The beginnings of Brew McQ

[brewmcq]

Some more of the CP in progress..

Wiring is tough... I'm the electronics guy, not the electrical guy.. lol

 

[theichthus]

So it has been 6 weeks since your last post. Any progress? Sorry if I missed this in a previous post, but what did you make your switch holes with in your enclosure? They look remarkably clean. I drilled my first hole last night with a step bit and it did not look nearly as pretty. My failure was probably due to not using a drill press.

 

[brewmcq]

I do apologize for no recent updates... there have been a series of unexpected household expenditures that have put the brewery on the back burner.

I am, however, all through with the internal wiring of the CP... am planning on wiring the wire from the CP to my kettle in the very near future (I have the stuff, just not the time lately).

I used a step bit to make the switch holes.

 

[HDIr0n]

Good luck with the rest of the build. I am jealous of a dedicated brew area, and especially a basement where it is cool. It is looking good so far.

-G

 

[brewmcq]

I promise, the brew area comes at a pretty significant cost.. we are being forced to find new and creative ways to store stuff...

 

[brewmcq]

And... had a corny keg opportunity suddenly drop into my lap, so I'm stocking up on them, which is setting back the brewery again. Of course. Ugh.

When did this hobby get so friggin' expensive??

 

[brewmcq]

An ACTUAL UPDATE!!!

But no pictures. But that's okay.

I've started moving around some electrical outlets... that's kind of a big deal (yes, all my work gets inspected by a licensed master electrician. He gets a little pissy because, as he says, my work is better than his... lol).

Dryer outlet has been mounted.

Tandem breakers have been ordered so I can make some room in my electrical box.

Control panel is FREAKING FINISHED. Just gotta label stuff on it. Oh, and get fuses.


The SWMBO has felt really bad that the brewery keeps getting pushed on the back burner.. so she's finding creative ways in the budget to make sure I can get the ~$400 of stuff that I need to be functioning...

On tap (ha ha!):

50' of 10/3 wire.
30a GFCI breaker.
Fermenters (2 of the 15 gallon plastic conicals) plus associated hardware.
Plate chiller
Miscellaneous crap.. some more silicone tubing, QDs, stainless ball valves..

Holy frig.. almost there.

And, as a bonus, I have the minimum number of kegs to run my four-tap system.

Oh yeah.. two more taps and associated hardware, 2 4x manifolds, additional crap for the CO2 tank. But that is all definitely back burner stuff for now. The goal is to get up and running.

 

[Rivenin]

Nicely done sir!

 

[brewmcq]

 

[brewmcq]

Ferment Closet Update

I'm not worried about heat output.. like I said, at most I need to drop it *maybe* 10 degrees... and considering that my 130sq ft bedroom has been sitting at a toasty 58F all summer (crappy windows and insulation to boot) with the same size unit, I'm certain I'll have no problem getting my little closet down that far as well, if need be.

Props to all the AC "hotwire" threads (including John Beere's epic saga) and especially to Franklinbrew.org for the actual wiring diagram.

The "new" "refrigeration unit." WTF do I do now? lol

Oh my.. what's this?

A friggin' schematic! Holy WIN, Batman! (No, I don't know why it's upside down.. lol)

After the "hotwire", which worked!! She was blowing out cold air.

The jumble of wires. I added a second plug so the fan would always run, which, in theory, should help prevent the coils from icing over, and will keep the air from stagnating and stratifying in the fermenter.

Cleaned up and the cover back on. I need to come up with something to cover the gaping hole I left in it..

The Gaping Hole (TM).

It's installed. I'll figure out a way to vent the warm air out of that part of the basement later. Right now I just need it in and running.. when I get my controller, it will be.

 

[theichthus]

Looks amazing!

 

[brewmcq]

Looks amazing!

Thanks!

A little birdie told me that my plate chiller and fermenters might be ordered shortly..

 

[vogtenstein222]

Looks great. Do you happen to have a parts list and rough estimate of cost purely on the electric BiAB set up? My SWMBO and I just bought a house and I get a brew room finally. I'm trying to convince her to let me go electric but she's concerned about $$$. (Understandably so.)

