Black Pug Brewing Progress Thread

[kellzey]

I got the Diamond Plate idea from him.

First will be a blonde ale knock-off of this... http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=84ea39a5-9587-4ff9-b178-28ee10cb5c0f

Then a stout and then an IPA... my keggerator will have 3 taps... so I plan on making 3 kegs for my open house launch...

 

[l3asturd]

Sounds delicious! New Belgium is pretty popular in my area. Have fun and take plenty of pictures!

 

[crypt0]

I have the same fan speed controller as you. I'm curious how you ended up mounting that to the wall. It has a funny belt clip style bracket included with it, not the greatest option for mounting imho.

 

[kellzey]

I took a little 1/4"-wide strip of metal, Bent it into a __|----|__ type bracket and screwed it into the wall. Then just slid the clip onto the bracket.

 

[Bored329]

My enthusiasm for tinkering rivals that for brewing. I have a feeling I need to slow down but this makes me want to do more.

 

[Yambor44]

Very nice build! When's the launch? I'll try and come down.

 

[CidahMastah]

What did the cork sheets run you? Local buy?

Killer build by the way!

 

[iijakii]

Damn wish I could find some corksheets bigger than freakin' 12"

 

[DamageCT]

Damn wish I could find some corksheets bigger than freakin' 12"

Seriously, I had to deal with the small cork and hope it balances (probably the worst idea I have ever had).

 

[aubiecat]

Damn wish I could find some corksheets bigger than freakin' 12"

Amazon

Bangor Cork

 

[CidahMastah]

Amazon

Bangor Cork

I saw that but it would be a ton of waste for me (unless I glued pieces together). I need ~21''circles but would happily settle for 24x24 x1/2''

 

[kellzey]

This post is from Memorial Day... but I am adding it to my Progress Thread to "complete it".

After about 9 months of on-again/off-again building of Kal's system, I brewed my first batch...


Yesterday (American Memorial Day) was my first time brewing on my new automated system.

Despite one big issue (one of my pumps broke mid-brew), everything came together. Luckily it broke right after mash, and I ended up fly sparging by hand! LOL

My first brew was a simple Blonde Ale inspired by New Belgium Somersault.

My goal is an ABV of 5.5 to 5.7% and an IBU (bitterness) of around 28. I had a target OG of 1.056 and achieved 1.052. Using BeerSmith 2.0, it looks like my efficiency worked out to 88.8%. I had programmed in 90%. I feel happy with my first attempt.


So here's the process (total time is about 7.5 hours from firing up the brewery to finishing cleanup). I can probably shave it down to 6 hours once I become more familiar with the equipment and process.


Crushing the grains in my barley crusher

Hops (Centennial and Cascade)

Brewing salts and mandatory refreshment of the day

The mad scientist's laboratory

The workstation (brewing software, beer platform, and general work area)

Mashing the grains

Initial Foam appears at the start of the boil (this is eventually skimmed off)

Yeast culture

The mad scientist at work

And here we have unfermented beer

 

[kellzey]

Here are some pics of the progress on the beer keezer (keggerator/freezer).

This will have the ability to serve 3 flavors of home brew, each at their own CO2 serving pressure (unit has primary and secondary regulators). This will also have a Johnson digital temperature controller to regulate power to the compressor to keep the temperature at the desired 38 degrees (versus freezing the beer!)


Lastly, I have built this keezer with the entire collar lifting up so that you don't have to lift the heavy kegs as high!

I still have to bond the original lid to the top of the wooden collar, add the drip tray beneath the taps and fire her up!

 

[RVB]

I am absolutely overwhelmed. Your brewery is awesome but the fact that you did it all yourself is incredible.

 

[evandena]

Very nice work. With all your ingenuity, it will only be a matter of time before you build a electric mill.

 

[cscade]

Kellzey, couple of questions. I was building my Kal clone at the same time as you, and I'm curious. I've had some issues with corrosion on my HLT element. Any issues for you with your anode setup? Also, I'd like to get some rubber pads as you have for the floor but I can't find them at reasonable prices. Any suggestions? Cheers!

 

[kellzey]

Anode works great! No issues at all.

Got it here... http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000701HF0/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


Rubber mats were not cheap, but work great. I like the fact that they interlock. After brew day, I take them outside, hose them down, and I'm done. They are also nice and compliant and provide some relief when standing for a while...

Got them here... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UIPFH4/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 (Says currently unavailable)....

another color is here...http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UICF18/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[bellmtbbq]

Hey Kellzey, I just saw this thread, sorry for necroing, but how is it going? I bet you could have that HD inspected and open up commercially, not like a full time job but it'd let you do weddings if you wanted or something. Great build!

 

[Rondacker]

Whoa! Just read through this..
Awesome build

 

[kellzey]

Thank you... it brews great beer too! See my signature for what I've done so far.

Up next...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/new-belgium-belgo-269744/

 

[bmunos]

WOW! you should re-post in DYI!