New user and new brewery

The brewery is up... stop by and check it out.

http://www.jackieboybrewing.com

Welcome to the forum...nice system you've got there.

That's just a bit nicer than what I started out with. And what I have now, come to think of it.

Good job, and welcome aboard!

Nate said:

The brewery is up... stop by and check it out.

http://www.jackieboybrewing.com

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Nice looking dog!

Nice.....I would be interested in the control loop. Can you pm me with more detail? I am looking for the same thing.

Thanks for the replies gents. It was definitely fun building it and, so far, the brew has been excellent. Beermaker, I'll send you a PM regarding the controller.

DAMN nice set Nate! good look'n sheep dog too. i know the feeling of how a good a dog can be. mine's alway's helping on brew day!
cheers and welcome aboard!!!!!

Wow! that is very nice. Do you mind telling how much of an investment something like that would be??

Broux - appreciate the comments and the welcome. My wife complains that the dog gets more attention that she does.

Ian- The total was about $2500. That was doing pretty much everything myself and purchasing some of the more expensive items on eBay. If I had to do it again, I'd build a manual HERMS... the controller was a huge amount of design, build, and testing time and I still end up doing a lot of the brewing process manually. The "look cool factor" is pretty high but, in my opinion, manual would have been just as good (and less expensive).

I was wondering if it compared to the "brew sculptures" on morebeer.com. Those are manual but costs a good bit less than $2500. I've never brewed an all-grain batch but of course am very interested as I brew more. And being someone that goes a little overboard with new hobbies (my wife loves this features!) I am thinking of building a small brewery.

ian, check my system in my gallery (also beermakers gallery, same guy made both). pretty easy and efficient. if you can come across 3 sanke kegs, you can pick up all the hardware. you can brew 5 to 15 gallons on these systmes. not NEAR as nice as nates, but work very well.

DeRoux's Broux said:

ian, check my system in my gallery (also beermakers gallery, same guy made both). pretty easy and efficient. if you can come across 3 sanke kegs, you can pick up all the hardware. you can brew 5 to 15 gallons on these systmes. not NEAR as nice as nates, but work very well.

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Looks very nice! So, how much would that set you back? I've got a friend who can do the welding. Did your guy convert the kegs or did you buy those elsewhere?

thanks! he did it all. all i had to provide was the high pressure regulator, kegs, and temperature gauges. he did all the rest. all-in-all the system cost me about $425. pretty damn cheap considering what those systmes go for on the net. they used a plasma cutter to cut holes in the top of the kegs. everything is ss fittings, lines. the only thing i changed was the false bottom set-up. i went to the Bazooka T screen. sparges much, much better. the October issue of Brew Your Own also has a big story on making your own 3-tier keg-kettle system. try to check that out for some more tips and ideas.

Keep in mind that $500 of that cost was the fermenter which won't be included with most systems you buy. Also, the controller was probably around $500 so that could be deducted from the cost. I looked at all the pre-builts I could find and it was definitely cheaper to build. Morebeer's 1550 system is $2100 with no options and no fermenter. Add all the control options, all stainless, a stainless fermenter, etc and every equivalent pre-built system I saw was at least $4000.

Another consideration is long term support. When you build your own, you know how every piece works/fits together and that comes in handy down the road when things break or you want to make modifications... and generally speaking, you'll always want to make modifications. What happens when that pre-built controller stops working? Especially in the middle of a brew session? Just more things to consider...


Broux, that is a nice system at a nice cost. Honestly, I'd go with the cheapest stainless system I could get that would support all grain brewing. My project was done just as much for the "project" aspect as it was for the brewing aspect... well, maybe a little more for the brewing.

thanks. mine is simple to use, basic function, strudy and reliable. and just like you said nate, we can add equipment or make changes real easy. up-grades or down-grades. i'm happy (i still have system envy of yours!)

That is an awsome looking set-up. Good work!

Nate, I know what you mean about manual vs auto-controlled. I think I'd rather be opening and closing valves like a mad scientist concocting his brew!

Oh, and welcome to the forum from the home of your ingredients.

Thanks and well put. By the way, the wife and I visited your country last year and enjoyed it thoroughly... and it wasn't just because of all the pubs.

Did you visit the New Forest (my stomping ground)?

Unfortunately didn't get to your area... mainly London, Dublin, Edinburgh and surrounding areas. We tried to spend most of our time away from the big cities and used the B&Bs whenever we could. Met a lot of very friendly folks and hit as many pubs as we could find. The only complaint I had was seeing Budweiser on tap way too often.

Even the "good" pubs need to cater for the "uneducated"

I'm also new here. I've been doing extracts and meads for eleven years, and I've just about finished my new AG set-up. It's a two-level HERMS with three sanke kegs (HLT up top, MT and BK lower). I figure it'll take about 150 batches to break even on the expenses!
I'll also be beginning to recycle yeast and growing big starters, since the "local" HBS is a couple hundred miles away. I expect to try a few light scottish ales first, then use the yeast from those to feed some bigger beers. Maybe I'll be ready to do a Marzen in a couple months!
Look for my post next week lumped in with the other "Brewing Disaster" stories, I'm sure it's gonna be about as funny as a monkey fork 'n a football!

welcome aboard! just use those first few AG batches as testers. you'll be suprised how good they come out when you don't put so much pressure on yourself.
keep us posted!