How has your Brewery grown in 2010

[JorgeIsKing]

A little late I know, but that's pretty much the story of my life.

Figured I'd put together a post where we can reflect on/brag about all the ways our breweries have improved over the past year.

Here's my list:

• Kegging Setup with 2 Cornies, 10lb tank, regulator, and picnic taps
• New digital Thermometer
• Digital Scale
• 3 Brewing Books (Tasting Beer, How To Brew, Brewing Classic Styles)
• Stirring Paddle (I used to use a plastic spoon, but it ended up being way too small once I started doing full boils)
• Foodsaver
• Beersmith

Not the most impressive list compared to some of the crazy setups I've seen on here, but I'm still pretty damn proud of it.

How did everyone else do this past year?

 

[Ace_Club]

In 2010 I expanded as follows:

• Kegging system (7 cornies, 10# tank, kegerator, picnic taps)
• Two additional primary fermenters (6 total)
• Three Sanke Kegs (for the 2011 move to All-Grain)
• DIY Mash Paddle (for the 2011 move to All-Grain)
• Brewed 54 gallons (more than twice any of my previous year's volumes)

Now that 2011 is here, I've got 3-4 months until I plan to do my first all-grain batch...time to get cracking!

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

In 2010:

- upgraded from a 9 gallon to a 25 gallon kettle
- started doing 10 gallon batches
- increased keg serving capacity from 2 to 5 (with 3 being portable)
- added an additional primary

In 2010 I hope to:

- upgrade HLT & MLT to handle 15 gallon batches at any gravity
- add 2 more taps
- add 2 more primaries to keep the taps full
- add a pump to get me off the ladder

 

[Randar]

Now that 2011 is here, I've got 3-4 months until I plan to do my first all-grain batch...time to get cracking!

Substitute 2010 for 2011 in your post and I think I have deja vu from last January! :cross:



For me in 2010:
1) Brewed more than I have ever brewed in one year.
2) Grew from ~6 gallon batches to 13-15 gallon batches.
2) Delved into wine and mead
3) Integrated a pump
4) increased fermentation capacity 10-fold.
5) Built a fermentation chamber

For 2011:
1) Build walk-in cold room and lagering chamber to go with Ferm Chamber
2) Complete brew stand to enable easier brewing days (no automation yet)

 

[MrFugglz]

In 2010 I started my new hobsession with:
a) 2 books
b) 1 Extract Setup, including a 6 gal SS pot, 6.5 gal primary, and a 5 gal secondary
c) Built a dual tap sanyo-conversion kegerator & 4 cornys

and brewed about 50 gallons of great beer!

My 2011 all grain setup arrives today (so says UPS), including the following:
a) 15g HLT
b) 10g Igloo MLT Conversion
c) March 809 pump
d) 10g Kettle
c) 7.3 SS Conical Fermenter
e) Therminator wort chiller
f) Thrumometer
g) SS camlocks and silicon tubing for quick connects/disconnects!

LOOK OUT 2011!!!

 

[wildwest450]

From this

To this

I was busy in 2010!


.

 

[Ace_Club]

From this

To this

I was busy in 2010!


.

DAMN YOU!!! That is a really sweet build. :rockin:

 

[CoalCracker]

Oh boy, here comes the realization I've spent too much in 2010.

2 tap tower w/ perlick faucets.
2 keggles w/ 3 piece ball valves.
march pump
3 Corny Kegs
15g keg for primary fermentation
Grain mill
Brew stand
Control panel.
Counterflow Chiller
(I'm sure there is more)

**Most of this fall under my eHERMS build. It was quite the expensive year.

2011:
2 more corny's, getting them this weekend.
More books
2nd march pump
Plate chiller
Jockey box
Possibly upgrade herms coil to SS

Looks like another expensive year. Altough a bit less than last.

 

[CoalCracker]

Wildwest: You win...

 

[flyfishnc]

In 2010 I added a few new toys to the mix

• new 'Great Beers' book
• bought a 2 tap jockey box and modified it to connect to corny and sanke kegs
• acquired a 10 pound co2 tank
• additional regulator
• new mash tun thermometer
• upgraded to a 10 gallon mash tun
• picked up a dedicated HLT vs. using my current brew kettle
• purchased the Blichmann TopTier stand

One other thing I did was enter my first beer competition. I was lucky enough to win the Stout category and take second in the English and American Brown category.

 

[Shooter]

from this

to this

i was busy in 2010!


.

Holy God!!!!

EDIT: Hmm, guess the pictures didn't copy in the quote, but my statement still stands!

 

[IrregularPulse]

Love that picture WW. Best angle I've seen of the whole brewery.

