Greetings from Roanoke, TX

[mrkelley]

Hi, all!

My name is Mike. I'm a relatively new brewer. I was given a 5 gallon kit (buckets, pot, carboy, chiller, hoses and accessories) last winter, and I've been having fun ever since.

So far, I've bottled 2 medium brown ales, 1 pale ale, and 1 FMB. I have one FMB and one pale ale brewing right now.

After brewing my first three batches in the buckets and carboy, I decided to build a conical. I bought a 7 gallon Fermonster, attached some PVC plumbing to the lid, and set it upside down on a wooden rack. It works pretty well. After brewing a batch in that, I decided I needed a smaller test conical, so I grabbed a 2 foot section of 4" PVC and fittings at my local HD, and thus was born what may be the ugliest conical ever built. My first test batch is brewing now, I plan to bottle it on Saturday. I call that fermenter the Sewer Brewer. My wife just loves the name, too.

So far, everything has been extract based. I plan to start doing some full grain brewing soon. I also want to play around with invert sugars.

I look forward to meeting everyone!

Mike

 

[krenshaw]

any pictures of your franken-conicals?

 

[ncbrewer]

Interesting fermenter ideas. Welcome.

 

[thekraken]

No offense but when I think of people from Roanoke I imagine they're always bare foot*. Also, Babes Chicken!

Welcome to the forum from Frisco!

*Not really, just part of a bad joke I heard the other day on the radio

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the hobby, and of the group, from Colorado

 

[mrkelley]

any pictures of your franken-conicals?

I thought no one would ask...

The PVC thing is the SewerBrewer(tm). It's my one-gallon unit, and it's still in testing phase. Test batch should be ready to bottle this weekend. It has a 3/4" valve at the bottom, with a brass nipple connecting it to the body. The nipple allows me to screw the whole thing tightly to the frame.

The clear plastic fermentor is the inverted Fermonster. It's a beast, no question. But it works beautifully. I bottled the first batch last weekend, and while I haven't tasted it yet, it smells just perfect.

If anyone's interested, I epoxied the plumbing to the hole in the lid. The caulking was just there to keep the epoxy in place while it cured. I wasn't sure which size valve would be best, so I used two valves. The lower valve is a 2", the upper is a 3/4". I plan to rebuild with a new lid later on, using only a 3/4". The 2" is too difficult to use, and the 3/4" passes trub and yeast perfectly. The cradle is just some heavy canvas fastened to a 2x4 frame.

 

[estricklin]

I thought no one would ask...

The PVC thing is the SewerBrewer(tm). It's my one-gallon unit, and it's still in testing phase. Test batch should be ready to bottle this weekend. It has a 3/4" valve at the bottom, with a brass nipple connecting it to the body. The nipple allows me to screw the whole thing tightly to the frame.

The clear plastic fermentor is the inverted Fermonster. It's a beast, no question. But it works beautifully. I bottled the first batch last weekend, and while I haven't tasted it yet, it smells just perfect.

If anyone's interested, I epoxied the plumbing to the hole in the lid. The caulking was just there to keep the epoxy in place while it cured. I wasn't sure which size valve would be best, so I used two valves. The lower valve is a 2", the upper is a 3/4". I plan to rebuild with a new lid later on, using only a 3/4". The 2" is too difficult to use, and the 3/4" passes trub and yeast perfectly. The cradle is just some heavy canvas fastened to a 2x4 frame.

Oh someone was always going to ask for a pic of something called "Sewer Brewer" (can we say patent pending?). That thing is really cool!

Welcome to the forum from the Natural State, sometimes I go to Texas and eat chicken fried steak while I'm there.

 

[Griffin495]

Welcome from Rowlett.

Interesting ideas ya got there.

 

[mrkelley]

Oh someone was always going to ask for a pic of something called "Sewer Brewer" (can we say patent pending?). That thing is really cool!

Thanks! As to the Patent Pending, sure, why not? Now, I need to find some PVC that can handle high temps....

Welcome to the forum from the Natural State, sometimes I go to Texas and eat chicken fried steak while I'm there.

Give us a holler, Babe's is just up the street!

 

[mrkelley]

Welcome from Rowlett.

Interesting ideas ya got there.

Thank ya kindly. Gimme a shout if ya wanna get together and brainstorm sometime.