# Post Your Ghetto Gear Thread. The < $2.00 Hopper



## Spork

4. (adj.)* jury-rigged, improvised, or home-made (usually with extremely cheap or sub-standard components), yet still deserving of an odd sense of respect from ghetto dwellers and non-ghetto dwellers alike*. (From Urban Dictionary - Ghetto) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ghetto

So, this forum is full of pic's of peoples shiny stainless stuff, and thats great. One day I might have more bling in my brewery than Liberace myself...
Meanwhile, I though a "Ghetto thread" (see above) might be interesting. It could help new brewers, or people considering brewing to see how things can be done for cheap. It might give more experienced brewers an idea on how to do something differently. It should be good for a laugh. It might even save a life!

I'll start the ball rolling:
Got my new mill a couple of days ago. Too tight to buy a handle and hopper. Hoping my power drill can run it OK. At least that inspired me to pull the drill apart and "fix" it. (Sort of, it was stuck in reverse, now it's stuck in forwards...)
Had a look through some threads. Couldn't find those big (15 litre?) Water bottles anywhere here.I have a few tools, but no workshop here, so making anything is difficult. I'll probably get around to having a mate help me make a timber one, or getting some sheet metal cut and bent. 
Meanwhile, last evening while watching the telly and sucking a few beers, I decided to rig up a cardboard hopper, and frankly I'm pleasantly surprised at the result.
The cardboard was free, form a box that hadn't been recycled or rubbished yet. The grey tape was $2.00, and I didn't use the whole roll, so the hopper actually cost < $2.00. The only "tools" used were a pair of scissors and a biro. A ruler and set square could have been used, but I wanted to keep is simple. 






The mill resting on the hopper, showing the driven side.





From what I've read, drill powered mills require a grain flow regulator, so naturally I included one in my design. In this pic. it is closed. I might have to adjust it as you can see it doesn't fully close the grain feed, but thats a pretty quick fix.





And with the grain feed fully open.

After I took these pics, I added more tape. The inside seams between side and end parts are now taped up, for added strength and to stop grains getting stuck in the gap. The top edges are also taped, and a bit more tape holding the hopper onto the mill also.
Tonight when Mrs Spork gets home from Hobart with my sack of grain I will test it out with a small amount. If that works then next brew day I will (attempt to) mill the entire grain bill using this. Pictures will be attempted if I have a free hand.


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## Wolfy

Spork said:


> After I took these pics, I added more tape. The inside seams between side and end parts are now taped up, for added strength and to stop grains getting stuck in the gap. The top edges are also taped, and a bit more tape holding the hopper onto the mill also.


Unfortunately, I think you'll find with a couple of uses that the grain-dust will get under the edge of the tape and it will start lifting and the the hopper will start to fall apart.

But I guess I can add my old mill:





and sparge arm (with aluminum foil):





to the pics in the therad. 
They work great, but were cheap/easy/free to make.


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## bconnery

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=17309

Second or so post in shows my kitchen strainer false bottom...


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## Spork

Hmm, might have to go all high tech like and whack some staples in there too. 
Actually Wolfy, it was some great looking hoppers very much like your own that inspired me, but buggered if I can find anywhere selling those big water bottles around here.
Chickenfeed had some cheapie stools for $7-8. The two piece ones that join in the middle. I reckon I could use one of them, except I think the plastic is too brittle to cut easily.


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## vic45

On top of my (made from scrap and freebies) mill sits a large $9 stainless mixing bowl from chickenfeed with a slot cut in the bottom for grain feed.
Holds 6kg of grain and works spot on.


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## kelbygreen

haha wolfy thats one ghetto mill set up. even utalised a old cat scratching post for a "stand" and the cardboard shoot makes it all come together nicely


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## Wolfy

kelbygreen said:


> haha wolfy thats one ghetto mill set up. even utalised a old cat scratching post for a "stand" and the cardboard shoot makes it all come together nicely


Nothin 'old' about the cat scratching post, the cat bitches at me until I give it back when I finish crushing grain.


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## kelbygreen

haha well good use of whats at hand I say


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## Tanga

What an awesome idea for a thread. Win!

I'd love to see pics of your ghetto mill Vic. Way beyond my skills, but I can drool. =)


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## Jace89

Hahaha this thread is inspirational!


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## TasChris

I have a super high tech brew stand that I would like to share...

The set up was only temporary but 50+ brews later at two differnet houses its still esentially the same.


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## Lecterfan

TasChris said:


> I have a super high tech brew stand that I would like to share...
> 
> The set up was only temporary but 50+ brews later at two differnet houses its still esentially the same.
> 
> View attachment 47991




Awesome haha. yes, a great thread idea, I'll have to borrow a digital camera over the weekend to show my ridiculous set up. It's not just one thing or the other, the whole lot is ghetto for me hee hee.


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## Spork

TasChris - I love the black paint job on those kegs...
Good to see you have so much faith in a card table. Glad your kettle isn't on there 

Keep the Ghetto coming folks.
I'm with Tanga, I'd love some pics of vic45's mil setupl too.


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## TasChris

Spork said:


> TasChris - I love the black paint job on those kegs...
> Good to see you have so much faith in a card table. Glad your kettle isn't on there
> 
> Keep the Ghetto coming folks.
> I'm with Tanga, I'd love some pics of vic45's mil setupl too.


shhhh there not kegs B) 

I still put the kettle on the table to run off into the fermenter, a little bit of risk....look at the legs on the table


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## kelbygreen

well my burner is a old BBQ sitting on the lid and the keggle is held up a few bricks but the burner sits on the lid, The lid is collapsing which is good as the slab in the sheds not level so you can kinda position the bricks so the keggle is lever lol. 

The mash tun sits on the concrete as its easier to pour the water into and couldnt be stuffed moving it till I have to then it sits on the side tray of the BBQ, the pot sits on the cement to fill and the fermenter sits on a milk crate as the hose I gots not long enough


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## Clutch

Spork said:


> Hmm, might have to go all high tech like and whack some staples in there too.
> Actually Wolfy, it was some great looking hoppers very much like your own that inspired me, but buggered if I can find anywhere selling those big water bottles around here.
> Chickenfeed had some cheapie stools for $7-8. The two piece ones that join in the middle. I reckon I could use one of them, except I think the plastic is too brittle to cut easily.




Try your local industrial estates, my mate owns a factory unit and he's got a water cooler and just buys the water from somewhere and chucks the bottles when he's done. Maybe try Officedorks?
Hell, if you're in Brisbane I'll give you one.


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## raven19

Nice topic.

My efforts thus far:
Monstor Mill made from odd bits around the shed.

Test tube holders alsomade from odd bits around the shed.

Drip Tray... nothing but the best.


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## TasChris

Spork said:


> 4. (adj.)* jury-rigged, improvised, or home-made (usually with extremely cheap or sub-standard components), yet still deserving of an odd sense of respect from ghetto dwellers and non-ghetto dwellers alike*. (From Urban Dictionary - Ghetto) http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ghetto
> 
> So, this forum is full of pic's of peoples shiny stainless stuff, and thats great. One day I might have more bling in my brewery than Liberace myself...
> Meanwhile, I though a "Ghetto thread" (see above) might be interesting. It could help new brewers, or people considering brewing to see how things can be done for cheap. It might give more experienced brewers an idea on how to do something differently. It should be good for a laugh. It might even save a life!
> 
> I'll start the ball rolling:
> Got my new mill a couple of days ago. Too tight to buy a handle and hopper. Hoping my power drill can run it OK. At least that inspired me to pull the drill apart and "fix" it. (Sort of, it was stuck in reverse, now it's stuck in forwards...)
> Had a look through some threads. Couldn't find those big (15 litre?) Water bottles anywhere here.I have a few tools, but no workshop here, so making anything is difficult. I'll probably get around to having a mate help me make a timber one, or getting some sheet metal cut and bent.
> Meanwhile, last evening while watching the telly and sucking a few beers, I decided to rig up a cardboard hopper, and frankly I'm pleasantly surprised at the result.
> The cardboard was free, form a box that hadn't been recycled or rubbished yet. The grey tape was $2.00, and I didn't use the whole roll, so the hopper actually cost < $2.00. The only "tools" used were a pair of scissors and a biro. A ruler and set square could have been used, but I wanted to keep is simple.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The mill resting on the hopper, showing the driven side.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> From what I've read, drill powered mills require a grain flow regulator, so naturally I included one in my design. In this pic. it is closed. I might have to adjust it as you can see it doesn't fully close the grain feed, but thats a pretty quick fix.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And with the grain feed fully open.
> 
> After I took these pics, I added more tape. The inside seams between side and end parts are now taped up, for added strength and to stop grains getting stuck in the gap. The top edges are also taped, and a bit more tape holding the hopper onto the mill also.
> Tonight when Mrs Spork gets home from Hobart with my sack of grain I will test it out with a small amount. If that works then next brew day I will (attempt to) mill the entire grain bill using this. Pictures will be attempted if I have a free hand.


What is the birds nest for on the left of the photo? Years ago we had a gravel false bottom ( Yay Pumpy you were right all along), are you working on a twig version?

Cheers
Chris


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## Spork

haha, hmm, they use moss for filtering whiskey I think...
Some of Mrs Spork's crap on the table. Cuttings? Perhaps future kindling...


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## Wolfy

raven19 said:


> My efforts thus far:
> Monstor Mill made from odd bits around the shed.
> 
> Test tube holders alsomade from odd bits around the shed.
> 
> Drip Tray... nothing but the best.


Sorry but the Mill hopper and Test tube holders are far too professional-looking to classify as 'ghetto'. 
... the drip tray on the other hand, that one belongs here.


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## megs80

Here's my temp controller housed in the container my Chinese came in taped and nailed to the wall.


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## punkin

Spork said:


> Hmm, might have to go all high tech like and whack some staples in there too.
> Actually Wolfy, it was some great looking hoppers very much like your own that inspired me, but buggered if I can find anywhere selling those big water bottles around here.
> Chickenfeed had some cheapie stools for $7-8. The two piece ones that join in the middle. I reckon I could use one of them, except I think the plastic is too brittle to cut easily.



I also have a $2 ghetto one that may interest you more than the water bottles and have the same capacity.





You can see it in the background in the above pic.

An 86 cent plastic bucket with the bottom cut out and duct taped to a 99 cent plastic funnel (the bucket needed replacing last year after a few years of service, but the funnels still good).

You can also see my $6 mash paddle. It's a $6 garden fork handle from bunnings (was cheaper to throw the crappy fork away than buy a naked handle) with a couple of bits of meranti that were in the shed and some stainless bolts i had. Has worked fine for about 4 years now.


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## vic45

Spork said:


> Keep the Ghetto coming folks.
> I'm with Tanga, I'd love some pics of vic45's mil setupl too.



