A 5 gallon batch primed with 3/4 of a cup of dextrose, bottled in a 1L Howe Sound and 373mL Grolsch swing tops - a combination which has worked well in the past.
38 bottles of beer on the wall, 38 bottle of beer.Saturday, September 17, 2011
We just bottled a batch of ChaiPA™
It's like an IPA but a ChaiPA™.
A 5 gallon batch primed with 3/4 of a cup of dextrose, bottled in a 1L Howe Sound and 373mL Grolsch swing tops - a combination which has worked well in the past.
38 bottles of beer on the wall, 38 bottle of beer.
A 5 gallon batch primed with 3/4 of a cup of dextrose, bottled in a 1L Howe Sound and 373mL Grolsch swing tops - a combination which has worked well in the past.
38 bottles of beer on the wall, 38 bottle of beer.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
20 Mintute Wort Chiller
15 minutes at Home Depot and 5 in the workshop....
Up to this point we've been chilling our wort by placing the kettle in a water bath - which worked - but time is money and time is more than money! Hopefully this project will save us at least a few minutes a batch! First, I must say, this isn't the most economical setup out there, we're sure this could be done for much less. Second, if you're concerned about water consumption, you'll need to make some adjustments to this design as we're not recirculating any of the cooling water.
Instructions for the fabrication of our Wort Chiller are as follows:
Bill of Materials:
1 - 10' of Braided Nylon Tubing, $
3 - 3/4" Female Hose Fitting, 1/2" Barb, $
2 - 3/4" Garden Hose Adapter, $
1 - 20' 3/8" Copper Tubing, $
2 - 3/8" Compression to 3/4" Garden Hose Adapter, $
1 - Faucet to Garden Hose Adapter, $
Construction:
Step 1: Cut the Braided Nylon Tubing to Length
Not sure that we really need to say much here. With our current setup we can bring the hot wort directly over to the sink, so we really only needed 5 feet of tubing on the inlet and outlet of the wort chiller. Thus, we bought a 10 foot section of nylon braided tubing ... and we cut it in half.
Tip: When you cut the tubing try to make your cuts as square as possible. It'll help the ensure the tuning seats all the way on the barb of your fittings.
Step 2: Insert Barbed Adapters into your Tubing (x3)
Again, not much to say here. Insert your barbed fittings into the tubing. The barbed fitting should be snug in the tube but should insert smoothly with only slight force - however, they should be difficult to remove. You're going to need to do this at least three times. If needed (or for an extra safety factor), you can put a hose clamp on the tube before inserting the fitting and then tighten it down. Viola, now you've built yourself an inlet and outlet hose!
Step 2a: Add Your Adapters
While we're here, we may as well insert one garden hose fitting into the end of each tube. These connections can be tight, they shouldn't ever need to be taken apart.
Step 3: Time to Form Some Copper
The more surface area the better for a chiller like this. Sure we could have used 40 feet, but we went for 20. We're only chilling ~10 liters (~2.6 gallons) of wort since we're still brewing partial grain recipes and we haven't made the jump to all grain quite yet.
The tubing came nicely coiled right out of the box so it only took a few minutes of hand work to even the coil out to a diameter about 2-3 inches smaller than our kettle. You'll want to connectors to stick out of the kettle at least a few inches when the chiller is completely submerged, we though 8 inches sounded like a good number.
For the inlet and outlet of the chiller coil we used dishwasher fittings to go from the 3/8 inch copper to the 3/4 inch hose fittings we installed on the tubing back in Step 2. The fittings we used are simple compression fittings, installation was a breeze.
Step 4: Put it All Together & Test for Leaks
If you're going to use this with a typical kitchen/bathroom faucet, you're going to need an adapter.
To test your rig, put it all together and turn on the tap! And don't forget, waters not coming out of the tap anymore!
We were able to chill 1o liters from boiling to 30°C in under 7 minutes. A welcome improvement from chilling the kettle in a tub of cold water.
Up to this point we've been chilling our wort by placing the kettle in a water bath - which worked - but time is money and time is more than money! Hopefully this project will save us at least a few minutes a batch! First, I must say, this isn't the most economical setup out there, we're sure this could be done for much less. Second, if you're concerned about water consumption, you'll need to make some adjustments to this design as we're not recirculating any of the cooling water.