 

[brewmcq]

Honestly, I don't... and I'm not sure I want to know.

I based my build almost completely johnodon's old build, using the schematic so generously provided by P-J.

There are already some prebuilt and "commercially available" control panels. eBrew Supply has a kit, and High gravity Brew has a pre-assembled CP, for example. I decided to build my own, sourcing the parts myself so that if it broke, I'd be familiar with the insides and could better troubleshoot it... that, and I could spread the cost out over a few months and really customize it so it made sense to me...

I'd budget between $1000 - $1500 for it... that would be for everything.. stand, kettle, element, wiring (the 30a GFCI and lots of 10/3 wire), control panel, the 15-gallon plastic conicals, chiller.. but if you can spread the build out over a year, that's $100 a month.

I do think the key is to put room in the budget each month for the build, and, like so many of us, spread the cost out over the course of a few months.

 

[brewmcq]

Brew Kettle update!

New element box installed and NOT leaking!

That's 15.5 gallons of really cold water.

Quick-disconnect and silicone tubing.

Element and indicator light all wired up.

Element box is complete! (I made the hole for the LED way too big, hence the massive washer.)

Sight glass is all labeled.

 

[vogtenstein222]

Honestly, I don't... and I'm not sure I want to know.

I based my build almost completely johnodon's old build, using the schematic so generously provided by P-J.

There are already some prebuilt and "commercially available" control panels. eBrew Supply has a kit, and High gravity Brew has a pre-assembled CP, for example. I decided to build my own, sourcing the parts myself so that if it broke, I'd be familiar with the insides and could better troubleshoot it... that, and I could spread the cost out over a few months and really customize it so it made sense to me...

I'd budget between $1000 - $1500 for it... that would be for everything.. stand, kettle, element, wiring (the 30a GFCI and lots of 10/3 wire), control panel, the 15-gallon plastic conicals, chiller.. but if you can spread the build out over a year, that's $100 a month.

I do think the key is to put room in the budget each month for the build, and, like so many of us, spread the cost out over the course of a few months.

That number was about what I expected. And all the advice makes sense. I've kind of looked at the pre-assembled set ups and like you, believe I would prefer to build it myself so that I can better troubleshoot any fallacies or general PM on it. Thank you and keep up the great work!

 

[brewmcq]

You're very welcome.

And... the work will continue today.. finishing the ferment chamber interior because my STC-1000 will be here tomorrow.. :-D

 

[brewmcq]

So, the lame no-picture update:
Finished the drywall in the ferment chamber. I'll get the SWMBO to spackle and sand it for me at some point. There are still a few things I want/need to do to "make it pretty", but for now it's functional.


The lame, but with pictures update:

I re-oriented the pump and it now primes with zero problems and works like a charm.

And the bonus: in these two hoses and the pump, plus what's left in the kettle, I have just under a cup of "waste".

Recirculating.

Wide open is wide open. This thing will move a lot of fluid.


Kinda at a loss as to what else needs to be done (that I'm able to do with what I have). The STC-1000 should be here tomorrow, so that will get assembled and whatever... Still waiting on a bunch of stainless stuff and other stuff, and will be ready to fire up some 5-gallon batches this weekend. I hope.

 

[vogtenstein222]

So, the lame no-picture update:
Finished the drywall in the ferment chamber. I'll get the SWMBO to spackle and sand it for me at some point. There are still a few things I want/need to do to "make it pretty", but for now it's functional.

The lame, but with pictures update:

I re-oriented the pump and it now primes with zero problems and works like a charm.

And the bonus: in these two hoses and the pump, plus what's left in the kettle, I have just under a cup of "waste".

Recirculating.

Wide open is wide open. This thing will move a lot of fluid.

Kinda at a loss as to what else needs to be done (that I'm able to do with what I have). The STC-1000 should be here tomorrow, so that will get assembled and whatever... Still waiting on a bunch of stainless stuff and other stuff, and will be ready to fire up some 5-gallon batches this weekend. I hope.

