Category Archives: Beer-making

Time to crack on with the mash tun

My new stainless mash tun is made from an insulated stock pot, the tricky bit being to fit a tap to allow it to be drained. I opted to go for a tap fitted to the bottom of the pot … Continue reading

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The mash tun can wait

Time for a brew. Have to have something to drink to celebrate getting the mash tun made after all, so I put as much of my old kit back into service as I needed. This brew was a beer called … Continue reading

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The postman hates it when I order brewing ingredients

Can’t really blame him, to be honest. It’s very decent of him to carry this little lot all the way from the drive to the front door…

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100l stockpot HLT conversion

Starting with the easier one first. The first part of the plan was to fit a 2.4kW heating element: It needs a big hole, obviously and stainless isn’t the easiest of stuff to work with, so I used a Q-Max … Continue reading

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First batch fermenting nicely

Just a quick photo of the first batch of beer made in the beer shack fermenting away nicely in my fermentation cabinet despite the cold temperatures outside.

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First brew in the beer shack

The conversion of my stainless pots to brewing vessels still awaited, so with the beer shack at the point of usability (by some definition — there’s still no water supply) and my old boiler repaired I had to go for … Continue reading

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Life in the old boiler yet…

I’d given up on the old boiler I used to use for brewing when the thermostat died. When I initially checked, to replace it was going to cost almost as much as a new boiler. Some time after it failed … Continue reading

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Fermentation cabinet and brewing vessel stand

With the paint dry it was time to build a stand for the brewing vessels and an insulated (and heated) fermentation cabinet. The fermentation cabinet is really nothing more than a double-skin cupboard insulated with 50mm of cellulose board insulation. … Continue reading

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Beer shack progress

Once the walls were insulated and lined they needed painting. I used an exterior grade white paint including a fungicide for the walls and ceiling as there will certainly be some condensation once I start using it. The floor has … Continue reading

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New brewing pots arrive

As part of my move to a dedicated brewing space I decided to build a new brewing setup with dedicated vessels for different stages of the process. Rather than use the plastic “buckets” that I’ve made do with so far … Continue reading

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