The life story of my brewery

[Gridlocked]

Thanks boys!
Hop, I wish I had your woodworking skillZ! Welding is easy with a bit of practice. Paul welded most of his own stand together and hadn't done any before that.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Thanks boys!
Hop, I wish I had your woodworking skillZ! Welding is easy with a bit of practice. Paul welded most of his own stand together and hadn't done any before that.

I had never touched a welder before this and its fairly easy to pick up and make two pieces of metal stick together. It just takes a bit of practice and experience to make it look pretty. We just used the angle grinder a lot more on mine to clean it up

I figured I did pretty good having only set myself on fire once and fused only one tip.

 

[Gridlocked]

Was up until 1:30 this morning working on the project. Man, I'm too old for this. I got the pump switches mounted and into their little plastic box. I should have taken a picture of the set up. I'll add that later. I also played around with the burners and think I have them adjusted well enough to brew with the thing this coming weekend.

I spent some much needed time cleaning and organizing my garage. Put hooks into the ceiling as temporary keg storage and poked holes into the HLT and boil kettle. I didn't have time to clean up the holes or install the fitting and I've still got some research and figuring to do for the MLT, how I want to set up my fly sparge arm and where and how I want to install my boil kettle recirculation arm.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Looks great.....Can't wait to see the updated pics. and the finished all grain system when complete. You do realize that I am stealing all of your ideas for this build. It's gonna be my "summer project". In the meantime, I'll continue with extract brewing. BTW....Nice rack above the workbench....looks like the one I shot this year.

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks man! Me too! It looks like I'll be pulling a late night this week to get a batch made for an April "contest" that I put together.

As far as the stand goes, I was thinking about putting a DIY kit together for the stand that I built and selling them, so if you want either the plans or the kit, let me know. You should be able to build it fairly question free from the info that I've posted.

As far as the rack goes, thanks! It's a 1/4" short of a 10. Got him opening morning this past year, 130 yards dead-nuts on through both shoulders. He was beautiful.

 

[Gridlocked]

I was finally able to USE my brew stand/cart/thing last night! During the session I was also able to spend some time working on the boil keggle. First pics, then details:

Even though it's not totally done, the stand is absolutely awesome! Right after striking up the burner there was the smell of burning oil and some popping of the metal as it got hot. The oil smell was coming out of the inside of the tubing from the manufacturing process. I drilled small holes in all of the tubing that ended up closed off to allow the thing to breathe but most of this smoke was coming out of the end of the long pieces.

It is so much more solid and a lot safer than the old system that I had. Not only is the cart perfectly stable, it's lower to the ground. I had to lower the burner a little to allow for the right flame but I was able to perfectly dial in the flame height with the regulator which was EXTREMELY nice. I didn't use the pumps as I still need to do some flushing and cleaning (and hooking up the silicon tubing) but they're pretty much ready to go.

I used the dremmel and a grinding bit to clean up the holes for the boil kettle and installed the ball valve and thermometer and sight tube. I need to get the parts for the pick-up tube on the inside and for the wort recirculation tube that I will be using to cool the wort faster and persuade all of the break and hop material into the center of the keg.

What's the dice and cups, you ask?

 

[Hoppopotomus]

I presume that the fittings for you BK are weldless? If so, where did you get them. I have 3 kegs and started polishing them a while back....then I started the keezer build and got side-tracked. The keezer should be done in the next 2 weeks, so then onto the brewing rig and outfitting the kegs for a HLT/MT/BK. I most likely will go with Bobby M...mostly because I have learned so much about brewing by watching his brewing videos. I would like to cross compare prices, however, but even if he is a little higher I'll go with his company.

Are you gonna polish those bad boys up or leave them "natural"?
What exactly are the cups and dice for?

When will the maiden voyage be happening for the entire system in it's fully functioning state? Looks awesome so far!

 

[Gridlocked]

Yep, weldless fittings from bargainfittins.com. I would highly recommend them as all of my experiences have been great. Their prices are awesome. Let me know if you want the links of what I got.

It's more important to me to be able to use these things than worry about what they look like so, for now anyway, I'm using them as-is. I may clean them up down the road but time will tell. I'm a pretty lazy bastard and once something is working I'm usually doing something else and don't go back to it. I took a standard steel wire angle grinder wheel to the first keg and had to repassivate the stainless and that whole experience scared me, so unless I can find a stainless angle grinder wheel, I'll probably leave them alone.

dice cups explanation here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/my-spring-ipa-challenge-229307/

Not sure as to when I'll have it up and functional - this weekend should be a good sign of when. I have an ice fishing tournament on Saturday morning and just found out that my wife is taking my kids to her parents house and not returning until mid-day on Sunday! So, I'm planning two back-to-back batches on Saturday evening and night and working on the kegs the entire rest of the time!!! I'm so flipping pumped!

