Salvage Brewing Co. - build thread

Very NICE! Wow... 12-3! Good find! That would have cost a pretty penny at the electrical supply house! Great idea with the remotes! If my pumps weren't controlled in my control panel, this is the route I would go!

Huaco said:

Very NICE! Wow... 12-3! Good find! That would have cost a pretty penny at the electrical supply house! Great idea with the remotes! If my pumps weren't controlled in my control panel, this is the route I would go!

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I know how my brain works...I can see the benefits of electric brewing here in Wisconsin. So the 12-3 might come in handy when I get the urge to tinker in the future. Or do they use a 4-wire cable? Either way, through work, I see lengths of both quite regularly in 10-12 AWG. I guess I should check since I can snag the right stuff if I see it.

I am still on the hunt for a broken corny keg for burner shields, and I look at every junk pile I pass for anything with casters on it. I might have to purchase these though, so they are all the same and I know their weight rating.

Hopefully I can get to the welder soon and see what he is going to charge. Then decide if I want to cut the pieces myself or let him do it.

MT

I've got 6-4 installed in the wall. From there I run 8-4 flexible 30' worth to my panel. Keep your eyes out for those.

Huaco said:

I've got 6-4 installed in the wall. From there I run 8-4 flexible 30' worth to my panel. Keep your eyes out for those.

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No wonder those outside the-know think something suspicious is going on when they glance at some the home breweries out there!!! That 6-4 has got to be about an inch thick! What is the average total amp draw for an all electric system, with 2 or 3 vessels heating?

I run 2 vessel heated. Based on Kal's setup but using bottom drained keggles. I installed a 50 AMP GFCI breaker (read expensive) in the panel. I consume about 38 amps with both elements and both pumps running.

I'll second that. I put in a 50A breaker and have a GFCI in a spa panel on my brewery. That way I can plug it into any 50A circuit and run it safely at full-power, or I can switch out the plug for a normal dryer outlet and run it at half-power. That way I can take it other places to brew.

If you want true portability, then propane is hard to beat; however that said, I'm loving my all-electric rig and would never go back.

Just a small upgrade (already) for the GFI cord....



Forgot I had a bunch of these waterproof cable compression fittings. Had ONE that was 3/4" and the rest are 1/2". :rockin:

Now I can return the basic metal clamps that I had to buy a 5-pack for $5. This will lower my GFI cord cost to just the 2-gang box and cover, at around $12. Plus another $20 for the GE remote control outlets in the future.

I will sleep a bit easier now.... That stupid 5-pack was irritating the hell out of me! $5 for $1 part ≠ kosher.

MT

Love it! And now it is a personal challenge to see just how INEXPENSIVE you can build all this...

Huaco said:

Love it! And now it is a personal challenge to see just how INEXPENSIVE you can build all this...

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Dude, I read through your build thread.... That thing is sick! Makes me want to build a control box for the hell of it. Mine will be inexpensive compared to what some guys spend (elbow elbow).

So far, I had to buy one pump and fittings/hose but that was last June before this stand idea was really formenting. Unfortunately, its shaft bent/was bent and it ran at too high amps and was burning up and tripping the thermal overload all the time. The guys at Chugger pumps hooked me up with another one, at no charge. Just dropped it in the mail after an email, troubleshooting and a phone call. So now I have a pump with a bunch of spare parts.

I will probably have to purchase the three BG12 burners and some stainless bolts for making the burned adjustable. Also have buy bolts for the hitch mount.

The gas manifold should be mostly salvaged. I have a bunch of copper sizes, copper fittings, gas valves, copper hangers, etc. I will have to figure out a connection to the lp tank. I saw a 30psi regulator with 6' stainless braid hose somewhere for $20. This way my old turkey fryer burner is still around and functional.
Oh, I'm still scanning for casters and one broken corny. And I only have one keg so far; I will probably use my old hlt and coolers until I can rescue more kegs.

So far, with the pump and fittings, I'm at ~$250 for everything I have for the build. I am shooting for $350-400 total for materials and equipment (plus welding fees). I am sure I can come in way lower on materials if I can be somewhat patient and diligent on my spying.

Cheers,

MT

Yeah, my ribs stay bruised... I get a lot of elbows thrown in there by my buddies... lol!

I respect what you are doing. Though I took a total different paradigm with my build... Still, you are going to have a totally functional home brewery at the end of this journey and most importantly, MAKE BEER ON IT!!!
I look forward to seeing how you decide to mount the brew stand to the trailer hitch. This Could also be an AWESOME tailgating setup... Dual purpose the brew stand with some other kettles to make some boiled peanuts, boiled crawlfish, Cook up a HUGE pot of chili! Man... You would be bringing in taligaters from a mile down-wind!

We do have 3 of those 100+ year old aluminum stock pots. The one I got from my parent's attic and two more from antique shops. I haven't done a proper crawfish boil since we lived in Arkansas...I don't think it's a coincidence that the brewing boil is 1hr and potatoes take 45min, corn 10min, crawfish/shrimp 5min.