Starting to gather AG/Partial equipment

[samadhi]

Thanks to all you bloody guys on here I'm just going to have to try AGs or partials sometime, even if I am still new to all this. The extra control and participation sounds like just the sort of thing for me to kill half a day or so on.

My question is where the hell do I get copper tubing at a decent price from, without having any family plumbers? I went to bunnings today and the copper was well over $200 for an 18m coil, and i think that was 1/4'' tubing but it wasn't labelled very clearly (they had 1/4'' and 3/4'', the 3/4'' was over $400 per coil, $22/m, but no 1/2'' that i could see). This is in perth, I have read other posts saying they could get 18m for just over $100, which is a much more manageable figure.

I think for the manifold I might be ok since there is some hope without copper (ie steel mesh) but for the cooler I am SOL without a pile of the copper tubing. How appropriate would it be to have two boils in say 15/20L pots and try the ice filled sink approach to cooling? I can't image this working for a full 23L wort, but could I expect the two pots to cool sufficiently quickly to avoid chill haze and oxidation?

[gregb]

I actually bought my wort cooler from Grain and Grape. When I looked at the price of the copper and factored in my lack of any metal work skills it was infact a better option in to just buy the sucker ready to go. I haven't looked back.

Cheers,
Greg

[Beerdrinker32]

hey samadhi look for a plumbing wholesaler, ring a plumber and ask em where to buy some

[lethaldog]

Go to reeces or swan hardware they are both mainly plumbing supplies and thats where you will get the best prices, bunnings are deffinately way to dear for that sort of thing, most good suppliers will give you a trade price if your buying something of that sort of price.

[Ed]

Samadhi, I'm in Perth. I called all over the place for copper prices, even the wholesaler directly over the road from me in the industrial area was way too high ($17.00 per metre). Cheapest I found was Reece at $9.00 per metre for 1/2" (which is the size you really want). I used 10 metres for mine and reckon it's enough length.

You can handle the job with 2 small pots but will quickly get sick of messing about. I would suggest go for the copper pipe.

Cheers, Ed

[Beerdrinker32]

samadhi feel the addiction

[samadhi]

thanks for the advice, it does look like Reece is the way to go, I was quoted $61 per 6m length so it sounds like prices have gone up a bit, but it's a far cry from what bunnings had on offer. I'll probably get a pair of those and join 8-10m and use the remainder for a manifold.

On a side note, I managed to get a couple of old 50L kegs and I was thinking of using one as a boiler and another as a mash/lauter tun instead of an esky, will heat retention be a problem in these. I've heard of them used as a boiler, but not sure about the mash tun.

I've just got to figure out if dad has any tools to cut those babies' tops off and drill a tap hole with minimal damage to myself and his tools. Given my level of expertise i think waiting for him to get down off the mines would be in order

[rwh]

At those prices, I think I might just get a "Super Efficient Chiller - suitable for 23 litre batches for all grain brewers" from grain and grape for $100. Maybe I'm just lazy

[samadhi]

yeah i had considered that, but i was planning on using some of it for a manifold, and I was a little worried about shipping prices to perth from G&G.

I might give them a call and get one of the stainless steel false bottoms at the same time once I get my kegs opened up. I'll just have to see what the estimated shipping price is though, since they don't list the item weights on the site.

[Beerdrinker32]

just got 18m of0.5inch copper pipe for 120 at monavale sydney. will get the name of it if ya like. dunno about shipping though?

[Ed]

thanks for the advice, it does look like Reece is the way to go, I was quoted $61 per 6m length so it sounds like prices have gone up a bit, but it's a far cry from what bunnings had on offer. I'll probably get a pair of those and join 8-10m and use the remainder for a manifold.

On a side note, I managed to get a couple of old 50L kegs and I was thinking of using one as a boiler and another as a mash/lauter tun instead of an esky, will heat retention be a problem in these. I've heard of them used as a boiler, but not sure about the mash tun.

I've just got to figure out if dad has any tools to cut those babies' tops off and drill a tap hole with minimal damage to myself and his tools. Given my level of expertise i think waiting for him to get down off the mines would be in order

Hmmm, that's weird because I was able to buy a straight 10 metres. Don't let them sell you 2 bits when they should be able to give the length you want. I think they are trying to sell you off-cuts.

You can use a keg as a boiler and one as a mash tun, but: Kegs take a fair bit of heating though. For example, I can get away with a 2 ring burner and use far less gas than a mate who needs to use a 3 ring and goes through heaps more gas than I do. If that's not a problem then no worries.

If using one as a tun, it would be a good idea to wrap some insulation around it. That aluminium coated insulation used under roof tiles or tin would probably be the go. I would expect greater heat loss from a keg than an insulated cooler though. Someone I know uses a keg for a tun, but this is because he does double batches. He also recirculates the mash through a heat exchanger to keep it at a constant temp. 50 litre keg for doing single brew batches is a bit big in my opinion but sure, you can use it if you want.

Cheers, Ed

[lethaldog]

The 6 metre lengths are not what you want as these are not the soft type that you can easily bend

[Beerdrinker32]

what sort of washers are good for sealing a tap attachment in a keggle?cheers will get damn hot i think

[Beerdrinker32]

also what is a good burner for a modified 50L keg? questions questions

[gregb]

BD32, I am getting good results with a 4 ring cast iron burner.

Cheers,
Greg