 

[fujieagle]

Your stand is looking really good. I like the height that you chose. I built mine about a year ago and kept it really low because I am a GIANT LEPRACHAN. lol Your stand design is almost identical to mine in regards to dimensions. I am going all electric and that portion isn't done yet. I have pics but I am waiting until the thing is done so I can put together a build thread of my own. I'm kinda in limbo right now, living in one state and working in another. Hopefully by summer life will be back to normal and I can get back to brewing and finish my set up.

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks Fujieagle!
The height was Paul's idea and I'm glad he came up with it! It's so nice to be able to look into the top of the kegs (although I have not used them yet) or stir the MLT without having to step onto a ladder or step-stool.

I have gotten three six-gallon batches through it so far and I love it a little more each time. I have a few hours of keg-work to do before I can really use all of it, so I'm making it work with the equipment that I already have. This past Saturday night I brewed a Janet's Brown and a Honey Pale (that turned out super dark) and was able to do more than one thing at a time. SO Slick! My old 7.5 gallon kettle (middle burner below) is a bit too small for these burners so I threw a couple pieces of steel across the stand for stability. But, even with the middle burner going, the tubes near the cooler never got hot to the touch. We were checking every few minutes. I only had the burner on for a few minutes - until the kettle on the left was cooled.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Height was based off my elf like stature. Glad it turned out great for both of us.

How bout some keg pictures!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Man, I can't wait to build one of those things! I'm still using a turkey fryer on a PVC table for 5 gallon extract batches. I will be building one this summer.... mark my words! I'm trying like hell to get my line-up ready for the new keezer. I have a Centennial IPA and a Blood Orange Hefe fermenting, but need to squeeze in another batch or two ASAP to fill the pipeline.

 

[Gridlocked]

I didn't get any more time to work on the Kegs this weekend. I didn't see the family at all on Saturday so I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them on Sunday. I really hope to get out there and complete them one at a time this weekend. Having all the parts and a pretty solid plan is really helpful.

 

[Gridlocked]

Things are getting VERY close to complete enough to run a 10 gallon batch through the system!!! If any of you guys have questions about any of this stuff or what pieces or parts I used, just let me know. Just keep in mind I have not yet used any of this stuff so I don't really know weather any of it will work or not.

I already had a flare-tool so I went with flare fittings instead of compression fittings. I'm familiar with them and I think they look a little cleaner than compression fittings. I used 1/4" and 3/8" I.D. copper.

This is the boil kettle pick-up tube. I use an immersion chiller so I wanted to get the tube as low and to the outside as I could.

BK pick up tube with chiller in place

I will be re-circulating the wort post boil so that it cools faster and so that all of the hop material is pulled to the center of the keg. This 1/4" ID tube should do nicely.

Boil kettle from the outside

The fly-sparge ring. Just this morning I decided to put another hole into the MLT so that I can re-circulate the mash to keep the temperature even. I don't want to recirculate through the sparge ring as there will be bits of grain that will clog it. I used a center punch like this to mark where the hole was to be on the top of the ring. That made starting the drilling super easy.

And I got the thermometer, sight tube and spigot installed into the HLT. I started drilling before I knew what the heck I was doing which is the reason for the silicon tubing "nose" that's there temporarily. I'm pretty sure I'll put a second thermometer in that hole. Nothing wrong with having two temp readings for the strike/sparge water.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Your almost there....Good work Ted! This is going to be some really valuable information when I start converting my kegs and building the rig. Keep up the good work.

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks man! Yes, it is very exciting to be this close to test the system. I am really excited to get a bunch of PBW through the kegs and lines and test for leaks. That may even happen yet this weekend. Feel free to bounce any and all questions you have off of me, I'd be happy to help. Again, I'd suggest http://www.bargainfittings.com/ for the keg conversion needs.

And, if you don't want to source the steel parts, let me know and I can put a kit together for you and ship it to beautiful Ortonville. I'd be happy to let you learn from my mistakes.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Your the frickin' MAN!!!! Thanks again for everything Ted.

Thanks man! Yes, it is very exciting to be this close to test the system. I am really excited to get a bunch of PBW through the kegs and lines and test for leaks. That may even happen yet this weekend. Feel free to bounce any and all questions you have off of me, I'd be happy to help. Again, I'd suggest http://www.bargainfittings.com/ for the keg conversion needs.

