Spreading the Joys of Homebrewing Throughout Philadelphia and Its Suburbs

All Grain System

Does anyone have any experience with this system?

http://www.homebrewstuff.com/servlet/the-57/15-gallon-60-qt/Detail

The price seems very reasonable.

Permalink Reply by Eivind Sandstrand on December 1, 2009 at 6:13am: The base price is very good, but after adding shipping it's not such a good deal. I built the same setup from parts sourced from various vendors, and I think I ended up spending a little less than $196, using stainless steel valves and fittings from Northern Brewer. I built the manifolds for the mash tun from CPVC and they work great - will be happy to share my "drawings"

I have the exact same coolers, and I am still learning about the pretty significant temp drop when dumping the water into either the mash tun or the HLT. Once I figure that part out permanently, I think I'll be in very good shape for the future, but it's been a couple of interesting brew sessions so far with undershot mashing temperatures and hyperfermentable beer...

-e; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Louella on December 1, 2009 at 9:01am: The coolers are $30 each at Walmart. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5663765

You don't need to go all stainless. I picked up my brass ball valve and SS braid at home depot like $15. If you do a PVC or Even Copper manifold, you can DYI this for 1/2 the price. It is pretty easy, just need some basic tools.

I am going to be getting rid of the screen in mine and go with a manifold. I think the manifold will get a better extraction in my cooler setup. If you are doing a fly sparge, I would definitely go with a manifold. It covers the bottoms better for a more even flow of sugars. The system you are listing uses the SS Braid at the bottom with is usually fine with batch sparging.

Check out these chapters in How to Brew: http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD.html; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Eivind Sandstrand on December 1, 2009 at 12:32pm: FYI: Here's a thread on HBT about these coolers (shameless self promotion!)

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/60qt-ice-cube-mash-tun-build-cheap-...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Louella on December 1, 2009 at 1:29pm: I'll be doing this to mine soon. I get good extraction with the stainless braid, but it is not evenly throughout the bottom of the cooler.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Eivind Sandstrand on December 1, 2009 at 1:57pm: I love the CPVC manifold on the bottom. When testing with just water, it leaves about a cup and a half at the bottom. It's a piece d'cake to put in, remove and clean, and so far (*knocking hard on noggin'*), I've had no issues with stuck or problematic sparges.

I'll try to get a pic or two uploaded on my next brew day in December!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Don Gravatt on December 1, 2009 at 10:01pm: I wonder if anyone sells the manifold by itself.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Louella on December 1, 2009 at 10:15pm: with CPVC, it would cost you like $15-20 to make it yourself. Not sure anyone makes a commercial version.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Don Gravatt on December 6, 2009 at 10:58am: Hmmmmmmm, part of the allure of this system is I can email the link to Jessi and it may show up under the tree............. This is the only complete system I've found online that has enough room to do 10 gallon batches of big beer.......................; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike Sodano on December 6, 2009 at 12:41pm: Visit Eivind or Jeff and make a long list. Maybe you'll get a gift card with a picture of what you want. :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Eivind Sandstrand on December 6, 2009 at 12:50pm: Don't mind a visit at all if you want to take pictures of my setup - just bring some beer! :); ▶ Reply to This