Ag Setup Or...

[mattyra]

He is pretty informative in a strange sort of way for what he is doing. The issue with it is you have to cut through the crap before you get to see the 20 seconds of valuable footage.

 

[aj0081]

Well I 'snuck' out of work on Friday and head down to Capalaba to CB. First time down there - pretty impressive setup...

Anyway, had a look at the urns and everything else they had there. They did not have an exposed element urn in stock, so I think I will wait for one of those to come in.

I will probably also get a tap to put on it... I would suspect the factory crown tap would just be a pita.

So the list would be:

Crown exposed urn, new tap (prob 3 piece), BIAB bag and some hose... From other suppliers thermometer, roasting tray (mmm, roast ), paint stirrer/masher, cube with tap. I will also look at the pulley system.

Now, to get started, what am I missing?

I will obviously sort myself out with gear for a couple of batches to get things going as well!

Any thoughts?


BTW - thanks team for all the help.

 

[Fish13]

hmm beer to drink while brewing and some good tunes to boot.

 

[Wolfy]

Crown exposed urn, new tap (prob 3 piece), BIAB bag and some hose... From other suppliers thermometer, roasting tray (mmm, roast ), paint stirrer/masher, cube with tap. I will also look at the pulley system.

There is little difference in terms of cleaning and sanitation (for home brewing purposes) between 2 and 3 piece valves, I'd save the few $.
Invest in decent silicon hose, it's not that much more expensive but is significantly better.
Rather than a thermometer, you might like to invest just a few $ more and get digital temperature controller, it will act as the thermometer and a precise urn-temperature control.
Any bit of wood, spoon, masher, stirrer will work fine, no need for anything fancy, so most anything at home will work for now.
Cubes without taps are (I believe, I do not no-chill) better for no-chill, because they do not have the weaker-tap-thread (when compared to the lid) to get infections in or 'blown out' with the pressure once they are filled and squeezed.

 

[aj0081]

Wolfy. Stop it

I am trying to keep this under control and you are making me overly excited about cool things I can do!!!

 

[Logman]

cube with tap.

Get a Fresh Wort Kit and you'll have a cube and some beer to throw straight into the fermenter. Don't need temp control at the moment either. You'll get 2 cartons of cheap beer if you were going to pay $15 for a cube anyway.

 

[bignath]

Cubes without taps are (I believe, I do not no-chill) better for no-chill, because they do not have the weaker-tap-thread (when compared to the lid) to get infections in or 'blown out' with the pressure once they are filled and squeezed.

Completely agree.

I have three cubes, none of them have a tap.

You'll only accidently *kick the tap off of a steaming hot cube because your too drunk after a brewday once, before you replace the taps with either a bung, or look for cubes that haven't got the thread drilled out yet.

*may or may not have happened before.

It's the "hot side" equivalent of **leaving the fermenters tap open when pitching cooled cube and yeast.

**something else i "may or may not have" done before.........several times..........one of them very recently.

Of course the no tap cube, is only really beneficial assuming you are going to transfer to a fermenter to ferment, as opposed to fermenting straight in the cube, in which case a tap is a good addition. Just be careful of bumping the tap when it's hot. It doesn't take much for it to come off when the plastic is all warped and soft from the heat.

 

[aj0081]

Get a Fresh Wort Kit and you'll have a cube and some beer to throw straight into the fermenter. Don't need temp control at the moment either. You'll get 2 cartons of cheap beer if you were going to pay $15 for a cube anyway.

Tell me why I did not think of this.... Why, why!!!!

Lucky I have not bought it yet!

 

[aj0081]

Big Nath

Its okay, you can share with us. It is a safe environment. How are the burn blisters on the toes going???

 

[Wolfy]

Wolfy. Stop it

I am trying to keep this under control and you are making me overly excited about cool things I can do!!!

There is no controlling this addiction, once starter it's a slippery slide all the way down to the bottom - and producing great beer.!

About the only extra thing I suggested was a temperature controller, why pay $10-15 for a thermometer when for about $10 more you can get a digitial controller, that will set the temperature on your urn and future fermenting fridge - trust me you'll want one eventually, so I'm saving you money by pointing that out now.

 

[aj0081]

Thanks Wolfy - where are you seeing a temp control for $30? eBay?

