Hoppo's E-Brewery Build

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Hoppopotomus

Cedar Hollow Brewing
Joined
Nov 18, 2010
Messages
1,423
Reaction score
104
Location
Ortonville/Oxford
For those of you have have followed some of my other threads, I have been promising a thread to chronicle my e-brewery build. Well, I'm finally starting to make some progress. I am wrapping up the rest of my basement and will be having carpeting installed soon. I spent a few hours cleaning up and clearing out the storage side of my basement where the brewery will be located. There is still a bunch of furniture, storage shelf, etc. in the room, but the wall where the majority of the brewing is going to take place is clear and I have been working on ideas for a layout. I purchased a couple of stainless tables from a deli that went out of business by my office and an oversized single bay ss sink with a large drip pan from another "going out of business" liquidation sale. I plan on taking a trip to Menards for all of the lumber, drywall, electrical, and plumbing for the brewing space very shortly. More pics. to follow.

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This looks like its going t be awesome, I am hoping to begin building my home brewery soon as well...Winter project this year for me!!! All the best looks good so far! :tank: :mug:
 
Those tables and sink are perfect. I need to keep my eye out for something similar. What are you going to do about ventilation in case of moisture?
 
looks good... I just got the go ahead to build an electric this winter also... time to get working, and start my own thread.
 
Those tables and sink are perfect. I need to keep my eye out for something similar. What are you going to do about ventilation in case of moisture?

Keep an eye out on CL, they pop up in my area all of the time. I'm in SE Michigan, so the economy has been horrible for the past few years and many small "mom & pop" type restaurants have gone out of business. The tables and sink are a little scratched up, but when I start the finish polishing on the keggles, I'll hit them as well. I also have some stainless steel paint and have to sand, prime, and paint the sink base, which is a little rusty. I plan on putting in a large hood ventilation system similar to Kal's electric brewery build over all 3 vessels. I'm going to need an industrial size exhaust fan, because it's a pretty long run to the back bond of the house. There's a garage on the other side of the bond where the brewery is situated, so venting straight up and out isn't an option. I plan on putting in a drop ceiling to hide all of the ductwork, electrical, overhead plumbing, etc. I also have to call on my neighbor, who is a commerical plumber, to bust up the concrete to run the drain from the sink over to an existing drain about 10 ft. away. Lot's to do. :mug:
 
Finally found some time to work on the brewery now that the holiday B.S. is out of the way. I went and purchased all of the lumber at HD and got the majority of the walls studded out yesterday. I have a bit more to do, then I'm going to start wiring and plumbing for everything. My layout is going to be one long continuous assembly line of brewing. If you have seen my rustic knotty pine and cedar log keezer build....that's the look I'm going for with this build. I just finished designing (on paper) four boxes on casters.....a grain storage compartment, a grain weighing/milling cabinet, an Ale fermentation chamber, and a lager fermentation chamber. All will be mobile and dressed out with knotty pine and cedar trim. The layout from left to right will be as follows:

Grain Storage Bin -> Grain Weighing/Milling Cabinet -> SS Brewing Table with 3 Vessel HERMS System -> SS Sink w/Drip Pan -> Ale Fermentation Chamber -> Lager Fermentation Chamber.

All of the component compartments will have tumbled travertine tile tops and will be standard countertop height, which will serve as a ton of countertop work space for the work station. The wall behind the 3 vessel system will be tumbled travertine and on either side will be knotty pine. There will be a large exhaust hood over the brewing station. I plan on having softened Hot and Cold water plumbed to the ss sink. I am also installing a filtration system off of my pre-softener water line, plumbed to a faucet directly over the HLT for filtered hard bewing water. Of course, I'm going to have to explore my water chemistry further, as I have always used store purchased spring water for brewing. My second SS work table will serve as a work island for the room. I plan on using a porceline tile on the floor and there is already a floor drain in place.

A ton of work ahead of me, but also a ton of fun! I'll keep you guys posted as I progress. :mug:
 
Awesome work. I like the ss tables, and am leaning towards using one for my electric build as well considering they are cheaper and easier than welding up a single tier stand
 
Thanks! Just make sure that for your brewing table you get a heavy duty ss table with built in trusses in the bottom. The table that my vessels are sitting on is very heavy duty, but the other is not nearly as sturdy. Look and CL, because they are not terribly difficult to find in this economy. :mug:

I'll post some pictures along the way, but didn't figure that anyone would care to see the wall studded out. :cross: Once I get some plumbing/electrical in and start building the compartment components, I'll post more pics.
 
