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Special Issue: 25 Great Homebrew Projects

Follow these great DIY projects to beef up your setup.

In this issue

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    Build Your Own Glycol Fermenter

    Build a glycol chilling system to keep your fermenter at the optimum temperature.

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    The DIY In-Line Oxygenator

    Build your own in-line oxygenator to aerate your wort directly from the out side of your counterflow chiller as it flows to the fermenter.

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    Nitro Kegerator

    With very little time and money (if you are frugal, that is), you can serve up nitro beers at home without having to do any permanent modifications to your kegerator.

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    Build a Kegerator

  • project

    Carboy Spray Wand

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    Rebuild a Keg

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    Portable Draft System

    Build a single-keg setup in two different sizes to take your finely crafted draft beer on the road.

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    Counterpressure Bottle Filler

    Kegging is convenient. it eliminates the bottling process, and cuts out days of carbonating time. When you bring a keg to a friend’s house, however, you’re bringing a lot of beer. The more beer you bring, the more beer the friends drink. You may never get a full glass for yourself. These are the times that call for bottles.

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    Build an Electric Heat Stick

    Sometimes it helps to get that extra boost to get up to mash temperatures and then to a boil. Build this electric heat stick to give you the on-demand turbo heat you need on your next brew day.

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    Build a Cooler Mash Tun

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    Build a Recirculating Wort Chiller

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    Build a Randall-Style Hop Filter

    When Dogfish Head created their Randall filter system for draft beers, it was to add a hop boost to a beer being poured. Build your own inline draft filter for hops and more.

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    Build a Heated Keg Cleaner: Projects

    Keep your kegs and carboys clean with this bucket-based spray cleaner.

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    Build A Tap Handle: Projects

    Build your own tap handles and show off your labels.

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    Countertop All-Grain Brewing System

    A homemade electric, temperature-controlled brewery – and it all fits on a countertop. A 3-gallon (11-L), 2-vessel solution for small-scale brewing.

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    Pumped Up Toolbox: Projects

    In which we describe the much-awaited union of a brewing pump and a toolbox —  a portable pump project of prodigious proportions.

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    Build a Keggle: Projects

    Give an old Sanke keg a new lease on life as a kettle.

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    Build a Hop Drying Oast

    Sure, you could dry your homegrown hops on an old screen, but wouldn’t you rather build your own oast?

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    Build a French Press Hopback

    Add a hoppy aroma to your brews with a homemade hopback.

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    Build Your Own Stir Plate

    A stir plate will keep your yeast in suspension while you are raising them in your yeast starter . . . and we’ve got instructions on how to make two different stir plates, one from old computer parts you may have lying around.

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    From Brew Pot to Brew Kettle: Projects

    Use a step drill to convert your plain brew pot into a brew kettle with a built in spigot and thermometer. We’ll take you step-by-step through this driller thriller.

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    Build Your Own Water Filter: Projects

    Why spend a dollar or more a gallon for bottled water when you can filter your own?

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    Build Your Own Spunding Valve to Carbonate in the Keg

    With this homemade spunding valve you can naturally carbonate your homebrew by capturing the carbon dioxide produced late in fermentation just like many pros do on the commercial side.

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    Build a Flow-Through Thermometer: Projects

    Want to know the temperature of the water exiting your counterflow chiller? Get in line — an in-line thermometer that is.

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    Build a Continuous Sparging System: Projects

    With one trip to the hardware store and a short build session, you can have your own homemade sparging system. We’ll go step-by-step through the parts and procedures to make this useful piece of all-grain equipment.

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    Build a Counterflow Wort Chiller

    Chill on the cheap by building your own counterflow wort chiller for about forty bucks. With one trip to the hardware store and about an hour of build time, you can be chilling your wort quickly and efficiently with this “cool” project. Plus: A Rundown of Different Chilling Options