Back to the Brew / Mills & Such

[Michael]

Finally I will be brewing a proper beer on my own again. It may be Sunday, or Monday morning, depending on SWMBO and her demands.

I have this new Crank & Stein mill that I am itching to use, but no hopper! Do you folks reckon it would be ok to just through a bucket on top, and mill away, or try to actually make a hopper? I am not very handy.

The helpful note is that I will be using an Immersion heater, ala Bank's brewing. Bank's brewing will be building me a new HLT soon, and I look forward to the top notch work I have always seen from Chris!

[jt]

Do you men butcher up a bucket to fit on top ?
Should work, might not flow too well, especially at the end

Didn't they have plans available to make your own hopper, though I can't see them there now.

[Michael]

Yes. I pretty much plan to 'butcher' a bucket.

I had to get rid of most of my tools for cutting wood, as they ran on 110v. Those that I did keep were stolen. As such, using the plans that someone made for the hopper just is not possible at this stage.

I reckon that the bucket will work, until the dregs are there, and then I will need to move them into the milling hole with my hand.

[jt]

Yes, that's pretty much my thought too.
Better get that bucket, brew today so you leave tomorrow free for the North Welly RIS tasting !
What's the plan for the brew, the '05 or the english ale ?

Just chilling a brownie to pitch the 1099 I got from Newtown yesterday. Smacked it yesterday afternoon and it was puffed up hard as by late evening.

[Michael]

I plan to use 05 today, as the original intent was to use W1056. The packs of this were puffed up at the brew shop, so I bought US-05, and some British Ale yeast for next week's batch.

The British Ale yeast is on the stir plate now, and I should have a fair amount ready for next week's brew, and a few others.

Going through my tools, I found a jigsaw that I may be able to use if I plug it into my voltage converter. Hopefully the frequency difference does not fry the motor. I may just try making a proper hopper tonight.

Can anyone give me guidance on how to cut sheet metal, or where I can buy plexiglass? I may have some tin snips around, but IIRC these tend to ripple the metal a bit.

[Chris Banks]

 "then I will need to move them into the milling hole with my hand" Sounds like somthing you hear on a OSH or Sitesafe video LOL

If you have some materials you are welcome to come over here and we can knock something up? Shouldnt take long

I have a few odd bits of wood,ply,plexiglass etc but nothing substantial.

They sell small sheets of custom wood & plexiglass at bunnings.

If you have some sheet metal I have acess to a guilotene and folder.

[jt]

Or if you just want to brew without all the handiwork today you could just borrow a North Welly mill ?

[bart]

Just a note there Michael, for some reason W1056 seems to ALWAYS be puffed up, much moreso than other strains. Even a fresh batch of Wyeast direct from the states, invariably the 1056 is always quite puffy even when all of the others are fine. I have no idea why this is but just thought I'd mention it.

[Michael]

Dropped by Bank's Brewing today to get my mill sorted out. I show up with a sheet of MDE wood and went on and on about how I think this would work just fine...

I was wrong.

Chris instantly noticed how this wood split, and how weak it was. I was expecting too much of this for supporting my new Crank & Stein 3 roller mill! So, this ended being a lot of work, but Chris found a way to get it sorted to the point that I am using a very professional looking setup. (for a homebrewer that is!) 

Let me tell you...if you ever plan on building a hopper and a base for a mill, get quality material. It will make the job so much easier. I was just lucky that I had someone as experienced as Chris to sort this out for me. Another reason why Chris is my source of choice for custom brewing gear!

[paul m]

Hi Michael,

i've just ordered a crankenstein mill from good ol' USA. how long did yours take to deliver? Any tips on making the hopper and base? - first is to start scavenging materials

cheers

paul