tea brewer recommendation?

Any recommendations on tea brewing equipment?
I am interested in brewing some teas for my small grow. 5 gal or less per batch.
I would like to stay under $100 for brewer.

I have seen the DIY brewer plans on the web, but also seen some common complaints (air pump too small, bad aerator, etc.)
I like the recommendations for this DIY brewer (larger pump, good aerator)
http://buildasoil.com/blogs/news/8325607-diy-compost-tea-brewer-how-to-make-a-compost-tea-brewer-on-a-budget-under-50

Another option was http://shop.composttealab.com/Complete-Compost-Tea-Brewing-Kit-Eazy-T.htm

I was specifically interested in feedback on titan flo-n-brew system
http://www.titancontrols.net/products/grow-systems/flo-n-brew.aspx
Pros - size, cost, fountain design
Cons - square pail (dead spots?), no reviews/test data available

If you want to keep it simple and cheap, I just use a 5 gallon bucket, two 40 gallon aquarium air pumps, and some air stones.

AllDayToker said:

If you want to keep it simple and cheap, I just use a 5 gallon bucket, two 40 gallon aquarium air pumps, and some air stones.

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I agree, I use a bucket, a aquarium w/two outlets and a couple of air stones. I put a spigot from a broken water jug on the bucket. I'm guessing I spent <$25 to make it a couple of years ago. I use nylon paint strainers from lowes to hold the compost or worm castings.

Yeah for a 5 gal bucket you dont need much but try to buy a decent pump, 40 or so lpm for 5 gal or so of water, I have a ecoplus pump that is good for aacts, cost me $35, I have a $65 one that I use to aerate tap water and make nute teas with. I would look into pond style pumps though, lower wattage and quieter, I have commercial and vibration is a bitch.

Id say If your feelin handy look up tim Wilson's youtube page and he has vortex type Brewers. I plan to make one soon just have other stuff to do first.

Thanks - I am looking to finalize my design, and the input is helpful.

I now think the Titan brewer is designed to only work with a prepared (liquid) tea mix; it would not work well with raw ingredients. Not for me.

I am going to try to mimic the DIY design on http://buildasoil.com/blogs/news/8325607-diy-compost-tea-brewer-how-to-make-a-compost-tea-brewer-on-a-budget-under-50
I do need a 'stealth' brewer, so I am going to look for a quiet/pond pump. The bubbling itself is going to make some noise, so I might need to put a blanket on it. If I come up with something good (or got more questions), I will post back.

Still open to input on <5 gal brewer, <$100, quiet & effective!

You can brew 1 liter/quart size and it is enough treat 570 sq ft. as a soil drench. 5 gallons is enough to treat a small field I use a $15 air pump with a heavy 2.5 liter vase from a thrift shop. No airstones required and no cleaning. The pump is adjustable from 1w to 5w and has dual 1/4" air tubes. The bubbles from the 1/4" tubes have more than enough power to break the surface tension, which is critical for a good tea. The pump is quiet but even with this size tea the bubbles make quite a racket to be honest. These pumps use rubber diaphragms that wear out over time (years). Once they cracked I opened it up and shored up the diaphragms with a few dabs of black silicon. Pump is like brand new again brewing amazing teas.


Microbeman's recipe micro sized:
1 liter well water
25ml fresh EWC
5ml organic blackstrap
2.5ml kelp meal
2/3 ml fish hydrolysate

YES - I like the idea of a small brewer!
I got a small stealth grow, and don't need much tea.
I thought of a similar design (1 gal jug, air pump/hose/no diffuser). However, I want to get some quality tea, and I have read some stories about brewing but no resulting microbes. There are a couple of studies on the net comparing brewers & resulting tea. Using the same feedstock & time, there was a lot of flucuation in the results due to the different brewers.

"The cheapest way to make a decent tea, without buying a microscope to verify, is to follow a proven recipe."
I would prefer to find a proven design that could offer some test results, positive reviews, etc. I am not sure I can find this in a cheaper/small brewer.
What are your results with your brewer? Get a finished tea with 'earthen odor'? Do you see a spike of results when added to plants?


I am still leaning toward the 5-gal design above. I know i could run it with less than 5 gallons to make a smaller batch.
A larger, thicker food grade bucket with lid may help with noise. Might end up with noise blanket/enclosure on bucket & pump.

The recipe I posted is probably the number one for microbial tea (Tim Wilson's - Microbeman). The coverage number I cited (570sq ft) is from his website, scaled down to 1 liter. Tim recommends quite a large amount of air and I calculated that this system has more than 2X enough air. After 24 hours so much "goop" has grown in the tea that it becomes opaque and sticks to all surfaces. You can see it in the picture stuck to the glass wall. The smell is neutral, maybe slightly earth maybe a bit 'sweet'. To be honest I do not notice any difference with the plants but I have been recycling the same soil for years and it is already inoculated. I apply microbial tea every few months just for the heck of it. Once you have the brewer knocked, another critical issue is the quality of the EWC. Fresh homemade organic EWC is where its at.

Healthy vigorous plants
View attachment 2907476

color corrected
View attachment 2907480

TGA Qleaner

I thought a clear container is no no for brewing? Promotes an anaerobic environment

I have to buy a new air pump and the pond ones cost big money,I used a15lpm pump and had issues with it turning sour in a2 galloncontainer.....more air the better seems to be the case, also your food source needs to increase with higher O2 levels obviously....

You make a good point. I always brew in the dark so I had not thought about that.

I use 5 gal bucket w 4 gallons of water and a lid for the bucket with a notch cut out on the side. the air lines to air stones can be left in place when remvoing lid etc. its my first organic grow and I have not had 1 problem except my girls get root bound pretty quickly. This has been my only problem. I have been following these helpful peoples info rrog, hyroot, spicy sativa, grandalalf(I think thats it) and redcarpetmatches. And there info has been all legit for me and all is good my end

P.s. May11th your apart of the above list as well

PSUAGRO. said:

I thought a clear container is no no for brewing? Promotes an anaerobic environment

I have to buy a new air pump and the pond ones cost big money,I used a15lpm pump and had issues with it turning sour in a2 galloncontainer.....more air the better seems to be the case, also your food source needs to increase with higher O2 levels obviously....

Click to expand...

Good info -
I ordered the pump per the DIY design (EcoPlus Commercial #1). 38L/min, BUT the guy recommends that you remove the factory nossle, use 1/2" ID tubing, and get more air flow. If I get good distribution from the air stone, this should be enough air for ~3 gal brew in 5-gal container.

The recipe I posted is probably the number one for microbial tea (Tim Wilson's - Microbeman).....

Click to expand...

A lot of good info at http://www.microbeorganics.com/. I like how he references a tea brewer as a 'bio reactor', and the goal 'to extract, multiply and grow mostly aerobic microorganisms in as large a diversity as possible and inclusive of three basic groups; bacteria/archaea, protozoa [flagellates & naked amoebae] and fungi.' I plan to follow the 'simple' recipe first:

• 2.38%X vermicompost + 0.50%X black strap molasses, where X = gallons of water used
• brew 36-42 hours, ambient temp
• no mesh bag for ingredients; tea used on root zone