The beginnings of Brew McQ

I'm in the process of finally getting off my butt and getting my indoor brewery set up.

Currently, I'm brewing in the garage over a turkey fryer. My goal is to transition to a modest electric system so I can brew in my basement year-round.

Some pix:

Storage shelves so far. They are going to change around at some point.. go higher up, etc. That's my messy wood shop to the left and messier storage space to the right. Both those places will be getting doors of some sort.


The view from the basement stairs. The brew bench is going to go under that window.


Conditioned beer storage fridge (a 1940s vintage fridge... it's mint). To the right of that, I'm going to wall in that raised area which will be my ferment chamber.



I need a big utility sink, which will go to the immediate right of the stairs and run some electric... but I'm not going to post anything even remotely electric-oriented here... lol

looks very promising!

Thanks, BCB! I'm looking forward to what comes out of it all.

Looks like a good start, and I look forward to seeing the progress. I wish I had that sort of space to work with.

Thank Juan!

We'd earmarked the space for something different, but really like the idea of having all my brew stuff inside.

With patience, perhaps your brew space will arrive as well!

Cheers!

Good luck. Post lots of pics.

Looks like it will be a cool place for your brewery. Can't wait to see the updates!

Thanks Scott, me too.

Although, Pub and Brewery both just got put on the back burner.. my uncle got a moose permit, so we're in the process of amassing moose hunting gear.

Nothing better than a home brew with a mooseburger... even if I'm going to be stuck with 5 gallon batches for now.. lol

After a healthy dose of Real Life took everything over, Brew McQ is back on track... bigger and better.. stay tuned..

good luck and be sure to get those photos up

pannell77 said:

good luck and be sure to get those photos up

Click to expand...

I will once I have a little more progress under my belt.

Currently, that beautiful wide-open space is crammed full of renovation and destruction debris... looks like a couple two or three dump runs for me this weekend, depending on weather.

However... I've got a material list and solid plan for my 220V BiaB system.. have some new equipment already ordered (some of it has come in), and a healthy start on my 20 sqft ferment closet.. even tiled the floor yesterday..

I guess it's time for pictures...

A great deal of work has been completed. I've had to move half a dozen truckloads of construction/destruction debris from various house renovation projects out of the cellar.. I've torn down walls and built new ones. I've swept and vacuumed. My SWMBO has swept and vacuumed (and mudded drywall and painted). I've also been using up a TON of the scrap wood by working on finishing details from other projects... there are shelves under the vanity and in the linen closet in the bathroom now, and a sh*tload of shelves and storage space in the laundry room...

Then, of course, spring sprang so it was time to clean up from the winter and get the raised beds built and more hops trellis built and... and... and...

I will start posting pictures in following posts. If you'd like to keep up with progress, please go "like" my FB page: https://www.facebook.com/BrewMcQ. Shoot me a message to let me know you're a fellow HBT'er!

Ferment Closet Build

Some highlights:

Brewery Build

Some highlights:




(My shop was TRASHED...)


(SWMBO!)


(Doors going into my wood shop. I like having the option of having nearly 5' of door width...)

Hops Garden

I took a break from the dingy cellar to work on my trellis. Some highlights...

Brew Bench

I still have a lot of "clean up" and finish work to do in the brewery... but I had some 2x4's laying around and decided I wanted to work on my brew bench... This bench is scaled to *my* comfort level (I'm 6'4" tall) and will also have storage space underneath. I decided to put it on wheels to make it more "portable".










(This is where the brew bench will actually be placed. The window above will be utilized for ventilation. Yes, I still need more shop lights in there.)

So jealous for the space! And nice progress :cheers: I have to ask, why did you block off that section to the right of your ferment chamber? Wouldn't it make a good closet at the least?

Carlscan26 said:

So jealous for the space! And nice progress :cheers: I have to ask, why did you block off that section to the right of your ferment chamber? Wouldn't it make a good closet at the least?

Click to expand...

and thanks!

It actually does make a closet! I have made some tote shelves back there, which can be access through the door to the furnace room, the door in the right side of this pic:


It just doesn't look open because of all the crap that was piled in there... lol

brewmcq said:

and thanks!

It actually does make a closet! I have made some tote shelves back there, which can be access through the door to the furnace room, the door in the right side of this pic:

It just doesn't look open because of all the crap that was piled in there... lol

Click to expand...

