master locks

I basically bought a whole new brewery(brew magic, fermenator, ect) and I am going to be storing this stuff in my garage that has a roll up door that I can lock on the bottom. So obviously I want to be a bad ass lock that anything short of someone with a welding torch and a lot of time couldnt open. Master lock seems to be the most common lock and they have some good options, but I just wanted to make sure that all of them are individually keyed...can anyone reassure me of this?

There are only so many sets of bumps and grooves that can be made on a key, so it's hard to guarantee that nobody else will ever get a key that will open your lock. Better quality locks make it much less likely though. Don't bother with the kind of lock with a key where all the bumps are all square; those can be picked pretty easily.

A good combination lock will let you set your own combination though, so then it's up to you to pick something nobody could guess.

Dave

Indoor latch lock for roll up.

Biometric finger/eye/ass lock for the side door.

Its a strange set up, I only have access from the outside...otherwise an indoor latch would be the way to go.

If I were to recommend anything, it would be this style of lock, assuming it would fit your application.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Y8CA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It makes it a LOT harder to cut through than just a standard style Master Lock. Just make sure you get something rated for outdoors and even then, hit it with some WD40 every few months just to keep it loose.

thanks, I ended up getting two different locks(1 for each side) very similar to that. Between that, my german sheppard and lots of neighbors I should be ok.

Good choice of locks. WD40 is okay for the shackle, but powdered graphite is recommended for the keyhole. It's dry and dust is less less likely to stick to it and get gooey.

thanks for the tip. The one thing I am a little worried about is that it can flood a little bit where the lock will be. The locks I have say they are rustproof, so hopefully they will stand up to that. Otherwise I will need a torch to get past these babies.

If the locks you have still make you nervous, I'm pretty sure this is one of the best locks available for the application:

http://www.medeco.com/products/products_detail.php?category_ID=29&

Grainger has them for about $100.

Just when I thought I had it all figured out...I think I will be ok with the 2 different locks that I have, along with the other deterrents I mentioned earlier. Thanks for the other option...if I see someone scoping me out a little too much during a brew day then I might be incline to get that super lock.

Maybe also consider an intrusion alarm of some sort, like a motion detector? Since the brew gear is what you're really concerned about, putting some security measures on it directly instead of just on the door might give you more peace of mind.

Dave

like a live wire and a pool of water

I have decided to just adopt a retired police dog and have it live in my garage, problem solved...unless of course it drinks too much of the beer.

jp1316 said:

I have decided to just adopt a retired police dog and have it live in my garage, problem solved...unless of course it drinks too much of the beer.

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Well, is it an Irish dog?

Teach it the Brew-Magic shuffle and the beer will be made for you.

Hire three guards, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, and one who stabs people for asking tricky questions.

if someone really wants your keggle, they will drill through a bank vault door or floor to get it. a lock is only to maintain honesty, and prove that said item is stolen vs "found."

You might consider upgrading your hasps, if they're flimsy, the toughest lock won't do a thing. Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

You might consider upgrading your hasps, if they're flimsy, the toughest lock won't do a thing. Regards, GF.

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Then the door. Because it will be the weakest link after that.

You know, you might as well just gut the kitchen and take the brewery inside. Your wife will miss you, eventually.

I can't mess with the kitchen, thats my g/f's territory. I think maybe I should build a safe room inside my house and put the brewery in there. That way in case of an emergency I will at least have plenty to drink.

It would suck if someone broke in and took your brewing stuff, but honestly... that's what insurance is for. Just make sure you film your stuff and the agent knows it's there.

A locked door keeps honest people honest. If someone wants the stuff, they'll get it. A few years back during the winter we had a rash of home invasions in the summer cottage communities around our local lakes. A moving truck would back up to the house and everything looked all well and proper until the trucks would leave. Instead of moving furniture out of the house through the door they were cutting a hole in the wall with a chain saw and cleaning the places out.



Personally, I like the idea of an automated tracking system tied to a shotgun...

Would be sweet to attach some sort of GPS locator to the rig someplace hidden, then if it is stolen you could track it down.

Yeah, I just wanted 2 good locks as a good enough deterrent. Like I said before, between those, my neighbors and my dog I should be ok. I realize that if someone really wants it they will probably get it. The only reason this thread is still going is for funny, outrageous ideas on how else it could be done.

jp1316 said:

Yeah, I just wanted 2 good locks as a good enough deterrent. Like I said before, between those, my neighbors and my dog I should be ok. I realize that if someone really wants it they will probably get it. The only reason this thread is still going is for funny, outrageous ideas on how else it could be done.

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I like electric cattle fences...

I was thinking about putting about putting a bear trap and maybe some barb wire inside the garage.

You can always electrify barbed wire...

mmb said:

It would suck if someone broke in and took your brewing stuff, but honestly... that's what insurance is for. Just make sure you film your stuff and the agent knows it's there.

A locked door keeps honest people honest. If someone wants the stuff, they'll get it. A few years back during the winter we had a rash of home invasions in the summer cottage communities around our local lakes. A moving truck would back up to the house and everything looked all well and proper until the trucks would leave. Instead of moving furniture out of the house through the door they were cutting a hole in the wall with a chain saw and cleaning the places out.



Personally, I like the idea of an automated tracking system tied to a shotgun...

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+1 to this, you beat me to it. Lock it up so the casual thief can't make off with it, but if the dedicated thief wants it...let them have it and have insurance buy you a new rig.

Its only "stuff"....stuff gets broken, worn-out, and stolen. There are worse things that can happen that the stuff gets stolen 5-10 years from now and you get the money for a new brew system.