Ok, I'll try to get some photos up on the weekend.
Not just of the mill, but the whole brewery, it all belongs in this thread :lol:


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## Nevalicious

megs80 said:


> Here's my temp controller housed in the container my Chinese came in taped and nailed to the wall.



That's almost the most ghetto thing I've seen

You sir, are ghetto fab!


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## Malted

Nevalicious said:


> That's almost the most ghetto thing I've seen
> 
> You sir, are ghetto fab!




The best bit is that he has nailed the tape to the wall!!! 
That will go to the ghetto hall of fame (it's next door to the Darwin Awards office)


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## megs80

The nails weren't planned but when the horizontal backup piece of tape started to fail I had to get improvising


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## Malted

megs80 said:


> The nails weren't planned but when the horizontal backup piece of tape started to fail I had to get improvising




Oh now that is the beauty and elegance of ghetto building, building on the fly and a glorious lack of planning! You've nailed it! (Boomtisch!)


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## Spork

megs80 said:


> Here's my temp controller housed in the container my Chinese came in taped and nailed to the wall.



I bow to your superior ghettoness sir.
When you use it, do you feel like you need to use it again an hour later?


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## TasChris

megs80 said:


> The nails weren't planned but when the horizontal backup piece of tape started to fail I had to get improvising


Is it a rental house by any chance?


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## reVoxAHB

Greatest thread ever.


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## Doogiechap

megs80 said:


> Here's my temp controller housed in the container my Chinese came in taped and nailed to the wall.




I take off may hat to you Megs ! That is definitive ghetto :icon_chickcheers: 

I wish Lethalcorpse could see this


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## markymoo

this is my ghetto setup... only on my second AG brew.

need better pics of my home made counter flow chiller, 10m of half in coppy tube inside 19mm reticulation hose. works a treat, 21 degrees straight into the fermenter.


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## megs80

No its not a rental. Its my studio/ brewery out the back. Next time im considering not wraping my electrical component in cling film or adding that extra power board under my leaky equipment Ill think back at all the support on the thread. Stainless is shiny but duct tape solves all.

Cheers


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## TasChris

megs80 said:


> No its not a rental. Its my studio/ brewery out the back. Next time im considering not wraping my electrical component in cling film or adding that extra power board under my leaky equipment Ill think back at all the support on the thread. Stainless is shiny but duct tape solves all.
> 
> Cheers



I am only a novice in comparison to your Ghetto ability
Your work is truly craptacular

Cheers
Chris


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## ledgenko

Can I say kind Sirs ... this topic has made me laugh out loud .. god bless you all .. from a pretty depressed kinda guy .. I am seeing rainbows from these posts !!! 

Piss funny ... 

Ghetto Pimp .. out !!


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## jyo

After I've finished cleaning out my mash tun, my spent grain shovel goes straight back into the sand play pit h34r:


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## ledgenko

Jyo ... That is tops ... BTW ... I have leaves on my plants now .. (hops that is !!!) 

Coming along nicely .. 

and the EKG ale ... nice !!!


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## Tilt

Great thread - and even better ideas in the posts. 
It blows me away to imagine the fine beer that results from these hi-tec set ups. Keep em comin'
Here's my budget kettle stand and windshield set up - I couldn't find a better fit if i'd had them custom made - and both courtesy of the local hard garbage 'neighbourhood exchange program'




Cut down steel kitchen chair frame




Two outer casings from scrapped flip top kitchen bins.


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## Goofinder

My drip tray is the saucer from one of those rectangular plastic plant pots. Just manages to catch the drips from all 4 taps.

Brew stand is a multi-fold ladder with 2 old lengths of timber placed along the top. Esky mash tun sits on that, with the HLT up higher on an old milk crate. 

And of course the 79c sparge bucket (blue of course to avoid HSA).


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## Malted

Goofinder said:


> My drip tray is the saucer from one of those rectangular plastic plant pots. Just manages to catch the drips from all 4 taps.
> 
> Brew stand is a multi-fold ladder with 2 old lengths of timber placed along the top. Esky mash tun sits on that, with the HLT up higher on an old milk crate.
> 
> And of course the 79c sparge bucket (blue of course to avoid HSA).




Sounds like it is proper ghetto but of course we need to see pictures!


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## megs80

Thats rad! A kettle which looks like a bomb and bins for a windbreak. Brilliant


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## Malted

tilt said:


> Here's my budget kettle stand and windshield set up - I couldn't find a better fit if i'd had them custom made - and both courtesy of the local hard garbage 'neighbourhood exchange program'



Sweet ride bro! Ahh bless the 'neighbourhood exchange program' the heart of every good brewery! Ahem, one mans trash is anothers treasure, pleasure don't call it garbage! I used to love Mitre 11 (the dump) for the 'recycling' I could do. Bloody metro areas won't let you take stuff FROM the dump!


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## jyo

ledgenko said:


> Jyo ... That is tops ... BTW ... I have leaves on my plants now .. (hops that is !!!)
> 
> Coming along nicely ..
> 
> and the EKG ale ... nice !!!



Good to hear. Great stuff, mate!


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## Malted

So it is not cheap and ghetto but it is nasty. Air expands (and thus contracts) more than liquids...
Dodgey no chill:


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## Malted

Is my ghetto rope clamp I used on building the veranda (that I brew under) worth a mention?


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## Lord Raja Goomba I

This is my ghetto stovetop fullsized method.


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## Spork

Malted said:


> Is my ghetto rope clamp I used on building the veranda (that I brew under) worth a mention?




Would probably be better if you had a 90 litre kettle hanging from it, but it's a start.


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## Malted

Spork said:


> Would probably be better if you had a 90 litre kettle hanging from it, but it's a start.




Oh man I am about 20 litres short! You guys set high standards!


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## chrisherberte

my driptray is a chux superwipe


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## Nevalicious

plonklab said:


> my driptray is a chux superwipe



Mine is an off-cut from a home-made sombrero, that was made for a party

I have two. An off-cut from mine, an off-cut from the one my wife made

Sweet as. Spotlight FTW!


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## riverside

Malted said:


> Is my ghetto rope clamp I used on building the veranda (that I brew under) worth a mention?



Thats Awesome ! LMAO


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## Synthetase

Great thread. Brew day on Saturday, so I'll get some picks of my discordant mess ghetto brewery up.


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## hijax

Spork said:


> Hmm, might have to go all high tech like and whack some staples in there too.
> Actually Wolfy, it was some great looking hoppers very much like your own that inspired me, but buggered if I can find anywhere selling those big water bottles around here.
> Chickenfeed had some cheapie stools for $7-8. The two piece ones that join in the middle. I reckon I could use one of them, except I think the plastic is too brittle to cut easily.



Wellington Springs out in moonah sometimes have old ones they dont want. Give em a bell. 

http://www.wellingtonsprings.com.au/

I use one as a ghetto fermenter.


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## Spork

hijax said:


> Wellington Springs out in moonah sometimes have old ones they dont want. Give em a bell.
> 
> http://www.wellingtonsprings.com.au/
> 
> I use one as a ghetto fermenter.




Thx. hijax. Kind of the wrong end of the state but might be worth a call. Someone @ work told me somewhere closer to try, so will have a look there first.


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## manticle

Early ghetto stuff here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=35595 (scroll down to burner and chiller)

Recycled like a bribie cheesecake.


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## mh971

manticle said:


> Early ghetto stuff here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=35595 (scroll down to burner and chiller)
> 
> Recycled like a bribie cheesecake.



I remember the post with that burner, that was one of the posts that got me off kits and into AG. That bush mechanic style is gold.


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## kelbygreen

lol thats was some hitech gear should be sold in stores world wide


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## mh971

manticle said:


> Early ghetto stuff here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=35595 (scroll down to burner and chiller)
> 
> Recycled like a bribie cheesecake.






Mick71 said:


> I remember the post with that burner, that was one of the posts that got me off kits and into AG. That bush mechanic style is gold.


 Never did get around to watching A Clockwork Orange though


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## Synthetase

In between brewing up a storm yesterday I took a few photos of some of the cheapy equipment I have pressed into service for brewing. I've been working on a proper brewstand over the last couple of weeks and this may actually be the last time some of this stuff is used so here you are:

The ghetto mill frame. Two sticks from the green shed bolted together across the mill.




The ghetto mill dust guard. Stops the drill brushes setting fire to barley dust 



The sparge stand. An old PC case cover (even with 1337 fan hole to keep the ol' cyrix 686 nice and cool)



The burner stand: an old copper water-jacket incubator that still actually works. The immunology department were thowing it out! I never use the thing though and it weighs a ton. We broke bits of my house-mate's Laser (there's a piece of ghetto equipment right there) getting the bloody thing home.


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## reVoxAHB

I have dozens of these projects, some more ghetto than others.

Ghetto carbon water filtration: 

































reVox


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## Bribie G

Marga setup, various bits from Bunnings plus a kitchen chopping "sheet" folded origami style to make top and bottom hoppers








Then later on the big bowl becomes part of the Bribie BIAB Wort Wondapress .


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## reVoxAHB




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## Tanga

Jebus Revox. I wouldn't be trusting my life to a pair of old thongs. Puts the bucket of death to shame.

I just picked up a few Eskies from hard rubbish, aka 'neighbourhood exchange program.' Got a cube too if I can get the garlic smell out. Any suggestions?


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## manticle

Boiling hot water, napisan or sodium percarbonate full to the brim and left to soak.

If it remains after that, find another cube.


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## Bribie G

B)


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## Tanga

Cheers Manticle. And Bribie. Guess I was pranked. I just picked up a quality wooden A-frame ladder too, which I plan to use to run the rope for my BIAB over. There is a larger one I'm tempted to grab as well, but my space is limited.


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## Pollux

My previously posted drip tray is certainly a work of ghetto awesome....


Behold


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## DKS

Tanga said:


> Jebus Revox. I wouldn't be trusting my life to a pair of old thongs. Puts the bucket of death to shame.
> 
> I just picked up a few Eskies from hard rubbish, aka 'neighbourhood exchange program.' Got a cube too if I can get the garlic smell out. Any suggestions?




:icon_offtopic: A lttle off topic but .....may help.
Tanga Youll never get the garlic smell out . Ive tried it with smaller containers having ginger in them.Dont bother.

If you are desperate for cubes go and see any commercial premises with catering or restaurant, like hotels, restaurants etc and ask for empty vinigar ones. They are clean and easily reused. At a pinch they should have detergent ones , machine dish washing liquid ones, etc. Most of these go into bin. The only problem is size. Sometimes 15ltr , 20lts or 25 lts.
Daz


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## Thirsty Boy

I know not this ghetto of which you speak.....

