In essence you can let your kegs stay warm and outside the box. You fill the cooler with ice and the beer is “flash cooled” as it runs through the coils. This gives you a little more flexibility where you set up this system, plus you don’t need the cold storage space to keep your kegs cool. So without further ado, here we go.

This was borrowed heavily from this thread at The Brewing Network and I want to give credit where credit is due. Plus they have lots of nice pictures there as well.

Equipment
1 Large Ice chest
2 Quick Disconnect Gas-in ball locks
2 Quick Disconnect Beverage out ball locks
2 50′ stainless steel (or copper) coils
2 Faucets
2 Handles
2 Shanks with nipple
6″ of 1″ schedule 120 PVC (sleeves)
Silicone sealant
Hose clamps
Food grade tubing

Tools
Drill and 1″ hole saw blade
1/2″ Forstner bit

Process

1. First measure the room in the cooler and see how tight the coils have to be to fit two abreast. If you don’t want to buy coils, you can make them. Here’s how to make an immersion chiller. Just modify to fit your interior cooler dimensions – especially making sure you can close the lid.
2. Once you have those constructed or bought, put them in the cooler and mark where you need to drill your tap ports.
3. Next, put the pipe in the hole (insert dirty joke here), note the length and cut it to fit. Make sure the sleeve can handle the weight of the shank assembly. Secure the sleeve to the cooler with a silicone seal
4. Now, drill the bev-in line holes with a ½” bit. Inside walls can be a little thin in some cooler, so don’t use too much pressure off the bat. Things might crack.
5. Attach the tubing to the end of your coil. Run it under some hot water first so it’s more pliable. Give yourself a few inches of overlap for the clamps
6. Put the coils in the cooler and feed the tubing through the holes. Make sure it’s a tight fit – no joke
7. Tighten up the clamps and attach the taps. All that’s left now if to determine your inaugural brew.

As always, you can go buy a kegerator and be perfectly happy, but as I’ve said before; where’s your sense of adventure? Let’s tap into that ingenuity and pride that makes us who we are…why buy, when you can build?

Alright, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that I put together a kegerator…yet. I only had time and resources for one project this month and that was for a counter-flow chiller, see post on the 24th, but with the help of the internet, I hope to layout the basics steps of converting your refrigerator into a kegerator. Someday I promise to layout the steps from first hand experience.

So here are the basic things you will need to set things up:
(list compiled using kegerator door kit instructions from www.micromatic.com)

• Shank, Faucet, and Knob Assembly (SFKA)
• Door Spacer (PVC tube inserted into hole in door that SFKA goes through)
• Beer Hose (5′ of 3/16″ ID) with Fittings (Fittings depend on style of keg)
• CO2 Hose (4′ of 5/16″ ID)
• Snap Clamps for Hoses
• Co2 Tank
• Co2 Regulator
• Keg Tap (Depends on style of keg)
• Drip Tray (Not necessary, but looks nicer and keeps beer off your floor)

Tools needed:
(again with the help of micromatic)

• Screwdrivers (Flat Head & Phillips)
• Drill & 1/4″ Bit
• 1 1/8″ Hole Saw
• Hack Saw
• Pencil (Needed if Adding a Drip Tray)
• Tape Measure (Needed if Adding a Drip Tray)
• Crescent Wrench

Alright, so basically the process is pretty simple. When it comes down to it, all you have to do is drill one hole in your refrigerator, put the door spacer in, assemble the SFKA through the door spacer, hook up your hoses, tap the keg, and regulate the CO2. BAM! You’ve got yourself a kegerator. If you are adding the drip tray, you’ll have to drill a few more holes and take a few measurements, but ultimately the same process as above.

For some more detailed instructions, again, check out www.micromatic.com.

We are in no way affiliated with micromatic, they just had a nice set of instructions that I came across while researching for this post. There are plenty of other how-to websites on this subject you can choose from.

Now for final touches, I recommend some beer posters, stickers, bottle-cap magnets, etc. stuck to the front and sides of your kegerator to really showcase your love of beer.

