BOMBed my 'fridge....

[Mr. Brewski]

forr,



Actually thought about that not on the Ram but on the old fishing boat. I use Corneilius Kegs, those stainless soda kegs, and I thought about plumbing a tap on our old 19 foot boat. I could easily fit everything in there. But heck, that tap is about $40 buck, and the regulator and guages isnt cheap either... I can buy a lot of canned beer for that.

 

[DaveN]

A hint for those who want to make one

Before you drill the hole for your tap handle, make sure you can still open and use your freezer (for those who want to use the freezer top style of fridge). That way you can keep your frosty mugs cold and all the hard booze up there.

 

[pnwradar]

I'm using the 5-gal soda kegs, five will fit into my fridge (six if I slam the door and latch it). I just run over to Rogue or Snoqualmie Falls and get them filled. For the boat, I use several 2-liter soda bottles, and cap them with a Carbonator cap that lets you gas them up. That way I can re-carbonate them before we head out, and each one gets emptied before it goes flat.



If you're gonna re-do the mash tun for 10-gallon batches, might as well make it large enough for 15-gallon runs (or 10-gallon barleywines). Big rectangular coolers are pretty easy to come by, as are old half-barrel kegs with bad valves. I built a RIMS system, but haven't even done a batch through it (laziness again).



-jon-

 

[Mr. Brewski]

DaveN - Tell me about it. . Look at the picture, I made that mistake.



pnwradar - you've never had a contamination problem?? How much do they charge to fill a 5 gallon corny keg usually? Heck, 1 five gallon batch will cost me somewhere between $15-20 bucks if I'm reusing yeast, and up to $30 if I'm not. Thats the plan - large coolers.



RIMS? Is that the gravity system? Three teir?

 

[pnwradar]

I've never had a batch go bad, one got a little tired after about six months in the fridge, but I think it was more my being tired of drinking it alone (no one else likes saisons). My local brewey charges $35 for a 5-gal fillup, the others nearby charge somewhere between 35 and 50, depending on the beer and the brewery. A little more than my 5-gal ingredient cost, assuming liquid yeast, but if I count time and trouble it's a lot cheaper. Less crying, too, than when I have to sewer a batch of my own hard labor.



RIMS stands for Recirculation Infusion Mash System -- in theory you have a pump that takes wort from the bottom of the mash tun, passes it through a heating chamber, and returns heated wort to the mashtun. Mostly it's for gadget nuts like me to play with stuff (computer controlled heaters, pumps, etc. ), it doesn't make you a better brewer, although it might make your recipes more consistent. Here's a link about RIMS and here's another link.



I built mine with heavy-duty 300F tubing, magnetic coupled pump, stainless heater, and quick-disconnects everywhere. Then I got busy with other stuff and never actually did more than heat water with it.



-jon-