temps within 15 minutes. Of course my ground water is pretty cold being as my water comes from lake superior.

Shelf looks good. Keep it going. no such thing as a finish project.

 

[AUMonkeyBoy]

I started small and am building my setup nicely. I made a bottle tree and a wort chiller, within the next year I will have my Keezer.

I think I'm going to put a heat lamp in there for the colder months and play with the temps to see if I can keep it in there for the colder months. On the peg board, my buddy suggested that I do that on the opposite side where I have a shelf for all my tools. I will have that done next week. I am also going to drill into the studs and insert dowels, strong enough to hold my buckets upside down.

ThinkingOutLoud:
two 1/4in prechillers will give you the max you can have in 3/8in tubing. I will be leaving out of town right after work tom. Monday I will post pictures and explain how I did it. A lot of people wrap around a corny keg, but I think I have a better way to get a tighter fit.

 

[Espi]

half of my garage is full of brewing stuff. soo much stuff. keep it organized! good job.

 

[crazyseany]

how do you sanitize the chiller that goes into the bucket? (wort?)

i just dropped mine in the boil at 15 minutes and let it cook!! lol

 

[AUMonkeyBoy]

Sometimes I just drop it in knowing that the beer is still real hot. Sometimes I sterilize it and sometimes I drop it in early. Just depends on how I feel. I don't over do the sterilization like some do and I've always gotten good beer.

No need to sterilize the pre chillers

 

[AUMonkeyBoy]

It doesn't HAVE to be much. The point is it's YOURS! We all start somewhere, and I think your setup is cool. I've been wanting to make my own wort chiller. I like what you made. You said the flow through 1/4" didn't work so well, how is it through the two 1/4" pre-chillers? Can you post more pics of them?

-Drew

Hose connectors to line at the bottom of the picture going to the splitter to the "Ovaries" which then runs back to a splitter into the Wort Chiller which then runs back out another tube. It works well.

 

[ThinkingOutLoud]

Sweet! Thanks for the extra pics. Another question: What is the diameter of those 1/4" pre-chillers? 2"? Looks like some pretty tight bends.

Edit: Also, is that regular vinyl tubing that has turned cloudy from use? or is it silicone tubing?

 

[AUMonkeyBoy]

I think it's 2in. I drilled a hole in the end of a piece PVC pipe, I stuck the tip of the copper in and had my dad twist the pipe while I directed it. You get a really tight roll that way.

It's just cloudy.

 

[Waunabeer]

Hey, isn't brewing illegal in Alabama? Just don't get caught.