Cheese mould & press





Portable Bar





Keggerator which lived in my lounge for a year or so. A wife displeasing article of furniture.


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## Thirsty Boy

Everyone wants a conical...













And a randal





And a CP filler









And a HERMS. My very first brewery about to undergo its maiden voyage. A 10-12L capacity driven by an ebay aquarium pump. And you dont even want to think about what i was using as an electric element for the HLT.... I've been trying to forget.






Nothing ghetto about any of that though............


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## Tanga

You, sir, are my new hero. Teach me, Obi Wan Kinobi.


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## Nevalicious

Thirsty

How effective was the randall and is there an easy way to explain how you made it?? Looks like a kick ass idea!


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## Malted

Nevalicious said:


> Thirsty
> 
> How effective was the randall and is there an easy way to explain how you made it?? Looks like a kick ass idea!




I am willing to bet here is a sparky that does not recognise a _cable gland_... 

length of hose shoved through it.
White fitting appears to be a John Guest fitting, male thread through the lid with a nut on the back of it.

That's my guess.

Edit: he may have some sort of floating screen in it too.


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## Diesel80

Inspirational thread,

I will take a photo of my $0 (hand me down) pasta maker grain mill and it's associated ghettoness when I get hold of a camera.

Top thread.

Cheers,
D80


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## Nevalicious

Malted said:


> I am willing to bet here is a sparky that does not recognise a _cable gland_...
> 
> length of hose shoved through it.
> White fitting appears to be a John Guest fitting, male thread through the lid with a nut on the back of it.
> 
> That's my guess.
> 
> Edit: he may have some sort of floating screen in it too.



I see the cable gland, I see the JG bulkhead fitting, maybe what I should have asked, what is the container?? And is there some sort of filter or screen in there too??

I can see me making one of these!


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## Bizier

megs80 said:


> Here's my temp controller housed in the container my Chinese came in taped and nailed to the wall.


Knowing full well your actual capacity, that is _awesome_ work!


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## Acasta

My contribution to the ghetto hopper


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## Thirsty Boy

Nevalicious said:


> Thirsty
> 
> How effective was the randall and is there an easy way to explain how you made it?? Looks like a kick ass idea!



Malted was right, cable gland, JG fitting etc. BUT... That was the complicated version. Same thing can be done much more easily.

I used a speciman jar (new) of about 250-300ml. We get or sugar adjunct samples delivered in them. But any straight sided jar with a lid you could drill would work.

You need

The jar
Something to make a screen out of, i used the lid of another jar cut to size.
About 10 inches of 10mm OD beer line
3 standard HB fermenter airlock grommets

- Drill a 10mm hole (maybe 11) in the very center of the lid of the jar, and another one halfway between the first and the edge of the lid
- take whatever you are using as your screen and drill the same sized hole in the middle
- fit grommets to all three holes and make sure that you can shove the 10mm line through it, but that it fits very tightly so it can act as a seal and physical holder.
- drill a bunch of holes in the screen to hold back whatever you are going to put in the randal
- cut the line into two pieces like in the picture, use voiling water to help you bend one over to be the "tap"
- one goes through the center, so it almost reaches the bottom of the jar when the lid is closed, onto this one you put the screen, so it will sit say 3/4s of the way up the jar
- the bent over bit of line gets pushed in so it just comes through to the inside of the lid by a half a cm or so and picks up beer from the very top.

Put stuff in the randal, shove the in line up your beer tap (mine fit tightly and neatly, ymmv) and pour. It will froth and carry on a bit, but once things are cold and if you make your flow nice and slow, you should be able to tweak it till you can pour without too much loss.

Did it work?? Depends. With really aromatic or flavoursome things, yeah - pretty damn well. So a vanilla pod to go with a porter worked a treat, a couple of squashed cumquats for a saison, great. But for actual hops... Less sucessful. It certainly worked, but because the volume is so low, the contact time is really short and hops seemed to need a bit more than they were getting for any huge effect.

I christened them a "Randal Shot" because the idea is to load the randal, use it to give just a few beers a "shot" of a different flavour, then change to something else. Easy and fast to load new ingredients, you dont need very much of the ingredient so it doesn't cost a lot to experiment and it comes off the tap easily so you dont have to muck about to pour the beer straight up if you want. Not supposed to be a serious alternative to a bigger randal, just a bit of a fun gimmick for a party or event.

Heres another photo to help you see the construction, just sub in grommets where you see other stuff.





Somewhere or another on the internet there are a few photos from club night at the last ANHC where we gave a few of these jiggers a nice work out. They seemed to go down well.


----------



## Maheel

$12 pasta maker grain mill


----------



## tavas

Tanga said:


> Jebus Revox. I wouldn't be trusting my life to a pair of old thongs. Puts the bucket of death to shame.
> 
> I just picked up a few Eskies from hard rubbish, aka 'neighbourhood exchange program.' Got a cube too if I can get the garlic smell out. Any suggestions?



I've found White King bleach (unscented) will remove smells better than Napisan. Triple rinse it with hot water when finished, and air dry in the sun.


----------



## Nevalicious

Thirsty Boy said:


> Malted was right, cable gland, JG fitting etc. BUT... That was the complicated version. Same thing can be done much more easily.
> 
> I used a speciman jar (new) of about 250-300ml. We get or sugar adjunct samples delivered in them. But any straight sided jar with a lid you could drill would work.
> 
> You need
> 
> The jar
> Something to make a screen out of, i used the lid of another jar cut to size.
> About 10 inches of 10mm OD beer line
> 3 standard HB fermenter airlock grommets
> 
> - Drill a 10mm hole (maybe 11) in the very center of the lid of the jar, and another one halfway between the first and the edge of the lid
> - take whatever you are using as your screen and drill the same sized hole in the middle
> - fit grommets to all three holes and make sure that you can shove the 10mm line through it, but that it fits very tightly so it can act as a seal and physical holder.
> - drill a bunch of holes in the screen to hold back whatever you are going to put in the randal
> - cut the line into two pieces like in the picture, use voiling water to help you bend one over to be the "tap"
> - one goes through the center, so it almost reaches the bottom of the jar when the lid is closed, onto this one you put the screen, so it will sit say 3/4s of the way up the jar
> - the bent over bit of line gets pushed in so it just comes through to the inside of the lid by a half a cm or so and picks up beer from the very top.
> 
> Put stuff in the randal, shove the in line up your beer tap (mine fit tightly and neatly, ymmv) and pour. It will froth and carry on a bit, but once things are cold and if you make your flow nice and slow, you should be able to tweak it till you can pour without too much loss.
> 
> Did it work?? Depends. With really aromatic or flavoursome things, yeah - pretty damn well. So a vanilla pod to go with a porter worked a treat, a couple of squashed cumquats for a saison, great. But for actual hops... Less sucessful. It certainly worked, but because the volume is so low, the contact time is really short and hops seemed to need a bit more than they were getting for any huge effect.
> 
> I christened them a "Randal Shot" because the idea is to load the randal, use it to give just a few beers a "shot" of a different flavour, then change to something else. Easy and fast to load new ingredients, you dont need very much of the ingredient so it doesn't cost a lot to experiment and it comes off the tap easily so you dont have to muck about to pour the beer straight up if you want. Not supposed to be a serious alternative to a bigger randal, just a bit of a fun gimmick for a party or event.
> 
> Heres another photo to help you see the construction, just sub in grommets where you see other stuff.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Somewhere or another on the internet there are a few photos from club night at the last ANHC where we gave a few of these jiggers a nice work out. They seemed to go down well.



Thanks so much for the detailed reply. Going to give this a shot I reckon. Have to see if the JG beer line I have fits up my Perlicks, but other than that, I can see this being a goer for an experiment at the next case swap at my place!

Muchly appreciated!

Nev


----------



## Anofre

The latest mash tun got a work out last weekend.
Note the false bottom draping over the edge. 

It has been the easiest stuck sparge to fix ever: you tie it up and turn it into BIAB & it is a bit cloudier...
Now I have my grind sorted it lauters supremo! Who needs a stainless one?

$>5 Spotlight Voile


----------



## brettprevans

high tech overside immersion heater suspension device and hightech HLT/marchpump extension cord suspension device
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=781511

cube - $12 but already had it, 
metal hanging basket hangers - $0. found them in the shed when we bought the house


----------



## kjparker

My Hopper:


----------



## stux

No Chill Siphon Holder


----------



## Ryan WABC

My stir plate...


----------



## vic45

Spork said:


> TasChris - I love the black paint job on those kegs...
> Good to see you have so much faith in a card table. Glad your kettle isn't on there
> 
> Keep the Ghetto coming folks.
> I'm with Tanga, I'd love some pics of vic45's mil setupl too.



My Mill. $9 salad bowl hopper.




Holds 6kg of grain and mills it in around 3 minutes.


----------



## Nevalicious

vic45 said:


> My Mill. $9 salad bowl hopper.
> 
> View attachment 48238
> 
> 
> Holds 6kg of grain and mills it in around 3 minutes.
> 
> View attachment 48239



That's brilliant!


----------



## Plastic Man

my ghetto contributions...

Window winder mill motor and old PC power supply:




motor:





power supply:





Bucket of death boiler still going strong after many years. Cost about $40. Good boil going on. I'm not showing the element bit in case the safety police come a knocking...... B) 







richard.

edit: photos were a bit small


----------



## Nevalicious

Plastic Man said:


> my ghetto contributions...
> 
> Window winder mill motor and old PC power supply:
> 
> View attachment 48314
> 
> 
> motor:
> 
> View attachment 48315
> 
> 
> 
> power supply:
> 
> View attachment 48316
> 
> 
> 
> Bucket of death boiler still going strong after many years. Cost about $40. Good boil going on. I'm not showing the element bit in case the safety police come a knocking...... B)
> 
> View attachment 48317
> 
> 
> View attachment 48318
> 
> 
> richard.
> 
> edit: photos were a bit small



Hey Richard. Interested how the window wiper motor goes in your mill setup. Myself and a few other Brew Adelaide Members use roller door motors hooked up via a spider coupling, and they work really well, albeit a ~tiny~ bit slow... About 40 RPM, but shed loads of torque! We also use computer power supplies. 

Wondering how these go?? Ta.

Nev


----------



## Plastic Man

Nev

It works pretty well. Runs about 80 rpm which is a bit slow but crush is good. 

I posted a video link on the mill motor thread. This will give you an idea of how it goes.

motor mill thread

Richard


----------



## Gar

Plastic Man said:


> Window winder mill motor and old PC power supply:
> 
> View attachment 48314



That's magnificent!

Straight out of Dr Frankenstein's laboratory :super:


----------



## Wolfy

Gar said:


> Straight out of Dr Frankenstein's laboratory :super:


I don't think Dr Frank had such colourful pillows and cushions.