And, if you don't want to source the steel parts, let me know and I can put a kit together for you and ship it to beautiful Ortonville. I'd be happy to let you learn from my mistakes.

 

[Gridlocked]

no problem! Now that I have all of the details and measurements, the steel parts would be pretty darn cheap.

 

[Gridlocked]

I know my basement looks nasty but it's really not as bad as it looks. It's the only place in the house with a consistent temp and it's a perfect 64 right now.

Left to Right:
Slutty Blonde American Ale, Janet's Brown that just went onto the dry hop this afternoon, Phuchented Contest IPA, Honey Brown Ale.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Can I "burrow" a couple of those to fill my pipeline???

The keezer is almost complete....got the first coat of poly on today. Then another tonight, tiling on Saturday, grouting on Sunday, and throwing it all together on Tuesday. Can't wait man!

Do you have a price list thrown together for the steel components of the single tier system that you made? Let me know if and when you do. Thanks!

 

[Gridlocked]

Yes. I will trade you ALL OF this beer for you kreezer. HA HA HA!
I'll see if I can crunch some numbers and I'll let you know.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

You have my address....I'll wait for the shipment before I box up the keezer. Do you think that USPS would frown upon 20 gallons of home brew being shipped through the mail system? I updated pics of the keezer a while ago on my thread. Is you AG system and keggles 100%complete at this point?

 

[Gridlocked]

HA HA! I'll wrap up the carboys in brown paper and see what happens. ha!

No, unfortunately I still have a few pieces and parts to purchase but it's damn close. I have a fitting to connect the MLT pick-up tube to the bulkhead, I need another weldless fitting put into the MLT for the mash re-circulation point and then I can test the pumps and everything.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Keep up the good work...Can't wait to see the final product!

You should shoot a video of your first "fully operational" brew day with the new rig and post it on youtube. That coupled with your blue prints, cut sheets, materials, etc. and you may just end up a Vendor on HBT!

 

[Gridlocked]

HA! I should - you're right.

 

[Gridlocked]

Final fittings installed, two cycles of PBW run through the system and everything is ready to go! I need to make a few little changes and get a couple more fittings to make everything as I'd like it but it's functional. I also found out that I need to get a different brand of remote switches. One of the switches works great, the other turns both pumps on. I can turn pump 1 off after the 2nd switch turns it on but it's a pain in the ass. The only other thing that I'll want to do is to mark the volume graduations on the boil kettle dip tube.

The HLT is just about perfect. The pick-up tube sucks all but about a half-cup from the keg.

The MLT needs a bit of work. I have a mash-recirculation hole and the sparge ring. I wasn't thinking clearly when I drilled the hole for the recirculation fitting and it's directly in-line with the ring so I need to come up with a work-around for that. If I have to make a 2nd ring, I am going to put half of the holes into the top of the ring and the other half to the inside so that they all point toward the center of the keg. Also, I mis-located the hole for the MLT spigot - it's too high. I need to get a "taller" dip tube. I don't know where things went wrong there, I put a quarter-inch spacer under the tube, marked a hole and drilled. Oh well.

The boil kettle should be good. the pick up tube leaves about two pints of liquid in the keg and the recirculation tube works pretty good. I may have to point it more toward the bottom of the keg as I don't weather or not it would work with a 5 gallon batch. I thought it would put more of a spin on the water but we'll see how that works out once I have hop and hot break material to deal with.

I hope to run the first five gallon batch through it tomorrow - unless I get a fire under me and run to the LHBS to get another round of ingredients to go 10 gal.

I think I'm going to get a plastic oil-pan thing to catch the liquid when I disconnect the quick fittings. This system will create a much bigger mess than my old one.

This is the sparge ring when I had the valve on the pump most of the way open. When I dial it back, it slows down to a perfect trickle. I think I'm going to like this.

If any of you are doing this project, let me give you a few tips that I wish I would have had.

1. Don't use a regular angle grinder brush on stainless steel.
2. KNOW where you want the holes in the kegs before drilling them.
3. Put the thermometer on the right of the spigot on the HLT, above it on the MLT and to the LEFT of the spigot on the boil kettle.
4. Get two different brands of remote switches.
5. Set up the system to do 5 and 10 gallon batches - thermometer holes that are too high do you no good for smaller batches.
to be continued.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Congrats Ted! Looks like we are both finishing our projects around the same time. I say that you go for the gusto and run a 10 gallon batch for her first fully operational maiden voyage!

