17 May 2008

All-Grain Demo

This morning I went up the the homebrew supply store for a demonstration on all-grain brewing. I have been a bit in the dark about what sort of rig to invest in, and I was hoping today I could talk to someone who knew a few different approaches to the craft. I got more than I asked for! There were 5 brewers there, all with their own rigs. The variety of approaches showed me that anything will work, just see what works for me. Oh, and remember to have fun.

Above is the in-house system. Professional, sturdy, straight-forward. Probably more than I want to take on right away. Not portable or storage-friendly, though probably makes awesome beer. This rig was surpassed by one of the other brewers, who won a super custom rig in a raffle. There is a picture below.

This thing was a rolls royce. I'm more interested in getting something to make great beer in a smaller space; I don't know how long my housemate will put up with me. Here are the other rigs:

Above is a great table-top rig that would work anywhere.

This one with the blue cooler interested me most, mostly due to the awesome pump that he was using. I didn't get a photo of it, but he simply ran everything through, including the wort. I think his system had the most thought of cost-efficiency and compact design. He didn't have a false bottom either, it looked like a braided hose. Something to look into.

Easy as one two three
This setup was simply 2 coleman coolers and a keg kettle. The brewer of this was actually struggling the most, he had forgotten some of his materials that would have made his life easier.

The brew club these guys belong to looks like a great time. If I can get up and running I would certainly consider bringing my beer to the party.

1 comment:

flash said...

quality research, bro.