----------



## Gar

Frankie can be fabulous!


----------



## etbandit

vic45 said:


> My Mill. $9 salad bowl hopper.
> 
> View attachment 48238
> 
> 
> Holds 6kg of grain and mills it in around 3 minutes.
> 
> View attachment 48239



Great bowl hopper!

How did you cut the slots?


----------



## Spork

Yep, love the stainless bowl. So much that I went and bought one too. A "german mixing bowl" from chickenfeed, ass SS for $5.00
Rather than slots I just drilled a hole in the bottom of it. It is smaller than yours, and had only a small flat area on the bottom, so difficult to mount with bolts. Using double sided tape for now, if it comes unstick I guess I'll have to drill some holes and screw it to the wooden baseplate i made for it. Also, only holds about 2.5kg of grain, so 1/2 a brew. Not that hard to fill it up again after milling the 1st half, but would like to be able to fit 5-6kg's in there.


----------



## Spork

Oops, too late to edit.
Mrs Spork dragged me along to her favourite homewares shop tonight. Apart from in a round-about way buying a kegging system, I scored a big stainless bowl for $12. It should easily fit 5-6+ kg's of grain.


----------



## vic45

That's the way Spork, big bowl.
The rectangular feed hole I cut with a thin cutting disk on the angle grinder, easy to cut because they are very thin.


----------



## Truman42

Here is my ghetto bottle tree. Does the job and I have a strict no bottle mouth to lattice policy so shouldnt get any nasties in my bottles.


View attachment 48437


----------



## Tanga

Well done Vic, looks good, they all do, all fab Frankenstein's monsters.


----------



## Spork

Love the bottle "tree" Truman. Ghettolicious.
I now have a double-decker stainless steel bowl hopper - held on with double sided tape and gaffa. Still only holds about 4.5kg...
I also made a ghetto urn stand, with adjustable height legs/feet.
My brewing area is slate / crazy pavers, and not level. Solution? Milk crate with a bit of 2x2 screwed into each corner and a dirty big hex head screw in each of those. With a spirit level, a spanner and a (tiny) bit of patience I now have an urn stand that doesn't rock around on the uneven floor. 

Pics to follow, maybe tomorrow.


----------



## Tony

Truman said:


> Here is my ghetto bottle tree. Does the job and I have a strict no bottle mouth to lattice policy so shouldnt get any nasties in my bottles.
> 
> 
> View attachment 48437



I use something similar..... well used to when i bottled.

I have one of those big flat bread things.... like a milk crete..... and the bottles sit in the holes and drain very nicely!


----------



## stux

Found this on a thread here

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&id=33864

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=568093


----------



## Spork

Thats awesome!
Ingenuity, electricity, and 30 litres of boiling wort. What could possibly go wrong?


----------



## stux

Picture

(not me, see previous post)


----------



## Online Brewing Supplies

Stux said:


> Picture
> 
> (not me, see previous post)
> 
> View attachment 48925


Cant work out whats going on ? But it looks a bit sus
Nev


----------



## Pollux

Trust a crazy Norwegian to come up with that idea...........You mad man you.


----------



## hsb

It is a kettle that ripped its own face off to save a brew. A 'hero kettle'.

It definitely rates high on the satisfaction/outcome chart but also getting some movement on the darwin-o-meter.

Great save! anyway.


----------



## Yob

along similar lines to others mills but I cant take the credit for the chute, (thanks Mario)

But I will lay claim to the tight fitted, double sided, race tape covered spill shield. A few hours with some cardboard, the race tape and the scissors and not many grains spill now... with the right angle it all just comes down the chute... It's a beutiful thing indeed  

I really dig the water bottle hopper too, dunno where I first saw the idea but thank you very much whoever that was!!


----------



## Spork

My "brew stand", with it's ajustable height "legs".





Close up of my uberengineering brewery bling:





My $2 hopper has now cost me closer to $20. I think it's still ghetto though. It holds 5kk of grain and only the last fer bits need any encouragment to go down into the mill:


----------



## pk.sax

Seeing as 20 bucks is still ghetto...






The reduced sized keg was free, parts for the manifold = 22 bucks with copper left over. Nothing soldered/welded. Planning to wing it using Teflon tape to make it tight, only fancy bit is the $3 chrome plated brass compression fitting.

Still needs a ball valve though


----------



## Malted

Made and used a 30 bottle draining rack. A 38mm hole lets most of the neck of a tallie go through it. So it is chipboard and quite soon will show the effects of moisture... it was a cheap arse solution to a problem and re-lifed stuff I had laying about. I'd think that a lot of ghetto gear would have a limited lifespan.


----------



## Nevalicious

Have to say, one of the most ghetto things I've seen in this thread has been Wolfy's mill from the first page, all covered and held together with 100 mile an hour tape! Brilliant!!


----------



## reVoxAHB

My chair went tits up a while ago, where the castor continually failed.

While not brewing, my solution: 





Chair has since been replaced. Worked a treat for a week or so, tho B) 

reVox


----------



## poppa joe

No Photo... 
A couple of weeks ago at Garage Sale....
One Birko over the side Heater....
ONE DOLLAR....Half a Ghetto.....
PJ


----------



## Wolfy

Malted said:


> Made and used a 30 bottle draining rack


Making a bottle rack sounds like effort to me.
Here's mine ... totally ghetto but works great (_it's a perfect size to keep the bottle necks off the ground_):


----------



## Malted

Wolfy said:


> Making a bottle rack sounds like effort to me.
> Here's mine ... totally ghetto but works great (_it's a perfect size to keep the bottle necks off the ground_):




Sweet, nice one! 
I just like to make stuff sometimes but when the chipboard shits itself I'll give the bread crate a go.  I have a few bread crates. They also make great 'drawers' for holding brewing stuff on shelves. Instead of reaching through to the back you can slide the crate out to get to stuff at the back.


----------



## Wolfy

Malted said:


> I have a few bread crates. They also make great 'drawers' for holding brewing stuff on shelves.


At the end of summer they'll also make good hop drying racks.


----------



## Yob

sparge/recirc arm for the next few brews before I can get a pump sorted.. 



Still needs to be attached to the HLT 



The flow from this was nice, could do with some sealing at the corner joints methinks 

Id put my Keggle stand here too but it's too Bling* for this topic :lol:


----------



## voodoobrew

What do you do when you're mid-boil, coming up on a hop addition and in all the excitement it seems that a beer has been poured on your lovely digital scales? Reach for a pencil, a steel ruler, two egg cups and a cough mixture measure...


----------



## felten

that is brilliant


----------



## CONNOR BREWARE

My first Ghetto barley mill. It needs more work but this is what I've done tonight to my old pasta machine. I'm off carbs anyway so what the hell. Plus this way I'll spend the money I was going to use on a monster mill to buy a plate chiller, if this works <_< 




5 mins with a 8mm drill bit had the rollers able to pull the grains in with pasta setting 4




By hand this would take for ever so I cut up a flat head screwdriver and..










Side by side comparison of the BB pale malt. 

Its too slow and I think I need a finer crush. Any thoughts on that guys? Hope the pic shows the crush well enough for a comment.


Seems it will be more work of the knurling, a ghetto hopper and modified stand to come...worth a crack anyway


----------



## pk.sax

My ghetto hopper > completely recycled. Piece of wood cut from packing pallet, juice bottle from prev cider in bottle duty and well, a bit of glue.






I did stuff it up though, cut the hole too big. Should've just cut a hole big enough for the bottle.


----------



## Maheel

Duke of Paddy said:


> My first Ghetto barley mill. It needs more work but this is what I've done tonight to my old pasta machine.



i made one the same, i really scuffed up the rollers with a drill bit kind of jammed in sideways and let it spins the rollers as i knurled them.

i used my high speed drill on fairly fast driving it at reckless speeds to get the grain through fast  
run some of the grain through twice maybe ?

i made a fair few 12L stove top BIAB batches with mine before upgrading and going to full keggle brews and a mashmaster mini


----------



## jyo

Portable and fully adjustable sparge arm. h34r:


----------



## ledgenko

JYO .... my old mate ... thats gold !!! up there with the mashing paddle ... but with a bit more thought and use of a pen to punch holes in a take away container ... 


BTW... Hops in the ground .. and slowly reaching for the sky ... Easter swap still on ?? Russian Imperial stout ?? I am aiming at 12 % .. 



Matt


----------



## Wolfy

jyo said:


> Portable and fully adjustable sparge arm. h34r:


Cool, but mine is cheaper (and that's what this thread is all about)


----------



## raven19

This works really well attached to the hose to fill my HLT (which is up higher than the MT / Kettle).




Edit - I just hang it over the lip of the HLT


----------



## raven19

Also made this to get some extra torque tightening my beerbelly filter housing.

Screws align to the 4 holes in the top. Still need to make something akin to a car oil filter removal thingo to grip the body of the filter. (only 3 of the screws line up though atm!!!!)


----------



## jyo

ledgenko said:


> JYO .... my old mate ... thats gold !!! up there with the mashing paddle ... but with a bit more thought and use of a pen to punch holes in a take away container ...
> 
> BTW... Hops in the ground .. and slowly reaching for the sky ... Easter swap still on ?? Russian Imperial stout ?? I am aiming at 12 % ..
> 
> Matt



Easter swap sounds good, mate! Glad the hops are going well.






Wolfy said:


> Cool, but mine is cheaper (and that's what this thread is all about)



Na-ah! This was free from work! I now have an even bigger one that covers the whole surface of the esky that I saved from ending up in the recycling bin, so I earn scavenger points :lol:


----------



## benno1973

raven19 said:


> Still need to make something akin to a car oil filter removal thingo to grip the body of the filter.



Could buy one on ebay for $8, but then it wouldn't be eligible for this thread...


----------



## Ivan Other One

Here is my burner with a wind sheild made from a gal strip and rivets made from nails. This sits on an aluminium stand to keep the heat of the bench. More to come


----------



## Ivan Other One

Near the burner, A shower haed arm at the laundry tub for filling/ washing kegs and fermenters , and with a white tube fitted (beer filler tube) to easily fill up / wash bottles


----------



## Ivan Other One

Pic 1, a swab on some fishing line to pull through and clean out keg beer tubes, it's amazing what the chemicals dont clean properly. and also a piece of fibreglass rod to aid in fermenter tap dismantling.

Pic 2, bar fridge, upside down, frezer an compressor removed. Can keep fermenter at 20deg C with the use of 2 litre bottles of ice. (I am in the tropics)
Pic 3 A work in progress, just needs doors.

Apologies for the multi posts, still learning about attaching pictures.


