My Electric Brewery Build!

[jbsengineer]

Starting to look like something. Unfortunately I'm only about 20% complete!

 

[rockinmarty]

nice bling shot

 

[nvr2low]

great job, cant wait to see it done!

 

[jbsengineer]

great job, cant wait to see it done!

me too,

 

[CidahMastah]

Kicks arse man, love the hood! It is starting to look like something for sure

I just posted a few pics of my progress - hope to wire this weekend (definitely a "Kal inspired" build though my guts are a bit different).

I put in an outlet for an overhead hood (controlled by a switch on the panel). However I think I will hold off on the hood/ventilation fan until next fall/winter since I have sunk so much$$ into the control panel recently.

 

[TrainSafe]

That is a work of art! Great photography too. It is nice to be able to create such a masterpiece, but even better to have the skill to capture the beauty and share it with the world.

 

[vaheel]

What type of exhaust fan are you planning to use?

 

[CidahMastah]

What type of exhaust fan are you planning to use?

I will let jbsengineer speak for himself, however most people say you need about 400cfm. Me personally I will getting getting one of these, or a close equivalent based on price with 747cfm. to get good suction on Jbsengineer's right I would assume he will need to go with a pretty good sized blower.

 

[kal]

Don't look at CFM only. It's a somewhat meaningless number that is greatly affected by airflow resistance. You want a fan that has good static pressure. One brand may actually only move 1/10th the rated CFM value while another may move close to the actual rated value. The difference is static pressure. The Vortex line linked to above are a good choice as they have good static pressure.

Kal

 

[jbsengineer]

Like Cidah and Kal referenced, I'm going with a 6" Vortex inline fan. Kal makes a good case for it on his site and NattyBrew (who's hood design I copied) has no issues with moisture.

 

[jbsengineer]

Today I didn't make much progress but I was able to stop at Lowes and grab all the plumbing parts I'll need. I'm hoping to at least get the drain put in for the sink tomorrow. Maybe over next week I can get the fixtures plumbed.

I imagine after the sink I will work on bringing some more light over to the area with a new electrical connection and track lighting.

 

[kpr121]

Subscribed! Want to see details on the electric setup!

Oh, and is that Swamp People on the TV in the background? I figured you were awesome by the build so far, but that just seals the deal!

 

[jbsengineer]

Some more progress. The sink is fully installed. I mounted it to the wall, installed the drain, and plumbed hot and cold water to it.

I have to say, having a sink this large is a huge luxury! Having the drainboard is very handy.

The overhead pre-rinse faucet will be installed later this week. The coupler the company sent me was cross threaded so they are sending me a new one.

By the way, the quality of the sink is excellent. Also got it for a great price shipped for free! I like it so much I bought a 48"x24" table and 24" shelf last night from the same company.

 

[kal]

Nice work!

Are you going to be putting anything behind the kettles and sink to cover up the plastic vapour barrier on the wall? I'd be concerned about cleaning off any splashes (you don't want to rip the barrier with cleaning over time).

I tend to not have to do much cleaning of the walls at all actually, but the walls around my sink do get splashes of water. Sometimes some grain bits/hop matter/etc gets on there too as I clean the kettles so the wall gets a quick wipe with a small towel or something at the end of the brew day. End result is wet walls that dry by themselves. My brewing has (had) tiled walls so it worked great.

My other (bigger) concern would be the boil kettle will be near 212F and may melt the vapour barrier.

If it was me I'd want some sort of hard surface that I can wipe down and not worry about hurting/melting the surface.

Sometimes I bang the kettle handles against the wall too. I basically push them back up against the wall so the handle hits first. If all that's there is a thin sheet of plastic with soft insulation behind, I'd probably rip the plastic over time with the constant denting with the kettle handle.

Kal

 

[CidahMastah]

Love the spray hose (reminds me of a dishwashing job I had in highschool ). In due time I would love to add all that to my basement as well.

 

[jbsengineer]

Nice work!

Are you going to be putting anything behind the kettles and sink to cover up the plastic vapour barrier on the wall? I'd be concerned about cleaning off any splashes (you don't want to rip the barrier with cleaning over time).

I tend to not have to do much cleaning of the walls at all actually, but the walls around my sink do get splashes of water. Sometimes some grain bits/hop matter/etc gets on there too as I clean the kettles so the wall gets a quick wipe with a small towel or something at the end of the brew day. End result is wet walls that dry by themselves. My brewing has (had) tiled walls so it worked great.

My other (bigger) concern would be the boil kettle will be near 212F and may melt the vapour barrier.

If it was me I'd want some sort of hard surface that I can wipe down and not worry about hurting/melting the surface.

Sometimes I bang the kettle handles against the wall too. I basically push them back up against the wall so the handle hits first. If all that's there is a thin sheet of plastic with soft insulation behind, I'd probably rip the plastic over time with the constant denting with the kettle handle.

Kal

Really good points. I haven't seriously considered protecting the vapor barrier until now.

