Electric 1.5 BBL Upgrade

jaginger said:

Awesome, Craig! Do you plan to be exhibiting at GABF? I have a business trip out there (from CT) and i would love to see your setup when I'm out there, and try a few tasty brews.

Jason

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Not this year. I'm too far behind schedule and on top of that a booth at GABF is mighty expensive these days.

I will, however, be at the brewer's only session on Saturday afternoon.

You are more than welcome to come check out the rig and have a few beers. I'm about 20-30 minutes from where the GABF is held tho, so it might be slightly out of your way.

-Craig

Boar Beer said:

It came from More Beer http://morebeer.com/view_product/16613/102281/Stainless_in-line_Oxygenation_Assembly

This unit came all assembled you only need to connect the tubing.
Yes .5 micron and we follow the direction of abut 8 lb pressure for half the batch.

Let me check the pump. its old and came from a HBT member

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Sweet. Thanks!

following this one.

any updates? did you find a location yet?

tante said:

any updates? did you find a location yet?

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Yeah sorry I haven't written any updates for a while. Right now I am still working on equipment. I don't plan to find a place to rent until late Feb. or early March of 2012. I need time to build my bank account back up.

In the mean time I have been working on modifying my fermenters and have done some pretty sweet stuff. It was going to be my next big update. It's almost done.

I put up all the fermenters on casters, modified some extra lids with CIP Spray balls, built a micro controller that will monitor fermenter temps and open valves to run chiller water through S.S. coils though all four fermenters that I can monitor and make temperature adjusts from anywhere on my andriod phone!! I still have a few things to do which is why I have written up the progress on the fermenter modifications yet.

I need to get the S.S coils mounted on the lids, solder up the temperature probes, and get all the valves and electronics into a case to protect them a bit.

Soooo, short answer, I will def let everyone know when anything cool happens

cruelkix said:

I put up all the fermenters on casters, modified some extra lids with CIP Spray balls, built a micro controller that will monitor fermenter temps and open valves to run chiller water through S.S. coils though all four fermenters that I can monitor and make temperature adjusts from anywhere on my andriod phone!!

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Dear god that rules. Im in Denver, you know Ill be hitting up your brewery as soon as you open! Killer build, man.

I like this, I like it a lot. Subscribed. Keep on keepin on!

Subscribed... how are you planning to work your CIP system? hard plumbed or protable?

ps: those fermenters are sweet! now I just have to convince the wife that I "need" some.

jtsims21 said:

Subscribed... how are you planning to work your CIP system? hard plumbed or protable?

ps: those fermenters are sweet! now I just have to convince the wife that I "need" some.

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Definitely portable. Some sort of Supply and return pump on wheels with a water/cleaning supply tank. I haven't fully figured it out yet. Finding the right pumps to provide the proper PSI and flow rate can be difficult/expensive.

Yeah, the fermenters are huge and take up a lot of space in the house right now. If you go homebrew scale though they are really inexpensive and should be much more manageable in a home environment.

That setup looks nice! Good luck getting setup! Let me know when you are up and running so I can come down and taste some beer!

Brewmoor said:

That setup looks nice! Good luck getting setup! Let me know when you are up and running so I can come down and taste some beer!

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Thanks man. I went by your place the other day and you guys were at some beer festival. Place loooked great. How is the new equipment install going? I can't believe you guys upgraded form what I have going to a 7 bbl system in only 7 months!!! That is awesome. Man I could pick your brain for hours. I was bummed out that you guys weren't there when I stopped by. I may have to make the trip out again at some point. Your lady friend behind the bar was super nice and let me have a look around though .

I would love to see a video of your brew day with this system

SO I know its been a while, so here's a quick update. As I've said I've been working on my temperature control for my 85 gallons fermenters. The system is finally at a place I feel comfortable showing my progress.

Check out the video and let me know what you think:



On another note, I started looking at real estate. My wife and I went over to a little place down town that has some potential however, its a little tight at around 750-800 sq ft. The layout is difficult as it is on 14 wide!!! Getting all of my equipment and walk in cooler and such in there while still having room for the customers to sit looks to be a challenge, but the location is amazing and the rent has a good chance of being relatively low.

