I have a 5 gallon pot and 2 2 gallon pots, so it's cumbersome, but I mash up to 13 lbs at 1.25 qt/lb ratio. It gets pretty full. I drain the bag, transfer the wort to the 2 gallon pot, transfer the sparge water to the big pot, sparge, drain the grain again, then transfer the wort back to the big pot. I've made 3 or so batches of 1.070 IPA this way.
Heading out tomorrow/Tuesday to get a pot for brewing... Going with a 32 quart aluminum stock pot from a restaurant supplier. I might pick up a couple of other items, like a paddle to use for mixing/stirring (uncertain just yet)... I can get the pot, plus the lid, for under $50. I'll condition the pot before using it, so that it's safe. Basically, it's less than half the cost for a stainless pot, and should get up to boil temps faster.
I'll also be getting hardware to install a ball valve into my 70 quart cooler to use as a mash tun (still doing BIAB though)... I'll heat up the mash and sparge water in whatever size pot I need to, and then drain via the ball valve (and tubing) into the pots I need to. I'm planning to do the boil in the new, 32 quart, pot, so that I can add the hops to just one pot and make things easier. Within a few more batches I'll be getting an IC too...
I did just order up grain and hops for really good rates (far better than from the LHBS)... Hops were under $1.25/oz, and grain was under $1.35/pound (milled)... That includes UK 2 Row ($1/#) and MO ($1.21/#)... All said, easily 1/2 the cost of the LHBS... Shipped out fast too (will have in time for this coming weekend's brew day)... I'm planning on washing my yeast moving forward, so I'll be saving money there. I'll have a good set of yeast to use pretty quickly... I'll probably split each wash into two, or three, containers since I don't really need to break it up more. Getting a few generations from each container will really help save money. Especially when the liquid yeast is about $8 a pop right now.
I've got a schweet blingmann setup - 3 20g pots + therminator. I use a single-tier propane setup (but am looking into switching to electric next year, since brewing in the winter is a bit chilly). My fermenters are 2 15g kegs, converted to psuedo conicals, with racking arms + blowoff tube + copper banding & foam jacket. The banding + jacket will eventually be hooked up to a saline/glycol solution for thermal control.
I've got a schweet blingmann setup - 3 20g pots + therminator. I use a single-tier propane setup (but am looking into switching to electric next year, since brewing in the winter is a bit chilly). My fermenters are 2 15g kegs, converted to psuedo conicals, with racking arms + blowoff tube + copper banding & foam jacket. The banding + jacket will eventually be hooked up to a saline/glycol solution for thermal control.
Yeah, I'm a nut.
I'd be interested in hearing how your converted the kegs into conicals... I'm trying to figure out where I can get some sanke kegs (decommissioned) on the cheap to use.
I'd be interested in hearing how your converted the kegs into conicals... I'm trying to figure out where I can get some sanke kegs (decommissioned) on the cheap to use.
I'm not sure where the kegs came from as I got the setups from a guy named Mike Carty, in Derry, NH. As I understand it, Mike does a lot of work with scrap yards / some other welding supply places, and therefore has a lot of connections to getting legal kegs. He does incredibly beautiful sanitary welds, too.
The kegs aren't actual conicals (since they don't have a cone + legs), but they aren't the "lets ferment under pressure in a sanke keg" setup either. There's a fairly signifcant racking arm which allows me to take everything off of the trub, or dip it down into the trub and dump the slurry out.
The kegs have, at the top, a tri-clamped top plate, plus a separately clamped on blow-off tube. At the bottom, as I mentioned, the racking arm is tri-clamped to the port on the keg. From that, there's a larger arm-bar that lets me maneuver the racking arm. Attached to the arm is a ball valve + NPT->hose barb (1/2 in).
I'll try and get some pictures of the fermenters up online when I get the chance. You can see pictures of the "front-side" when I finally got all the stuff together for my single-tier @ Weekend Brewer
this year with a little help from my HoneyBees my friends and I are going to make a honey mead. my friend made some a few years ago its awsome. maybe a honey porter too my favorite.
this year with a little help from my HoneyBees my friends and I are going to make a honey mead. my friend made some a few years ago its awsome. maybe a honey porter too my favorite.
You do realize, I hope, that saying 'honey mead' is being redundant... It's like saying 'red grape burgundy wine'...
Mead Styles:
* Mead - made with honey, water and yeast
* Sack Mead - a sweeter Mead, with more honey
* Melomel - with fruit or fruit juice
* Metheglin - with spices and extracts
* Acerglyn - with maple syrup
* Morat - with mulberries
* Pyment - with both honey and grapes
* Hippocras ? with honey, grapes, and spices
* Cyser - honey and apples or apple cider (apple juice in Europe) Can also be made with peach, cherry or pear cider
* Braggot - honey and malt, sort of a Mead-beer
* Oxymel - Mead mixed with wine vinegar
* Rhodomel - honey with Attar, a rose petal distillate, or rose petals
* Capsicumel - honey with chile peppers
* Omphacomel - Mead and Verjuice, the juice of unripe grapes
* T'ej ?with honey, water and hops. It is the national drink of Ethiopia, and has a unique taste
your right. wasn't sure everybody knew mead was made with honey. just added honey just like adding honey to honeybee. so people didn't think i was milking wasps. but thanks for the other ideas i can use my honey for. Capsicumel sounds good have to use that on wings.
I liked my witbiers, Rye IPAs, and Maibocks best. Only once made a decent dark beer, a porter, but it was only decent. My Rye IPAs are really good, little different recipe each time, but all included at least 1 lb of rye and plenty of dry hops.
My wife's grandfather was a beekeeper for over 40 years (probably closer to 60). He would object to honeybee being a redundant usage of honey. There are many species of bee, but bee keepers who produce honey prefer honeybees (not, say, bumbles or stingless) because they have are the best producers while being the most mild-mannered.
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