----------



## Yob

I hope those XXXX and VB bottles were donated :lol:


----------



## Ivan Other One

iamozziyob said:


> I hope those XXXX and VB bottles were donated :lol:




At least 95% of them Ozzi,  Only drink xxxx as a last resort. :icon_vomit:


----------



## Yob

Recirc / Fly Sparge manifold mark II




loosely assembled for the mo, will probably solder it up eventually when I get the holes drilled..




the ends that hang over the esky for support will be capped off for now but with the aim of removing the 4 end pieces and probably putting L bends at the corners and fitting it to the underside of the esky lid.. when I can get comfortable with flow rates that is.. If I can fit it to the lid with the inlet poking out the top it should be a simple matter of changing over the hose from recirc pump to Fly sparge in a flash.

well... thats the thought... 

recirc gives me the shits atm and I need to work out a better way... 

if Pump recirculating, is there any reason I cant do it throughout the mash? say with the brown pump set up on a timer? 

Would it be done continuously or say 10 on 5 off? 

:icon_drool2: pumps


----------



## Yob

finishing touches




flow rate is.... fast...




no crimp in the hose if I secure it to the arm




go you little bad boy




Pretty frikkin happy... I can see how good it will be to have it attached to the underside of the lid.. only downside is that I wont be able to see whats going on but should retain more heat... still weighing that one up.. 

I think I'll still gravity feed the flysparge till I can work out a few things like my flow rates etc..

overall :beerbang: :super: 

Yob


----------



## pk.sax

Tap hats






Well, one day I'll get lucky and win some tap handles...


----------



## Truman42

iamozziyob said:


> View attachment 53542
> 
> 
> finishing touches
> 
> View attachment 53543
> 
> 
> flow rate is.... fast...
> 
> View attachment 53544
> 
> 
> no crimp in the hose if I secure it to the arm
> 
> View attachment 53546
> 
> 
> go you little bad boy
> 
> View attachment 53547
> 
> 
> Pretty frikkin happy... I can see how good it will be to have it attached to the underside of the lid.. only downside is that I wont be able to see whats going on but should retain more heat... still weighing that one up..
> 
> I think I'll still gravity feed the flysparge till I can work out a few things like my flow rates etc..
> 
> overall :beerbang: :super:
> 
> Yob



Looking good Yob. Thats the one thing I have problems with that Keg King silicone hose, it kinks easily. Ive had to use cable ties to coax it where it wont kink.


----------



## Truman42

Here is my $2.00 ghetto hop screen. Brought a tea ball from the $2.00 shop for..Yes you guessed it $2.00.

Split it in half. Squeezed a stainless nut inside it and screwed this onto the inside of my ball valve. Perfect.


----------



## Wimmig

Ghetto airlock cap for the willow carrycan ferms. Total cost, about $1.90. Was the best i could walk out of bunnings with seeing as they don't sell SS threaded barbs. To ebay!


----------



## Yob

It was time to Automate the mill.. 

1 Shelf and Bucket with prop leg on a hinge and some support up stands for the drill handle




All attached (Drill $50 from Aldi)




All packed up neatly under the bench




 best hour and a half tinkering ever.. going to mill with it tmoz and the best thing is that it's easily portable :beerbang: 

Yob


----------



## Wolfy

iamozziyob said:


> .... best hour and a half tinkering ever.. going to mill with it tmoz and the best thing is that it's easily portable :beerbang:


So you'll be bringing it to the case-swap?


----------



## Yob

Wolfy said:


> So you'll be bringing it to the case-swap?



Yeah mate, that was the driving thought behind it.. how does it go...

Necessity is the mother of invention :lol: 

lucky that I had inspiration from other peoples set ups here to help me out with ideas 

:icon_cheers: all.

My_* Next *_build is gunna be a cracker I rekon :excl: 

Yob

ed: grammer


----------



## Wolfy

iamozziyob said:


> ... and the best thing is that it's easily portable :beerbang:


You've inspired me to make my own - a little more portable, but fits on a cut-keg-top:




(details in build thread/blog after dinner)


----------



## Yob

these drills here are the shit Wolfy.. 

The problem I had with the Ryobi cordless is I was always forgetting to charge the effing battery or it would run low by the end of the bill.. and though it looks like you will cable tie the trigger to a setting I never got round to that, was the way I was heading though...

Though this one is a plug in it's a little more set and forget... Was really getting to detest sitting there milling  there's just so much more I could be doing if it was looking after itself <_< Hopefully now it will.. 

you bringing yours to the swap as well? more the merrier I say

:icon_cheers:


----------



## Wolfy

iamozziyob said:


> The problem I had with the Ryobi cordless is I was always forgetting to charge the effing battery or it would run low by the end of the bill.. and though it looks like you will cable tie the trigger to a setting I never got round to that, was the way I was heading though...
> 
> Though this one is a plug in it's a little more set and forget... Was really getting to detest sitting there milling  there's just so much more I could be doing if it was looking after itself <_< Hopefully now it will..


Yeah the battery does always seem to run low right when I'm doing something important, but that's why there are two. 
I used to hand-crank the old mill, so even if I have to hold the trigger on the drill for a couple of mins, its a huge improvement on that!


----------



## brettprevans

ghetto steralizable slurry containers.....baby bottles! twas cleaning out baby stuff we no longer need/use and came across the tommy tippy baby bottles. flat bottom flat top a few hundred mls capacity. perfect for collectingt and storing slurry instead of using PET bottles which you cant steralise or stack on top of each other.

so dont chuck your baby bottles fellas, reuse them in the brewery! And the're FREE.


----------



## tricache

Broke my hydrometer tube the day I got my kit...so...off to Sam's Warehouse and picked up a flower vase, tall and thin (and glass) for $1.50 :lol: thank god the hydrometer was ok


----------



## Wolfy

citymorgue2 said:


> so dont chuck your baby bottles fellas, reuse them in the brewery! And the're FREE.


That's a good idea, I have a baby-bottle sterilizer here if anyone wants it - I was going to use it for yeast-stuff until I got the pressure cooker.


----------



## mattyra

citymorgue2 said:


> ghetto steralizable slurry containers.....baby bottles! twas cleaning out baby stuff we no longer need/use and came across the tommy tippy baby bottles. flat bottom flat top a few hundred mls capacity. perfect for collectingt and storing slurry instead of using PET bottles which you cant steralise or stack on top of each other.
> 
> so dont chuck your baby bottles fellas, reuse them in the brewery! And the're FREE.



I actually found that whatever brand of baby food SWMBO was buying was a 200ml container that had a flat bottom. I collected a lot of them until the daughter found them thinking they were food and knocked them all down. Now I only have half a dozen left.


----------



## mwd

citymorgue2 said:


> ghetto steralizable slurry containers.....baby bottles! twas cleaning out baby stuff we no longer need/use and came across the tommy tippy baby bottles. flat bottom flat top a few hundred mls capacity. perfect for collectingt and storing slurry instead of using PET bottles which you cant steralise or stack on top of each other.
> 
> so dont chuck your baby bottles fellas, reuse them in the brewery! And the're FREE.



I use olive jars they are really good for collecting yeast slurry, contains 700g of olives beer bottle for scale


----------



## Wolfy

Tropical_Brews said:


> I use olive jars they are really good for collecting yeast slurry, contains 700g of olives beer bottle for scale


I need some more of those (bottom fell out of one making yoghurt last night), problem is that I hate olives and we don't eat enough sauerkraut, sundried tomatoes or the like to buy them in big-jars. ;(


----------



## Yob

most $2 shops have got those mason type jars, hold about 800ml (not measured) for a few bucks.. thick glass too. Ive got an army of the bloody things and rekon they are tits... easy to throw in the microwave or a big pot to boil...

the added benifit of not having to eat the olives


----------



## Florian

Gherkins, Wolfy, gherkins!
my almost 3yo loves them so we buy them by the carton. Under $2 a jar to keep with the theme.




reminds me to throw out a heap which are well past it's best buy date:





EDIT: At Aldi of course, where else?


----------



## mwd

Or pickled onions they come in the same kind of jar. Even get some vinegar in there to mix with bleach to make no rinse.


----------



## Wolfy

Florian said:


> Gherkins, Wolfy, gherkins!
> my almost 3yo loves them so we buy them by the carton. Under $2 a jar to keep with the theme.
> ...
> reminds me to throw out a heap which are well past it's best buy date:
> ...
> EDIT: At Aldi of course, where else?


Great idea, thanks!
(Pretty sure my old large jars were pickle jars)
... and Aldi have Duct-Tape on special on Saturday so was planning a visit anyway.

I hope that is old yeast and not pickles in those jars.


----------



## brewologist

Hey Folks,

Do you need to mod the crank shaft to get a drill to fit? Do I need to grind back the lip on the end of the crank and use a 3/8th tek screw bit?

This bit here:


----------



## pk.sax

Take a file and file one or two flats on the un-cut sides of that shaft to give the drill jaws something to grip on.

Even if you don't, worse you'll do is scar the shaft a little.


----------



## brewologist

practicalfool said:


> Take a file and file one or two flats on the un-cut sides of that shaft to give the drill jaws something to grip on.
> 
> Even if you don't, worse you'll do is scar the shaft a little.




Cool,

Thanks mate. Sounds easy enough. I'll give it a go.


----------



## Florian

BIAB at ALDI !!!

complete System including BAG for $1.49!


----------



## Wolfy

Florian said:


> Gherkins, Wolfy, gherkins!
> my almost 3yo loves them so we buy them by the carton. Under $2 a jar to keep with the theme.
> 
> View attachment 55914
> 
> 
> EDIT: At Aldi of course, where else?


... and better than gherkins (bigger jar too) ... berries:





And from Coles (next to the Aldi):
2 for $5 mash paddles:




(Should be fine for single-batches, I find my plastic spoon actually works better than anything bigger).


----------



## Yob

Bit of an upgrade to the HLT.. Previously the Temp sensor just went in the top of the HLT and kind of sat in behind the pick up, I worried that it would come free and get burned by the element.




So I made this from some spare parts I had laying about and tidied the whole thing up.




So now, similar to the HEX, it has the sensor mounted at the outlet of the pump.

Not brewing at the moment (probably for a month  ) so I have time to tinker...

Which is almost as much fun in my world 

ed: typo


----------



## Wolfy

Take one plastic jug ...





... so 'ghetto' that it broke when dropped on the ground ...





... and you have a specially designed and highly engineered *decoction jug*:




... ideal for taking the decoction from the thickest part of the mash.

A single static photo can't show how useful and well designed it is, so here is a video of the *decoction jug* in action:


Also useful for emptying the mash-tun of spent grain ... when you want any left-over wort to stay behind to be flushed out later:


----------



## Yob

One of the things that has caused me alot of grief is the wort return / sparge arm... Ive had several different designs and the last one has been the most effective, however what it was incapable of doing was allowing for different grist sizes.. So yesterday before the brew I decided to fix it.