I'll try to keep you all update as I move forward.

Spiffy Arduino setup there. Spiffy.

This rig is what dreams are made of....

I can't wait to see its first run. You must take a video

Reno_eNVy said:

This rig is what dreams are made of....

I can't wait to see its first run. You must take a video

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I've used the rig at small production sizes a few times now. Works well. It feels almost exactly like my keggle system really. Just a bit bigger and with tri- clovers instead of brass quick disconnects. Using the tippy dump for the grains is fun as hell tho

I plan on trying to fill up a fermenter next weekend. Maybe I'll take a video of that for you guys. Double batch of 31 gallons a piece.... Its going to cost me lots of money, but it should be very interesting. I figure 50-60 gallons is enough to not have to worry about head space concerns and get to the point where the temp probe will hit it.

I have some brewing friends lined up to take a good chuck of the 50 or 60 gallons off my hands after its done fermenting. Hopefully I can pass about 20-25 gallons to friends. Its nice having 3 friends with kegerators to dump excess beer off on

HopsJunkie said:

Spiffy Arduino setup there. Spiffy.

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Thanks! They really are pretty sweet little microcontrollers for relatively cheap.

Wow, great stuff cruelkix! Best of luck with this endevour.

cruelkix said:

Hopefully I can pass about 20-25 gallons to friends. Its nice having 3 friends with kegerators to dump excess beer off on

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ive never had the problem of not having enough people to take my beer... the problem is usually getting them to leave me enough, but then again I cant brew a 1.5 BBL batch either

great job. Thanks for the vidio.
Good luck with your brewery

cruelkix said:

SO I know its been a while, so here's a quick update. As I've said I've been working on my temperature control for my 85 gallons fermenters. The system is finally at a place I feel comfortable showing my progress.

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Great setup, one question I have for you is what type of valves did you use with your arduino setup. I have been having problems finding some that are in the right price range.
thanks.

allen00se said:

Great setup, one question I have for you is what type of valves did you use with your arduino setup. I have been having problems finding some that are in the right price range.
thanks.

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I got them from ebay from valves4projects here:
Gravity Feed Capable, 1 2 items in valves4projects store on eBay!

I can't say how long they are going to hold up, but the prices were relatively decent.

forgive me if i missed this- but what do you plan on keeping the cooling water in, and at what temp?

defenestrate said:

forgive me if i missed this- but what do you plan on keeping the cooling water in, and at what temp?

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I was going to keep a reservoir in my walk in cooler where I'm going to store all of my kegs/serving tanks. So probably around 38-40 degrees.

awesome. i was flirting with this idea for a nano as well, i've actually seen a brewery that did exactly this- he was able to use it for 15 bbl plastic fermenters and hit -20 below ambients.

requires ALOT of water since a walk in isn't the greatest for bringing the water back down to temp. he actually used 3 very large tanks and when one would warm, he would switch to the second tank and so on.

here's a vid. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4238479/VID00031.AVI

glycol would be nice, but its just so much for a nano to invest in. good luck and i might be bugging you for some info on that fancy controller you are using

Any updates?

smuth10 said:

Any updates?

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As I stated before, real estate continues to be a huge obstacle. I've put a down payment on a place and am currently awaiting the initial draft of the lease agreement. For anyone not in California and doing this in their garage, the lease is when things get very real. The second you get that, you can begin to apply for all of the necessary permits.

My company also announced they are closing the doors, so things have become pretty huge for me. I'm officially laid off. This is no longer a continue to work on the side venture. I'm all in. Scary... but super exciting.

Equipment is good to go. My severance package is going to help fund things. I have applied for a $25k credit from my bank, I should hear if I am approved for that at the end of this week (or so I'm told). My credit score is good (720 ish) so I'm positive on this aspect.

Other than all that, I'm continuing to go into my job until April 6th when the doors close. I am very very impatiently waiting to hear back from both the land lord and the bank.

