Hello,
Following the inspirational, inaugural and somewhat blurry meeting of the Tamworth Home Brew Club last weekend, I thought I'd get my mash tun built. Had a rather lovely Westhalle Trippel, too, which was the beginning of the end for me, but that's another story.
Have had the cool box for years, but only gets used occasionally now when defrosting the freezer. It's been usurped for camping by one that plugs into the car, and was feeling a little unloved. But not any more.
I got 1m of 15mm copper pipe, three T's, four corners, and a compression-fit corner, plus a brass tank connector and a tap, all compression fit 15mm BSP. I had no idea what any of that meant before I started this. I'm still a bit unsure.
So, pretty straightforward with just a couple of little moments.
Moment 1 was after I'd drilled the hole in the cool box for the tank connector, and realised it was slightly too small, and was done using the biggest bit I had. Managed to screw the tank connector through the hole eventually with some mole grips. 1/32 of a turn at a time.... As I said, a moment.
Moment 2 was after I'd cut all the bits for the manifold with no copper pipe spare, and over-crimped one of the t-joints. Un-crimped pretty quickly, so not much of a moment really.
The manifold pushes neatly into the tank connector, without needing any fixings.
I've added a couple or three pictures, showing the slots in the manifold. It is all put together push tight, so it can be dismantled for cleaning, hence the crimping. (Did you think I was doing my hair...?)
The tap is a bit Heath-Robinson, but was the best I could do with the limited parts available from the plumbing supplies shop. This could be improved with time, or not, depending on whether it causes any issues. If it ain't broke, etc.
So, just a chiller coil to make now, and I'm all kitted up for 20l AG brews!
Although I've done the odd kit in the past, it's only been 9 months since I started brewing regularly, in case you're thinking of getting stuck in. Done kits then tweaked kits, then onto extract brews and latterly to 10 litre stove-top AG BIABs. And now, this!
The piccies are proving difficult to upload in groups of more than one, so I'll try to do them separately.
Oh, and if you've cut copper pipe using a pipe cutter, and then try to push and twist it into a joint using your hand on the end, don't. I now have a rather neat circular slash on my palm. Ouch. (Quite shallow and not life-threatening, thanks for asking).
Dog.
Following the inspirational, inaugural and somewhat blurry meeting of the Tamworth Home Brew Club last weekend, I thought I'd get my mash tun built. Had a rather lovely Westhalle Trippel, too, which was the beginning of the end for me, but that's another story.
Have had the cool box for years, but only gets used occasionally now when defrosting the freezer. It's been usurped for camping by one that plugs into the car, and was feeling a little unloved. But not any more.
I got 1m of 15mm copper pipe, three T's, four corners, and a compression-fit corner, plus a brass tank connector and a tap, all compression fit 15mm BSP. I had no idea what any of that meant before I started this. I'm still a bit unsure.
So, pretty straightforward with just a couple of little moments.
Moment 1 was after I'd drilled the hole in the cool box for the tank connector, and realised it was slightly too small, and was done using the biggest bit I had. Managed to screw the tank connector through the hole eventually with some mole grips. 1/32 of a turn at a time.... As I said, a moment.
Moment 2 was after I'd cut all the bits for the manifold with no copper pipe spare, and over-crimped one of the t-joints. Un-crimped pretty quickly, so not much of a moment really.
The manifold pushes neatly into the tank connector, without needing any fixings.
I've added a couple or three pictures, showing the slots in the manifold. It is all put together push tight, so it can be dismantled for cleaning, hence the crimping. (Did you think I was doing my hair...?)
The tap is a bit Heath-Robinson, but was the best I could do with the limited parts available from the plumbing supplies shop. This could be improved with time, or not, depending on whether it causes any issues. If it ain't broke, etc.
So, just a chiller coil to make now, and I'm all kitted up for 20l AG brews!
Although I've done the odd kit in the past, it's only been 9 months since I started brewing regularly, in case you're thinking of getting stuck in. Done kits then tweaked kits, then onto extract brews and latterly to 10 litre stove-top AG BIABs. And now, this!
The piccies are proving difficult to upload in groups of more than one, so I'll try to do them separately.
Oh, and if you've cut copper pipe using a pipe cutter, and then try to push and twist it into a joint using your hand on the end, don't. I now have a rather neat circular slash on my palm. Ouch. (Quite shallow and not life-threatening, thanks for asking).
Dog.