Them's some deep shelves! We have something similar actually under our stairs and they're great storage. Yeah I didn't see that doorway at all lol but like you said you have years worth of construction debris...good luck and keep posting pics please!

There will be another "lull" in the updates for a little bit while the bank account gets caught up... but 99% of my eBrew controller will be here Thursday so I can get started on that soon...

Patience is the name of this game.

Brew Bench update...

Bench is all framed and "sheathed". I'm in the process of picking out some nice tiles or something to surface the top of it... It'll get stained and will be done... I might event put some pegboard behind the "desk" (the raised portion to the right) to hold all my brewing tools. That might be spiffy.


Sight glass and temp probe in the front, valve on the side...


Proposed pump placement.


Electrical connection for the element in the back..


Yes, I changed the "orientation" of the bench. I like it better this way for some reason... just have to find a home for that old fridge...

And I need to do something to keep the paint from coming off the walls.

And yes, I know that the kettle platform on the bench will have to hold 120+ pounds of water and/or grains and whatnot. It holds me up just fine. In fact, it holds up myself and the SWMBO just fine... 400# total, complete with rigorous motion... ;-)

Brewery Controller!

The *real* brains of this operation...


Components and bling!


The control panel is all cut out.. PID, Emergency Stop, Power On, Element On, Pump On.


The innards. Nothing has been mounted or wired or whatever, but it's a lot farther along than I was...


Mad props to the now-retired johnodon and, of course, P-J for taking ALL the brainwork out of my project.

Brew Kettle

The centerpiece of any brewery is, of course, the brew kettle. I opted for a stainless steel 15.5 gallon Bayou Classic with a steamer basket (that got a few modifications).

I played around with the possible layouts that would let me squeeze everything into the bottom of the kettle... and not interfere with the basket placement.

This might work..


Proposed locations for everything.


Proposed sight glass and valve placement.


I had the tube and element raised up on some scrap pieces of wood... the basket still fit without sitting on anything.


Holes drilled and bling installed.


I didn't have the thermoprobe in it's home, but needless to say, nothing is touching anything else... kind of like my second marriage.


And everything is safely underneath the basket. Win-win-win.


For anyone who may be foolish enough to copy this design... I had the kettle sitting on a flat, level surface and measured up from that surface 2" for each the sight glass and the valve/tube and 1.5" for the element.

looking good man! keep up the work.

No progress yesterday, since I got called into work... today was just "permanently" placing the fittings on the kettle. I got them all on and filled it up.. no leaks!

Bench updates! If you're interested, you can keep track of everything on the BrewMcQ Facebook page... If you like my home brewery, I'll like yours..


It's nearing completion. I haven't decided if I'm going to build "cupboard doors" for it yet (or not)..


The "desktop" area. The pegboard in back will be used to hold various brewing tools, etc., and I'm going to put my control box on the shelf, along with whatever else I feel should be up there.

There is enough room behind it for a power strip, which I will be able to use for the under-shelf light (if/when I get one) as well as stir plates, laptop/Kindle, etc.

And the nerve-wracking task of wiring the control panel has begun...

I have a feeling that this isn't going to be the neatest wiring job ever, but hopefully it won't suck too bad...

Nice build. I like the tile on top of the bench.

Maybe I missed it but, how are you cooling your ferm room?

241 said:

Nice build. I like the tile on top of the bench.

Maybe I missed it but, how are you cooling your ferm room?

Click to expand...

Thanks.. It's actually laminate flooring..

At the moment, I have no idea how I'm going to control the ferment closet temps. Right now it's fluctuating between 56 and 64.. Come the high heat of summer, it's going to push into the 70's. I need to figure out how to install a heating/cooling system to maintain my target temp... It needs to automatically switch between cooling and heating.

Otherwise, I'll just run an AC into it to keep it at 55 and put heating pads on the conicals..

Been running into a series of snags this week...

The terminal blocks I ordered are rather large.. not sure how they are going to all fit in my CP box... and to top that off, one of them arrived broken. Not a huge deal on the broken one.. just bits of non-essential plastic.

My new RTD probe is WAY too long... so that's $70+ I've wasted on the wrong RTD probes. Those may find themselves in the "for sale" forum shortly.

I can't find my PEX crimper tool so until I do, my recirculation idea will have to get put on hold, and/or I need to come up with something else... not really a huge deal, either way, but I hate that I've lost a $70 tool... but I do need to find it so I can finish the plumbing to the brew bench.