Finally, if you are a homebrewer and are looking for a way to serve your beer and do some lagering all in one spot, here is a nice article from Zymurgy, courtesy of American Homebrew Association. Freezer Conversion for Fermenting and Serving Homebrew

If you tackle the kegerator project, please share your experience with us along with some pictures of your final product.

Cheers!

Build Your Own Counterflow Chiller

The process is pretty straight forward. If you are like me, you have never soldered anything in your life, but don’t worry, it was pretty easy. I’ll admit, it wasn’t the prettiest soldering job ever done, but I was able to get all my fittings together without any leaks on the first try.

The instructions say to use a lot of lube and I’m going to only add that you should probably get the amount of lube you think is necessary and about double it. Regardless, you are probably going to have to muscle that copper tube through the hose at some point. I thought I had more than enough lube (I used soap and water), but I got about 90% of the way through the hose and things came to a grinding halt. I ended up just cutting off the left over hose and copper piping and made a slightly shorter finished product.

Another issue I came across, which is actually covered in the above instructions, but not explicitly so (and I kind of skimmed through the instructions); make sure you secure the hose over the copper TEE fitting prior to coiling it. If you don’t, you’ll quickly discover that once it is coiled it is going to be just about impossible to do.

I had a hard time finding a coil of soft copper tubing in the length of 25′. The best I could find was 20′ and 50′. I opted for the 50′ and ended up making two chillers.

Here’s my materials for two chillers (Note: Make sure you get male and female hose-ends for your second chiller)

Also, I don’t know if it’s just the St. Louis area, but I had a really hard time finding 1/2″x1/4″ copper reducers. I did end up finally finding some locally, but even they were surprised that they had 4 in stock (only need 2, again I made 2 chillers). If you are having a hard time find the reducers I was able to find some on the internet at:

PexSupply.com

They are pretty cheap here, but you’re going to get taken to the cleaners on shipping.

So that’s my take on the process. It was pretty easy and as always more fulfilling than going out an buying one, not to mention cheaper. The total cost of one of my chillers, not including the soldering supplies, was $51.95. As opposed to about $80+ according to my internet searches, several were above $100.

And, the final product (Note: I still have to secure the coil with some zip-ties):

Yeah, it’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but it is functional and in the end that is all you need.

Cheers!

Materials:

50 ft of 3/8″ OD soft-copper tubing
2×10 ft of 3/8″ ID plastic tubing (Make sure tubing is rated for food/bev needs and is resistant to high temperatures)
1x female hose adapter
3 x compression fittings/clamps to attach plastic tubing to copper tubing and female hose adapter to rubber tubing (depending on fittings you may need a screwdriver to tighten)

Assembly Instructions:

1. Coil the copper tubing around a cylindrical object to create a coil. Make sure the coil is smaller in diameter than your boil pot.

2. Bend the two ends of the copper tubing up, so that when placed in your boil pot they will extend out of the top of the pot. Bend the very ends of the copper tubing about 90 degrees so they extend horizontally beyond the edge of your boil pot.

3. Attach your rubber tubing to the ends of the copper tubing and secure to the copper tubing with the compression fittings.

4. Attach female hose adapter to the end of one of the rubber tubes and secure with a compression fitting.

5. Attach a garden hose and pump some water through the chiller to check for any leaks. If no leaks, congratulations, you just made yourself an immersion chiller.

Tips For Use:
Place the chiller in your boil pot with about 10 to 15 minutes left in the boil. This will ensure your chiller is sanitized. Don’t worry, it will not impart any off flavors into your beer.

I know those long rubber tubes can get tangled and in the way some, but by having the ends a little distance away from your boil pot, helps assure none of the tap water makes it way into your beer, which could infect it with bacteria.
A 50 ft copper coil should provide enough surface area to efficiently cool your beer, but if things are going quite fast enough for you, try slowly stirring your wort to get more of the wort in contact with the coil.

If things still aren’t going fast enough for you, you can make an additional immersion chiller, this one can be smaller, that you place in a cold/ice water bath that the hose tap water passes through before going through the chiller in the boil pot. This will obviously make your chilling water even colder prior to going through the main immersion chiller.

