Your most epic MacGyver moments

[seatazzz]

It occurs to me that homebrewers, as a group, are mostly DIYers; from building custom brewstands, to malting our own grain, growing our own hops, what have you. And we all have had those moments when, during a brewday or build, something goes screwy and you have to improvise, usually fairly quickly. So my question to my fellows is, what was your most epic MacGyver moment? Be it a one-time fix, or something that you cobbled together that has stood the test of time, despite all evidence to the contrary? I like big words.

Mine has to be the most ridiculously simple thing ever; upon adding spigots to my 7g fermonsters, finding that a 48" length of 3/8"OD vinyl hose makes kegging the easiest thing on earth. Sanitize keg & hose, remove airlock and cover the airlock hole with paper towel soaked in starsan, insert hose, run into keg, and open the spigot. Voila, full keg in less than 10 minutes with minimal oxidation and no foam. My old autosiphon sits on the shelf gathering dust since I discovered this.

So?

 

[grampamark]

Geez, we only get to pick one? If my oldest grandson hadn’t already named my brewery I could have called it “MacGyver Brewing”.

On a related note-am I the only one who refers to a multi-tool (which I never leave home without) as a MacGyver?

 

[bracconiere]

Sanitize keg & hose, remove airlock and cover the airlock hole with paper towel soaked in starsan,

once again, you prove you're classier then me! my latest macgyver moment was, when i said damn 88lb's of beer is heavy and i don't want to lift it onto the table....then , hell i have a aquarium pump! **** it now i just drop it in, would this please O2 fear mongers? probably not, but it tastes the same to me!

 

[seatazzz]

Geez, we only get to pick one? If my oldest grandson hadn’t already named my brewery I could have called it “MacGyver Brewing”.

On a related note-am I the only one who refers to a multi-tool (which I never leave home without) as a MacGyver?

I keep one in my car at all times; also have a multi-knife and tape measure on my keyring. Never know when you're gonna need a screwdriver (although the husband frowns on the pint of vodka and orange juice I like to keep in the car {JUST KIDDING}).

 

[seatazzz]

once again, you prove you're classier then me! my latest macgyver moment was, when i said damn 88lb's of beer is heavy and i don't want to lift it onto the table....then , hell i have a aquarium pump! **** it now i just drop it in, would this please O2 fear mongers? probably not, but it tastes the same to me!

I admit, I had you in mind when I wrote this post. Malting grain is to me the penultimate (remember I like big words) DIY for homebrewers. Someday I might try it. Although I tend to stay away from ellipses....

 

[bracconiere]

Although I tend to stay away from ellipses....

but that's when i'm taking a sip of homebrew! lol i've got a rasberrypi sensor on the glass and it just adds them automatically!

for a work in progress i really do want an automatic deculmer....i've just recently been thinking leaf blower and, well that's as far as i've got...

 

[Transamguy77]

My whole brewery is Macgyvered! I welded my brew stand, made all my keggles, drive my corona mill with a power steering motor, my keg washer is powered by a BMW electric water pump and I use an RV power supply to power it all.

 

[monkeymath]

I don't know how to do ****, to be honest. My Grainfather knows. I'm just there to clean.

 

[Mad Mann]

I built a closed circuit chiller using 300' of 1" PEX tubing buried in the ground for constant temperature. Works great and no wasted water for chilling.

 

[bracconiere]

i did wire up a 200ohm resistor to my ovens temp probe, and drilled a hole and installed a 3-way toggle switch to turn it on or off....in low mode my oven will go as low as 90f when i set it to 170f. because when i set it to 170f without the resistor, it's actually 200+f. with the resistor when i set it to ~275f, it's actually ~165f. perfect for a 12 hour kilning for pale malt!

 

[bracconiere]

and honestly, i don't know if my mill is really MacGyver, or one of those armoured trucks from the A-Team....

 

[Wade2900]

Greetings all,
Fast Fermenters is what I had so that's what I used.
Ordered neoprene on ebay, created a pattern, got out the heavy duty sewing machine and created insulation jackets. Ordered stainless coils that just fit the opening, hooked it up to a 1110 gph submersible pump (the lift requirements for 4 coils is more than you think) installed it into an old ice chest, into the active aqua chiller and I'm golden. Running a consistent 68-70 all the time . Like seatazzz has done the new height of the fermenters allows a quick kegging option. I also use a bike tire filler with a CO2 charger to purge my kegs prior to filling. Seems to work reasonable well. I've also found that Oetinger clamps are far superior to hose clamps. Gotta love MacGyvaring

 

[Elric]

I built a closed circuit chiller using 300' of 1" PEX tubing buried in the ground for constant temperature. Works great and no wasted water for chilling.

My friend did the same to cool his server room. After it was all done the line sprung a leak and he had to dig it all up and do over again!

 

[dbsmith]

I'd have to think about this one, but I'm just interested in following this thread