I worked on the brewery on and off throughout the weekend. I finished studding out the walls and built a large oversized ventilation hood out of harwood lumber from a huge entertainment center that I tore apart. Once I built the hood 72" x 18" x 20", I lined the inside with t&g cedar planking and trimmed out the exterior with knotty pine and cedar to match the look of my keezer. I found a 265 cfm inline exhause fan on ebay that should be plenty enough to exhaust the steam out of the back of the house. I'll post a few pics. later tonight.

Next, onto rough plumbing, rough electrical, and framing my component boxes. I am picking up a large pre-rinse spray faucet for my SS sink later this evening from a guy on CL. It's brand new and stainless, still in the box for $90. Things are slowly coming together. pics. later.
 
Wow, Hop...you sure got the bug didn't you?!?!? Just like I did; kegerator then right into ebrewing! Good luck, I am following along.

Edit- Floor drain! I am jealous!
 
Yeah, it's as much about the projects as it is the brewing. I'm a die hard DIY'er and these projects help me keep my sanity. Now that the rest of my basement is complete, I decided to tackle a dedicated brewing space in the unfinished side of the basement. I have a hectic, stressful career owning my own businesses, not to mention a wife and two kids that keep me busy. When I can get a little time to myself, I like to build stuff. I guess you could say that it's my mental therapy. :drunk:

Hey Shroom.....you you have a thread for your e-build?
 
You'll win.....This one is going to take me a while.....waaaay too many components! :D

I had a cancellation on my schedule, so I ran out to meet a guy with a pre-rinse faucet that he was selling on CL. I couldn't believe it when I seen it, but it is a commercial unit (new in box/sealed) made by T&S Brass and Bronze Works, Inc., model #B-0133. I just jumped onto their website and the unit retails for $510......I paid $90....SCORE!!!! :ban:
 
OK...for those of you who are not familiar with my other builds, I'm doing a rustic, cabin decor in my basement. I'm following though with the same rustic qualities over into my brewery as well. Here are a couple of pics, one of my keezer and one of my bar, which is adjacent to the brewing room that I'm building. I'm hoping to carry through with the same qualities such as cedar logs, knotty pine, tumbled travertine wall tile, etc.

I also attached a couple pics. of the ventilation hood that I built and trimmed out in cedar and knotty pine. I'm going to somehow incorporate a couple of cedar log trims into the desgin as well, but haven't gotten that far yet. I temporarily hung it on the wall to see what it looks like. Heavy as hell, but I came up with a great anchoring system, so the entire wall would have to fall over for this b*tch to come down. With a 265 cfm vortex exhaust fan venting straight out of the back of the house.....it should do the trick! :D

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Do you have anymore info on the building of your hood? I can't seem to find any stainless hoods around on the cheap so I was going to build something like yours. If you could provide any more detail on it, I would greatly appreciate it.
 
Don't have a choice I have to subscribe. If this build is anything like the bar and the keezer, it's gonna be nice :mug:
 
Count me in too - should be a fun ride. Hops, what did you line your exhaust vent with? That's one of the next things on my to do list, and I like your style.
 
To answer a few questions: I built this thing out of an old entertainment center that I built years ago out of birch plywood. I started with two pieces for the front and back panels that were 72" x 18". My brewing table is 60", so I wanted it to overhange the edges a little on either side. I used some old school geometry (Pythagorean's Theorum) to create the the 45 degree angles. I basically measured from the bottom corners inward 12" and then up 12" using a square and made a mark. I then drew a line from the lower corners, bisecting my marks up to the top edge of the boards. This created a 45 degree hypotenuse for the angles. I then used 18" plywood boards to create the side panels at that 45 degree angle. The 45 degree angled side panels go all the way up to the top panel on the interior. I wanted it to have a flat vertical surface on the exterior, so that my drop ceiling wall channel can continue from the back wall and around the face of the vent hood, so I used vertical boards to create the "pizzahut logo" type shape on the exterior. Like all of my builds, I don't work off of blueprints, so I just design as I go. I suppose I could remeasure and give some exact dimensions if needed.

I obviously trimmed the exterior out with cedar boards and knotty pine paneling. The interior was trimmed out with cedar boards and t&g cedar planking, which is naturally waterproof. The birch plywood used already had 3 coats of plyurethane on it, so I'll put about 3 more coats of poly over the cedar, then caulk the corners with 100% silicone caulking. I'm also going to use drop ceiling channeling to create a drip catcher around the lower perimeter.

