Show us your most ghetto DIY

[mattbeer]

My wort chiller


Sent from my iPhone using
Home Brew

 

[Zepth]

Didn't want to hold the bag the whole time it was draining...

I had a similar setup, until my cheapo BIAB died. Imagination required: I have a walkthrough style kitchen. Took car roofrack from one counter to opposite side of kitchen, effectively blocking the walkthrough option. Only thing I had to hold the bag in place was a handful of vise grips.

Other one that I haven't got a photo of is the Barley Crusher malt mill with a 7.8amp dewalt hammer drill sticking off the side of it, with the mill resting on a 6 gal bucket and the drill resting on a kitchen chair. Milled 2 batches by hand then gave up on that party.

 

[electrolight]

That is awesome electrolight.

Haha thanks. Glad I have a fan!

 

[Benedetto]

Yeah, those things. That's cool. I have a stir plate, and I've done water baths for my fermenters, but it's never dawned on me to combine the two.

Very cool

 

[donovanmaxwell]

Great thread! I've actually got a water heater and some lids laying around that will work for a stir plate. Once I get some projects done I'll post up.

 

[evrose]

These things?

If so, they are my stir plates. They are converted computer fans with a hard drive magnet. I attach them to the water bath to circulate the water. Without them, the water bath temp wasn't consistent. Works great.

A small small submersible aquarium pump would do a better job.

 

[mtnagel]

A small small submersible aquarium pump would do a better job.

Possibly, but the stir plates work fine and I already have them so why should I buy something else?

 

[Agent]

I present my Boil Kettle! My answer to converting to electric for <$40. Plug those puppies into GFI outlets, and away you go. Still holding out to come across a Keg/Keggle for cheap somewhere nearby, but 3.5 years later, this guy is still in full operation.

 

[donovanmaxwell]

Agent, do you have any problems scorching the wort? I have thought of something similar, but I have reservations directly heating the wort. In my experience with heating up the heat transfer oil for machinery, the heating elements always have burnt oil on them. Though, your heating elements put out significantly less heat and I do realize there is a world of difference between heat transfer oil and wort. Just curious about your experience.

 

[Agent]

As the blackened element shows, I've managed to scorch the wort once. However, that was extenuating circumstances where I really wanted to push my limits. I tried to make a IIPA, but had to collect more wort than my little 7.5 gallon pot could handle, so I split it and put 5 gallons in the kettle, and 3 gallons on the stove top. In an effort to quickly reduce the volume, I boiled with both elements (normally I heat with both, but boil with one, which produces a nice lightly gurgling boil) which produced a extremely violent boil, and a finished beer that tasted distinctly burned.

It has not happened before that incident, or since. Even though I'm using fairly short 120V 2,000 watt elements, scorching the wort has never otherwise been an issue, even with the very light beers. I think the very low viscosity of the wort, and the ability to readily mix keeps the risk of scorching to a minimum. However, if one were to use something like this in conjunction with BIAB, I could see the potential for issues to arise.