Keggle over a fire?

[sammytag]

Hello! I'm very new at this homebrew game (science? obsession? lust?) and my first handcrafted homebrew is still just a fantasy. I've been getting frustrated looking for an affordable, quality brew kettle, and stumbled on the keggle concept in my search for alternatives.

I'm not one to half-ass things, especially when it comes to something as sacred and ancient as beer, however, I'm a university student, and thus, am a broke ass. I can get an affordable keg from a local microbrewery, and have the tools to keggle it up, but a propane burner kind-of kills my budget. I do have a fire pit though. I know it probably won't get me a consistent temperature, but, my question to the community is: can I make this work.

any advise is greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Beer was brewed long before accurate electronic temperature controllers were available. Where there's a will, there's a way!

I suggest starting with extract brewing and simply using the fire as a heat source for the boil.

 

[kezgin]

old camper's trick: rub some dish soap over the bottom of the pot before putting it over the fire. it makes removing the soot much, much easier

 

[Catt22]

Garage sales and Craigslist. Propane cookers are everywhere you look. Many people buy them thinking they are going to deep fry turkeys and maybe only do it once and decide it's not what they expected. You will also need a propane tank, but those too are easy to come by.

 

[sammytag]

Thanks everyone!

And, Yuri_Rage, yes, I'm planning to keep it pretty simple for my first brew, although, I've been thinking about throwing some specialty grains in the mix for complexity.

But, this whole brew kettle issue has been what's keeping me from starting my brew so, I'm glad to hear that there's hope for the keggle/firepit method. Anyone know if anything like it has been documented? Anyone have any experience with it?

 

[FailureDrill]

I would say that the heaviest heat is in the coals, so you would want a solid base of that before attempting to boil for an hour. You also want some method for keeping the keggle elevated above the fire, but allowing you to observe and do hop additions.

Good Luck!

 

[sammytag]

Yeah, I have a pretty sturdy grate that goes over the pit (for when the bylaw officers come sniffing around. it's "the law" in my city to have one over the fire at all times. it's pretty stupid, but I guess I'll get some use out of it). I just dont have a very good conception of how heavy 5-7 gallons of wort will be. I guess it's just one more thing that I'll learn through the trial and error process.

I'm curious though, if the wort will pick up a smoky flavour. I hope so.

 

[BargainFittings]

An empty keg is about 30 pounds. Each gallon adds ~ 9 pounds (rounded up)

Do a wet run with no fire to be sure the grate will hold the weight. You will need an active fire going if you want to come to heat fairly quick.