Design & Kitting out my Garage Brew room - Part 2 - Brewing kit

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 17, 2015

Hi All,

This is probably the most interesting of all of my planning for the garage set up - the actual brewing hardware

I'm planning on starting with DME brewing to begin with in 40 pint batches - while I get more comfortable with the cleaning, sanitising, boiling, hopping, racking and bottling processes, before moving to AG.

Here is the list of kit that I think I need.

Brewing Kit
1 x Metal Boil pot 30L min
1 x Gas burner needs some kind of frame to support 50kg on it
2 x Propane bottles + regulator + gas hose
2 x Fermenting Buckets w/tap (got one)
1 x bottling bucket
Syphon tubing
Plastic airtight boxes to store ingredients
Bottling system
Wort Cooling copper loop
12V submersible water pump for the wort cooler (in cooler box filled with ice water) (Got this)
Large bath or similar to place fermenters for buffered-temperature-control

Would really appreciate comments on the plan, as well as the kit I've planned to buy.
And if there are any good places to buy this stuff, please let me know.

Especially, if there is anything I need to do to ensure I'm not crippling myself when it comes the move to AG

Many thanks,
Peter

DoctorMick · Apr 17, 2015

How are you going to chill the wort without running water? I'd imagine the process of getting enough cold water to your garage could be a massive PITA. You could run the water out back into the cool box but it'll soon warm up past the point of being useless and I'm not sure one cool box full would be enough to cool sufficiently. If you are filling a cool box with water you'll probably want a trolley or something similar as it's going to be bloody heavy.

Ally_sives · Apr 17, 2015

Maybe an ice/water bath that the boiling pot can go straight into instead or combine with the wort chiller. Your plans sound good so far!

Wilfy · Apr 17, 2015

Airtight containers - Morrisons have some good ones in at the minute for Â£2.50, same as these but with silver lids.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005YXZVHA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you need any bottles, give me a shout, I can get a virtually endless suppply of Double Maxim bottles.

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 17, 2015

DoctorMick said:
How are you going to chill the wort without running water? I'd imagine the process of getting enough cold water to your garage could be a massive PITA. You could run the water out back into the cool box but it'll soon warm up past the point of being useless and I'm not sure one cool box full would be enough to cool sufficiently. If you are filling a cool box with water you'll probably want a trolley or something similar as it's going to be bloody heavy.

Indeed - the water and cooling is probably my biggest challenge in an "off the grid" location.

My plan is to have a bag of ice that goes into a cool box with some water.
From there, I have a submersible 12V pump connected to hose pipe which will circulate the ice-water through the cooler.
If I find one bag of ice isn't enough, I can get 2 etc.

Oh, there will be a water storage box in the garage - food safe of course. How large would people recommend? Was thinking 250L?

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 17, 2015

Wilfy said:
Airtight containers - Morrisons have some good ones in at the minute for Â£2.50, same as these but with silver lids.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005YXZVHA/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you need any bottles, give me a shout, I can get a virtually endless suppply of Double Maxim bottles.

Ah, hello sir. I remembered someone mentioning this a while ago on our local board for local people

Yes, a supply of DM bottles would be fantastic.

Wilfy · Apr 17, 2015

The_East_Durham_Project said:
Ah, hello sir. I remembered someone mentioning this a while ago on our local board for local people

Yes, a supply of DM bottles would be fantastic.

Best time is normally after a big home match. Let me know when you require them (give me a couple of weeks notice) and I'll sort it.

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 17, 2015

Wilfy said:
Best time is normally after a big home match. Let me know when you require them (give me a couple of weeks notice) and I'll sort it.

You are a hero, sir!

ManseMasher · Apr 17, 2015

http://www.smithsofthedean.co.uk/recycled containers.html

These guys have pretty much everything you would need for water storage. Check out the IBC's.

Fil · Apr 17, 2015

a 30l boil pot is going to be very tight on volume as your preboil volume for a 23-25l batch can easily be very close to 30l and to contain a rolling boil And the initial foam up caused by all the absorbed gas in the liquor escaping at near boil temps. you want a good 5-6cm headspace above the still liquid level

pm me if you want a 98l 100% ss electric boiler

im downgrading to a 2 vessel big kit..

The budget option is hdpe blue barrels, but u need electricty to boil in plastic. a 45-50l ex mango barrel will cost u Â£11 delivered via ebay, and they also make great rodent proof grain stores and stools too tho do need a good clean and de-whiffing

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 18, 2015

Thanks for the advice on the boiler. I don't have electricity, so it's gas for me.

Would 40l capacity be more like it, or maybe 50l ?

Fil · Apr 18, 2015

for 5+ gallon brews i would go for a 50l ss stockpot from the german ebay.fr seller bergland.
[email protected]
email them for a price to deliver to the UK, they will offer you an off ebay deal and give u a paypal invioce/link to pay, the pot will arrive within a few days via courier, your looking at circa Â£50 for a 50l pot delivered..

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 20, 2015

Thanks. I'll send them a mail now.

ManseMasher · Apr 21, 2015

Any particular reason for propane? Butane apparently has more energy, and is supposed to burn cleaner? Just a question - interested to know your thoughts....

T.E.D.B.P · Apr 22, 2015

I was under the impression that propane burned hotter.
And it doesn't freeze in the UK winter like butane can.

Cwrw666 · Apr 22, 2015

I know everyone says you have to cool your wort rapidly but I've never done that. After the boil I let it stand for 20 minutes with the last hop addition in there, then drain the boiler into the FV which I've previously washed out with boiling water. Put the lid on and let it cool naturally - 5 gallons takes quite a long time to cool to pitching temperature, if I brew in the afternoon I pitch the yeast at bed time. In 20 years of doing this I've never had a brew go off and as they all taste fine I do wonder what the purpose of the rapid cooling is meant to be for.

Fil · Apr 22, 2015

a rapid chill will afaik promote a cold break drop in bigger particles that are more likely to drop out as trub in the FV, if chilled slowly the cold break still occurs but can be a finer grain and may result in a slightly less clear final product. though the Aussie nochill method of pouring the off the boil wort into the fv and rolling to pasturise the fv internals is also a popular option. and can let you store the unfermented beer for weeks even months before fermentng out.

ManseMasher · Apr 22, 2015

The_East_Durham_Project said:
I was under the impression that propane burned hotter.
And it doesn't freeze in the UK winter like butane can.

http://www.enkivillage.com/butane-vs-propane.html

Butane freezes at -10Â°c I believe, Propane at -45Â°c. So if you are keeping them in your garage it would have to be a bad winter! Propane may burn hotter, but Butane delivers more energy, and supposedly burns cleaner, and is cheaper.

Fil · Apr 22, 2015

also gas escaping from a hi pressure vessel cools, its the principal behind fridge compressors so in a cooler winter cliamte its possible for a butane bottle to chill itself down to -10 after an hour of feeding a burner through a regulator.

ManseMasher · Apr 22, 2015

It can do, but it's never happened on mine (yet....), and mine is also in a garage.

Design & Kitting out my Garage Brew room - Part 2 - Brewing kit

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