 

[alfadog]

Thanks Wolfy - where are you seeing a temp control for $30? eBay?

On ebay, search for STC 1000.

 

[Wolfy]

Thanks Wolfy - where are you seeing a temp control for $30? eBay?

(Ebay links are not for any specific vendor/product, simply the cheapest a quick search "digital temperature controller" turned up)
Not used these before, but I in theory should work OK if you manually set it to heating or cooling mode:
$13.75
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Automatic-Digit...=item6b1ebabc04

For a few $ more the STC-1000 is and popular controller that will automatically switch heating or cooling (useful for fridge-type setups):
$22.90
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/All-purpose-STC...=item4164f7f2e9

Add a few $'s more for a box and power-cords (or switches), and use an electrical contractor to set it up as required.

 

[Florian]

Completely agree.

I have three cubes, none of them have a tap.

You'll only accidently *kick the tap off of a steaming hot cube because your too drunk after a brewday once, before you replace the taps with either a bung, or look for cubes that haven't got the thread drilled out yet.

*may or may not have happened before.

It's the "hot side" equivalent of **leaving the fermenters tap open when pitching cooled cube and yeast.

**something else i "may or may not have" done before.........several times..........one of them very recently.

Of course the no tap cube, is only really beneficial assuming you are going to transfer to a fermenter to ferment, as opposed to fermenting straight in the cube, in which case a tap is a good addition. Just be careful of bumping the tap when it's hot. It doesn't take much for it to come off when the plastic is all warped and soft from the heat.

It's fairly easy to replace the bung with a tap just before pitching.

Put cube on its side, remove bung with the end of a teaspoon or whatever and screw in sanitised tap.

Best of both worlds, no tap to knock off the hot cube but can still ferment in cube and transfer easily.

Personally, I'll cube with tap attached until I end up being as clumsy as Nath (which will probably happen next brew day not that I've said it).

 

[aj0081]

Thanks chaps - I have been busy reading the digital themostats thread... Lots of good gear.

Incredibly cheap...

 

[seamad]

I would just go with the standard urn tap to start with, use the thin wall silicon cut so that it will reach close to the bottom of your no chill cube. Absolute pain in the arse to get on, i got the missus to do it, but once on you will not need to remove it. The taps are pretty easy to clean as well ,infact easier than 3 piece ones.
I do have two three piece valves on my urn now,but only because i have attached a pump and camlocks. When i started biab the std tap was fine, but like most on here i like to tinker
Cheers
Sean

 

[thylacine]

Tell me why I did not think of this.... Why, why!!!!

Lucky I have not bought it yet!

My monthly brew week-end results in 4 x ex-FWK containers as fermenters. The sydney based FWK brewery has containers with the bung located too high for a tap. At least to my liking, eg. trub level often above/partially covering the bung level. I cold crash for 7-10 days so that my bottles do not get the trub. So I find a hose for syphoning with a bottling wand attached easy to implement. Easier to clean too than tap removal & disassembly. Note: when I use lager yeasts at low end lager temperatures, I can fill each fermenter w/15.5L without 'blow-over'. Gladwrap only...

 

[manticle]

Cubes without taps are (I believe, I do not no-chill) better for no-chill, because they do not have the weaker-tap-thread (when compared to the lid) to get infections in or 'blown out' with the pressure once they are filled and squeezed.

I no chill in cubes with taps and it's fine*. I also ferment in them so each tap gets broken apart and cleaned and thread gets cleaned at the end of each brew.

Taps have never been blown out after filling and squeezing. I have knocked it a couple of times and that is no good but i've done that to my fermenters too. Just need to be cautious and keep them out of the path of feet.

*I mainly use willow brand 20 L jerries although I have used various other cubes as well.

 

[mxd]

If you get FWK's off Ross, before you pour into a fermenter tilt on the side, thak the "plug" out and you mat find it has a hole in it already,

put a nice clean sanitised tap in it,
Close tap
open the lid,
close lid
Shake
Repeat open/close a few times (untill there is nice lot of bubbles/froth under the lid)
pour yeast in,
bit of glad wrap over the lid hole
rubber band around glad wrap (I put the lid back on loosely, so gas can escape and yeasty boys doesn't blow gladwrap/ lid off)
9 or 10 days later take gravity reading (I would assume it's complete)
Cold Crash
some time later Keg.