Ag Equipment Finished

[Jye]

Hey All,

After about a month of gathering and work I have all of the equipment for my first AG, except the burner

Here are some pics of the HLT and Kettle.

 

[Jye]

The MLT and chiller

 

[Jye]

I would just like to finish up by saying I have you guys to blame for my new found obsession due to the massive amount of information on this site I never even knew about ag until I came here and now all I can think about is my first brew day on the 17th.

Cheers :beer:

 

[bonk]

looks good,

whats the first brew going to be?

 

[Jye]

Cheers Bonk,

I was think of just going with an apa

5kg pale malt
0.5 Crystal
28g cascade 60min
14g cascade 15min
14g cascade 5min

any suggestions are more than welcome

 

[warrenlw63]

Looks nice Jye.

From what I can see you're well on your way to insanity.

Enjoy the process.

Warren -

 

[Green Iguana]

Good work - How did you get those kegs to shine like that matey....

Cheers

 

[AndrewQLD]

Nice and shiny too, how did you clean up the kegs? Looks great.

Andrew

 

[Jye]

I friend got them for me and thats how they were...guess I'm just lucky

 

[Jye]

The one think I found different from what I read was to do with cutting the kegs. I only ended up using one disc for both kegs, took it really slow and went around about 4 times before cutting all the way through.

The disc cost less than $2 from Bunnings (I ended up buying 4 not know how many I would use )

You can see in the pic the used disc on top of a new one.

 

[Justin]

Yep they are the cutting disks that I've made mention to a number of times. They are very thin (1-2mm) and just slice right through those stainless kegs like a hot knife through butter, I haven't even used a full one yet (did three kegs with it), I also have another few in the tool box and one dedicated to ferrous metals. These are the only wheels I cut with, so quick and easy because you are removing about a 1/4 of the metal you normally have to remove with conventional sized cutting disks.

Nice shiny kegs too. For those that want to know you can make yours shiny too by buffing them with sand paper, working up to wet and dry and then finally a metal polish if you want a super shiny finish. I might do mine one day, it takes a while though. The secret to a nice finish is to work in one direction rather than a swirly circular motion.

Cheers and welcome to the addiction.
Justin

 

[Guest Lurker]

Bit of a shame that after spending so much effort polishing those brew vessels all nice and shiny, some graffiti vandal hit them with a spray can of black paint.

 

[joecast]

man, those wort chillers are impressive. and with two, you should have your wort cooled pretty damn quick. ive only got one, and it has fewer coils than either of yours! really nice set-up.
joe

 

[Jye]

The chillers were not planned to be like that. I cut the kegs to fit the largest lid I had in the kitchen, then when it came to making the chiller I realised the hole was to small for me to use a post-mix keg to wind the coils. So I ended up using my fire extinguisher and made 2 so if I want I can freeze one in a block of ice and run the tap water through it first... another idea I picked up for here

Guess which one I made first :blink:

 

[shmick]

G'day Jye
Just noticed the position of the pick-up (outlet) tube in your kettle.

I originally had the same idea - to direct the break material into a seperate container first then switch to the fermenter when clear for the rest of the wort.
My CFWC wasn't real happy this way (clogged) so I changed to a curved tube that picked up from the lower side corner.
I was still getting a bit of muck so I ended up removing the tube altogether.

After I whirlpool and drain, nearly all of the rubbish is left in the kettle along with 2.8 litres of wort.

I suppose if you're using IM's you won't have this problem. I also have a flat bottomed kettle with the outlet 25mm above it.

What do others think - bottom or side pick-up?
How much do you lose to the gunk after draining?

 

[Jye]

Hey shmick

I think you are referring to my HLT pick-up, the kettle has a ss braid to clear the wort.

I havent brewed on it yet so I may have misunderstood your comment :huh:

 

[warrenlw63]

Grrrr... Yeeechh... The idea of a braid pickup on a kettle scares the s**t out of me. :unsure:

Would only take some wayward hop and particulate matter to either frustratingly slow down or completely block the flow to your fermenters. Flowers/plugs would most probably be OK. However pellets would be another story altogether. <_<

I prefer a plain old pickup tube with the inlet located at about 1 o'clock on the bottom of the kettle. You may still get a bit of crap from the boiler but thankfully no blockages.

Each to their own though.

Warren -

 

[Ross]

welcome to the world of AG Jye - there's no going back - where abouts in Brisbane are you?

Good to see such an increase in brizzy Ag'ers of late - The passion is certainly highly infectous ...

 

[Batz]

Grrrr... Yeeechh... The idea of a braid pickup on a kettle scares the s**t out of me. :unsure:

Would only take some wayward hop and particulate matter to either frustratingly slow down or completely block the flow to your fermenters. Flowers/plugs would most probably be OK. However pellets would be another story altogether. <_<

I prefer a plain old pickup tube with the inlet located at about 1 o'clock on the bottom of the kettle. You may still get a bit of crap from the boiler but thankfully no blockages.

Each to their own though.

Warren -

[post="70622"][/post]​

I am afraid he's right Jye , I had a braid filter the same as that , great with plugs but big pellet additions clogged it.
I was forever knocking it with my paddle to get a flow

Batz

 

[shmick]

Hey shmick

I think you are referring to my HLT pick-up, the kettle has a ss braid to clear the wort.

I havent brewed on it yet so I may have misunderstood your comment :huh:

[post="70611"][/post]​

Sorry Jye
My setup is reversed to what you have
What ever works for you is best.
Goodluck.