Keeping Ag Simple

[bindi]

Ok, did my first partial Jan 2005 and my first AG later that year and I have kept it simple ever since.
1 Gravity fed HLT, Tun to kettle, all this cr@p about not being a REAL brewer until you have a pump <_< It's BS and a wank.
2 Marga mill and drill [very good drill] great crush and it's done sh$t loads of grain and does not look like stopping and if it does it's cheap to replace.
3 No chill most beers, the chiller is a home for spiders 99% of the time.
4 The fermenter goes in the fermenting [freezer] fridge and not touched for 10 day [unless it's a wheat] no readings until then.
5 Filter ONLY if I have to and that's not often.
6 things that help: Immersion heater, refractometer,Beersmith [gave up on Promash early] ,good thermometers and fridge controllers.
7 Good supplier [Ross for most stuff].
8 As for the " disease" rims/herms I don't want to catch it. :lol:

I think I will have a simple beer, and it's good IMHO.

Off the soap box, I only posted this as I have become bored with the threads of late, and to see who would bite.

 

[fixa]

I hear you Bindi...
I've got a 3 teir all gravity fed system, marga mill, beersmith and no chill cubes. No step mashes, no filter, no pump. And i'm more than happy with my beer.... B)

Rustic brewing at it's best

 

[Duff]

+1

Though I do like my filter.

And,

9: Beer judges don't pick up whether a pilsner has been lagered or not, so I don't bother.

 

[mika]

I'm bored, so...

Pump....Don't fool yourself people, gravity fed is great if you have some natural terrain to utilise, otherwise buy a pump.

No chill....let's not get into that again...damn botu-beer

Filter...now these are wank. If the clarity of your beer upsets you that much, turn the lights out when you're drinking in bed, or buy a Stein or Pewter Mug.

Asbestos suit off the coathanger.

 

[kabooby]

+ 1 for keep it simple

Dont have a pump and dont have a filter. Still use a combination of jugs and gravity. Dont think I will change either. Its just to easy

2 weeks in secondary at 1C is as clear as I need it.

 

[Steve]

Thats my kinda of brewing Bindi!

marga mill with drill n spade bit
ally pot for water on the stove with immersion element
muscle to lift pot o water into mashtun (twice)
drain into keg
muscle to lift keg onto bricks with 3 ring burner in the middle
sit back get pissed n add hops at intervals
leave keg for half n hour
drain into fermenter
no chill over night, top up with water from laundry tap
add yeast
fermenter into my old busted fridge with frozen coke bottles.

hey bloody presto after 5-6 days into the keg n drinking.

eres to keeping it simple!

Cheers
Steve

 

[wambesi]

Good to hear, my new setup which I am almost complete is going to be very simple too, although I do like gadgets when it comes to my brewing I'm not out for all these pumps and stuff.
First brew is going to be a BIAB one too, mash tun will be constructed later in the year so I can try both methods, also no chilling.

Go the simple stuff!

 

[domonsura]

uhhhhhh.........sorry, wrong door..........:lol:

 

[Steve]

uhhhhhh.........sorry, wrong door..........:lol:

:lol: cheeky young kiwi! You're not a real brewer unless you raise a sweat from lifting whilst brewing!

 

[Goat]

KIS is definitely the way to go. If it works its good.

Some are happy with a simple setup, with the process and results and stay at that which is great, others like to automate, others still like to resolve those 1%ers in the system and some just upgrade for the fun of it.

The system doesn't matter, its enjoying the process and getting good and repeatable results that count.

I've got a pump but only use it to move HLT water around - to keep the sanitation issues to a minimum (KIS). It also makes the who setup safer and easier to control. Having said that, my next upgrade will be getting a CFC and inline airation and pump wort through (a little less KIS). A filter will be the last thing I do, I just don't think they are necessary - but if you think its worthwhile, go for it.

 

[65bellett]

My set up is very very basic. It has cost me less than a hundred dollars to construct, thanks to a free esky and braid from Wardhog.

This is definitely not the system that I am going to use forever but the couple of batches that I have made with it, I have been really happy with. I have even been able to give my all grain beer to non brewers and had some really good comments.

I use a 20 litre plastic bucket from Bunnings with 2 $10.00 Coles kettle elements in it to heat my sparge water. My 10 year old 35 litre fermenter now has two $10.00 Coles kettle elements in it and acts as my boiler. In the boiler I use two elements to get it to a rolling boil nice and quick and then turn one of the off to hold it at a good boil. To save a few dollars on the mash tun esky I used a plastic ball valve which cost me around $4.00 instead of a metal one for $20.00.

As the previous posts have said good beer can be made on a simple set up, and I think a simple set up can be made cheaply.