:beerbang: :icon_drunk:


----------



## kymba

my ghetto malt pipe - a proof of concept thing that worked surprisingly well





consits of: hosetail, elbow, 3/4 to 1/2 reducer to screw into bucket (same thread as fermenter tap), silicon hose, existing lauter manifold



with about 7kg's of malt for a double batch



happily recircing - after drilling holes for the bolts in-situ to keep the lid on

this gets run through the HX to maintain the current step temp. Spiral burner adds heat to get to the next step

sparged with 10L of hot tap water - just raise the bucket, disconnect the recirc pipe and turn the elbow downwards


----------



## b0neski

Ghetto march pump cover - $2.50 @ supercheap from memory.


----------



## Edak

kymba said:


> my ghetto malt pipe - a proof of concept thing that worked surprisingly well
> 
> View attachment 56409
> View attachment 56411
> 
> 
> consits of: hosetail, elbow, 3/4 to 1/2 reducer to screw into bucket (same thread as fermenter tap), silicon hose, existing lauter manifold
> 
> View attachment 56412
> 
> with about 7kg's of malt for a double batch
> 
> View attachment 56410
> 
> happily recircing - after drilling holes for the bolts in-situ to keep the lid on
> 
> this gets run through the HX to maintain the current step temp. Spiral burner adds heat to get to the next step
> 
> sparged with 10L of hot tap water - just raise the bucket, disconnect the recirc pipe and turn the elbow downwards



I LOVE IT! So simple except for the load of screws  is that a 20L bucket? 

What efficiency did you get from it?


----------



## kymba

no idea of efficiencies, i was pretty cut by the end of the boil

and yeah the bolts thing pissed me off too. i didn't think i'd need them as the lids on these 25L buckets are extremely difficult to get off - sometimes they need a screwdriver to prise an edge up to get it started


----------



## markymoo

excuse my ignorance, however I am planning on a system much like that Kymba.

how do you drain the wort from the bucket after mashout? i am probably missing something fundamtentally braumeister here  so you just sparge until it is clear and have 20L of water in the bucket that just gets chucked and not included in the boil?

markymoo


----------



## kymba

markymoo said:


> excuse my ignorance, however I am planning on a system much like that Kymba.
> 
> how do you drain the wort from the bucket after mashout? i am probably missing something fundamtentally braumeister here  so you just sparge until it is clear and have 20L of water in the bucket that just gets chucked and not included in the boil?
> 
> markymoo



nah man, all the goodness gets extracted. you'll see in the photos that the hosetail is plumbed into the side of the bucket, and in the bucket is the silicon hose with sparge/lauter manifold - these are all connected

during the mash the kettle outlet is connected to a pump which pushes the wort through the HX and returns back into the malt bucket via the previously mentioned hosetail

when sparging, the return hose is removed from the bucket hosetail. the hosetail (which is attached to the elbow) it is then rotated 180* so it points downwards. if sparging isn't your thing then there is no real need to - just leave it to drain

i can draw an picture if you like?


----------



## markymoo

nah, i get it, i suspected something like that.

I suppose that is why you have the manifold in the bottom of the bucket to filter out any grain bits.

thanks


----------



## Desert Brewer

The bottle stand is an old gate and the brewstand/trolley was scrounged togeather from scrap (treasure) at the local tip shop - total cost about $20.


----------



## Lakey

Desert Brewer said:


> View attachment 56505
> View attachment 56506
> 
> 
> The bottle stand is an old gate and the brewstand/trolley was scrounged togeather from scrap (treasure) at the local tip shop - total cost about $20.



GHETTO!!!


----------



## sp0rk

Finally got some kegs to make into keggles, so i went and bought an angle grinder, a plank of pine and some cable ties to make a jig up to cut the lids out
i started making a right angled mount for the angle grinder that would pivot in a circle the perfect size for the glass lid i've got, but got bored VERY quickly
Then i came up with this little beauty











the angle grinder wedges between the piece of pine and the lip on the keg, and keeps it in a nice even circle!


----------



## Muscovy_333

sp0rk said:


> Finally got some kegs to make into keggles, so i went and bought an angle grinder, a plank of pine and some cable ties to make a jig up to cut the lids out
> i started making a right angled mount for the angle grinder that would pivot in a circle the perfect size for the glass lid i've got, but got bored VERY quickly
> Then i came up with this little beauty
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> the angle grinder wedges between the piece of pine and the lip on the keg, and keeps it in a nice even circle!



For a minute I thought you were using the keyboard...innovative


----------



## Edak

sp0rk said:


> Finally got some kegs to make into keggles, so i went and bought an angle grinder, a plank of pine and some cable ties to make a jig up to cut the lids out
> i started making a right angled mount for the angle grinder that would pivot in a circle the perfect size for the glass lid i've got, but got bored VERY quickly
> Then i came up with this little beauty
> 
> the angle grinder wedges between the piece of pine and the lip on the keg, and keeps it in a nice even circle!


I had to look at it a few times to understand what you were doing, but I get it! nice idea


----------



## OneEye

kymba said:


> my ghetto malt pipe - a proof of concept thing that worked surprisingly well



Looking good mate! Very simple, love it. Are you using a pulley to hoist the bucket? Do you hoist it up and let it drain before turning the elbow downwards?? I quickly threw something together tonight and found that when I hoisted the bucket the water wanted to shoot up and out of the hose barb...


----------



## kymba

moosebeer said:


> Looking good mate! Very simple, love it. Are you using a pulley to hoist the bucket? Do you hoist it up and let it drain before turning the elbow downwards??


sorta, i have a tiedown strap looped over my skybeam. i just tie the strap off so the hook is at an appropriate level then lift the malt bucket onto it



> I quickly threw something together tonight and found that when I hoisted the bucket the water wanted to shoot up and out of the hose barb...


i get a little bit of the 'shooting' but the wort draining through a grain bed will behave a lot different to unrestricted water


----------



## Wolfy

I'm not sure if my new dry-hop-bomb qualifies as ghetto or not:





It's a large-ish ebay tea-strainer, In theory it cost about $5-6, but the vendor did something weird/dodgy and ebay pulled their listing issuing a refund (after I paid for it, but before I received it).


----------



## hyjak71

Hell yeah Wolfy, never would have thought of using those little suckers. Just bought 4 of them, can see them being mighty handy for dry hopping, spices additions to the boil and a myriad of other things.


----------



## Wolfy

hyjak71 said:


> Hell yeah Wolfy, never would have thought of using those little suckers. Just bought 4 of them, can see them being mighty handy for dry hopping, spices additions to the boil and a myriad of other things.


This is a big sucker though, I don't have any tea-cups that it would fit in, but should be ideal for the stuff you mentioned. :beerbang:


----------



## Ross

Wofly,

Get a magnet & check the latch pin, Ithink you'll find it's plated steel not stainless. Before too long it will corrode off into your beer...


----------



## Wolfy

Ross said:


> Wofly,
> 
> Get a magnet & check the latch pin, Ithink you'll find it's plated steel not stainless. Before too long it will corrode off into your beer...


Thanks, will keep a close eye on it, it didn't rust (yet) after being soaked for day(s) in cleaning solution, but it might still work without the latch-pin (if that's the only part that is non-stainless).


----------



## bruce86

if it does fail wolfy just grab a couple of ss bolts and drill holes through the flange. looks like you will have enough of one to do that.


----------



## punkin

I bought 4 eight cm ones to do keg hopping. They just fit in if you crush the top a little. The catches and hinges look like mild steel. I have one in a keg now so will check it out after.

If it looks like rusting i'll either replace it with some stainless tie wire or a couple of little zip ties.


----------



## geneabovill

It seems my entire brew set up is nice and ghetto. 

See my hi-tech insulation on my free stock pot:




Note the awesome mash paddle. Actually a potato masher screwed to a piece of dowel. At the other end of the dowel are markings so I know how much water is in the tun.

Below is a pic of my yeast rehydrator. It's a litre, and at the moment there's 500ml of fresh wort from another batch that I chucked a pack of US-05 into for pitching tomorrow.





Cheers,

GAB


----------



## Yob

erm.. is that garden hose you are running hot wort through? :blink: Replace with Silicone Hose

You shouldnt be doing that to Dry Yeast either..

Read the Safale instructions for Rehydrating US-05 HERE


----------



## geneabovill

Yob said:


> erm.. is that garden hose you are running hot wort through? :blink: Replace with Silicone Hose
> 
> You shouldnt be doing that to Dry Yeast either..
> 
> Read the Safale instructions for Rehydrating US-05 HERE



Running cold water through the hose. It's set up to run from the tap to the kettle to fill it without me having to move it. The hose is removed before the wort is poured (from height) into the fermenter.

Cheers for the advice on the yeast. I've read through that and will do a side-by side on next brew day - just to see if there's a difference, I can notice.

Perhaps I'll start using the leftover wort for priming, or something.


----------



## JDW81

geneabovill said:


> Perhaps I'll start using the leftover wort for priming, or something.



:icon_offtopic: Why not use the left over wort to make a starter and give some liquid yeast a go?


----------



## geneabovill

Yeah, when the recipe calls for it, I do. Can't beat US-05 for an APA, IMHO. (Currently ramping an APA to boil),


----------



## sponge

JDW81 said:


> :icon_offtopic: Why not use the left over wort to make a starter and give some liquid yeast a go?



Just what I was about to say. Means you dont have to worry about making starters for dried yeast, and gets you into the liquid yeast zone - where a whole world of flavour awaits thee.


----------



## Truman42

geneabovill said:


> Running cold water through the hose. It's set up to run from the tap to the kettle to fill it without me having to move it.



Mate have you ever as a kid drank cold water from a garden hose? Even cold it has a taste from the hose. But must admit I havent done it since I was a kid so might not have a taste these days like it used too. Still I would check it anyway you dont want that taste in your beer.


----------



## Malted

Truman said:


> Mate have you ever as a kid drank cold water from a garden hose? Even cold it has a taste from the hose. But must admit I havent done it since I was a kid so might not have a taste these days like it used too. Still I would check it anyway you dont want that taste in your beer.


 :icon_offtopic: Because it will cost heaps more than $2.
IMO it still does Truman. I used to get a plasticy/chloriny taste in my beer. I now use food grade water hose for transfering from mains system to brewing vessel (through two 10" water filters).


----------



## barls

geneabovill said:


> It seems my entire brew set up is nice and ghetto.
> 
> See my hi-tech insulation on my free stock pot:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Note the awesome mash paddle. Actually a potato masher screwed to a piece of dowel. At the other end of the dowel are markings so I know how much water is in the tun.
> 
> Below is a pic of my yeast rehydrator. It's a litre, and at the moment there's 500ml of fresh wort from another batch that I chucked a pack of US-05 into for pitching tomorrow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> GAB


does the yeast rehydrator have a flat bottom. might be perfect for a stir plate if i does.
im assuming its from the supermarket right.


