Brewgyvering Your Brew Day - American Homebrewers Association

Brewgyvering Your Brew Day (Yeah, I know, it’s a really lame :tle!) Gadgets, :ps and ideas to make your brew day easier, shorter, or just more fun by Kent Fletcher, aka Brewgyver Topics Covered: •  Start your brew day the day before you brew – Brew system “automa:on” made easy and cheap •  The easy way to dough-­‐in a big batch, single handed •  BeNer control, less fussing during your brew •  S:ll working with a “Rube Goldberg rig”? HLT perched on milk crates, mash tun on table and keNle siSng on that wobbly, wasteful, wai:ng-­‐to-­‐hurt you turkey cooker? Make a modest investment in building your own custom-­‐fit brew stand – more than strong enough to withstand anything you put on it, for <$200, with NO WELDING! Start your brew day the day before you brew! •  By automa:ng your HLT burner, you can fill your tun the day or night before, then simply plug your control into a lamp :mer set to start the next morning. •  Result: your strike water and probably a good por:on of your sparge water is wai:ng for you. This step alone can make your brew day significantly shorter. •  Sleeping in an extra hour is a GREAT way to start your brew day! •  What you’ll need: •  A temperature control of some kind: A-­‐19 Type Mechanical
Johnson Controls A-­‐419 Electronic Ranco ETC Love Temperature Switch PID Control Automa:ng the HLT Burner (Cont.) The IntermiNent Pilot Control Module: The Automa:c Gas Valve: (You may also need an LP conversion kit) The Pilot/Sensor: A 24 volt transformer: Common Lamp Timer: Be sure to use one with 3-­‐prong Plug and outlet! Automa:ng the HLT Burner (Cont.) •  Reasons to use these parts: •  These parts are designed to do EXACTLY the job we want them to do: Automa:cally light a large output burner, and do it SAFELY. Safety Note: Using a standing pilot and a simple solenoid valve, as described in many online brewing forum discussions, is poten:ally extremely dangerous. When (not if) the pilot blows out, nothing will prevent the solenoid valve from opening and releasing unburned fuel gas through the burner, a recipe for disaster. •  These parts could cost well over $200 at retail, but you can get them for MUCH less on eBay •  If you’re willing to visit your local scrap yard with a couple of hand tools, you can salvage them yourself from a scrapped furnace for almost nothing. You’ll need ¼” & 5/16” nut drivers, channel locks and a crescent wrench, and wire cuNers. •  Downside: Cannot be used on “high pressure” LPG burners (turkey cooker type). Larger, low pressure burners are more efficient anyway! The Easy Way to Dough-­‐in a Big Batch, Single-­‐
Flex Ahanded uger Grain Feed System toured many pro breweries, you’ve seen If you’ve that most use a feed system of some kind to get the grain into the mash tun, most commonly consis:ng of a flexible auger running inside PVC pipe. Even small breweries find that the investment is well worth it in :me savings, not to men:on back strain! The photo at right shows a brewer mashing in a 15 barrel batch, with the malt being dumped in via the auger. The stainless part at the end of the blue hose is connected to the HLT, and pre-­‐wets the malt going into the tun. No:ce the brewer is s:rring in the same way you would. The lower-­‐leq picture show a pro-­‐sized grain mill, with flex auger mounted below. Lower-­‐right is a cutaway, showing how the helical coil inside the PVC flex pipe moves the malt along from the mill to the mash tun. Of course, this kind of equipment costs thousands of dollars, right? Wrong! Enter the Grist Gun! The Grist Gun Components Garden Auger 2” ABS Wye Plywood for Frame and ($10-­‐20, eBay) (less than $5) Base 3/8” Portable Drill
Custom Hopper
Op:onal Foot Switch (corded drill preferred due
(Found this one on eBay to trigger lock) for $8.25, Buy It Now) Do You Have a Rube Goldberg Rig? •  If you’re old enough to remember this board game, you’ve probably at least heard the expression “Rube Goldberg.” •  What’s the name of this game? Got a Jury Rig? •  Another common expression is “Jury Rigged, but this is actually a nau:cal term, for a temporary repair at sea •  Homebrewing makeshiq rigs are beNer described as… “Jerry Rig” S:ll working with a “Jerry Rig”? HLT perched on milk crates, mash tun on table and keNle siSng on that wobbly, wasteful, wai:ng-­‐to-­‐hurt you turkey cooker? Make a modest investment in building your own custom-­‐fit brew stand – more than strong enough to withstand anything you put on it, for <$200, with NO WELDING! Strut Your Stuff! •  Electricians, some Plumbers, Mechanical/HVAC Engineers are very familiar with “Superstrut” or “Unistrut” There Are Brewing Apps, too! •  Most of the framework for the Maltose Falcons Mark II One Barrel Brewery is made of strut and associated hardware Great Founda:ons for Portable Bars… Note the strut undercarriage… Randall it! Remember, •  eBay is your friend! •  Dumpster Diving can be beneficial to your brew day! •  www.mcmaster.com