hi all

[bduza]

Figured I should say hi.
I was given a lot of second hand brewing gear from someone moving interstate and about to throw it all out (herms setup, kegs etc).
I'm new to brewing though, and while I have a mate who is experienced at all-grain brewing and will help me once I have it all ready to actually make beer, I've joined this forum to look for advice on setting it up as some of it is in bad condition, and my mate doesn't brew with a herms setup.

So hi, and now I guess I'll go ask my first question in a different section.

 

[Paleman]

Gday.

 

[MaggieO]

Where are the pictures?

Sounds like you made a nice haul. Congratulations.

 

[beer gut]

Welcome

 

[bduza]

I missed the replies here. Thanks for the welcome guys.
Here are some pics as requested.

This is the mash tun and HLT, both of which have turned out unusable There are some other bits and pieces in the shot as well, obviously.

The boil kettle is another aluminium pot, in decent condition, a fraction larger than the HLT above. No point putting up a pic of that. There are two fermenters (there were also two plastic fermenters, but these were broken). The stainless one is obviously the one I will use. The glass one is weird - the guy told me he used to make a sour ale in it. It's not the usual carboy shape.

For dispensing, this fridge and taps, along with 6 cornelius kegs and a bunch of spare parts:

And a shot of the smaller bits and pieces while I was sorting them out. Most of the fittings stripped from the HLT and mash tun, along with the electrical bits and bobs. Two of the pumps don't work but at some point I'll open them up and see if they're recoverable. Not that I have a use for them.

 

[ozdevil]

I missed the replies here. Thanks for the welcome guys.
Here are some pics as requested.

This is the mash tun and HLT, both of which have turned out unusable There are some other bits and pieces in the shot as well, obviously.

View attachment 118499



The boil kettle is another aluminium pot, in decent condition, a fraction larger than the HLT above. No point putting up a pic of that. There are two fermenters (there were also two plastic fermenters, but these were broken). The stainless one is obviously the one I will use. The glass one is weird - the guy told me he used to make a sour ale in it. It's not the usual carboy shape.

View attachment 118503




For dispensing, this fridge and taps, along with 6 cornelius kegs and a bunch of spare parts:

View attachment 118504



And a shot of the smaller bits and pieces while I was sorting them out. Most of the fittings stripped from the HLT and mash tun, along with the electrical bits and bobs. Two of the pumps don't work but at some point I'll open them up and see if they're recoverable. Not that I have a use for them.

View attachment 118505

Why are the mash tun and the boiler unusable

in those pics the look alright?


can you just replace the parts with mash tun and boiler?

oh and welcome to the forum

 

[bduza]

Why are the mash tun and the boiler unusable

in those pics the look alright?


can you just replace the parts with mash tun and boiler?

oh and welcome to the forum

There's another thread in the equipment section that has some pics, but the mash tun was left with old wort in it for whoever knows how long - doesn't matter what I clean it with, the smell makes me want to puke. The inner skin of the esky has also warped/buckled inwards.

The HLT was left with water in it, and I'm guessing electrolysis between the copper coil and the aluminium pot has occurred - it is all pitted with corrosion. I thought this would be okay as it is just for warming up water, but I've cleaned/scrubbed it 4 times now, and the pitted bits keep filling up with white powder (aluminium oxide?) by the time it has dried out.

After I add up what I need to buy (2 x pots, mesh bottom for mash tun, new copper tubing for coil in HLT, few other small bits and pieces) the cost is at ~$250. So I'm tossing up whether to buy the bits I need to resurrect this system, or save an extra month and just get a brewzilla.

Regardless of which one I choose, a friend is has offered to lend me his old BIAB bag (he has a guten now) while I make the decision - I've decided I'll do a couple of BIAB brews in the boil kettle, and hopefully that will give me a better idea on whether I want to get HERMS working, or buy into a countertop system (to be honest, the space saving aspect is pretty attractive - this project has almost completely taken over my puny workshop).

 

[ozdevil]

There's another thread in the equipment section that has some pics, but the mash tun was left with old wort in it for whoever knows how long - doesn't matter what I clean it with, the smell makes me want to puke. The inner skin of the esky has also warped/buckled inwards.

The HLT was left with water in it, and I'm guessing electrolysis between the copper coil and the aluminium pot has occurred - it is all pitted with corrosion. I thought this would be okay as it is just for warming up water, but I've cleaned/scrubbed it 4 times now, and the pitted bits keep filling up with white powder (aluminium oxide?) by the time it has dried out.

After I add up what I need to buy (2 x pots, mesh bottom for mash tun, new copper tubing for coil in HLT, few other small bits and pieces) the cost is at ~$250. So I'm tossing up whether to buy the bits I need to resurrect this system, or save an extra month and just get a brewzilla.

Regardless of which one I choose, a friend is has offered to lend me his old BIAB bag (he has a guten now) while I make the decision - I've decided I'll do a couple of BIAB brews in the boil kettle, and hopefully that will give me a better idea on whether I want to get HERMS working, or buy into a countertop system (to be honest, the space saving aspect is pretty attractive - this project has almost completely taken over my puny workshop).

Bugga the mash tun looked ok from the outside as when i read this thread i never looked elsewhere for other threads about this

yep i have 2 brewzillas a 65 and 35 litre
nothing wrong with the herms way of brewing i think most people started out this way

 

[Vini2ton]

The glass one is for vino, bella, bella!

 

[bduza]

So in my trial run (all water) biab in the oversized kettle didn't work. I couldn't keep a temp with just the small (relative to the kettle size) amount in the bottom.

Frustrated, back to the drawing board. I picked this 37L crab cooker up for $90, and installed the heating element, tap and thermowell, which I already had. Incidentally holesaws suck for this, step drills are good, but I wish I'd just bought the punches.

Tomorrow I will buy 4x 65mm stainless bolts and use them to stand the strainer above all of the electronics, and put the bag in the strainer. Connect the thermowell and element to the inkbird, and also a voltage regulator I found on a shelf at work also. If the element is slow to get the initial temp, I'll try using a burner simultaneously.

In other words, cheaply copying cheekypeaks nano biabasket kit. With luck I'll be able to (finally) try a brew this weekend.