Instructions for the fabrication of our Wort Chiller are as follows:
Bill of Materials:
1 - 10' of Braided Nylon Tubing, $
3 - 3/4" Female Hose Fitting, 1/2" Barb, $
2 - 3/4" Garden Hose Adapter, $
1 - 20' 3/8" Copper Tubing, $
2 - 3/8" Compression to 3/4" Garden Hose Adapter, $
1 - Faucet to Garden Hose Adapter, $
Construction:
Step 1: Cut the Braided Nylon Tubing to Length
Not sure that we really need to say much here. With our current setup we can bring the hot wort directly over to the sink, so we really only needed 5 feet of tubing on the inlet and outlet of the wort chiller. Thus, we bought a 10 foot section of nylon braided tubing ... and we cut it in half.
Tip: When you cut the tubing try to make your cuts as square as possible. It'll help the ensure the tuning seats all the way on the barb of your fittings.Step 2: Insert Barbed Adapters into your Tubing (x3)
Again, not much to say here. Insert your barbed fittings into the tubing. The barbed fitting should be snug in the tube but should insert smoothly with only slight force - however, they should be difficult to remove. You're going to need to do this at least three times. If needed (or for an extra safety factor), you can put a hose clamp on the tube before inserting the fitting and then tighten it down. Viola, now you've built yourself an inlet and outlet hose!
Step 2a: Add Your AdaptersWhile we're here, we may as well insert one garden hose fitting into the end of each tube. These connections can be tight, they shouldn't ever need to be taken apart.
Step 3: Time to Form Some Copper
The more surface area the better for a chiller like this. Sure we could have used 40 feet, but we went for 20. We're only chilling ~10 liters (~2.6 gallons) of wort since we're still brewing partial grain recipes and we haven't made the jump to all grain quite yet.
The tubing came nicely coiled right out of the box so it only took a few minutes of hand work to even the coil out to a diameter about 2-3 inches smaller than our kettle. You'll want to connectors to stick out of the kettle at least a few inches when the chiller is completely submerged, we though 8 inches sounded like a good number.
For the inlet and outlet of the chiller coil we used dishwasher fittings to go from the 3/8 inch copper to the 3/4 inch hose fittings we installed on the tubing back in Step 2. The fittings we used are simple compression fittings, installation was a breeze.Step 4: Put it All Together & Test for Leaks
If you're going to use this with a typical kitchen/bathroom faucet, you're going to need an adapter.
To test your rig, put it all together and turn on the tap! And don't forget, waters not coming out of the tap anymore!
We were able to chill 1o liters from boiling to 30°C in under 7 minutes. A welcome improvement from chilling the kettle in a tub of cold water.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
We're not dead yet...
No to worry folks, we're still alive and kicking.
The last few months have been busy and action packed for us, so brewing unfortunately had to take a back seat.
But we're back, re-grouped and ready to go.
Stay tuned after Labour Day for new and exciting updates!
The last few months have been busy and action packed for us, so brewing unfortunately had to take a back seat.
But we're back, re-grouped and ready to go.
Stay tuned after Labour Day for new and exciting updates!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
A Hot Liquor Tank From a 5 Gallon Cooler
Although this "Gott Type" beverage cooler may have been destined for fame as a fine dispenser of McDonalds Orange Drink or Purple Jesus, we've got a better use for it! It will be the first piece of the Royal City Brewing All Grain Brew House. We'll use the simple lessons we learn here for the construction of our Mash/Lauter Tun from a 9 gallon rectangular cooler.
Instructions for the fabrication of our Hot Liquor Tank are as follows:
Bill of Materials:
1 - 5 Gal (18.9L) Igloo Water Jug, $33.99 at Costco
1 - 1/2" Brass Hose Barb Adapter, $2.59 at Home Depot
1 - 1/2" Threaded Ball Valve, $8.09 at Home Depot
1 - 1/2" Brass Pipe Nipple, $2.59 at Home Depot
1 - Brass Faucet Lock Nut, $3.49 at Home Depot
AR - Teflon Plumbing Tape, from the tool box
The most important part here is the selection of the Nipple, be sure to select the length that's right for the wall thickness of your cooler! With a total cost of CDN$50.75 + HST, this is a fairly inexpensive first piece of the Royal City Brewing all grain brew house.
Construction:
Step 1: Removal of the existing valve from the cooler.
Simply twist the valve counter-clockwise (left loosey). It will initially be fairly tight, but is should loosen with a half turn or so. The cooler we used had a plastic nut on the inside so if it's stubborn, use an adjustable wrench to stop it from spinning when twisting the valve. The parts will look like this:
Keep the black gasket and the white washer (the middle two pieces), the valve itself and the nut will no longer be required.
