HomeBrew Equipment

About Me:

I started to homebrew in 2001 with a couple of friends.  Since then my hobby has exploded into a obsession.  Running out of outside opinions on where my beer was headed I entered my first competition in 2012.  The National Homebrew Competition.  Since then I try to enter only 2 competitions a year.  Quaff's Americas Finest and NHC. 

Brand New.  Look, no scratches!!

Brewing:

I started brewing in 2003 working on a Mr Beer kit my sister bought from a Skymall catalog.  In late 2005 I ordered a MoreBeer B-500 three tier brewing tower.  Setting it up in the garage was a big moment for me, having never brewed an "All Grain" batch before.  With the help of Danny (DeeperRoots Brewing) we completed my 1st batch on the tower 2 days later. 

Blichmann HopRocket being tested out.

Since purchasing the three tier brewing tower, I've adapted the set-up to fit my brewing style:

• Adding longer 6" temperature probes on each of the three pots. 
• Swaping to all Stainless steel ball valves.
• Installing Proflow Dynamics Stainless fitting for all the connections.
• Added a March pump on a custom rolling cart for recirculating the mash and cooling
• Installed a Counter flow chiller on the cart (above) with custom Proflow fittings.
• Installed a Blichmann HopRocket (when needed) for Hop Bursting.
• Revamped the Sparge Arm for better efficiency.
• Added copper water piping to each of the 3 tiers for better filling and water usage.

Cold Side (Fermentation):

I have two refrigeration areas for my beers.  One is for Lagers and the other is for Ales fermentations.  The Lagering fridge is a simple Holiday chest freezer from Home Depot with a temp control device installed on the side.

For Ale Fermentations I wanted something better than a converted chest freezer.  I also wanted to hold 5 of my carboys at anytime.  What I settled on is a building out dorm freezer.  (Here is the build out post)

This has since been retired for a upright freezer

It can maintain a solid 60 degree liquid ale temp in the warm San Diego summer (inside my garage)


Serving:

Back when I started brewing I came across a bunch of free corny kegs, when that happened I had to build a Keggor for serving.  (Bottling Sucks, Right?)

I wanted to have 4 beers on draft with the option of having a 5th keg priming the beer or having it on its own picnic tap.  I also scored a Nitro draft tap on Craigslist for 20 bucks in addition to my 4 other Perlick taps. 

Nitro is badass, but I don't use it as much as I should

I bought a new 8 cf chest freezer from Lowes and started the conversion.  It was sanded down and painted gloss black, I added the shotgun stainless towers and I installed the tank inside the fridge. 

That is my Brewing Equipment in a nutshell.  If you want to know more feel free to ask.

Chris