Hopefully I didn't just confuse the hell out of everyone with my vague descriptions. Thanks for the compliments, I'll try to keep this project rolling as best as I can. :mug:
 
I plan on cutting the legs down on my SS brewing table over the weekend. I set the height of my ventilation hood at 78", so that there would not be any issues with me hitting my head on it, as I am just over 6' tall. I guess I need some input from those of you that have ventilation hoods above your brewing vessels. How much space (height) should I allow from the top of my keggles to the bottom of the ventilation hood. I would hate to run into problems while pouring grains into my MT, doughing in, stirring the mash, etc. I'm open to any and all suggestions before I cut down the legs. I do need to leave enough room on the lower shelf for my pumps and a little storage, but with the height of my keggles, it's going to need to be cut down quite a bit. Your feedback is appreciated! :mug:
 
I'm using keggles too, and selected my table height based on how I wanted to hold the paddle above the top of the keg, and I also wanted to be able to look into the kegs easily. Including the height of the casters, my table top is at 24" (I'm 5' 8").
 
That sounds about right with my preliminary measurements. I'll lay it out when I get home to see how much clearance that offers from the top of the kegs to the bottom of the ventilation hood. I appreciate the feedback! :mug:
 
I still haven't had time to cut down the legs on the brewing table, but plan to cut it down to about 2 1/2 feet, so that I have plenty of clearance pouring grain into the MLT, stirring the mash, etc. I have another thread for my ale and lager fermentation builds, but in the pics. you can see my two chambers in the corner on the right hand side. Today I installed the new pre-rinse spray faucet that I purchased on CL onto the sink and slid my sink and brewing table into place to make sure that everything is laying out the way I want it to. The sink has a nice removable drip pan that I can attach to the front as extra counter space during the boil. With the two chambers in place, then the sink, the brewing table seems to be lining up under the exhaust hood. I have two more cabinet boxes to make, which will be on the left side of the brewing table.....one for a motorized grain mill and one for a grain storage bin. I'll keep plugging away, but it's getting hard to find the extra time. I can't wait to get the carpet, so I can get all of the furniture out of this room!

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Let's all bow to our master;)
Hoppopotomus I have yet to see something that you made that does not make me drool. I am so jealous. keep us dreaming:rockin:
 
I'll make the popcorn for this show! I love what I see here. That sink is a thing of beauty. Cleanup will be a snap.
 
Thanks guys.....I appreciate the compliments. I think that I only paid around $200 for the sink AND the faucet, so I made out really well on that deal. I just need to clean up the sink base and shoot it with some stainless steel spray paint, otherwise the sink itself is in great condition. I'll try to keep plugging away on this thing, but I'm being pulled in 50 different directions right now. I think I am going to build the grain storage bin and the grain weighing/milling cabinet next, so I have all of the component boxes complete. Then I'll build the tops for each, trim them out with cedar logs and finishe them off with travertine tile. Along the way I need to get the rough electrical and plumbing ran in the walls, so I can get the drywall up and travertine tile backsplash going behind the brewing table. I shall do my best to keep the build progressing and the thread up to date. I appreciate the words of encouragement. :mug:
 
Good luck buddy, I'm in the process of trying to figure out if I want to go electric or not. Have plenty of space in the basement as it's unfinished so I can do anything I want with the entire thing. Looking forward to watching your progress.
 
Good to hear from you BigRed! :mug: Did you ever get that keezer built?

I decided to go all electric, simply because I'm sick of brewing outside in the winter and I was running out of projects. :D I can't wait to get this room build the rest of the way, but I have a long, long way to go. Let me know what you decide and when you plan on launching the project.
 
Good to hear from you BigRed! :mug: Did you ever get that keezer built?

I decided to go all electric, simply because I'm sick of brewing outside in the winter and I was running out of projects. :D I can't wait to get this room build the rest of the way, but I have a long, long way to go. Let me know what you decide and when you plan on launching the project.

No, I built a kegarator instead for now. The cost was the issue and the boys were just getting out of the hospital so the hospital got most of my money during that time. I just decided to move on for now and concentrate on some of the other projects I'd like to do. I'll definately let you know when/if I decide to move forward with electric. Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to start with the BIAB method, or go to a HERMS set-up, or a RIMS set-up. So many choices...........:cross:
 
Thanks man. This project stalled out for a while with all of the spring maintenance crap that I have going on around my house. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I can find some more time to focus on the brewing room. My pipeline is getting pretty weak, so partial mash on the patio is still my only option at this point. At least the weather is finally starting to cooperate. :mug:
 
Almost finished with my fermentation chamber builds that will be situated in the corner of my brewery next to the sink. I went with this design to maximize countertop space in the brewery. Here are a few pics of the chambers trimmed out and in position. Still need to finish sand and do 4 to 5 coats of poly. I will then install cement board and tumbled travertine in the recessed areas on the tops. My entire backsplash behind the e-HERMS system will be in travertine as well. Here's a link to my fermentation builds if interested. :mug:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/hoppos-rustic-fermentation-chambers-ale-lager-301274/

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