my basement brewroom build

Actually its kinda funny. The whole process of painting the walls was brought on by finding an almost full can of drylock I had used on the finished side of the basement. So in turn, I used two coats of drylock, a coat of primer (due to the bright color i used, not so much for any kind of prep), and two coats of paint. I was considering going propane in the basement with very good ventilation, but due to my 5 year old and my dog being low to the ground and the fact that i have bilco doors, i opted against it. Rather be safe then sorry.
Tom

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Got a couple pieces of drywall hung tonight. Unfortunately the next step is going to be making some noise and everyone else was in bed, so it will have to wait. Progress so far:

All the drywall up and now spackle time. Got the first coat on tonight. With any luck, this wall will be done and painted by the end of the weekend. Oh, and the wall I put up is actually plumb. It's the pole the builders put up that is not!
tom

Wall is done. Need to get more of the base trim and some trim for around the doors, then I can move everything back in place.
tom

Still no panel. Mike at Spike Innovations is having some problems with his supplier. With any luck I should see it Thursday or Friday of this week. I did get a little bit done so far this weekend. Ran my hot and cold water lines so I now have running water directly at the brew table.
tom

Super cool! It all looks great.

I can't wait to see the rest of build

I'm liking it. I'm working on my own area in my garage since I've kinda out grown my kitchen. Mine is in my garage, and I'm at the very early stage of getting it done. Next big project with the winter months bearing down on me is getting the walls insulated and drywalled, then a actual brew stand built, cause right now I have a hodge podge stand put together.

Looking good Tom. I'm jealous! Just getting a start on my brew space.

Thanks for the kind words! getting there little by litte. It's kind of obvious I really only get to make bigger steps on the weekends. When I get the panel I'll be able to work on that a little each night. hope to have that built in a month or so, whenever I get the dang thing! After that, its just run a 240 line, finish the ceiling, polish the keggles, and change all my hardware over to stainless. Oh, and get my pumps. I'm hoping to have things finished off by January or February. Not a lot to do yet but it's all high dollar stuff.
Tom

DIY panel kit will be here tomorrow according to ups.

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Starting to get jealous.....

Umm...yeah...I'm happy...

nice! Looking forward to seeing it together!

Some pictures of the progress from today. Ground off the bolts for the wire plate at work today, JB Welded the ground post, and started drilling some mounting holes in the backplate to start mounting stuff. I need to go to my grandfathers this weekend to use his drill press. I can only do limited holes with the one I'm using due to the throat depth. Have to measure for all my switches and stuff and will probably drill the pilot holes for them as well.
Tom

Tom,
Looks great. Reminds me of my build. Can't wait to come over and see the 50 amp in action.

Thanks Mike! Working on cutting all the holes I need today and hopefully get a coat of primer on it tonight. hope to have it all painted up tomorrow and start installing the lights and switches and the wiring on Monday. I'm off work on Monday, so I should be able to get quite a bit done. Where I stand as of now:

looking nice!

Here is some inspiration

Didn't get to the priming or painting today, but I did get quite a bit done. Have to drill the holes for the handles on the front yet and all the jigsaw work, then it will me time to change the color. Progress from today:

looks great! what tools are you using to cut all of the holes?

I used a punch similar to a Greenlee for all the holes for the 22mm switches and bi metal hole saws for the large electrical plug holes. Thanks for the compliment.
tom

This is where I'm at as of now. only been working on it an hour or so each night.
Tom

Looking good. The wiring was the worst part for me. I started out keeping everything super organized and perfect, but gradually got worse. The end product is pretty neat, but not to the extent of some others on here.

TomRep said:

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Where did you find the black connector on the left in the photo? I really want to add this feature to my system, but haven't been able to find a 50A version at a reasonable price.

Cool setup... I have a basement setup, too. What are you planning on doing for ventilation from your hood?

pickles said:

Where did you find the black connector on the left in the photo? I really want to add this feature to my system, but haven't been able to find a 50A version at a reasonable price.

Click to expand...

Kal sells them as part of the kit. The are call locking California style rectaple

This is where I am as of now. After wiring up the 8 gauge wire for the element outlets, I realized I needed to get the wires sorted out. spent about an hour and a half straightening everything out and attaching it all. Have to finish wiring the elements, finish some ground wires, wire the start interlock, and I believe it will be finished.
tom

lookin real sweet Tom! Too bad I won't have anything like that for quite a long time!

Thanks bud! Have it all wired up and ready for testing (except the safe start interlock). Went to plug it in and realized our dryer outlet is a different style. Now I have to wait until I get my 240 line run into the brewroom.
Tom

Your stove is the proper plug. Did you use the spa panel for gfci?

I didn't even hook my 240 up for the brewery yet. I am going to be using a spa panel though. Waiting to hear from a guy about some wire first. If no luck with him I'll be hitting the Depot. I swear I own atleast one isle in that place by now! I though of using our oven plug, but we have a double built in oven, so no easy task. Maybe I'll hit my neighbor up or this dude I know that has a panel in Pottstown thats eager to check mine out!
tom

Got this bad boy fired up tonight! Two minor problems. 1) My transformer for my amp meter grounded to the back panel (even with two washers under it for mounting!) and fried itself and the meter. Emailed Mike to get some replacements on the way. 2) My element select lights did not work. Turns out I forgot to wire them in to the circuit. Other then that, everything fired up and worked great! I didn't check the voltages for the outputs of the elements and the pumps, but I should be fine there.
Tom

MAN that thing is friggin sexy! Cheers!

Wired up the element select lights, safe start interlock, and tacked all the wires in place. Ampmeter and converter are on there way from Mike. Hope to get them tomorrow but I'm thinking more like Monday. Everything is working sweetly right now. Tested all my outputs and they are all there. PID's are all reading properly with the probes attached. I do have one more probe to make up but I plan to do that sometime this weekend. My new pots arrived today as well. Only a couple more steps and my brewery will be complete! I will post up more pics of the panel with all the bells and whistles operating as soon as I get the new ampmeter working.
Tom

Thought you were doing keggles? What size kettles did you get?

I was going to, but couldn't pass these for the price. 20 gallons a piece

TomRep said:

I was going to, but couldn't pass these for the price. 20 gallons a piece

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Great build and setup Tom. Mind sharing where you scored those kettles for such a great price?

I found a thread in the for sale forums that linked to an ebay auction. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/100-qt-aluminum-boil-pt-225279/ He was out of the 100 qt, but still had plenty of the 80 qt. For $65 shipped to my door, I couldn't go wrong. I wasn't happy with the keggles due to: 1) height when on the bench 2) fitting placement 3) smaller opening with the lip from where/how it was cut out. The kettles let me arrange everything how I want it and the height is perfect. Wasn't too fond of going back to aluminum (no other factor then the "bling"), but there is no way I can afford 3 new stainless pots with everything else that is going on in that room.
tom

Glad to see some updated pics. Looks awesome.....nice work and very inspiring! I too am begining my basement brewery with an e-HERMs system very soon. I got my hands on a couple of stainless steel tables and am starting the keggle conversions very shortly. 5500W heating elements should be here tomorrow and I'm ordering everything else for the conversions this week. I plan on cutting the legs down on one of the stainless tables for easier access to the keggle openings. Keep up the great work and keep us posted! I'll start a brewery thread just as soon as I get the space cleared out.

Hoppopotomus- Thanks for the kind words! I really love your knotty pine/backwoods style bar build. Read through that thread a couple times. looking forward to seeing your basement build!