My brewery has went from a function gravity 10G system with 1 keg, a burner and a cooler, to 2 incomplete systems using electric and pumps. So I guess I've went from brewing AG 10G batches to no brewery . 2011 should be better.

 

[Ace_Club]

My brewery has went from a function gravity 10G system with 1 keg, a burner and a cooler, to 2 incomplete systems using electric and pumps. So I guess I've went from brewing AG 10G batches to no brewery . 2011 should be better.

Progression...you're doing it wrong.

 

[motobrewer]

Upgraded mash tun (5 gal to 52 quart)
bought a few more fermentors
secondary regulator
refractometer
thermapen

2011 will bring:
new brewpot. 15 gal at least

 

[ScubaSteve]

2010:

Added a ferm fridge in addition to my kegerator.
COMPLETELY scrapped/sold my old rig and am still building an all-SS electric rig

2011:

I plan to finish my build in the next month or two....
And get back to actually brewing beer!
I want to focus on nailing my process down.
I've considered getting a conical, but not sure I need one or can control the temp.
I'd like to get into using a spunding valve for pressurized fermentation
I want to start filtering my beers with a coarse filter.
Also, since I know I'll be here the next 2 years, I may plant hops.

 

[IrregularPulse]

Progression...you're doing it wrong.

My new pot for my jkarp replica should be delivered tomorrow. I should be able to get that system up and running in a couple months at least.

 

[buzzkill]

the only thing I got in 2010 was a kegging set up. spent alot less than I did in 2009. would be nice if this year I only had to buy grain/hops/co2,LPG.

 

[Hex]

2010 advanced to all grain brewing, from extract to lauter in a bag to false bottom lauter/fly sparge. See pics in my profile gallery.

2011 should bring a better hands on understanding of beer.

 

[Hammy71]

Lets see....

Built a keezer and went from 2 taps to 6 in the basement. At least 10 books. More than doubled my kegs from 5 to 11. New fermentation fridge. Upgraded the brewery (although not as nice as WildWest's.....wow...)

From a 20 gallon aqurarium stand with one pot too.....

 

[IrregularPulse]

Also I went from a standard 2 tap keezer (still being used until the bar is finsihed) to a 7x7 L shape bar that is half done and will hold ~5-6 Cornies in the built in cold box.

 

[Randar]

the only thing I got in 2010 was a kegging set up. spent alot less than I did in 2009. would be nice if this year I only had to buy grain/hops/co2,LPG.

I really NEED to spend less in 2011. Even if I build a walk-in cooler I think it will be relatively easy to keep it under my 2010 expenses. I was seriously out of control this past year.

 

[cravej]

I started in January 2010, so I went from nothing to this:

 

[Strongbad52]

3 7.75 sanke kegs - future fermenting vessels
2 15.5 sanke kegs - 1 converted to HLT w/sight glass, the other will be the mash tun.
Single tier brew stand - (work in progress, just need the gas lines plumbed)
2 chugger pumps
9 sets of camlock quick disconnects
25' of silicone tubing
Etched 6 gal carboy


By the way, no sanke kegs were obtained illegally in the above post.

 

[Irrenarzt]

I built this in 2010

 

[John Beere]

hmm.. I'll go!

I went from this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/welp-im-out-business-112710/

to this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/deep-six-brewery-back-action-164889/

 

[wildwest450]

I built this in 2010

That thing is awesome! I need to do one of those, did you do a thread on the build?? If not, where did you get the cart?

hmm.. I'll go!

I went from this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/welp-im-out-business-112710/

to this:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/deep-six-brewery-back-action-164889/

A build of epic proportions!!


_

 

[Irrenarzt]

No I just posted it up after it was done. I built the cart from 80/20 and assembled it myself. I can give measurements if you're really interested. It's easy stuff to work with if you have a chop saw.

 

[wildwest450]

No I just posted it up after it was done. I built the cart from 80/20 and assembled it myself. I can give measurements if you're really interested. It's easy stuff to work with if you have a chop saw.

I'll take as much info as you're willing to type. I have no idea what 80/20 is.....

And don't be stingy with the motor and pulley sizes.



_

 

[hatfieldenator]

I built this in 2010

Beautiful! I love it!

 

[hatfieldenator]

2010 for me...

I went from never brewing a batch of beer in my life to becoming completely obsessed with the hobby and now hoping to open my own micro brewery some day!

I started with a cheapo stovetop extract set up and within 6 months upgraded to an (almost complete) 10 gallon all grain HERMS set up and I'm now in the process of building a control panel just like Kal's!
My wife is ready to kill me, but I did give up another hobby in order to pursue this one. Fortunately she likes this hobby a lot more than my last hobby.

 

[Ben_Persitz]

I just rediscovered brewing in 2010 after a short hiatus (living and job situations prevented me from brewing).

