Jumped back into home brewing this month, after a 14 year hiatus, and a former location in Vermont, where keeping beer warm enough was the challenge. In Texas (Austin), it's all about getting and keeping the beer cool.
Here's my set-up, which I have used for 3 all-grain batches brewed outdoors, where temps have been between 100-104 degrees- (am able to cool 6 gallons of wort from boiling to 66 degrees in 15 minutes).
10 gallon rubbermiad cooler, turned into lauter-tun, uses stainless steel braid to filter out wort : ( cooler and parts at Home Depot $45)
35 quart stainless steel brew pot, with triple clad aluminum bottom, SS drain fitting, and high temp thermometer (Ebay $175)
Barley Crusher grain mill ($115 direct from manufacturer)
Cajun Cooker 175,000 BTU (Ebay $69)
50 foot 1/2 in copper immersion chiller (Ebay $65)
350 gph Water Ace transfer pump (to recirculate ice water through immersion chiller) (Loews $65)
Here's how it all goes down.
1) Crush grains, add to mash tun, which is pre-filled with heated water, for single infusion mash (temp varies by style)
(getting 78-80% efficiency with this set up)
2) Sparge for 30-45 minutes
3) Boil 7 1/4 gallons of wort down to 6 gallons
4) Drop in immersion chiller 15 min before finish
5) Run tap water (85 deg) through chiller for 7 minutes - gets wort to 105 degrees
6) Pump recirculated ice water (15 lbs of ice in 6 gallons of water) through chiller - gets wort down to 66 degrees in 8 minutes (total of 15 minutes from boiling to ale pitching temperature).
With this set-up, I am chilling beer faster than using 50 degree tap water in Vermont.
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