I've also discovered that the gang box for my element isn't deep enough to house the LED light (I saw where someone had used one to indicate when the element was firing, and I liked the idea), or the Switchcraft panel mount female (which I'm not thrilled with because the spades on the back of it are friggin tiny)...

I might simply invest in a double gang box so I can fit everything... or not.. haven't quite decided yet, and I'd be infinitely happy if I didn't have to take out that element again unless I really need to. Heh. I even cut the hole in the box to match the shape of the element so I didn't need to use another wrench..

Regardless.. we must all keep soldiering on, right? LOL


Today will be a trip to Tractor Supply so I can get some little machine screws with lock washers and nuts so I can start mounting the components in my CP box. Once those are all in, I hope to make a bigger dent in wiring it up... I'm really taking my time with that, checking and double-checking and triple-checking every single connection. Unfortunately, neither my dryer nor my stove have a 4-prong outlet, so I am going to have to wait until I can get my electrician buddy over to run my new 220V line before I'll be able to even fire up the CP to test it.

Some more of the CP in progress..








Wiring is tough... I'm the electronics guy, not the electrical guy.. lol

So it has been 6 weeks since your last post. Any progress? Sorry if I missed this in a previous post, but what did you make your switch holes with in your enclosure? They look remarkably clean. I drilled my first hole last night with a step bit and it did not look nearly as pretty. My failure was probably due to not using a drill press.

I do apologize for no recent updates... there have been a series of unexpected household expenditures that have put the brewery on the back burner.

I am, however, all through with the internal wiring of the CP... am planning on wiring the wire from the CP to my kettle in the very near future (I have the stuff, just not the time lately).

I used a step bit to make the switch holes.

Good luck with the rest of the build. I am jealous of a dedicated brew area, and especially a basement where it is cool. It is looking good so far.

-G

I promise, the brew area comes at a pretty significant cost.. we are being forced to find new and creative ways to store stuff...

And... had a corny keg opportunity suddenly drop into my lap, so I'm stocking up on them, which is setting back the brewery again. Of course. Ugh.

When did this hobby get so friggin' expensive??

An ACTUAL UPDATE!!!

But no pictures. But that's okay.

I've started moving around some electrical outlets... that's kind of a big deal (yes, all my work gets inspected by a licensed master electrician. He gets a little pissy because, as he says, my work is better than his... lol).

Dryer outlet has been mounted.

Tandem breakers have been ordered so I can make some room in my electrical box.

Control panel is FREAKING FINISHED. Just gotta label stuff on it. Oh, and get fuses.


The SWMBO has felt really bad that the brewery keeps getting pushed on the back burner.. so she's finding creative ways in the budget to make sure I can get the ~$400 of stuff that I need to be functioning...

On tap (ha ha!):

50' of 10/3 wire.
30a GFCI breaker.
Fermenters (2 of the 15 gallon plastic conicals) plus associated hardware.
Plate chiller
Miscellaneous crap.. some more silicone tubing, QDs, stainless ball valves..

Holy frig.. almost there.

And, as a bonus, I have the minimum number of kegs to run my four-tap system.

Oh yeah.. two more taps and associated hardware, 2 4x manifolds, additional crap for the CO2 tank. But that is all definitely back burner stuff for now. The goal is to get up and running.

Nicely done sir!

Ferment Closet Update

I'm not worried about heat output.. like I said, at most I need to drop it *maybe* 10 degrees... and considering that my 130sq ft bedroom has been sitting at a toasty 58F all summer (crappy windows and insulation to boot) with the same size unit, I'm certain I'll have no problem getting my little closet down that far as well, if need be.

Props to all the AC "hotwire" threads (including John Beere's epic saga) and especially to Franklinbrew.org for the actual wiring diagram.


The "new" "refrigeration unit." WTF do I do now? lol


Oh my.. what's this?


A friggin' schematic! Holy WIN, Batman! (No, I don't know why it's upside down.. lol)


After the "hotwire", which worked!! She was blowing out cold air.


The jumble of wires. I added a second plug so the fan would always run, which, in theory, should help prevent the coils from icing over, and will keep the air from stagnating and stratifying in the fermenter.


Cleaned up and the cover back on. I need to come up with something to cover the gaping hole I left in it..


The Gaping Hole (TM).


It's installed. I'll figure out a way to vent the warm air out of that part of the basement later. Right now I just need it in and running.. when I get my controller, it will be.