In 2010 from October on I did this:

-Built a 3 tap keezer to replace my single tap fridge, which will now be a fermentation fridge.

-Got a wort chiller

-New brewpot

-Brewed 4 beers in 3 months (more than I ever did before)

-Built an MLT and switched to all grain

-Bought two more carboys

-Bought a food saver and a bunch of bulk hops to save $$$$

 

[cruckin78]

Upgraded to 240 square foot brewery, got a 50lb co2 tank. and 1//3 bbl all grain system

all from cooking on the stove extract in Feb lol i'm insane,,,,

 

[KCBrewer]

From this

To this

I was busy in 2010!


.

Ahhh, someday. After watching your build, I've been working on the wife. I've almost got her convinced to either sell or move our hot tub so I can build something like this in its place. I'm trying to convince her (and myself I suppose) that there is nothing wrong with having 2 bars in our house.

I built this in 2010

I still love this pic. Maybe it's just the lighting, but that thing looks like it's made of platinum. Beautiful!

As for me, I started brewing in late January of 2010. Today I have:

A full bar with 6 taps
Single tier AG setup
10 cornies
20lb and (2) 5lb co2 tanks & a half dozen regulators
(4) 6.5g & (3) 5g carboys & a 6.5g bucket
Temp controlled fermentation chest freezer
Cold crashing, beer storage, lagering, mug fridge/freezer
Grain Mill
500+ lbs of grain
6+ lbs of hops
vacuum sealer
and an endless list of miscellaneous brewing equipment (thermometers, hydrometer, etc...)
and my most recent build - the automatic carboy/cornie/keggle washer

I guess 2010 was a good year. Now I can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

 

[MBasile]

•Built a 4 keg kegerator
•8 gallon brew pot (up from 5 gal)
•Started doing full boil partial mash brews
•Ordered all-grain equipment (although the blichmann burner wont be here for a couple of weeks I suppose)

So THATS where all my money went

 

[Henrythe9th]

from stove top to this

to this

and this

200 gals. later OMG its an obsession

opened my own LHBS

 

[Bigscience]

For 2010:

-Built a keg washer
-Built a line cleaner
-Built an auto-siphon sanitizer chamber (holds 2 L)
-Bought a digital refractometer on Christmas night after the fat man didn't bring me one.
-Got an extra 2L flask (for my second stirplate or as a breakage backup)
-Got an O2 wand to replace the stone at the end of a tube setup
-Got a real O2 regulator (now I just need a flowmeter and DO meter)
-Got a new grain scale
-Replaced all brass/copper with stainless (ok, except for the chiller water fittings. Do they even make stainless garden hose fittings?)
-Replaced HLT HERMS unit with a 5 gal stainless, PID controlled, electric one
-Replaced all bulkhead fittings with welded
-Replaced all thermocouples with RTDs
-Added kegerator shelf to go from 2 to 4 brews on tap
-Should have added 4 gauge secondary regulator (supplier messed up and sent the wrong thing)
-Should have installed perlick faucets (another supplier still hasn't shipped yet. What's wrong with on line retailers?)

 

[TristanL]

From this

To this

I was busy in 2010!


.

That's gorgeous! Great job!

 

[Irrenarzt]

8020.net I think is their site, check it out. It's fun stuff.

I'll post up the dimensions as I have the sketch at work I think and I'm home now. The motor is the standard 1725 rpm AC motor for a swamp cooler. You can get them at Home Depot for 50 bucks or less (I got mine for 30). The motor pulley is the smallest one I could find at 1.5" diameter and fits the standard 4L belt. The sheave is 12" but it has a 5/8" bore so you need to shim it down to 1/2" which is easy. Shims are readily available. The mill is the MM3-2.0 with hardened rollers and the 11 lb capacity hopper. The belt I used is a 3L440 Gates belt which is thinner than a 4L so it rides lower in the groove to lower rpm a tad more. 12" is about the biggest sheave you can run with this setup as a 14 will hit the hopper I reckon.

 

[LambChop4Prez]

After finally graduating college and getting a real job, I am finally able to afford real brewing equipment.
In 2010 I got

• 6.5 gal fermentor
• 5 gal fermentor
• turkey fryer kit w/ 7.5 gal pot
• supplies to build a counterflow chiller
• bottle tree
• bench apper
• 10 gal rubbermaid (found it at home depot on new years eve!)

not I just have to finish my manifold and get started with all grain!

 

[oceanselv]

Is my wife monitoring this forum? If so my brewery didn't increase. Just in case she is not here I added:

* New kettle
* Kegging set up
* New keezer
* New chiller pump
* New burner
* New MLT
* New immersion chiller
* Lager fridge
* 2 additional carboys
* New cabinets and shelving for storage
* Began purchasing grain by the sack and hops by the pound