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It's how-to day on ICB, with two new Knowledge Base articles on making not-quite-essential-but-pretty-damn-useful stuff.

Adeptus takes us through making a wort chiller[/url:1d32anmo], and Kev (aka marceldesailly) shows us the simple way to build a mash tun[/url:1d32anmo].

Of course a wort chiller [b:2qi2l4so]is[/b:2qi2l4so] actually essential if you are brewing anything over a gallon or two, in my humble opinion of course <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->

&amp;quot;Adeptus&amp;quot;:25b2nnc6 wrote: Of course a wort chiller [b:25b2nnc6]is[/b:25b2nnc6] actually essential if you are brewing anything over a gallon or two, in my humble opinion of course <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->[/quote:25b2nnc6]

Until i prove to herself that i can make beer without destroying the house, i wont have a wort chiller. Apparently there is enough "stuff" hidden here and there.
But my method of adding pre-sterilised water(6-8 litres) to the hot wort(8-10 litres) has the temp down to 40 instantly.

Actually, n1mbus and I used to do the same. I'd boil up a volume of water the day before a brew and then just keep it in the fermenter, dumping the hot wort on top of it. But, that meant partial boils, and we felt we'd like to do full boils to ensure best hop utilisation. But as you say, everything in it's own good time to avoid sleeping on the couch <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->

Thanks for the howtos, guys.

[i:1f8r9ovt]About the mash tun :[/i:1f8r9ovt] looks exactly like mine, with the exception of the PVC. What kind of PVC did you use ?

[i:1f8r9ovt]About the wort chiller : [/i:1f8r9ovt] If you don't have a bending spring, I hear you can fill the copper pipe with fine sand before bending. This prevents pinches of the pipe.
It also filters the wort when passing through. Just kdding, take the sand out when you're done bending, huhu.

Yeah, the sand idea was discussed last time we built one. With 10 or 12 metres of copper it's be a pain though. Last time we used a bean can as a form for the tight bends, and also tried a pipe cleaining spring as an internal bending spring. It saved us from one disaster! A bending spring is only a few euro, so I thnk well worth the investment for peace of mind.