=[ Another GM Experimental Thread ]=

I probably don't. I probaby could just use a mini siphon out of one of my potsfor the sparge water and just get the single cooler. Or I could just ladle it like I do know. One of the advantages of small batch brewing.
 
There's so much stuff geared towards 5 gal batches, but for the life of me I just don't want 5 gallon batches worth of a single beer at this stage of my brewing experience ...
 
2.5-3 gallons is perfect for me ... 2 gallons isn't enough ... and 4 gallons or more would be too much of most any beer save one or two styles ...
 
I started with one, first, but I'm going to have a pair of SS 3.5 gal conical fermenters, and a pair of these new wide-mouth glass "carboys" for room-temp saison batches ...
 
The only time I plan to use the three 5 gal corny kegs that I have going forward, is to ferment a trio of 3-4 gallon split-batches of stout made in the otudoor rig in one round through a freezer ... and I only plan to do this a handful of times each year ... in the late Fall, or during "Winter" ...
 
I am with you....I may get another keg and carboy so I could have more than one thing going at a time. But I wanted to settle on my equipment first. I like the igloo idea. Seems easy enough and doesn't have a big footprint. Then I work on the temp controlled ferm chamber.
 
tctenten said:
I am with you....I may get another keg and carboy so I could have more than one thing going at a time. But I wanted to settle on my equipment first. I like the igloo idea. Seems easy enough and doesn't have a big footprint. Then I work on the temp controlled ferm chamber.
Click to expand...
 
Where do you keep your service keg, now? ...
 
Or do you carb in it and then move the bottles to a second fridge or something? ....
 
I'm actually contemplating purchasing a smaller false bottom to put in an old 5gal cooler I have to use for the 3gal batches. The grain bed is so thin in my 10gal cooler and everything I've read says its most efficient to have it stacked higher than wider.
 
It's a lot more fun when it's working nicely, and kind of a bummer when shit's not flowing right ...
 
The past week or two is the 1st time I've had any considerable peace and quiet to be able to think through it all ...
 
Construction, when busy, is really such a fucking PITA cluster-fuck shit-show of idiocy ... as I'm sure you know.
 
With a little time to relax, I was able to think through everything one night, and figure it all out ... what I want, how to get there in the fewest steps, etc ...
 
As much as I would have preferred to hold off on any purchases until Fall, it would have been stupid to brew all Summer in my slow time using a stupid system, so I just put some shit no plastic and called it a day - just like last Summer ...
 
As long as the tourist season brings the kind of work that it has the past few years, I'll fix it then :D
 
Right now ... fuck it, brewin' ...
 
ebd42fef7eaceee98e14fef10a9787ba.jpg


09eb1291fadd0ded4504efab80bc83e9.jpg
 
Yeah my issue with the last few big batches was waiting for it to come out of the keggle and go through the chiller. Once I get that going well I'll have my process down. While the mash water is heating I grind the grain. Then mash. While the mash is going I get all my boil stuff ready and get my sparge water ready to heat. Fill up carboy with idophor mix.
2o mins left in the mash I heat the sparge water. Mash out, dump in sparge and wait for it to settle then sparge out. Dump it all in the keggle, drop ferm cap, and fire up. Weigh out all my hops and any other additions while waiting for the boil.
Once the boil starts, set the timer and clean up my mash tun. Dump my carboy in a bucket so I have more sanitizer ready for hoses etc. Get chiller in position, and stir it up after the boil.
Then.....hurry up and wait for the slow drain :/. Hence, the inevitable pump purchase.
 
Ended up having to order a variable thickness one for it:
 
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/vb2.htm
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/sswash12thick.htm
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/sswash12thin.htm
 
The normal one's are for cooler's <= 5/8", and then the other normal one's are for coolers between 1 and 1-1/4" ...
 
My cooler is 3/4" thick ...
 
Oh well, it'll be here next week ... and I already have a couple of bazookas laying around, as well as a ball valve ...
 
I actually have a 3-piece ball valve laying around, so I'll put that on my kettle, and take the 2-piece from the kettle and put it on the cooler ...
 
This is a simple short term solution to the cramped mashing in the eRig, providing the cooler holds temp well enough ...
 
Now I'll be able to truly sparge ... I actually have wort spreaders, sprayer nozzles, and locline around here already, so I can set it up nicely ...
 
Just need a drill bit for drilling the cooler, but that's just an Amazon item ...
 
I wonder what size, probably 5/8" or 3/4" ... I'll have to Google that shit ...
 
Ozzy2001 said:
Yeah my issue with the last few big batches was waiting for it to come out of the keggle and go through the chiller. Once I get that going well I'll have my process down. While the mash water is heating I grind the grain. Then mash. While the mash is going I get all my boil stuff ready and get my sparge water ready to heat. Fill up carboy with idophor mix.
2o mins left in the mash I heat the sparge water. Mash out, dump in sparge and wait for it to settle then sparge out. Dump it all in the keggle, drop ferm cap, and fire up. Weigh out all my hops and any other additions while waiting for the boil.
Once the boil starts, set the timer and clean up my mash tun. Dump my carboy in a bucket so I have more sanitizer ready for hoses etc. Get chiller in position, and stir it up after the boil.
Then.....hurry up and wait for the slow drain :/. Hence, the inevitable pump purchase.
Click to expand...
 
I do very similarly, but I always find that I have shit I'd put off to tackle up front ...
 
Making a starter, after finding the yeast in the drawer full ...
 
Cleaning a partially cleaned fermenter that I should have cleaned fully sooner =( ...
 
Finding the various grain bags in the containers full of various grains, then weighing out portions, and finally milling it all - which entails dragging everything across the house to the carport (bucket, mill, drill, BIAB bag for sifting out the flour, and a second bucket of the grains) ...
 
Finding the hops in a sea of packages of various hops in the freezer ...
 
After that our process is about the same, but I'm always having to do stupid shit to shuffle what's where, and what the temp is there too ...
 
Not getting to actually use my 3rd freezer really screwed up my flow, but I've now solved that, so that's over ...
 
 
 
Seriously, half of my problem comes down to the excess ... I tossed a crap-load of yeasties and solved that ...
 
I'm just not going to order in advance nearly as much anymore, is all ... I can't say wheebz' didn't warn me about stockpiling, because he did =( ...
 
That and my pref for big beer turned it all into such a PITA, really ...
 
Ozzy2001 said:
Yeah I was gonna say I'd be worried about it channeling.

You could easily make something like this too.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mash+tun+manifold&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiE7rj94_PNAhWBbCYKHUgvCusQ_AUICCgC&biw=375&bih=559#imgdii=omP6EIGZJuH-CM%3A%3BRdD2ALFEf6x8OM%3A%3BRdD2ALFEf6x8OM%3A&imgrc=RdD2ALFEf6x8OM%3A
Click to expand...
 
I thought about that, and there's no room for the diameter of most of the one's designed for round 5 and 10 gallon coolers ...
 
It's really such a small cooler, and also relatively small amount of grain and water in a 2.5-3 gal batch in a 33 gal rectangular config cooler, that I think distributing the sparge water coming onto the bed will be sufficient in that regard ... I have a wort spreader tip, as well as spray nozzles and and/or loc line ...
 
A 12" bazooka literally extends 3/4 of the way across the bottom of the cooler long-ways, and all the way the short-way ...
 
I can always go the PVC or braided line route, I guess - we'll see ...
 
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