If things go well with lease negotiations, I will be insanely busy very soon

After that, I expect to see anyone that is on this board and lives in Colorado at my place very soon!!! I'll throw you a discount if you mention HBT

Good luck!

sounds exciting. we are all rooting for you

keep the news coming. I believe that pretty much everybody here is thrilled with your venture. best of luck and damn why do I live so far from Colorado.

Cheers

cruelkix said:

I'll throw you a discount if you mention HBT

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be careful what you say, I'm holding you to it
cant wait to visit. are you planning on doing a wide array of beers, or specialize in Hoppy beers? Only reason i ask is because i went to a nano in Oregon that almost only had High IBU beers(above 40) on tap, as a hop-head I was in heaven!

TravisT said:

be careful what you say, I'm holding you to it
cant wait to visit. are you planning on doing a wide array of beers, or specialize in Hoppy beers? Only reason i ask is because i went to a nano in Oregon that almost only had High IBU beers(above 40) on tap, as a hop-head I was in heaven!

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I think you will appreciate my Double IPA. It will be on tap opening day. And I'll give you a discount on it

Brewery is called High Gravity Brewing, Inc.

I plan on having 4 beers to start.

Wheat (for the non beer drinkers) 5% ABV low IBU
Double IPA - 8% ABV 80 IBU
Imperial Stout - 9% ABV low IBU
Belgian Strong Ale - 12% around 40 IBU

I might do a stand stout instead of an imperial just to give people some low ABV options.

After that I will be doing all sorts of stuff but those four will remain on tap.

looks like your going with a big ABV brews. nice! You do have some pretty strong competition, anheuser busch has a 6% beer, Bud light platinum! When you put platinum in your name it means its the best beer ever....

Ooh! Are you gonna triple filter?

TravisT said:

looks like your going with a big ABV brews. nice! You do have some pretty strong competition, anheuser busch has a 6% beer, Bud light platinum! When you put platinum in your name it means its the best beer ever....

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Awesome! I might just put this in my signature...

I have adjusted my beer names to accomidate for this new marketing schema. Thank you for the advice. See below:

Platinum Wheat (for the non beer drinkers) 5% ABV low IBU
Platinum Double IPA - 8% ABV 80 IBU
Imperial Stout Platinum- 9% ABV low IBU
Belgian Platinum Strong Ale Platinum- 12% around 40 IBU

:cross::cross:

TravisT said:

be careful what you say, I'm holding you to it
cant wait to visit. are you planning on doing a wide array of beers, or specialize in Hoppy beers? Only reason i ask is because i went to a nano in Oregon that almost only had High IBU beers(above 40) on tap, as a hop-head I was in heaven!

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What nano did you visit?

Best of luck to you!

cruelkix said:

I have adjusted my beer names to accomidate for this new marketing schema. Thank you for the advice. See below:

Platinum Wheat (for the non beer drinkers) 5% ABV low IBU
Platinum Double IPA - 8% ABV 80 IBU
Imperial Stout Platinum- 9% ABV low IBU
Belgian Platinum Strong Ale Platinum- 12% around 40 IBU

:cross::cross:

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good... your next step is to get 5 min or commercial airplay in the next super bowl. lol on a serious note, are you concerned about the conditioning time of your beers since they are such high ABV/dark beers.

Mr_Pear said:

What nano did you visit?

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http://www.doublemountainbrewery.com/ in hood river. Went there this summer and was amazed when i looked a brewery brochure. OR has a ton or micro/nano breweries. my Fiance is from newport so i made her stop a every brewery i saw.

TravisT said:

on a serious note, are you concerned about the conditioning time of your beers since they are such high ABV/dark beers.

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A little bit. The DIPA and the Imperial stout actually smooth out pretty quickly. Both because they are so flavorful. The Belgian Strong ale on the other hand, benefits from time significantly and really takes about 2 months before it is where it should be, so it will be the first thing I brew the second I am able too. I'm hoping to shave some time off it with proper pitching rates and O2.

The great part is it only gets better with time, so I can brew lots of it and not have to worry about it going "bad" or anything like that. It will just take up keg space.

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