Ready to make the move from extract to all-grain or upgrade your all-grain system? Want to avoid the cost of doing it wrong? CBB’s Hot Rod Your Kettles and Mash Tun class is the perfect introduction to building out your bad-ass homebrew system. You could buy a false bottom (drilling your own is an exercise in patience), but it’s very easy to make a slotted manifold with a few copper plumbing fittings and a Dremel cutter. All you need to do is separate the wort from the grain. A 10-gallon cooler makes an excellent mash tun, providing insulation to hold your mash at a steady temperature. Making the move from extract to all-grain brewing calls for additional equipment. Cooler-based Mash Tun with a Slotted Copper Manifold However, you can cut the tops off of surplus malt buckets from your local homebrew shop to create a carboy carrier that has the added bonus of protecting your beer from light and catching any overflow. A carboy dolly is safer and easier to move, but isn’t something you can easily make on your own. Lifting and lugging full carboys is hard enough when you’re young and fit-when you’re older, it really sucks. Even better, they’re not much harder to build than immersion chillers, and you’ll save some serious cash compared to purchasing one. Counterflow chillers offer their own advantages in improving cold break and reducing water usage. Immersion chillers are easier to sanitize and use, but you can buy one for about the cost of parts. Getting your wort cooled down as quickly as possible before pitching your yeast reduces the chance that bacteria will get a foothold, so a wort chiller is the first piece of special equipment I recommend that new brewers get. In upcoming articles, we’ll delve into the specifics of each of these projects, providing instructions for building your own. Here are a half dozen projects that will improve your brewing or save you some effort. Most of these are worthwhile, even for beginners. Relatively Easy Projectsįortunately, there are quite a few potential projects that don’t require much in the way of special skills or tools. You should also consider whether it’s cost-effective, factoring in intangibles such as the satisfaction and learning experience. First, you need to decide whether or not you have the skills (or want to develop the skills) to take on a given project. When it comes to kitting out your custom-built brewery, there are two factors to consider before diving in. Despite this, the DIY ethic is alive and well. Just as with jeans or leather jackets, sometimes buying is your cheapest option. DIY was a necessity in the early days, but now you can find almost anything you want pre-made online or in your local homebrew shop. Many brewers also feel that DIY is the way to go with their equipment. Big corporate beer doesn’t taste nearly as satisfying as our own homebrew.
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