American Homebrewers Association

Pat Lehr's Royal Cruiser

Pat Lehr's Royal Cruiser

Okay, so Pimp My System may imply to some that we at the AHA show up at your house and rebuild your brewing apparatus to make it as beautiful as it is functional.  How sweet would that be?  Much like a TV program of a similar name, we’d send out a team to remodel not just your brewing system, but your garage as well.   The AHA-Mobile screeches to a halt in front of your house and our crack team starts welding and fabricating and polishing.  Forty-eight hours later, a brand new mini-brewery sits where a  decrepit Igloo cooler,  a turkey fryer, and some  Christmas decorations used to be parked.  

We’d all watch that show, right?  Unfortunately, we are a non-profit and we can barely afford to pay our interns.  Thus, we rely on you, the reader, to provide us with pimped-out systems for the viewing pleasure of our members.

With this in mind, consider the Millennium Falcon.  Ugly, cumbersome, battered and scarred by blaster fire, it nevertheless made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.  As Han Solo remarks, “She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.”  Many of our homebrewers have a Millennium Falcon in their garage/brew shack/basement.  Not pretty, but very, very good in the hands of a great pilot.

Pat Lehr of Flushing, MI has something a little better.  What the Millennium Falcon is to regular brewing systems, Pat’s setup is a Naboo Royal Cruiser: sleek, streamlined, and very, very pretty.  What Pat has created in his shop is what we’d want our builds to look like in the televised version of Pimp My System.  This system is jaw-dropping gorgeous.  

Our boy Pat designed, built, and put this beauty to work as a novice brewer.  That’s right, Pat’s only been doing this for a little over a year.  He designed this system for himself when he decided to start homebrewing.  Go figure, Pat is a custom car fabricator in his non-brewing life.

Falcon2

Once you tear your eyes away from this setup, you begin to wonder what Pat has hidden behind the plastic sheeting.  We are hoping it is a Mecha-Fraulein.   

Falcon3

Even the frame is a work of art.  Seriously, this cart is nicer than Charlie Papazian’s car.

Falcon4

Picture-perfect, Pat.  Have a homebrew – you’ve earned it.

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If you've got a pimped out system of your own share it in on the AHA Forum board Pimp My System. Don't be bashful; show off your creativity!  Who knows, you could be the next star of Pimp My System...

The AHA Forum is communications central for the homebrewing community. Draw upon the collective knowledge of homebrewers around the world to get your questions answered. Help out your fellow homebrewers with their questions.

Bryan Young 04.14.10

That looks gorgeous :-) Any instructions or building process posts?

Steven Brockwell 04.20.10

I have to say, that is super sexy. Mmmhmmm.

patrick w. lehr jr 04.22.10

Brian there is a build post at more's beer brew chat and homebrewtalk.com under my name lehr. Thanks Pat

Riccardo G. Giannone 04.22.10

Slick as Snot!! I love it! Great work.

Robert Kausch 04.23.10

I too would like to know more. I'd love to see more pictures, and some build instructions, too!

ray gleffe 04.24.10

how long on the buffing wheel for the two kegs. beautiful!

David Silverman 04.25.10

That is a beautiful piece of brewing art. Good work!

Matt Campo 05.03.10

I wish they would publish the estimated costs associated with such a magnificent setup. This would help us all out when putting together plans of our own.

Bruce Munck 05.08.10

The chrome plating must have cost a bunch by itself, but what a great touch! Home brewing is about more than beer, and this sytem proves it.

Carl Winterbauer 05.15.10

You earned it Pat, all by your pure tallent alone not throwing big money at a shop to build your brewery. You had a great teacher that lives on. Congrats on your 100% scratch built rig plus posting it on this site. BTW the 69 Camero is flat gorgeous and a keeper. PM me your 48 in its as is condition. Carl on an "island". ..........................................=o&o>.............

Legal Keg Use & Homebrewing

Repurposing a keg for homebrewing is illegal unless you’ve purchased the keg from a brewery or a reputable keg dealer who themselves purchases kegs from breweries. Liquor stores, restaurants and bars do not own kegs and cannot legally sell them. A deposit paid for a keg is solely intended to incentivize its return; paying a deposit does not convey ownership of the keg and so should not be misconceived as payment for a keg, which always remains property of the brewery. When legally purchasing a repurposed keg for homebrewing, insist it is accompanied with a clear title naming the seller, asserting that the seller came to own the keg legally, and naming you as the purchaser. Visit KegReturn.com for more information.

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