Kal-Clone Build Starting...

I've been brewing for about 6 months with extract, at a somewhat frenetic pace... I'm on batch 18 or so by all counts. I've been reading up on AG brewing for the past 3 months, and have been really looking forward to switching - the level of control over the process and the grain selection seems so much more thorough than what I'm restricted to now.

I went back and forth with ordering a "ready to go" kit from various vendors. From converted igloo coolers to a Sabco (I'm 7 miles from DFH - you see it on display in the tasting room)... nothing really said "this is how you should do it" until I came across theelectricbrewery.com...

I have to admit that I really like brewing in the garage - it's big, has concrete floors, access to water and is where all my equipment is. Plus there's the 8-tap keezer I built; that always helps.

The problem with brewing using propane is proper ventilation and the fact that having to run out and get propane sucks.

We took full advantage of the federal and state tax credits a few years ago and had an arrays totaling 79 solar panels installed all over the roof - so electric power is dirt cheap and readily available. I'm also a tinkerer by nature - I've owned a soldering iron since grade school and am more than comfortable working with it... so I drank the kool-aid and ordered a kit and all the other parts needed.

A bunch of the fittings, the pumps and the two other Boilermakers showed up on Friday. With any luck, the panel kit will be here in a week or two, and then the real fun starts. I'm hoping to have it all together by the end of January, but we'll see.

I'll start drilling holes in the shiny stainless kettles tomorrow...

Ryan

Good luck! Looks like you're off to a good start

You will love it when its done. The control is spot on and the beer will be much more repeatable because of it. Congrats!

RyanITV said:

We took full advantage of the federal and state tax credits a few years ago and had an arrays totaling 79 solar panels installed all over the roof - so electric power is dirt cheap and readily available.
Ryan

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Cool, another solar powered brewery.:rockin:
You're going to be blown away about how quiet an electric brewing setup is.
And, take your time with the build: Measure twice, cut once.:cross:

Congrats on taking the first steps on the build! You will look back and enjoy both the build, and using such a great system. Good luck!

subbed

Worked on it this past weekend, assembling most of the fittings and drilling the holes in the kettles. Turned out great, though somehow the top HERMs coil fitting ended up 1/8" to the right of the bottom one... it'll drive my OCD nuts - hahahaha!

I sourced a 96" x 30" stainless prep table with casters from a restaurant supply company for a little more than it would have cost me to get a decent miter saw and lumber, so no woodworking for me... hopefully it'll be here tomorrow. I've got some ideas on pump and chiller mounting with it that should work well.

We assembled the Monster Mill last night; I'll be working on the stand and hooking up the motor next week, based on a walkthrough I found here. It's cool to see the stuff coming together!

Waiting at home now for the electrician to put the 50A outlet in the garage.



Ryan

Posted just before FedEx showed up with a box from Williams Brewing... my fancy stainless chiller is here!

I went back and forth about using this versus copper... but the price was reasonable on this, and our groundwater here (well) is pretty cold most of the year. In the end, it was an OCD thing... all that stainless looks good together.

Ryan

I had to get creative and expand the tubing slightly on the chiller to use the quick-disconnect fittings. Why they use a non-standard size on the tubing is beyond me, but it should work fone now.

I got the panel kit in on Friday afternoon and laid it all out on the table I sourced to brew on. Can't say enough good things about the kit - everything was clearly labelled, packaged well and was a couple hundred cheaper than sourcing things individually.

I jumped in on Friday night and started with the holes on the bottom of the panel for the receptacles, then finished up with all the openings on the front and painted it on Saturday afternoon. The 22mm hole bunch was worth the extra $$$ - turned out great. Doing the rectangular openings was a *****, and probably took the longest.

After making sure the paint was good and dry on Sunday afternoon, I dove into mounting the components to the panel itself. Everything went pretty smooth, save for snapping a tap off in the heat sink. Fortunately, I was able to get it out and had a spare tap to use.

I altered the layout slightly over the directions to relocate the power switch and light so that I didn't have to mess with moving the grounding bolt.

In hindsight, I could have masked off the interior of the panel to avoid the overspray from the rattle can, but it's not really a big deal and isn't visible unless I've got it open. I may try to clean it up a little bit before mounting the internal components.

I laid out the interior components and will be drilling/tapping mounting holes for them tonight.

Ryan

Off topic but is that a gtr in the background

abarker8541 said:

Off topic but is that a gtr in the background

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Yep - it's a 2009... I bought it new in November of 2008 before the prices went through the roof. Love the car.

You lucky sob! Cool car cool brewery! You sir, are the tits!

Thanks man - ironic that my two favorite toys (the car and the brewery) share space in the same garage bay. As long as the wife can still pull her car in, I'm fine...

looks great, you are working on this at a feverish pace!