Step 2: Assembly of the Valve Assembly
First, we need to thread the 1/2" Brass Nipple into the Ball Valve. To do this, thread two of the Lock Nuts onto one end of the Nipple. Using two wrenches, tighten the lock nuts against each other - this will allow you to tighten the the Nipple into the Ball Valve.
Next, wrap the bare end of the nipple with Teflon plumbers tape. Be sure to wrap in the direction of the thread. Tips for using Teflon tape can be found here.
Next, use the appropriate wrenches to tighten the nipple in the input side of the Ball Valve. Just to be sure, open the valve and thread the nipple into the end opposite the handle.
Next wrap the Barb Adapter with Teflon tape as described above and tighten it in the output side of the Ball Valve.
The Valve Assembly is now complete!
Step 3: Installation of the Valve Assembly
Insert the Valve Assembly from Step 2 into the opening in the cooler. The valve has been rotated to all for the valve to fully close without hitting the cooler. This shouldn't be an issue when we put the liquor tank into operation.
Place the black gasket, followed by the white washer over the threads of the Valve Assembly (ensuring the gasket is properly seated in the washer).
Finally, thread the Lock Nut onto the Valve Assembly and tighten with a 1" Wrench. Well... that was pretty simple.
Step 4: Leak Test
The final step should be a leak test. This should be fairly straight forward, I'll leave it up to you.
If it holds water, which ours did, you're done. If not, try tightening things up a bit, but not to much you don't want to crack your washer.
Done & Done!
Next time we'll build a Mash/Lauter Tun.
Instructions for the fabrication of our Hot Liquor Tank are as follows:
Bill of Materials:
1 - 5 Gal (18.9L) Igloo Water Jug, $33.99 at Costco
1 - 1/2" Brass Hose Barb Adapter, $2.59 at Home Depot
1 - 1/2" Threaded Ball Valve, $8.09 at Home Depot
1 - 1/2" Brass Pipe Nipple, $2.59 at Home Depot
1 - Brass Faucet Lock Nut, $3.49 at Home Depot
AR - Teflon Plumbing Tape, from the tool box
The most important part here is the selection of the Nipple, be sure to select the length that's right for the wall thickness of your cooler! With a total cost of CDN$50.75 + HST, this is a fairly inexpensive first piece of the Royal City Brewing all grain brew house.
Construction:
Step 1: Removal of the existing valve from the cooler.
Simply twist the valve counter-clockwise (left loosey). It will initially be fairly tight, but is should loosen with a half turn or so. The cooler we used had a plastic nut on the inside so if it's stubborn, use an adjustable wrench to stop it from spinning when twisting the valve. The parts will look like this:
Keep the black gasket and the white washer (the middle two pieces), the valve itself and the nut will no longer be required.
Step 2: Assembly of the Valve Assembly
First, we need to thread the 1/2" Brass Nipple into the Ball Valve. To do this, thread two of the Lock Nuts onto one end of the Nipple. Using two wrenches, tighten the lock nuts against each other - this will allow you to tighten the the Nipple into the Ball Valve.
Next, wrap the bare end of the nipple with Teflon plumbers tape. Be sure to wrap in the direction of the thread. Tips for using Teflon tape can be found here.
Next, use the appropriate wrenches to tighten the nipple in the input side of the Ball Valve. Just to be sure, open the valve and thread the nipple into the end opposite the handle.
Next wrap the Barb Adapter with Teflon tape as described above and tighten it in the output side of the Ball Valve.
The Valve Assembly is now complete!
Step 3: Installation of the Valve Assembly
Insert the Valve Assembly from Step 2 into the opening in the cooler. The valve has been rotated to all for the valve to fully close without hitting the cooler. This shouldn't be an issue when we put the liquor tank into operation.
Place the black gasket, followed by the white washer over the threads of the Valve Assembly (ensuring the gasket is properly seated in the washer).
Finally, thread the Lock Nut onto the Valve Assembly and tighten with a 1" Wrench. Well... that was pretty simple.
Step 4: Leak Test
The final step should be a leak test. This should be fairly straight forward, I'll leave it up to you.
If it holds water, which ours did, you're done. If not, try tightening things up a bit, but not to much you don't want to crack your washer.
Done & Done!
Next time we'll build a Mash/Lauter Tun.
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