I hope you have found this to be informative and are inspired to partake in one of the many additional paths that homebrew leads your down. Of course, that path being the world of DIY. Over the years you’ll find yourself making, rigging, and adjusting all kinds of things to assist you in your brew day. Sure buying is always easier, but there is just some kind of satisfaction out of making something yourself…just like your homebrew.

Cheers!

I’m going to break this down into extract and all-grain. For partial mash, the only real difference in equipment from extract is the addition of a grain bag that you can steep in your kettle. So with that in mind, here we go:

Extract

• Boil pot (at least 20 quarts) – If you’re planning to move to all grain in the near future, go with at least 25-30 qt so you can boil a full 5 gal batch since you’ll need more liquid as some will boil off.
• Thermometer (digital recommended, but meat will work too) - In extract this is mainly important to make sure you’re cooling your wort down low enough. As with extract, you don’t need to worry about the temp as much since you’re only boiling. Once you get to all grain, you’ll use the thermometer for the strike water for your mash, your mash temp, sparge water and cooling.
• Fermentor (at least 6 gallons plastic bucket with airtight lid) – While one will suffice in the beginning, I highly recommend starting off with a secondary as well. I like using the 6.5 gal glass carboys, but a second bucket will do the trick too. This lets you rack and clarify a little better than just using a primary fermentor.
• Large stirring spoon (non-wood) – Wood is porous and can house flavors from pervious beers and even bacteria. Stick with stainless steel.
• Airlock (get from homebrew shop) – There are a few styles out there. I personally prefer the 3-piece ones. Also if you’re going to go with a glass secondary, make sure to get a stopper that will fit the opening as your fermentation bucket will likely have a different size opening.
• Sanitizer (chlorine bleach or other) – You can sanitize with 1 Tsp/gal of bleach and hot water, but I like using the One Step Sanitizer. It doesn’t require rinsing (but I do) so even if a little lingers in your fermentors, it won’t be a problem.
• Bottling bucket (same as fermentor but with a spigot and no lid) – Nothing too fancy here, but it’s a necessary piece of equipment as there’s really no other way for a beginner homebrew to get their beer into bottles while keeping oxygen exposure and mess to a minimum.
• Bottle filler – This is a spring loaded rod that will distribute the beer to the bottle by pressing the inside bottom of the bottle to the trigger. Beer will fill the bottle from the bottom, keeping oxygenation low. Too much O₂ = too many off flavors
• Food grade plastic tubing (5 feet should be more than enough) – attaches to spigot and filler). Make sure you have the size tubing that fits your spigots. You’ll might need a small piece for your bottle filler too.
• Bottles (about 50 12oz bottles for a 5 gallon batch) – Just make sure they’re not twist off.
• Bottle caps – I get the oxygen absorbing ones. Not sure how big a difference, but in my mind it doesn’t hurt.
• Capper – If you can get a bench press one, they’re way easier to use than the “double wing” style. You’ll spill/break a lot less bottles with the bench model.
• Hydrometer – You’ll want to take a post-boil reading and then again at bottling (before you prime). This will give you your original and final gravities so you can figure out the alcohol content. You can also take a reading when primary fermentation has appeared to stop to see if you’re close to your targeted final gravity.
• Graduated cylinder – Insert hydrometer, fill with wort/beer. They pretty much come in one size, so you should be good there.

All-Grain

Everything from Extract plus

• Mash tun with false bottom/spigot – this can be a cooler to another kettle that you keep on a burner, but you need a tun if you’re going to to do a full mash. I have a 7 gallon Igloo cooler (like the ones used for sports). It holds a constant temp quite well.
• Sparge arm – OK technically you don’t need this, but once I got one, I consider it a must. I’ve gotten much better yields from my mash and honestly think it helps make a better beer.

While this is no way a complete list, in my mind, these are the essentials. DIY gadgets and every growing setups are as integral to the world of homebrewing as yeast. This should get you going and I promise you we’ll be diving deeper into a lot of this equipment and more advanced stuff in posts to come.