P.S I am sure my system could have an element of danger involved it its operation and if any body is going to make or use a similar set up a great deal caution should be used.

 

[oldbugman]

P.S I am sure my system could have an element of danger involved it its operation and if any body is going to make or use a similar set up a great deal caution should be used.

Get yourself 'some' protection.

dont plug them jugs straight into the power point, run them through a local RCD.

 

[65bellett]

Get yourself 'some' protection.

dont plug them jugs straight into the power point, run them through a local RCD.

I tried running it through an RCD but it kept tripping. :lol:

 

[65bellett]

Actually I shouldn't joke about these things. A few people that have heard about my system have suggested a local RCD and I will be getting one before my next brew. Thanks

 

[tangent]

i don't find chilling a stressful part of brewing. it's pretty simple.

 

[bugwan]

Thanks for the thread Bindi, you're right, things are getting a little quiet around here lately - although that filtering thread was a beauty the other day...

I think once we reach a certain level of competency with our brewing (and satisfaction with how we brew on our own equipment), we become less interested in the huge back-catalogue of info on AHB and start watching the 'latest threads' lists. Unless there is a steady flow of great, new brewing info then it feels pretty dull sometimes. There's always new brewers joining and checking through 5 year's worth of converted esky photos, but the lurkers get restless. Of course that fans any small spark into a bushfire, so newbies asking "Why isn't my bubbler bubbling?" get shot down with great force! Anyway, that's my explanation for why I find it quiet around here sometimes and why impatience grows for new input.

I'm still a huge fan of the 'back-catalogue' available here. Whether it's Doc's first fridge conversion (in a previous century), Guest Lurker's lifterator or Kook's first attempt at a Lambic...it's all good. Watching people's brew rigs evolve is one of my favourite sports - notably Devo's wall-mounted v1.0 to his current v4 pump-powered bohemoth.

While my brewery is pretty simple, I'm slowly but surely complicating it....I can't help it. Athough the March pump is still a way off, I have some plans coming together to flatten out my current three tier arrangement. Lifting 30L of hot water up a shonky step ladder will eventually tire me, so I'm thinking ahead. That's not to knock people who prefer that, I guess it's just personal. Great beers are made on both systems...and many a shit beer has come from both too.

I must say, the day I get to flick on the pump and listen to whizzing sound of hot wort being pumped around is going to be a good one. Until then, I'll powerlift all my ingredients

 

[domonsura]

I raise a sweat!!

But anyway, T wanted to say that I appreciate the KISS principle, while I do have a pump and heat exchanger, my brewery isn't an effort to complicate, more merely an effort to get some more consistency without any mucking about in the quickly decreasing amount of time I have availabel to brew in these days. It's actually so simple to use the missus was complaining about not being much to do when she did her first brew the other day. I said - "That's because it's a simple process to begin with, I just added some taps & stuff to move it from one place to another."

You can actually do a brew with the brewboy without using electricity at all. You can batch sparge or fly sparge, you just have to be prepared to 'bail' it up into the kettle for the boil from the collection vessel (usually a clean but not yet sanitised fermenter.) Which is handy if the power goes out mid brew, which has happened to me once. At the time I was very thankful that the brewery wasn't all covered in fancy electric stuff. So yes. Simple is good.

It all depends on what you want to sit and look at while doing your brew

 

[Thirsty Boy]

But Bindi ....

If all you want is simple, then BIAB is (arguably I suppose, because I'm sure people would) even more simple than your system.

I usually run a HERMS and when I want fast and uncomplicated I go with a small BIAB system.... so from my point of view, your sort of system would be a bit of an awkard middle child type set-up. Neither complex enough for when I want to play with the gadgets, nor simple enough for when I just want to "make beer"

Not.... I repeat NOT, that I am saying there is anything wrong with your system. I'm just saying that it's all completely dependent on what you want to get out of your brewing and how you want to get there.

I really like my HERMS.... even though it doesn't work properly half the time and I spend nearly as much time buggering around with it trying to make it go as I do brewing with it..... It still makes me feel all warm an fuzzy inside when I look into my brewery and see all those hoses and valves and pumps and temp controllers and ... and ..... well, you get the picture.

Tell you what - I promise to not stand in position as a BIAB brewer and call systems like yours unnecessarily or even wankily complicated, if maybe you people stop being mean about HERMS systems (sniffs and wipes away moistness at corner of eyes)

bastards ...................... :lol:

Thirsty

 

[Zizzle]

No love for the brewbot then bindi? :huh:

Complicated? Never...

 

[matti]

hehehe
try a decoction in the kitchen and kettle in the garage...
never again....
the simpler the better.
though I'd like a rig if I had the $$$$$