AnBrew Garage brewery build (100L single tier eHERMS)

It's going to get cold soon, and I've been putting off the big works for a bit
(mostly because I've been quite busy on the week-ends lately). But now that the new
kegerator is operational, it's time to focus on making the brewery livable for the
winter!

So this week-end I had a friend come over to help me, and we added rockwool insulation
to the rear wall of the brewery, in addition to removing almost everything that was
inside the garage.



Vapour barrier stapled and taped



Starting to put up Fermacell (drywall)



Laying the last piece



Drywall finished and ready for plastering



Plaster over the joints (I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's a fun learning experience)



Two coats of plaster applied. I'm hoping it's good enough that I can sand it down and paint over it without needing to lay down a third coat...



While we were doing this, my brother started sanding down the paint from the walls. In a fortnight I'm hoping to finish removing the paint from the walls, sand the newly applied plaster, and maybe start painting the ceiling and/or walls.

Wow, this pretty much went dedicated brewery space, no shared garage/storage/brewery! Any plans for heating/cooling the space during the summer/winter months? Would it be warm enough in there just from the heat of brewing to make it comfortable?

glacious said:

Any plans for heating/cooling the space during the summer/winter months?

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The rest of the garage is just reinforced concrete (uninsulated), so heating it would be a huge waste of energy, and here in Switzerland air conditioning isn't really a thing, at least in private spaces, since it doesn't often get unbearably hot outside of a couple weeks a year. I brewed this summer when the temps went above 35°C (95°F) and it was unpleasant, but doable.

Would it be warm enough in there just from the heat of brewing to make it comfortable?

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Depends on your definition of comfortable Last winter I had a friend over for a brewday when the outside temps were well below 0°C, the garage itself was hovering around 0-3°C (32-40°F), so we brewed with gloves and jackets on and took turns hugging the boil kettle, and it was fine. I might get a small space heater next winter to make it more comfortable when it's really cold, but no dedicated heating/cooling planned.

Wow...I am super impressed with everything you've done! You have some insanely good skills! I have no idea where you guys get the skills and knowledge to do these things!

mrmansfeld said:

Depends on your definition of comfortable Last winter I had a friend over for a brewday when the outside temps were well below 0°C, the garage itself was hovering around 0-3°C (32-40°F), so we brewed with gloves and jackets on and took turns hugging the boil kettle, and it was fine.

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0-3C would be fine by my definition (northeast US), good pro-tip with the kettle hugging!

Cheers

Nice!

You did put tape over those drywall joints, didn't you?

Stealthcruiser said:

Nice!

You did put tape over those drywall joints, didn't you?

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I did! Thanks for checking I did plaster-joint tape-plaster

i love the control box you built do you have a wiring diagram i would love to build one

ppires00 said:

i love the control box you built do you have a wiring diagram i would love to build one

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Here's the diagram I made and used : https://www.dropbox.com/s/7myydl1tires3hd/anbrew-electrical-v0.1-main.pdf?dl=0

Please note though that it's designed for the standard European 3-phase 230V, if you're in the US you'd be much better off following Kal's diagrams on theelectricbrewery.com

After reading this whole thread never once hit that you were not in the America. but i did see and read about you connecting a 3-phase system. i think kale system is really good but i enjoy looking at you panel more. i want to integrate kal"s system with your panel could you tell me where you got it from or if there is a file you can send me and then i can change where the holes will go. i am making my own brewery in the basement but if I'm going to be spending all this money. why can't it look good also. know what i mean

ppires00 said:

After reading this whole thread never once hit that you were not in the America. but i did see and read about you connecting a 3-phase system. i think kale system is really good but i enjoy looking at you panel more. i want to integrate kal"s system with your panel could you tell me where you got it from or if there is a file you can send me and then i can change where the holes will go. i am making my own brewery in the basement but if I'm going to be spending all this money. why can't it look good also. know what i mean

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Sure thing. I had mine made at formulor.de, which is the German counterpart of https://www.ponoko.com/ and it cost me around 80€ including international shipping and customs fees. You can probably expect to pay half that much if you're ordering from Ponoko within the U.S.

Here's the file I used : https://www.dropbox.com/s/3t6ps53ypvco8rn/panel-cutout-v1.4-thinoutlines.ai?dl=0

You'll need Adobe Illustrator to edit it though. If you don't have that, it's pretty easy to design it yourself, using the template from ponoko.com and adding the lines (check the screenshot on page 2 of this thread to see what it looks like). Black is for a heavy fill, red for heavy lines, green for lighter lines, and blue is a cut right through the material. The documentation on the site is pretty thorough and full of examples.

Good luck!

Great setup Andrew! I am starting to build a setup quite similar myself. I already downloaded your files, but was wondering if you would have a parts list for the control panel available that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks!

hansanton said:

Great setup Andrew! I am starting to build a setup quite similar myself. I already downloaded your files, but was wondering if you would have a parts list for the control panel available that you wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks!

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Sorry, I'm afraid I don't have a detailed parts list, I sort of put together all the parts as I went along. I mostly followed Kal's setup and just changed the parts I needed to fit European 230V (so mostly the circuit breakers and contactors).