But 33 Beers is going to become my savior. As they call it “a pocket-sized companion and memory aid”, this is one of the better beer journals I’ve come across. Weighing in at the size index card, and at about 1/8″ thick (25% thinner than your iPhone!), it’s the perfect size to fit in your shirt pocket, pants pocket or in your sock for those of you who despise pockets.

Take it right from the bottle if you can or look it up after. Great info to gather at beerfests

And if you’re into the environment and all that, you’ll be happy to know 33 Beer is made with 100% recycled papers sourced in the Pacific Northwest. Interior pages are 100% post-consumer recycled content and covers are 85% post-consumer recycled content and 15% recycled content. The booklets are printed using US-grown soy-based inks in sunny Portland, Oregon.

Capture all the nuances of the brew and draw pretty little pictures at the same time.

Just ordered a 3-pack for myself so I’ll be sure to let you know the success/fail rate of these little guys after my next bar crawl. Anyone have another beer journal they like? Leave me a comment and I’ll give it a test drive.

(Images via 33 Beer)

Belgian Wheat (3 Gals)

0.6 # White Wheat Malt
1.2 # Belgian Pils
0.3 # Munich Malt
2.85 # Wheat Flaked
0.15 # Oats Flaked
0.6 # Rice Hulls
0.6 oz East Kent Goldings (Pellets, 5.00 %AA)
0.3 oz Czech Saaz (Pellets, 5.00 %AA)
0.45 oz. Bitter Orange Peel
0.75 tsp. Crushed Coriander seeds
White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale

• Mash at 150 for 90 minutes with 1.6 gals
• Sparge at 160 with 4 gals
• Boil 60 mins
• Add .3 Golding for 60 min
• Add .3 Golding for 15 min
• Add Saaz for 5 min
• Add Orange Peel & Coriander for 3 min
• Primary 1 week at 66-68
• Secondary 1 week at 66-68

OG:1.045
FG: 1.010
SRM: 4.1
IBU: 17.3
ABV: 4.5%

(Via Make)

When I started doing small batches, I would use an entire smack pack or vial and was seeing much better results in hitting my OG. And now I know why, I was vastly under pitching by just dumping 1 pack/vial of yeast straight into the fermentor for a 5 gallon batch.

Ideal Pitching Rates

Ales – you want to pitch around 750K cells of viable yeast, for every milliliter of wort, for every degree plato.

Lagers – you want to pitch around 1.5M cells of viable yeast, for every milliliter of wort, for every degree plato.

So to find out your target yeast count = (# of ale/lager cells) x (ml of wort) x (degrees Plato)

So on average for a 5 gallon batch, you’ll want around 180 billion cells or 15 billion per degree of Plato. Cell counts vary by strain, but a large WYeast pack contains around 100 billion and a vial of White Labs has 70-120 billion cells.

So if that’s the case, you’d need 2 vials of While Labs or 2 packs of WYeast

Other Pitching Options

But, if you don’t want to double up on yeast, create a starter or repitch your yeast. By making a starter, you’re going to be miles ahead of many homebrewers and should see immediate results in your next batch.

Let me know your thoughts, tips, trick or what’s been working (or not working) for you.

Used Whiskey Barrels

I found an online outlet to purchase oak barrels a while back. They come in several sizes and would be perfect for some aging of homebrew. You can check them out here: Oak Barrels Ltd.

WORK Beer = Man Brew

Work Beer. Gotta love these guys. They have a great Flickr stream up showcasing some of their ads and packaging – both of which rock! It’s like the Living the Highlife campaign if it actually had balls

UPDATE: The BRAULER

“Greetings beer fans,

We are proud to report several inspiring developments! For one, Zythos Project became proud members of The Brewers Association this week. We are really excited to be part of this ambitious group of innovators and all-around good people.

Coconut Porter Recipe

5# Golden Promise Pale
.9# Briess Chocolate Malt 325-375L
.5# Crisp Brown Malt 60-70L
.6 oz Northern Brewer (10.5%)
.3 oz East Kent Gold (4.5%)
14 oz toasted, shredded coconut

How To Build a Jockey Box

First let’s start off with “what is a jockey box” and why do I need to build one? Well, glad you asked. Jockey boxes are kind of the poor man’s portable kegerator.