DIY Projects

Build a Ferm Chamber - by BrewGeeks

The basic idea of a fermentation chamber is to control the temperature of yeast while they are active. This is not to say that excellent beer can't be brewed without one, but in my case, I was limited to the ambient temperature of the basement, which is quite different in the month of January than it is in August. So why temperature control?
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Burner Heat Shield - by boogyman

I finally melted my sight glass with the flames from my burner, so I figured it was time for a heat shield solution. I didn't really want to make heat shields for the valve, sight glass, and thermometer, so I ended up making a heat shield for the burner out of some light gauge steel. [Read More]

Carbonator Cap - by BrewGeeks

So you're on your way to a park where glass bottles are off limits or maybe you just racked that award winning Imperial Double Barleywine that you want to try, while you wait for your keg to carb up. So you scour the web and there it is... The Carbonator Cap; it injects CO2 into plastic water and soda bottles by attaching a gas side ball lock to it. You're sold! You head on down to your LHBS to buy a few, until you see the price; $20 for a piece of molded plastic! There's gotta be a better way that won't break the bank. There is! [Read More]

Pressure Guage - by BrewGeeks

Why do you need one? Well, when kegs are stored for a period of time, you'll want to make sure the CO2 in the beer is fully absorbed so an adequate seal is maintained until you are ready to cool it for serving. You can use this chart to figure out how many volumes of CO2 you prefer (or appropriate for the style) and at what temperature to slow carbonating the beer.
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Tap Line Cleaner - by BrewGeeks

Here's an idea I borrowed from a member of the homebrewtalk forums for easy tap line cleaning and I honestly don't know how I lived without it. It's so nice to run PBW, water, and sanitizer through a single line instead of cleaning all of the lines at once like I did before. It's also great for cleaning picnic/cobra tap lines. [Read More]

Faucet Caps - by fujieagle

I got really tired of small flies wanting to make there home in my beer faucets so I came up with this simple idea. It keeps the bugs out and is quick, simple, and cheap. All of the items used I had in the garage but I would guess the cost would be less than $2 if you had to go buy everything. It only took about 10 minutes to outfit all four of my faucets!
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Double-Barrel Bottling - by passedpawn

I thought about making a manifold to hold the two bottling wands, but I already had a second spigot, so here it is. Worked exactly as I expected: twice as fast.
I thought really hard for about 5 minutes on ways to do this without 2 spigots. [Read More]

Automatic Keg Cleaner - by lewybrewing

The joy of kegging is a big step in a homebrewers life. But once you have the kegs you realize that you still have to clean the kegs to keep the beer tasting great. With some cheap supplies from Lowes you can accomplish this with ease. [Read More]

Cube Conversion - by Baratone Brewer

I've been working on converting a 60qt Igloo Cube to a MT, needed something to hold more than my existing 10gal Rubbermaids. After trying several different ideas on how to utilize the existing drain, I decided to drill for a new drain spout in the front of the cooler. [Read More]

12oz Beer Crate - by UncleDavid

This crate will hold a case of 12oz beer bottles with dividers to protect your homebrew. The design is based on the original Two Picket Beer Crate so if you are having problems putting this one together, read the detailed instuctions for the Two Picket Beer Crate for help.
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The Doghouse Brew Rig - by 2nobledogs

What is the Doghouse you ask? Well…it’s a single tier brew stand based loosely on the Brutus 10 and like the Brutus it is a fully automated system.

I had several design goals in mind when I started. First, it needed to be fully automated (duh…). Second, it needs to be fully self contained when stored away. Third, it needs to be maneuvered easily. Forth, it needs to fit in my truck. And lastly, it needed to have adjustable burners. [Read More]

Frigidaire 7.2 cu ft Freezer - by Quaffer

To many people, the frigidaire 7.2 is considered the standard in affordable freezers that can easily be converted to hold kegs for serving. You can fit three 5 gallon and two 3 gallon cornies without a collar (like we did at BrewGeeks--post coming soon) or a collar can be added as Quaffer has done here. This is easily one of our favorite keezer builds so be sure to check out all of the pictures in the following link. [Read More]

Glycol Beer Line Chiller - by stan b

When it's not convenient to mount a tower directly to the keezer or collar mount the taps as many people do, this usually means a long "trunk" line is used to transport the beer from keg to tap.

This presents a new problem however, because these long lengths of tubing must be cooled or you risk a warm first pint of beer. [Read More]

Carboy/Keg Washer - by Casey Weed

I recently put together a handheld carboy/keg pressure washer and hadn’t see anything like it so I thought I would share. I always have trouble getting the dried up krausen on the top of the carboy off with my brush and always felt like it would come right off if I could get a little pressure on it. This is what I came up with. [Read More]

Airlock Filter - by Paisano

It would appear that, at least temporarily, I’ve solved the sulfur smell issue created by some batches of fermenting apfelwein.

This is a workable solution for those who are fermenting in a living space or an apartment and want to absorb bad smells for all types of "smelly" yeast. [Read More]

Mesh False Bottom - by aubiecat

I have been wanting to get away from using the steamer basket on my BIAB rig because I don't get efficient circulation during mashing. I happened to acquire some heavy 1/2" stainless mesh from work and I was all gung ho about making a mesh basket to solve my problems. [Read More]

Ultimate BIAB Rig - by itzkramer

This was my first endeavor with metal fabrication and I think it turned out pretty well.

Click the link below to see the entire build.

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Wort Splitter - by r8rphan

I made this little doo-hickey that allows me to use a couple 3/8" ball valves to split the wort and then becomes a storage carrier for itself when not in use...

Used it for the first time yesterday, and it is just one of those things that makes brew day a little easier. [Read More]

Bottle Washer - by MalFet

I like bottling. I tend to keep several dozen different kinds of beer on hand, and a kegerator of any size would need to pay rent if it wanted to live in my very small New York City apartment.

The only part of bottling that I find at all time consuming or tedious is washing the bottles.
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The BrewBQ - by kaeptnerdnuss

As you can tell from the name, the brew stand is a stainless steel BBQ stand, equipped with one gas burner. The stand holds a 50 liter stock pot and has a welded pulley system to winch up the grain bag to sparge and drain it.

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Mash Rake - by TJPfeister

Here's a relatively quick-n-dirty demonstration on how to construct a mash rake like the one I use.

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