Micro-Brewery

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

Hey guys

I'm a lovable British student and I'm doing a degree in biotechnology and have taken a special interest in brewing (student loans just dont stretch that far)

So I have decided to set up a private micro-brewery in my backroom, has anybody else attempted to build a 4 barrel system in their home?

Saint

rexbanner · Apr 27, 2012

You're joking, or are barrels much smaller over there?

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

im afraid not, im deadly serious lol putting my degree to work

rexbanner · Apr 27, 2012

So you want a private 120+ gallon brewery? Why?

RJS · Apr 27, 2012

why not

gregL86 · Apr 27, 2012

rexbanner said:
So you want a private 120+ gallon brewery? Why?

Must be a pretty good sized 'back room'

Monster Mash · Apr 27, 2012

I have a 1bbl brewery and that is almost too much. 4bbls of beer would take a long time to drink...

rvklein · Apr 27, 2012

Monster Mash said:
I have a 1bbl brewery and that is almost too much. 4bbls of beer would take a long time to drink...

Well he is in college..

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

you sir have never met a geordie, 4 barrels is a good weekend lol i'll have photos in the coming weeks, i'm having to buy tools, resources but I'm hoping to come in at under £150 so something like $280

tom_gamer · Apr 27, 2012

st_brewer said:
you sir have never met a geordie, 4 barrels is a good weekend lol i'll have photos in the coming weeks, i'm having to buy tools, resources but I'm hoping to come in at under £150 so something like $280

You are planning on building a 4 barrel system with $280?

Misplaced_Canuck · Apr 27, 2012

I think he may mean a 4-VESSEL system. :mug:

MC

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

evidently there is something lost in translation, over here a barrel is 50 litres and I have my primary already bought for £26, converted an old keg into a boiler so that was free. buying 2 more primaries to converted to mashing tuns, this will be done by slotting them into larger drums and insulating with polystyrene to cut down energy costs.

rvklein · Apr 27, 2012

Misplaced_Canuck said:
I think he may mean a 4-VESSEL system.

MC

haha, was wondering when someone was going to catch that..

tom_gamer · Apr 27, 2012

st_brewer said:
evidently there is something lost in translation, over here a barrel is 50 litres and I have my primary already bought for £26, converted an old keg into a boiler so that was free. buying 2 more primaries to converted to mashing tuns, this will be done by slotting them into larger drums and insulating with polystyrene to cut down energy costs.

Wikipedia:
In the U.K. a beer barrel is 36 imperial gallons (43 US gal; 164 L). In the U.S. most fluid barrels (apart from oil) are 31.5 US gallons (26 imp gal; 119 L) (half a hogshead), but a beer barrel is 31 US gallons (26 imp gal; 117 L).

Monster Mash · Apr 27, 2012

st_brewer said:
evidently there is something lost in translation, over here a barrel is 50 litres and I have my primary already bought for £26, converted an old keg into a boiler so that was free. buying 2 more primaries to converted to mashing tuns, this will be done by slotting them into larger drums and insulating with polystyrene to cut down energy costs.

Actually in England 1 barrel is about 164 liters. In the US 1 barrel is about 117 liters.
http://www.metric-conversions.org/volume/uk-barrels-to-liters.htm

I believe you are looking to build a 4 keg system.

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

yeh it is a 4 keg system and I have 2 kegs and both are 50 litres, I have never seen a 164 litres, to be honest I would be terrified if I saw a 164 litre keg, its only 80 litres shy of my primary

JoshuaW · Apr 27, 2012

What are the licensing requirements over there? They dont play around with that stuff here.

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

your allowed to produce a fair few gallons before you have to apply for a license, however our microbreweries are tiny compared to you guys because your full sized breweries make ours look like tiny start ups

brewingmeister · Apr 27, 2012

st_brewer said:
converted an old keg into a boiler so that was free.

How difficult was it for you to get that keg? kegwatch is all over England trying to stop people from getting kegs.

st_brewer · Apr 27, 2012

because I have an old styled keg from my neighbour without the blue keg tracker and the other that I have I got from the place I do my placement from, it used to belong to a franchise that went bust, I also have their gas cylinders...who says the recession is bad

Honkybrewer01 · Nov 9, 2012

Mate if you can do that, you know alot of very generous people!!!

rekoob · Nov 9, 2012

So we are really talking about 12 gallon batches right? 50L kegs will be used for boil, mash, HLT? So 10 to 12 gallon batches? The fouth keg will be used for what?

st_brewer · Nov 10, 2012

Not so much generous, more just people who dont understand the value of the kit I ask for. The set up has changed, its a 240 litre barrel as the HLT, boil and mash are done in 2 50 litre kegs and fermentation is done in 2 30 litre barrels, I'm working on upgrades but its a slow process, couldnt get a hold of a decent pump so I rely on gravity, hence why I dont use a 240 litre barrel in each stage.

KEG99 · Nov 11, 2012

Curious, do you have a good water supply, a deep utility sink to wash your equipment and, what I have found most important (since I am such a slob when I brew), is a good floor drain?

st_brewer · Nov 12, 2012

I do, I use the taps in my kitchen to fill my 240 litre HLT.
I actually use a bit of a cheat, I fill some guttering with cleaning solution and do most of my washing in that, also it doubles as a sterile store for equipment not in use. I was my vessels using a pressure washer.
In terms of good drainage, I let the water go on my kitchen floor and use a solid water brush to brush the water into my drive, then just let the room dry out, means I have the cleanest floor in the county.

Micro-Brewery

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Senior Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Supporting Member

Well-Known Member

Senior Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Supporting Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!