OVHA Chat

A step bit that I have for drilling jegs.

Wow! I would have never thought that would drill through plastic without melting it or ripping it

Getting ready for 2016.
10 gal of starter 1.034, 7 quarts at a time.
I need a bigger pressure cooker.
And thanks to Michaels post, both of my Better Bottles now have drain ports.
I used one from my old bottling bucket, Cost $.0

Sale on plastic Big Mouth Bubblers!

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/pages/pr ... f344a7fcf8

Has anyone had any first hand experience, know someone who has or have an opinion on the brew stand at this link? I plan to build one with a stainless steel top with the back open like this one. I'm thinking of building the base out of 80/20 extrude. The idea is if I want to change some things I can make the changes myself with the 80/20 since I don't have a welder or know anyone who welds. If anyone has a recommendation on a resource to do the stainless steel welding it would be appreciated.
I have the burners and burner shields already but have't purchased the stainless or the 80/20.

https://www.brewershardware.com/The-Bre ... Stand.html

I picked this up at Academy Sports in Evansville.
http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/outdoor ... atid=27752

It is a pretty nice setup and will support the weight needed. In the comments section, there are several comments from brewers. One even has pictures where he welded in additional supports. This might be an easier way to get started with a cart setup if you do not have welding skills.

I received a couple of the plastic Big Mouth Bubblers for my birthday. I got the ported version. I dug around my stash of equipment and found enough parts for a closed loop transfer system. I'll be testing it tomorrow.

Chris what fittings are you using in the top of the carboy?

Let us know how it works.

Nathan thanks for the information. Looks like a nice rig and I would think about it but I have already invested in 3 burners and 3 burner wind shields.

Part of what I like about brewing is building some of my own equipment. A brew stand similar to a Brutus 10 has been a dream of mine and what I posted is the direction I was thinking about going. I still have a lot of things to work out.

#6.5 rubber stopper and the bottom tube part of an old air lock I cut off. I hear those universal stoppers don't smell as bad as the rubber ones but I just don't have any in stock.

Chris Norrick wrote:I received a couple of the plastic Big Mouth Bubblers for my birthday. I got the ported version. I dug around my stash of equipment and found enough parts for a closed loop transfer system. I'll be testing it tomorrow.

Awesome Chris! I have everything to try this on my next 5 gal batch. My 3 gal Carboy isn't ported, yet.

It worked very well! Almost to easy. Setup and cleanup is very quick. Normally I have my wall paper tray about 1/4 full of sanitizer for the auto siphon plus long length of transfer tube plus a pice of foil to cover the keg opening. To sanitize the new set up I just hook the ball locks to my keg of star san for a second. I clean them up the same way. Literally seconds for set up and tear down. Plus the Big Mouths are super quick to clean too.

I did have a slight leak on the liquid side due to using 1/2" ID tubing on a 1/4" barb on the ball lock fitting. The Oetiker clamp just couldn't get tight enough to seal. After the transfer (and cleanup) I scrounged a piece of narrower ID tube for a better seal for next time.

Pro Tip: I used my old red baron bottle capper as an angled rear wedge for the carboy. I sat the carboy up on the table last night and put the wedge under it to get the liquid toward the port and let everything settle back down for 24 hours before racking. I was pleasantly surprised that the height of the port is perfect. I got clear beer and didn't leave any wasted beer behind. We will see how this plays out with a bigger beer with more trub.

Jam095 wrote:

Chris Norrick wrote:I received a couple of the plastic Big Mouth Bubblers for my birthday. I got the ported version. I dug around my stash of equipment and found enough parts for a closed loop transfer system. I'll be testing it tomorrow.

Awesome Chris! I have everything to try this on my next 5 gal batch. My 3 gal Carboy isn't ported, yet.

Good to hear that it went well. I need to brew a batch soon so I can try it.

So I bought some carboy spigots to port my carboys. I don't have big mouth bubblers, I just have standard PET carboys. I needed a way to tighten the nut on the back of the spigot. I found this nifty spigot wrench made specifically for this purpose! Used a hole bit to drill the 1" holes in the carboys and this worked perfectly! I have ported 3 of my 6 carboys, so far with no leaks.

Sweet! Where did you get the wrench from Brandon?