My New Rig

[Yeldarb]

very nice indeed...something to be proud of there.

 

[woodmac66]

woody can you give us a rough estimate as to what the setup cost would be for a rig like that.
cheers
fergi

Fergi real hard to put a cost on it.
When you start putting it all together it is scary how quick it all adds a rough guess I would say near 3K...... Silicon hose, cam locks, pumps even the castors with brakes were $90.
I also did things like socket in the back of the Mash Tun for a thermowell addition if I want at a later date.
50litre Mash Tun, 70 Litre Kettle.
It's a bit like doing ajob at home you can never walk out of Bunnings wthout spending $200...


Well the Bride come ome today to take prime spot and schooey you will be happy I parted with the extra coin to put a Tel Tru on her........Isn't that black dress sexy!
KHB can't wait to have a few beers and Brew!

 

[Tony]

Something I did as the Mash Tun wasn't quite ready.
It turned out a really Beneficial excercise as i was able to really focus on part of the process instead of the whole thing including Pumping through the Chill Plate whirlpooling and get afeel for the speed of the wort through the chiller .
Identified little things that needed fixing also, hit my boil volume smack on and ended up 40 Litres @ 1043. ( I was wrapped)
Everything went like a dream.
All this will hopefully make Saturday run a bit smoother.
I would really encourage newbies like me to do this with a new rig.

I used my system as parts on the floor before i even built a frame and sorted out a lot of teething problems. Made the rig a dream to use first run! What you have said is very true.

Mate that beast is a thing of beauty. I love it.

I am very interested in the black insulation on the MT. I just have foam wraped in duct tape and its ugly.

Im planning a strip and rebuild of mine with SS pipe, paint on the frame instead of rust and would love to insulate the vessels like this.

A hint.......... you HLT will heat up twice as fast if it insulated as well.

great work and enjoy

cheers

 

[raven19]

That is a really nice rig! Are you planning a SA Case Swap beer on that baby? (only 4 weeks away now...!!!!)

 

[Cocko]

Woody seeing it complete [With Tun] makes me feel, well, funny.. *wipes tear*

Is that a digital timer siting there all coloured in white?

What a well designed rig and room to move, an absolute huge WELL DONE SON! on your work.... jealous, NO!

Look forward to seeing your future post of brew days and the beers you will knock out on this bad boy!


:super:

 

[woodmac66]

Thanks Tony!
You Are right The HLT i stiil havent decided where I want to be !
That insulation is apparantly a pain in the arse to put on and Iwould never get it as neat as that.
Contemplating 2x 2400 elements but having said that its about an hour and a half as is to boil from full.
I want to use it for a while and decide whether to increase water capacity or if it will do the job.

 

[woodmac66]

That is a really nice rig! Are you planning a SA Case Swap beer on that baby? (only 4 weeks away now...!!!!)

Mate I had better pull my finger out.. looking forward to meeting a few of you guys and enjoying a few Beers.
Now the real learning begins.

Woody seeing it complete [With Tun] makes me feel, well, funny.. *wipes tear*

Is that a digital timer siting there all coloured in white?

What a well designed rig and room to move, an absolute huge WELL DONE SON! on your work.... jealous, NO!

Look forward to seeing your future post of brew days and the beers you will knock out on this bad boy!


:super:

Yes it is a timer Cocko ....... I intend to give th rig a real workout.
Heaps of recipes already on the list...

 

[fcmcg]

ive got to get me a control box to control my hlt and pump.

CM...that makes two of us...any ideas on what you want exactly ?
I'm thinkning a PID with thermocouple to control the heat exchanger , as well as on of switch for march pump , switch to control my hlt temp contoller ( which is one of the G&G temp probe thingys ,on /off switch for whole unit etc...
I'm hoping one of the experts at my brew club (Westagte) will be able to give me some help...but it would be good to swap ideas/thoughts etc...
Ferg

 

[schooey]

Well the Bride come ome today to take prime spot and schooey you will be happy I parted with the extra coin to put a Tel Tru on her....

Nah, woody, in the long run, it'll be you who will be happy you spent the extra coin on her... Trust me...

 

[komodo]

Fantastic!

 

[woodmac66]

Brewed my first AG on the new Rig yesterday and it all went pretty well.
Brewed the Siera Nevada Clone with 1056.
Whole day went pretty smooth all and all .
Mash Tun Held the 68 degrees for the full hour and didn't budge. ( great sign for a single )
MAshing out B/Smiths asked for 8.6 litres @91.5 to get to 75.6 degrees and it took close to 14 litres.
Batch sparged and got 73.89% efficiency.
I was very happy with that as I know I could heve improved on things in the process.
I think next time I will fly Sparge.
Biggest mistake I made was cooling into the fermenter and left the tap open ...................Of all the dumb arse basic things. ( Lost a couple of litres to my shed floor)
Boil rates were also an issue but I think I just need to identify what they are on my Rig .
Ended up on a 40 degree day getting it down to 25 into the fermenter but that was running pretty slow..
Straight in the fermenter fridge that pulled it back down to pitching rate pretty quick .
Checked it this morning and she is bubbling her head off.
Learnt a shitload and the next one I think will be a lot smoother.

 

[razz]

Very nice looking rig woodmac. And what a top drop to do your first brew. I've made a couple of the SNPA clones and they are a great beer.

 

[glaab]

thats a tidy looking job you've done on the top of the keggle/ hlt, can you post a better pic of that please?

 

[KHB]

thats a tidy looking job you've done on the top of the keggle/ hlt, can you post a better pic of that please?

If your talking about the HLT ill take credit for that, used to be mine

 

[woodmac66]

thats a tidy looking job you've done on the top of the keggle/ hlt, can you post a better pic of that please?

Glaab I actually bought the HLT from another brewer on the site but just put the sight Glass onit from Beerbelly.

 

[glaab]

If your talking about the HLT ill take credit for that, used to be mine

nice job. Looks like you cut the rim part with the handles off then ground/ polished it back.
Is that right? Is there something welded around the rim/ lip?

 

[KHB]

nice job. Looks like you cut the rim part with the handles off then ground/ polished it back.
Is that right? Is there something welded around the rim/ lip?

Yeah thats right, havnt got anything welded around the top the lid fits snugly

 

[woodmac66]

Works pretty well and great water capacity.

 

[glaab]

Yeah thats right, havnt got anything welded around the top the lid fits snugly

Coo, thank's for that. I want to make my keggle bigger so I can boil double batches, I think I'll do the top like that it's the neatest job I.ve seen. Sorry about hijacking the thread woodmac, Cheers :icon_cheers:

ps, I have that same timer, theyre excellent. When I first got it and worked out you couldnt turn it off I thought the battery wouldnt last too long but it lasted over 2yrs, [use for poker blinds timer usually] and that was the crap battery that came with it. I see they have them at BigW now for $20. Cheers

 

[woodmac66]

No worries Glaab...
All good .... What are you considering for elements?