 

[Gridlocked]

I made a few of the final touches last night. It gets a little more complete every day.

Because I had an extra hole in the HLT, I decided to add a 2nd thermometer. I figured it would be good to be able to check the two against each other for a spot-on reading as well as one at the bottom of the keg and in the middle.

I will take some better pics of the MLT and add them soon, but I'm going to "plug" a hole that I didn't put in the right place. I added a lower hole and fitting last night for my mash-circulation spot and where I'll pump the runnings so the sparge ring doesn't get clogged.

And I found a home for my HTB.com sticker.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Nice. Bet you can cook up some delicious chili in that!

 

[Gridlocked]

damn straight!

 

[Jaysus]

awesome!

 

[trevor_b]

Nice work!

 

[ChadS99SVT]

:rockin:very nice looking stand.

 

[Gridlocked]

Well, the ingredients for the inaugural 10 gallon run through the new system with all the pumps and crap has been ordered. I don't know yet how I'm going to document it, but I'll do something. Maybe pics, maybe time-laps on the phone, I don't know. Cross your fingers for me. I'll probably have a stuck mash, a stuck boil kettle, a huge leak, a sight glass boil over and a fire.

What's the batch, you ask? Starry Alignment ~4 (No Amarillo) A recipe of my own creation through the alignment of the cosmos.
Which is an American style IPA, 1.073 / Color: 11.3, IBU: 77.8 / 11oz pellets +3oz in a three-stage dry hop.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Sounds like a great IPA!!! Good luck on the first 10 gallon run. Make a youtube video, so we all can see the process. Thanks for the cut sheet, I am faxing it to my dad today for the materials. Hopefully he can get me the stock for cheap....or free . Good luck Ted and thanks for all of your advice along the way with my keezer and soundproofing for my basement.

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks man! The ingredients delivered today so now I'm really chomping at the bit to use the thing. I suppose I can open a YouTube account and film the process and show you jokers how everything works.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Do it! If I could make it by for the session you'd be guaranteed a fire of some sort. Can't wait to see it up and running! Mine isn't nearly as exciting to watch without pump noises and hoses.

 

[Gridlocked]

Well, I did it. I'll add more about the session later but here is the video of my dumb ass making the first 10 gallon batch.
You MUST read my disclaimer before watching any of these videos: I am not a trained professional so please try this at home. I don't own any video editing software so this video is as natural as it gets. Since I don't own software, I could not splice all of the clips together so it is a series of 23 different little videos There is the use of adult language. The nudity in video "07" has been covered up by one of those little on-screen text bubble things but you should shield your children's eyes anyway it is not pretty. No animals were injured in the making of these videos. The dog punch at the end was extremely soft indicated by the wagging of the tail after the punch. The flood didn't cause any major damage that I have found yet. This brew day took a lot longer than I'm sure it will in the future as I get used to using (and cleaning) all this new fancy-pants-crap like pumps and hoses and when I don't have kitchen floods to clean up. Suggestions are welcome, so feel free - If you don't like my videos and think I'm a complete moron that's fine too, I really don't care.

Video clip 1 of 23


Here's the link to my channel to see the rest of them. I'm a newbie on YouTube, so I hope this works.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SuperTedMaximus?feature=mhum

 

[Gridlocked]

I did a bit of work last night. I had plans to do this eventually as I really like the 10g Gott cooler for the MLT. I'll know weather it works soon as I'll be running the second batch through the system tonight. I hope it goes better than the first.

I installed a thermal insulation around the MLT to help hold a constant temperature for the whole mash. Since I'm direct firing the tun I needed an insulation that could handle that so I grabbed some 1/4" cotton with an aluminized Mylar (foil) on the front and double wrapped it. Most of the tun has two layers. I poked holes for the ball valve and thermometer and the seam for the bottom layer is in the back. The second layer is a few inches short as I didn't want to mess around going over the ball valve and thermometer twice.

I should be ale to continue to direct fire the keg with a low flames the cotton is class A/1 fire rated and I sealed the ends with regular foil-tape. Depending on how tonight goes, I may make a top piece to set over the lid to insulate the top - maybe not. I will probably see how this goes first. Reviews to come, but I have a bunch of product left over and would be willing to send some to others if it works. I used two pieces that are roughly 51" x 16" and I would make my money back if I charged $10.00 for two pieces.

 

[Gridlocked]

The insulated direct fire MLT worked absolutely great. I lost 2-3 degrees in 60 minutes and was able to preheat the vessel as well as raise the mash out temperature and it cause no ill effects. SWEET.