----------



## geneabovill

Yeah, that's why I bought it in the first place ... And still haven't built the stir plate. I shoul get onto that.


----------



## barbaricbohds

This is my ghetto biab rig, put down 4 all grain beers so far with no problems.




Consisting of an old stove top from my folks place which they replaced,

three burners are bent around from the original manifold and screwed in a tight cluster.

Bricks are used to hold keggle up, keeping with the ghetto theme of course.

And finally a wood saw used as a heat shield as the switches were burning pretty badly


----------



## Punkal

barbaricbohds said:


> This is my ghetto biab rig, put down 4 all grain beers so far with no problems.
> 
> View attachment 59252
> 
> 
> Consisting of an old stove top from my folks place which they replaced,
> 
> three burners are bent around from the original manifold and screwed in a tight cluster.
> 
> Bricks are used to hold keggle up, keeping with the ghetto theme of course.
> 
> And finally a wood saw used as a heat shield as the switches were burning pretty badly



That is ghetto but i bet it still makes great beer.


----------



## barbaricbohds

Punkal said:


> That is ghetto but i bet it still makes great beer.




apart from 65% efficiency leaving a little to be desired (i'm sure could be improved with better brewing practise), it makes fantastic beer, and super easy to! never had any experiance with all grain apart from what i've read on here and brewing is a sinch with this setup pretty happy with it. And love that it cost pratically nothing! ($50 keggle) + gas


Ghetto Gear All The Way!!!!


----------



## Punkal

barbaricbohds said:


> apart from 65% efficiency leaving a little to be desired (i'm sure could be improved with better brewing practise), it makes fantastic beer, and super easy to! never had any experiance with all grain apart from what i've read on here and brewing is a sinch with this setup pretty happy with it. And love that it cost pratically nothing! ($50 keggle) + gas
> 
> 
> Ghetto Gear All The Way!!!!



Its not that different from my setup, I am on the kitchen sink with electric elements. I am looking for better efficiency also, I think I know where I can get some but we will have to see over the next few brews.


----------



## manticle

geneabovill said:


> Perhaps I'll start using the leftover wort for priming, or something.




No need. Wort is fine acording the the lnked instructions - it's the temperature that is key.



> Sprinkle the dry yeast in 10 times its own weight of sterile water or WORTat 27C 3C (80F 6F).



Also try 1272 liquid in an apa - lovely stuff. 05 is the only dry yeast I tend to use - works fine (and I just sprinkle straight in) but I prefer 1272.
Denny's favourite ism't too shabby either.


----------



## MaltyHops

geneabovill said:


> Yeah, that's why I bought it in the first place ... And still haven't built the stir plate. I shoul get onto that.


If using a stirplate, you don't actually want to use an airlock
- need to be able to let oxygen get in to the yeast for growth.
Usually, loosely capping the mouth of a flask wih alufoil works
well.


----------



## waggastew

Just mounted my ~$280 Mashmaster Mini-mill on a $10 plastic bucket, a piece of ply and a $3 plastic bowl for a hopper. I only do partial mashes so I don't need alot of capacity.

Just ran some grain through it and it works a treat!

Stew


----------



## Diesel80

waggastew said:


> Just mounted my ~$280 Mashmaster Mini-mill on a $10 plastic bucket, a piece of ply and a $3 plastic bowl for a hopper. I only do partial mashes so I don't need alot of capacity.
> 
> Just ran some grain through it and it works a treat!
> 
> Stew



Stew, you could almost retail that setup. Pretty neat for Ghetto.
Cheers,
D80


----------



## Edak

waggastew said:


> Just mounted my ~$280 Mashmaster Mini-mill on a $10 plastic bucket, a piece of ply and a $3 plastic bowl for a hopper. I only do partial mashes so I don't need alot of capacity.
> 
> Just ran some grain through it and it works a treat!
> 
> Stew



My arm is getting sore just looking at that image (which could be a bad thing or a good thing, so I will let you use your imagination). Good job! Totally "ghetto".


----------



## Barley Belly

waggastew said:


> Just mounted my ~$280 Mashmaster Mini-mill on a $10 plastic bucket, a piece of ply and a $3 plastic bowl for a hopper. I only do partial mashes so I don't need alot of capacity.
> 
> Just ran some grain through it and it works a treat!
> 
> Stew



If you lift the bucket higher up you could spin the handle round and around. Instead of it hitting the ground all the time. h34r:


----------



## Batz

waggastew said:


> Just mounted my ~$280 Mashmaster Mini-mill on a $10 plastic bucket, a piece of ply and a $3 plastic bowl for a hopper. I only do partial mashes so I don't need alot of capacity.
> 
> Just ran some grain through it and it works a treat!
> 
> Stew




I love it, opps handle hit the tub...cut that bit off!


----------



## KingKong

I just used about 20 cm of left over 'pool noodle' (from another project) cut in half and wrapped around a long neck to insulate its journey to Melbourne for beerfest.

Ghetto bubble wrap anyone ??? It actually worked really well tied up around the bottle and packed into a small box with some extra screwed up newspaper. Probably has insulating qualities better then bubble wrap as well. I don't think any Aus Post workers will be able to break it ...

:icon_offtopic: Obviously the beer is going to be shaken up and the sediment suspended again. Do they do anything in comps to rectify this or is it just some thing that cant be avoided if you have to mail your entry ??? Not planning on winning or anything, much more interested in some unbiased comments ! Ill probably cry for a week at my highly prized beer being torn a new one.


----------



## QldKev

b0neski said:


> Ghetto march pump cover - $2.50 @ supercheap from memory.



Here's mine. A kettle after I removed the element to use in the HERMS.






which doesn't look to bad on the stand.


----------



## Higgie

Does my patented through the door temperature controller install count as ghetto?




The black electrical tape has since been replaced with a more aesthetically pleasing silver duct tape.


----------



## angus_grant

How about a ghetto BIAB drainage system? It is the two side frames to a garden seat which I tied quite neatly together ( h34r with about 10 metres of rope.

My wife said she was impressed but I think she was lying....


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I

What were you brewing then mate?


----------



## angus_grant

That would be your Lord Nelson. :beer: I didn't take the end of brew gravity (forgot again) but everything else was within range of recipe so not too worried..

I'm waiting for a temp mate to arrive so I can shift the Vienna Lager into my spare fridge for cold conditioning and then start fermenting the Lord Nelson which is still cubed.

I am starting to get the feeling I should brew a non-Goomba beer. ha ha...

Also need to mount and power my mill before next brew. Took me 50 minutes to crush the grain for it with my malt muncher mill. It has a puny little handle and therefore, is a right pain in the arse (arm) to use. Good crush though... Powered mill it is!


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I

Sweet.

Without craftbrewer to mill for me, I had to do the coffee grinder and BIAB bag.

The grinder can only get through about 1.7kg tops without needing a break, so it takes a while to get the grain right.

I do need a mill, but getting that expense past SWMBO might be a stretch, especially if there's nothing wrong with this beer. I get to try out Mosaic, which I'm looking forward to.

On topic, is your bag that dark? The liquor looks a little dark from memory.


----------



## angus_grant

I may or may not have completely cleaned the bag from the red ale. h34r: Plus photo was taken on my iPhone 3Gs which does not take the best photos so it is not that dark in real life...

The liquor is certainly a lighter colour than the bag. I am overdue to fire up my smaller pot and boil the BIAB and hops bag to clean them up. They are always blasted with the hose after the brew and blasted again and Star San'd before batches. It must be retaining some colour from the red ale which comes out when boiled.

Still needing to fire out some batches for my boys 1st b'day. Will have the Vienna lager kegged and ready and a Lord Nelson kegged and ready. I may fire another Lord Nelson and my last remaining kit Saaz pilsener. Four kegs should be enough. Well, it will be enough free beer anyways. :chug:


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I

Mmmm.... I had a couple of Danish IPA - I can't remember the brand (I can't remember much at all - they were 7% 500ml bottles), but I was halfway through a Lupulus before it (shared a bottle with SWMBO, who loved it) and thought "Man I wish I had another Lord Nelson".

I'm hoping that Mosaic is as good as Yob says - if it is, then I reckon another Viscount is dead, with Citra, Galaxy, Mosaic and Chinook is on the cards.


----------



## Yob

other insights >HERE< LRG


----------



## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_

Lord Raja Goomba I said:


> Sweet.
> 
> Without craftbrewer to mill for me, I had to do the coffee grinder and BIAB bag.
> 
> The grinder can only get through about 1.7kg tops without needing a break, so it takes a while to get the grain right.
> 
> I do need a mill, but getting that expense past SWMBO might be a stretch, especially if there's nothing wrong with this beer. I get to try out Mosaic, which I'm looking forward to.
> 
> On topic, is your bag that dark? The liquor looks a little dark from memory.


If you get the variable speed coffee grinder, (silver $19ish from kmart) it will chew through7kg's without a problem (apart from getting very very warm. If using a coffee grinder from kmart, dont get the cheaper white plastic one. it overheats through 1 kg and then i usually put it in the freezer to cool down before i start again. It was a bigger pain in the arse than the more expensive homemaker brand. but since i "accidently broke it" i have boutht 22 of the good ones so i have a back up.

I usually dont grind like this, i have 2 mills that i machined and assembled that need bearings and a clean up


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I

Yob said:


> other insights >HERE< LRG


Thank you very much Yob. That looks perfect. Been struggling to get decent descriptors on it, but used it on your recommendation alone (with Citra).

How good is this beer going to be with Citra then!!!!!! I reckon the fact that I accidentally added an extra 10 IBU will be okay give the descriptors about it not being bitter (perception wise) at all.

Thanks again.


----------



## angus_grant

Good luck with the Mosaic IPA. I've still got 4 pounds of hops to get through (well I have to use a decent chunk of them) before purchasing new hops. I should be right for quite a few Lord Nelsons as I only have to buy Citra for that (plenty of cascade to get through).

Looking forward to getting my spare fridge up and running so I can shift yeasts, hops, etc out of the main food fridge. Then I can purchase more hops. Also looking at splitting some liquid yeasts and using them in starters.

None of this has anything to do with ghetto (spare fridge, fridge mate, yeast vials, stir-plate, etc, etc) so I'll be quiet now..


----------



## Lord Raja Goomba I

At the start of last year, I had half a kg of cascade (cost me about $8) to get through.

Gas up the beer. When it is ready to drink, get a hop tea bag (I grabbed the bleach free, no fragrance aromatherapy ones - or maybe from T2). Pack as many as you need to get 60-90g of hops. Put in the keg with something (sterile) to weigh it down near the dip tube.


:icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2: :icon_drool2:


----------



## pat_00

A much better idea than just chucking pellet hops in a hopsock into your keg. Tried that


----------



## Edak

pat_00 said:


> A much better idea than just chucking pellet hops in a hopsock into your keg. Tried that


Does this not work?


----------



## pat_00

Might be my hopsock (KegKing), but it isn't fine enough to keep all the litlle hop particles in. There is so much hop debris when you pour a beer it looks like soup.

I've been cold crashing the keg for nearly a week hoping all the hops would fall out of suspension, but no luck. Will probably have to filter it.

From now on, I will only use flowers for keg hopping.


----------



## angus_grant

And for the next instalment of my ghetto grain hoist. I was brewing NIck's Killer Triple which had an 8.5kg grain bill. I realised half-way through the boil that it was way too much for my weany IT arms. So I grabbed some spare pine from my shelf build, zip-tied the uprights to my brew stand and whacked some coach bolts into the top piece. Still had to use my arm muscles because I didn't have a winch, block, lifting device.

My new BIAB bag drains a lot easier than this one so hopefully I won't really need these hoists anymore. My brau-clone will have lifting built-in because it is a bit dangerous lifting a 78 degree bag of liquid and grain.

And yes, I did clean and star-san the g-clamp.


----------



## Dan Pratt

Made a hop back last week. Now to figure out the g/L ratio for my IPA's B)


----------



## 431neb

"Avocado harvesting scaffold" redeployed as keg washing bay.




I have a similar one that I hoist BIABs on in the shed.


----------



## WarmBeer

Combination wort-return / sparge arm.

$1.80 in parts, as I already had the conduit and barb.


----------



## Camo6

431neb said:


> "Avocado harvesting scaffold" redeployed as keg washing bay.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> lafdder.jpg
> 
> I have a similar one that I hoist BIABs on in the shed.



Just wondering, does that mean you're successfully growing avocados in Melbourne? I had a nice little sapling but tossed it as I didn't want to wait six years to see if it would produce. And it was growing right where a hop plant could fit.


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## 431neb

Yep Camo6.

It rated a mention here....


http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/72896-lime-marmalade/


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## joshF

Rigged up the sparge arm from my old 3V to incorporate into a single vessel recirculating BIAB system. Couldn't work out how to keep the sparge arm in the middle of the chain/hoist thing so just used a trusty coke bottle lid and 9 cable ties to keep it centred. Pretty ghetto IMO.


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## Lord Raja Goomba I

2 pot stovetop method with lauter. 

Ghettoz FTW


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## Dan Pratt

joshF said:


> Rigged up the sparge arm from my old 3V to incorporate into a single vessel recirculating BIAB system. Couldn't work out how to keep the sparge arm in the middle of the chain/hoist thing so just used a trusty coke bottle lid and 9 cable ties to keep it centred. Pretty ghetto IMO.


tops work JoshF.

At what rate of flow do you run the sparge arm at to make it spin? how many litres for the sparge?


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## joshF

I'm not 100% sure the flow rate pratty, i just use a little brown pump and a 12V voltage regulator thingy from jaycar. I run it between 4.5 and 6 volts and it gets going pretty well. 
I've only done 3 brews with this single vessel BIAB thing now but i've twice used 29L for the mash and then another 8 or so litres for the sparge. Yesterday i tried 31L water for the mash and about 5L for the sparge and still hit my numbers with really clear wort below.

One thing i want to work on though; there's a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom of the stockpot on the hoist so i just need to work out how i can still have all those holes there during the mash so the wort can still flow freely during the recirculating/mashout part, but then i want to somehow plug/close some of them for the sparge so i can slow down the flow. I reckon i could get better efficiency if the sparge was draining alot slower.


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## pk.sax

4L mill hopper:


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## Liam_snorkel

How did I not think of this before?


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## angus_grant

Ghetto shelf support.


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## sp0rk

That's brilliant Angus, I'll be doing that to my ferm freezer for sure!


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## Diggs

Liam_snorkel said:


> How did I not think of this before?
> 
> 
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1393143671.959625.jpg


 I had to look REALLY hard to see the coat hanger, I normally peg to pot handle but would prefer this!


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## Online Brewing Supplies

angus_grant said:


> Ghetto shelf support.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpg


Thats to stop shit falling thru the ghetto glad wrap lid :lol:
Dont they pay you IT guys ?
Nev


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## sgtpinky

Angus, that's excellent. Great way to support the shelf without permanent modification to the fridge.


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## BottloBill

Ghetto $4.72 mash tun

Esky from council collection $0.00

Insulation sheeting and joining tape left over from reno at work
$0.00

High temperature conduit from reno at work
0.00

Long shank drum tap pinched from dads camping kit
$0.00

Finally where I broke the bank was the 4 elbows and T piece to join the conduit
$4.72


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## Mardoo

Here's my mill stand. It's an old bedside table with a bit of a Franco Cozzo vibe, albeit not white and gold and shiny. It was in terrible shape when I got it (sold to me online as hardwood, actually MDF, but a daughter sold it for her father moving out of the family home after his wife died, so I honoured the sale solely out of sympathy for him). It took a lot of reinforcing (all done with scrap) but it's really grown on me after getting over being pissed off about it being MDF. All up it cost me about $30, including the mill $100. I probably could have done a more normal stand for the same price, but I like things that are a bit more personal.

I have my eye out for a genuine Franco Cozzo for my next one. I'm saving up to have the mill gilded with cherubs  I don't mind the hand crank at the moment but I have a breadmaker motor in waiting for when I get tired of cranking away. I'm hoping to mount the motor in the bottom drawer and only have the pulleys showing outside the stand.







I took out the bottom of the top drawer and joined the top and second drawers into one for the hopper. I cannabalized the drawer bottoms from its sister table to join the sides, as well as to reinforce the top so the mill wouldn't pull through the MDF. I found a nearly perfectly fitting plastic tub that fits inside the hopper.







I like to repurpose things and am currently building my workbench from some jarrah stair treads from a convent and an old art deco silky oak mantlepiece. The repurposing comes out of budget constraints, but I always end up really liking the product much more in the end.


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## GrumpyPaul

Mardoo said:


> Here's my mill stand.


That is the ugliest thing of beauty post on this forum...


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## Wrayza

My brew bench is a relatively new lift landing door from work that would have gone to the tip. Sitting on top of the clothes dryer and a similar sized folded horn enclosure. Bit ghetto, looks good though!


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## Mardoo

Looks awesome! There's so much cool stuff around for the looking.


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## Moad

Wrayza said:


> My brew bench is a relatively new lift landing door from work that would have gone to the tip. Sitting on top of the clothes dryer and a similar sized folded horn enclosure. Bit ghetto, looks good though!


That is an incredibly over engineered 1v. LOVE IT!

Is that top ball valve (in the photo) for whirlpooling or something?


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## zooesk

My ghetto mill stand


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## Wrayza

Thanks Moad, yep the upper valve is for whirlpooling. I also run it during the boil to keep the valves sterilised and continue running while immersion chilling. Helps the temperature to drop quickly I find.

Kind of hard to see but there is a little sprayer in the handle of the glass lid I can move the line to for mash recirculation too.


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## Moad

Very nice mate, starting to plan something similar. Would be interested in some details on your control box too 

Sorry if OT

Edit: stupid phone


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## Wrayza

Sure mate, happy to share. 

I originally drew up a line circuit diagram but then made changes as I wired and stopped following the diagram. Sort of the odd way my brain prefers to work. I should really redraw the whole thing. 

The unit controls two heat sticks and allows selection between mash (one stick only controlled by PID via SSR) or boil (both sticks always on regardless of PID output through a relay). 

I wanted to be able to move the system anywhere and not be confined to a 15A or 20A GPO. So the unit runs off two regular 10A sockets, these two feeds are electrically separated from each other on the control side. Each feed drives one element and the control won't turn on until both feeds are supplied. 

Circuit essentially goes: lockable isolator (energises the two supply relays if both supplies available and arms main on/off switch), main on/off switch (energises volt/amp readout, PID and element power on/off), element power on/off (allows pid to drive a heat stick and boil mode to be selected), mash/boil select (explained earlier) and finally a pump on/off circuit. 

The only change I plan to make is from a k type thermocouple to a pt100 sensor, the pid is a little inaccurate for my liking and always requires calibration with a glass thermometer each brewday.

Shoot me a PM if you like, this is probably a bit off topic now. Sorry guys!


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## Mardoo

Ha, seems we've left the ghetto


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## Judanero

Annnnd we're back in the ghetto..

My mill hopper and collection bin are both excess fermentors.











Run this with an Ozito hammer drill slow as possible.


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## Yob

Whilst tooling about in the shed last night, I though I'd upgrade my hopper, the bottle worked great in my old marga and the bucket is better with the MM3, except for the last bit because of the flat bottom on the bucket.. solution?




a bit of padding on the bottle with much loved gaffa tape




Fits like a glove into the bucket




Little bit of builders tape for some artful contrast




BAM!! The lid is just a loose fit but thats all it needs really, good thing is, I can carry it with the handle of the bucket

Used it this morning, 15kg in less than 3 minutes


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## The Judge

How did I not know about this glorious thread!?!? So much gold in here.

Thanks Spog. Here is my grain mill stand fashioned out of that useless old broken camping chair that everyone has.


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## Weizguy

Ghetto mash paddle. Budget chopping board from the supermarket that start with a W (2 for $11).
Old broom handle, recycled from being a mop, so it's already had two lives, cut in two.
Add some time and some electricity and a jig saw that I've had for over 15 years.
Just needs some bolts and nuts.


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## Mardoo

Man, that is coarse. I think I love it!


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## BottloBill

My ghetto curb side pickup bottle rack


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## Diggs

I love this thread.


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## Alex.Tas

Love this thread. 

I cut the base out of a milk create and used some plastic from an old chopping board i had in my garage. It probably cost me $3 when it was new.
Screwed it all together for a niceish yeast tube rack. I haven't the freezer space to freeze yet, so this will have to do. 






Starting a small collection with ringwood, west yorkshire, london ESB and munich lager so far in stock.


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## Yob

genius.. and here I was about to shell out for a test tube rack..

Good work :beerbang:


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## Alex.Tas

Yob said:


> genius.. and here I was about to shell out for a test tube rack..
> 
> Good work :beerbang:


thanks, its still going strong, and there is a lot more yeast in there now! 
depending in the size required, and your freezer space, you could keep the base of the milk crate intact and just cut down the sides, making them potentially stackable. from what i have read of you and your addiction in other threads, you will probably need half a dozen milk crates...


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## Yob

lolz.. its true... Lucky I don't need all those bottles anymore :lol:


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