I'm trying to think of something quick and easy. If anyone has any ideas please suggest.

I still have a 8x4 sheet of FRP paneling. If it is heat resistant that would work perfectly! I could put some studs against the wall, install plywood then glue the panels onto it to protect around the sink and behind the kettles....

 

[P-J]

I'd suggest Home Depot - Fire Shield Gypsum Board.
It's inexpensive ($10 a sheet), easy to put up and will last a very long time.

 

[jbsengineer]

I'd suggest Home Depot - Fire Shield Gypsum Board.
It's inexpensive ($10 a sheet), easy to put up and will last a very long time.

Hm... I do wonder how durable it would be against impacts and moisture. I could paint it I suppose.

Kal - Do you have an idea how hot your tiles get during the boil? I suppose I could test the durability of the FRP panels.

 

[kal]

Good question. I don't know. Can't test either as I've moved.

I doubt they get very hot at all. Most of the heat goes straight up so I'm sure any tile would be fine. Thin plastic sheet however would probably be a different story. Not sure.

Drywall would probably be fine too.

Kal

 

[PleasantValleyHops]

Gloss paint takes care od moisture. Impacts on 1/2 board is going to dent and maybr crack depending on how rough u actually are. Frp panels are most of the time not fire resistant but havent delt w it in prob 2 yrs. Id say just some gloss paint. It will make is water repellant for ur splashes (this is y u use it in bathrooms and kitchens).

 

[CidahMastah]

I would think if you are going for style points a tile back splash type arrangement would be very cool. However it will sure cost more than some water resistant drywall (blueboard or purple depending on brand) with a couple coats of a high gloss paint on it.

Unless you are a real bull in the china shop I would think you wouldn't be smacking into the back wall with your pots.

 

[jbsengineer]

I would think if you are going for style points a tile back splash type arrangement would be very cool. However it will sure cost more than some water resistant drywall (blueboard or purple depending on brand) with a couple coats of a high gloss paint on it.

Unless you are a real bull in the china shop I would think you wouldn't be smacking into the back wall with your pots.

Haha, I should be fine with just drywall. I'm usually particular about the care of all my equipment so I don't plan on slamming into the back board, .

I consider this phase 1 of a basement renovation. So althought style points are appealing I think for the back I'm going to go with cheap and easy.

Based on suggestions I'm going to go with the drywall and high gloss paint behind the kettles. Behind and to the side of the sink might be a little trickier. I didn't original plan to put anything up aside from some pegboard so now I'm not sure how I would protect behind the sink unless I re-plumbed it....

 

[CidahMastah]

I am with you. While somethings are very cool for style points (shiny pots, control panels with all kinds of lights and switches)... Some parts of the brewery get the basic approach. And you know what? That approach still works.

 

[jbsengineer]

I am with you. While somethings are very cool for style points (shiny pots, control panels with all kinds of lights and switches)... Some parts of the brewery get the basic approach. And you know what? That approach still works.

A lot lighter on the wallet as well, !

 

[jbsengineer]

So how would you guys put up a sheet of drywall behind the kettles?

Would you cut the vapor barrier, install a few studs to the wall within the cutouts, place the drywall on the studs, then paint?

I'm all ears, I'm learning a lot as I go here...

 

[CidahMastah]

Just realized that there weren't any studs, rather cement block behind the vapor barrier. If it were me I would leave the vapor barrier as is (unless you want to cut a slit for each vertical stud and the top and sole plates).

Box out your desired frame size using the floor joists to fasten in a top plate and use pressure treated for your sole plate (or they sell these deck building 1'x4'' dense plastic plates you can use to keep the sole plate studs off the floor so they don't get wet and rot).

You could anchor in your sole plate but honestly this is a wall for show, so I would just cut the vertical studs a 1/16-1/8 long and pound them in. This will pinch in the framework to the floor without actually having to anchor it in. If you go this route I would use screws to put in the drywall (I am a screw over nail guy myself). I say that because if you pound on the studs to put nails in you might cause the wall to travel back slightly.

I would go with two horizontal laid in 4x8 sheets, that should have enough coverage.

 

[CidahMastah]

by the way I think we decided how to incorporate a partial swing arm using the direct TV armature. If we can get the stock we need I will be posting pictures of the master plan in the next week or so.

 

[jbsengineer]

by the way I think we decided how to incorporate a partial swing arm using the direct TV armature. If we can get the stock we need I will be posting pictures of the master plan in the next week or so.

Please do!

I'm leaning towards mounting this to the wall:

Articulating TV Mount

 

[CidahMastah]

Please do!

I'm leaning towards mounting this to the wall:

Articulating TV Mount

The swing on this will have to be limited for our build unless I go to the trouble to extend my probe cordage from 6ft to 8feet or so for the BK probe. If I don't it won't necessarily reach my BK. But it might be a nice way to at least be able to rein in the armature when moving the rig, or take it off outright.

 

[jbsengineer]

Maybe I'll just mount a heat shield to the back of the brewstand.