On that recirc, if a person wanted to install a tangential inlet about 3" from the top, so it's "hard-tubed" (still removable, but more like the bottom), do you think it'd be wise? I'm looking at the exact same BC 62 qt you seem to have, and have a buddy who said he could do all of my welding (I have ZERO welding experience), so before I buy that one I want to show him my concepts. I just feel like a tangential inlet would help with a "whirlpool" as it would come in along the side and possibly mix in even better. Thoughts?

 

[brewmcq]

On that recirc, if a person wanted to install a tangential inlet about 3" from the top, so it's "hard-tubed" (still removable, but more like the bottom), do you think it'd be wise? I'm looking at the exact same BC 62 qt you seem to have, and have a buddy who said he could do all of my welding (I have ZERO welding experience), so before I buy that one I want to show him my concepts. I just feel like a tangential inlet would help with a "whirlpool" as it would come in along the side and possibly mix in even better. Thoughts?

I'm sure you could do that... a lot of builds have something hard-plumbed for recirculation. However, I think that you'd be hard-pressed to fit something close enough to the sidewall of the kettle and still be able to use the basket.

That is, of course, assuming you're going to use the basket...

If you're going more "traditional" and less BiaB and not going to use the basket, then I say knock yourself out and get whatever you can hard plumbed to the kettle. That will certainly make your life a little easier.

I am going to have recirculation hard plumbed into my setup... on the lid. I'm currently exploring different options on that.

 

[vogtenstein222]

I'm sure you could do that... a lot of builds have something hard-plumbed for recirculation. However, I think that you'd be hard-pressed to fit something close enough to the sidewall of the kettle and still be able to use the basket.

That is, of course, assuming you're going to use the basket...

If you're going more "traditional" and less BiaB and not going to use the basket, then I say knock yourself out and get whatever you can hard plumbed to the kettle. That will certainly make your life a little easier.

I am going to have recirculation hard plumbed into my setup... on the lid. I'm currently exploring different options on that.

That's kind of a good point about the basket affecting a hard plumbed inlet. I may still play with it but for now I'm sticking to BiAB, so it's sort of necessary to have the basket.

 

[brewmcq]

Put it in the lid and use a QD for the tubing...

 

[Wingnutt73]

Wow Man that looks awesome!! My SWMBO just told me I could have half the garage for a brew room!!! We have one upstairs and one down stairs. I get the one upstairs that has a brand new garage door on it. Thinking of splitting it in half with one wall and starting my own build soon. I'm very excited. I saw you put casters on your bench what size are they? Since this is going to be the first place I start I would love to have it finished and just need an Idea of what size I would need? Again thanks in advance and it looks awesome great job man.

 

[brewmcq]

I used the 3" swivel casters from Tractor Supply Company (there's one right up the street). They added about 3-5/8" to the height of my brew stand.

The bench itself is 6' wide and 2' deep. Ish. I have no idea what the height measurements are.. I just kinda fudged it to be comfortable for me to work on it.. I did keep the kettle shelf low enough so the SWMBO can peek into it and help stir the mash or whatever.

 

[Wingnutt73]

Cool man thanks. And thats a great Idea Leaving room for the SWMBO to help as you saw in the "show us your SWMBO" thread mine loves to help. It almost a family event now at my house so I will also take that advice.

 

[brewmcq]

Yayyy!! It's here!

(It's friggin TINY!)

 

[vogtenstein222]

Yayyy!! It's here!

(It's friggin TINY!)

They really are shockingly tiny. I just got mine last Saturday....couldn't believe how small it was....

 

[brewmcq]

I know hundreds of HB'ers are using this thing with great success, but it's hard to believe that I'm going to trust this thing to run a 5000 BTU air conditioner.. lol

 

[vogtenstein222]

I know hundreds of HB'ers are using this thing with great success, but it's hard to believe that I'm going to trust this thing to run a 5000 BTU air conditioner.. lol

Ya I wholeheartedly agree. But from what I've seen that cheap little brain is incredibly reliable so likelihood is ill use that and smile. I plan to eventually go pro (don't we all?) and honestly, if the stc holds up like some examples I've seen, it will probably be one of my first investments that will follow me the whole way.

 

[fermentednonsense]

I love the STC1000. I currently use it for my keezer, and have used it for fermentation control. Pretty easy to wire up as well.