- Earlier, DIY was mostly required for homebrewing gear because there weren’t a lot of resources. If you wanted a mash tun or wort chiller, you couldn’t just buy one and have it delivered.
- People often repurposed other items (Corona grain mills, boutique pasta grain mill), came up with solutions, and traded project ideas and plans
- Today there are plenty of choices for most things
- Still some repurposing (biodiesel heat exchangers for plate chillers), but there’s a whole economy of homebrewing equipment
- Why bother with DIY? For the same reasons we are homebrewers in a town with lots of great commercial beer choices:
- Self satisfaction
- Creativity
- Saving some money
- Tailoring a solution to your specific needs
- There are still plenty of niche areas without obvious commercial solutions
- DIY is still alive and well. A lot of the little things are easy to find now, but bigger “challenges” offer a good return on DIY efforts:
- Electric brewing systems
- Temperature controlled fermentation – Glycol chillers, refrigerated spaces
- Keezer setups
- BIAB hoists
- General tips:
- Think of ways to optimize your brewing process – what could make it go easier?
- Check out other people’s setups – they may give you ideas
- Google (or other search engine) is your friend, “homebrew diy” is a great start
- DIY – examples and some online resources:
- Projects (many of which I published in Craft Beer and Brewing magazine
- Counter-flow wort chiller – made ca. 1992
- https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-counterflow-wort-chiller/
- Mine got about 30 years of use before I traded it
- Mash tun and false bottom – my original was a cooler with a copper pipe manifold
- Etched volume markers in my brew kettle – https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-kettle-etching/
- Carboy and keg cleaner – https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-carboy-and-keg-washer/
- Hop spider – https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-hop-spider/
- Pump and chiller stand
- Stir plate
- Carboy carrier – https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-carboy-carrier/
- Hop back – https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-make-your-own-hopback/
- RV hand pump beer engine – https://beerandbrewing.com/diy-beer-engine/
- Counter-flow wort chiller – made ca. 1992
- Other resources
- https://homebrewingdiy.beer/ – blog and podcast
- https://winning-homebrew.com/diy.html – miscellaneous projects
- https://pinterest.com – always a great resource
- https://youtube.com – another great place for interesting ideas
- Projects (many of which I published in Craft Beer and Brewing magazine
Next meeting: January 2 at New Belgium