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**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 12:23 PM

Just got back from shooting a documentary for 3 weeks on the road in Canada, thought I would share this equipment set-up

The trailer is a standard 6X10', of course the brewery was set up out side but fermentation took place on the road home.

This is what I started with:

The brewery started with some steel here:

Kettles and welding:

**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 12:31 PM

Then the stand is gets completed, because of the shear size , I combined the HLT and the Mash tun on one stand, a then built a standalone boil kettle stand. They fit together perfectly once outside of the trailer

Then it was on to all the parts for the fermentation design:

**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 12:44 PM

Fermentation would be a challenge, maintaining proper temps and controlling the sloshing . I used two Blichmann 42 gallon fermenters, and added a 12 volt glycol chilling concept;

1/4 copper circuit soldered to sheetmetal plates allowed the transfer of cooling to the large surface of the fermenters;

FWIW: I had a 27 gallon , then added the 42 gallon dome

Wrapping the plates and surface with copper:

Then I bolted the fermenters to the floor of the trailer and started on the glycol system:

**IrregularPulse** · 08-20-2010, 12:54 PM

This wasn't the Arctic Alchemy project was it?

JetSmooth · 08-20-2010, 12:55 PM

That's my answer to not having space in the house or out back for brewing! Brilliant!

Now, can you get the cost of one of these down to about a hundred and fitty bucks?

**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 01:05 PM

The way the system worked:

12 volts came from the Land Rover truck battery and was charged continuously by the alternator. it fed a 12 volt power inverter ( the 1000 w Black and Decker unit), plus the 12 volt water/glycol pump and 2 12 volt PIDs to monitor fermentation temps. But the power inverter also powered a 120 volt trickle charger which charged a deep cell Marine battery.
The idea here was during the day while we traveled, the Land Rover powered the demand for the pump and PID's, when we stopped for the night, I converted power from the deep cell to keep the pump running overnight and at stops. As the battery would run down over night, it was recharged during the day, it worked perfectly.

The control panel

The way the glycol system worked:

The pump circulated the liquid thru a cooler which had a stainless steel coil, ice was added and maintained a reasonable level of insulation and fairly low level of melting. The PID's where connected to thermocouples into the fermenters, a range was set ( I choose to ferment at 62-65 degrees) and as needed the PID's called for the pump to come on or not. I added a low level grant for adding glycol or purging air from the system. It took some time to prime the system but the grant helped and worked smoothly after it was all balanced and running.

The chilling circuit:

**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 01:18 PM

The idea for the sloshing was pretty easy , connect the two blow-off tubes together with a tee and send them to a stout 5 gallon corney keg, the inlet when into the tube side ( or the liquid out side ) and the pressure from the fermenting beer came out the gas "in side , and was vented by another tube safely outside the trailer. Honestly after all the miles we drove, I lost maybe 1/2 gallon due to sloshing, because I mounted the fermenters directly over the axel of the trailer ( for weight distribution and minimal disturbance of the beer.)

I was amazed by how well this system worked, the pump barely ran at first ( we where in a colder climate, but by the time it was in the mid 80's, the beer stayed in the low 60's, it was brilliant.

Here are a couple of shots with everything loaded and ready to roll.

**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 01:31 PM

So we brewed beer in the Canadian Arctic and brought home almost 70 gallons of ale:

This is the location , but we had bad weather ( 40 mph winds, 40 degrees and almost 5 inches of rain - all at the same time for 4 days ) , but we completed the session and brought home the beer.

heavy weather brewing :

No troubles crossing the boarder in Canada, but coming back was difficult , but got it done

**Maltose** · 08-20-2010, 01:31 PM

damn dude, that's a serious setup. when can we expect to see the documentary?

**mrbowenz** · 08-20-2010, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maltose

damn dude, that's a serious setup. when can we expect to see the documentary?

We shot over 40 hours of video and 1800 pictures , probably this time next year. We need to edit and find a distibution channel and raise some more money. The filmmakers are real professionals and did a fantastic job with the cinematography in tough conditions.