Besides, with all of your stuff you have in your house, do you really think a thief will be tempted by a load of heavy stainless steel equipment that will be hard to fence? Nope, they'll go for electronics, jewelery, cash, guns, etc. Easy to carry off, easy to sell off...

I don't think I have ever heard of any one having their brewery equipment stolen.

However, you do live in New Orleans so the extra precautions may be warranted. I don't think that you can do much more than buy some quality pad locks that are bump proof.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014BSW7C/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Or a combo lock with out the key on the back.

Now, if some one really wants something they will get it. If you are really that worried about your investment then you should install a small surveillance system. If you can catch an image of the person you are more likely to get your property back. I learned this one through personal experience.

broadbill said:

+1 to this, you beat me to it. Lock it up so the casual thief can't make off with it, but if the dedicated thief wants it...let them have it and have insurance buy you a new rig.

Its only "stuff"....stuff gets broken, worn-out, and stolen. There are worse things that can happen that the stuff gets stolen 5-10 years from now and you get the money for a new brew system.

Besides, with all of your stuff you have in your house, do you really think a thief will be tempted by a load of heavy stainless steel equipment that will be hard to fence? Nope, they'll go for electronics, jewelery, cash, guns, etc. Easy to carry off, easy to sell off...

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New Orleans is a bit different. Now I am not sure what parish/ward he lives in but, it isn't uncommon to see a car being stripped down on the side of the road, or anything worth money recycled gutted and destroyed if not properly secured. The good parts of town aren't really that far from the bad parts of town either.

I'm in uptown, but on the edge of it. Couldnt be more right about the bad parts of town being close to the good parts of town. I remember when my roommates car wasnt running(cant remember the reason) and after 6 days of not moving it one morning we walked outside to find a group of people already trying to take any part they could from it. amusing to me, not so much for him.

So have you fired up the magic yet? Buy it new or used?

bought it new, but only purchased it a few weeks ago so I got 4-6 weeks left until it arrives. Figured I should get everything in order(fermentation chamber, conical, locks on garage, ect) before it arrives. I asked bob about the brew magic shuffle and he claims its because people dont read the instructions and that it is not really necessary...but that does not appear to be the case on the bm forum. He seemed to get offended when I asked him if he could install the blichmann autosparge on the system to help with that problem. I've seen a lot of your posts on that forum. How do you like yours? Any beginners advice for it?

the only advice i can give you is SPEND MONEY on the lock. you get what you pay for. i pick locks as a hobby and anything around $5 is a joke. i can get those open in a minute or two. $15 - $20+ locks on the other hand are VERY hard to open. don't bother with master lock combination locks. you can find instructions on cracking the combination all over the internet and once you know the trick its brain dead easy to get pass them all it takes is time.

Master lock has a couple of locks that have a hex shaped shank and guards that wrap around the shank. when you open it the shank literally rotates out of the way sideways instead of the usual forward/backward. it would be extreme hard to get a pair of bolt cutters in there and cut the shank and there is no way anyone could get a pair of shims in there and bypass the lock.

since your going to be putting lock on the ground i would be afraid someone could take a big rock and smash the lock off. the expensive locks look to be solidly built. i haven't personally tried to smash them but they seem to be well made.

check this out

I have actually never had the need for the shuffle and brew with it as it was intended so, with all respect to the other BM brothers, Bob may have a point.

Love mine but, it sickens me when I think had I just waited a few more months I could have had all the bling that yours will have. Mine has the copper chamber and I clean with Nitric so I drool over the tri-clamped stainless element and chamber the new systems have. I don;t really care for the tri-clamp therms tho.

Beginners advice? Do a water only run a few times. Keep the flames low so it doesn't effect the therms. And do a clean kettle boil to get your boil off rate.

I think your will have the latest stainless steel kettle under plates so, you won;t have to deal with the smoke from the initial burn in.

For mine, I picked up a nice tethered PDA Styli from PDA Panache (on-line) to use with the touchpad. My fingers are too fat and fumbly to go native with it.

Did you get a chill-wizard too? If yes, start thinking about pellet and breal management now. Hop Backs loaded with Rice hulls, Hop stoppers, filter bags, etc....

I did not get the chill wizard, I got the blichmann therminator. It will be hard for me to have the patience to do a water only run, I am testing all of my patience just waiting for the bm to arrive, but it does sound like a great idea.
I have a styli for my crappy phone so I've got that covered. I've never used a hop back - how do you like yours?

jp1316 said:

I did not get the chill wizard, I got the blichmann therminator. It will be hard for me to have the patience to do a water only run, I am testing all of my patience just waiting for the bm to arrive, but it does sound like a great idea.
I have a styli for my crappy phone so I've got that covered. I've never used a hop back - how do you like yours?

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Will be using it the first time on MLK day. So, I can neither speculate or comment.

Much better to do the water run than to deal with lost prime on a pump with 20 pounds of grain in teh mash, ya know. Follow the manual for the first few runs and tweak your process from there. AFAIK, Dr Fix, pbuh, was a pretty smart guy and had a pretty good idea how to make it work.

fair enough. thanks for the advice!

jp1316 said:

fair enough. thanks for the advice!

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Most of all, have fun with it. Nothing worse than to get frustrated with $6k worth of metal.

tspilker said:

Hire three guards, one who always lies, one who always tells the truth, and one who stabs people for asking tricky questions.

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xkcd FTW!

Dave

what the heck is the brew magic shuffle?

I do not have mine yet, but my understanding of it is that some people slow down the flow of the pump from hlt to mash tun so much that it stalls the pump. They are trying to keep the water a certain amount above the grain bed. So they turn the pump off, let the tun drain for a little while and then turn the pump back on. Apparently they are just not following the instructions correctly as the more experienced posters in the bm forum seem to not have much trouble with it.

yeah 100th post