Double Dog Brewing - New brewery build

[leedsbrew]

I have decided to upgrade the MKI brewery to something a bit more substantial/permanent in the garage. For the past 16 months of AG brewing (34 AG batches and counting! ) I ave been using the tried and tested burco/picnic cooler equipment. It has been a workhorse and I think I've managed to knock out some cracking pints (1267 of them! ) but I reckon the time has come for a ground up refit!

I plan on using the reclaimed space in my garage (reclaimed as I've just done 4 trips to the tip and got rid of a load of **** I didn't realise I had!)

this area will be the site of the new build. I figured being next to the roller door would lend some ventilation. The racking may or may not form part of the build, I haven't decided yet!

here is the future HLT. £24 from flebay! Not bad I reckon. It is a 900mm x 450mm 118L job. Going to get cracking installing a new element and cutting the top off in the next few days!

no photo of it but I also got a STC-1000 temp controller to get my fermenting fridge up and running

Here is the bottle store at the other end of the garage! Sorry about the crappy iphone pics, nikon if flat!


The idea is for a 2 tier system. HLT gravity fed to the mash tun (80L thermo pot), followed by a 100L stock pot boiler on the same level with a little solar pump to do the recirculation of the mash and pumping of wort to boiler! A HERMS system will finish it all off with a bow!

more to follow in the coming days/weeks!


LB..........out

 

[leedsbrew]

Just sealed the wall where the brewery is going with a silicone based sealant/water replant to stop the chalky dust that keeps coming from the mortar, and also to protect it from the steam that will be generated from the HLT/kettle

 

[rabbie]

As a "kitchen brewer" I have to say I'm jealous!
No doubt you know what you're doing and will end up with a nice set-up. Wouldn't fancy trying to support your HLT on that red shelving though :shock:
Are you going to run a water supply out there? A bar area on the cards too?
Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.

 

[prolix]

hope the upgarde goes well and make sure all those pics get posted. I have to repaint my garage and try and get the floor sealed too, spillages are an **** on concrete.

 

[homers brew]

Looks good, I sahall be following this thread with interest - especially your HERMS setup.

 

[Tony]

Nice one LB!

'Reclaimed space' ... damn, I wish I could do that ... every bit of space I create is 'reclaimed' by the missus!

Good luck with it!
:

 

[leedsbrew]

Little update

Hopefully my new 80L mash tun should be winging it's way to me from MD

Even though she does have a sad face, I can't wait to get her tucked up in the new brewery!

And this little bad boy turned up the other day

It's heading for either the less than cosmetically wonderfull fridge currently earmarked for my fermentation fridge.....or...........one of the ones I've send very nice emails for on my local freecycle :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray: :pray:


LB

 

[highwayman]

Your getting there LB :thumb:

 

[leedsbrew]

Your getting there LB :thumb:

Cheers matey!

Going to be getting a 100L pot come pay day. I want one of MD's 'hop hammer' hop stoppers but it'll wait till he's operational again in Oct!

I've been looking for the link to your brewery build post but can't seem to find it! (woods and trees propably!) Any chance of the link matey?



LB

 

[leedsbrew]

found it!

 

[leedsbrew]

Well thanks to MD my new 80L mash tun arrived yesterday!

I didn't realise how big it would be! It's bloody awesome!

bit bigger than my old brupacks one! Got it a bit cheaper cos of the dint on the front. It looks alot worse in the photos cos of the light reflecting. In reality its more of a scuff!

 

[Wez]

Brilliant :thumb:

Those tuns are the mutts nuts and you really cant beat having a dedicated place to brew imo

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

BB's thinking of buying one, the shiny stuff is So sexy

 

[leedsbrew]

Found some time today to crack on with the HLT today.

Here she is when I started

And a few minutes later . The cladding came off real easy. I used a hand saw to go round the tank where I wanted the lagging to come away then made some vertical cuts in the foam that was to come off. After that it was simply a case of using a screwdriver to peel the foam off.

Five minuted with the angle grinder and thi swas the result. A bit of a hack job cos the grinding disk was shot to **** :evil:

Out came the file and some wet & dry and she is a smooth as a baby's bum (if not straight! :? )

It's not the cleanest of tanks inside but as you can see from one of the pics above the dark coating is a bit like a fine powder and comes away with a wipe. I'm gonna crack on and give it a good clean tomorrow.

I think i've decided that this bottom hole is going to be where the sight gauge attaches. I was going to use it for the outlet tap but it's 1" male BSP and I don't want to faff around with a 90 deg elbow on it. I recon it will be easier to put in a 15mm tank connector.

When the coil comes out (aka when I get some new stilsons cos I can't find mine anywhere :evil: ) I'll probably be blanking off these holes until I sort out a thermo well

I was lucky enough to get a tall fridge freezer on Leeds Freegle yesterday

Gonna give it a good clean down tomorrow and maybe get on with making my temp controller for it!

More to follow!

LB..............out

 

[leedsbrew]

Got a bit further on this weekend. I went over to Doncaster on Saturday morning to pick up a tank from George Beck.

113L stainless steel, ex food industry tank. I had to give it a good clean out as it still had the remains of it's last product in, a very pungent syrup! :? Being the good hearted Yorkshire man he is, George threw a stand in the mix. It's a bit ropey, but nothing a good going over with a wire brush and some hammerite won't fix!

the stand is going to need a little bit of moding to accommodate the gas burner. I have decided to go gas as I really don't want to start hacking this tank apart, drilling holes in it as it is very well made.

The bottom is dished and drains out completely.

all in all well chuffed with it!

think i'm gonna have to wrap the HLT up in some shinny or it's gonna get jealous!

cheers

LB

 

[leedsbrew]

had a few hours before work today so jumped in the car and got this little lot!

this will be the 1st time I've butchered a kettle for the element so I was a bit unsure. I don't have a tosco near me so I used a curry's one. I only bought one so that if it was no good I didn't have to take the other one back! Now I have to go and get the second one! (it made sence at the time )

Its a little different to the tesco ones when you get the workings out. The black backing has some extra moulded bits (for the switch) that just needed taking off with the jr hacksaw.

15 minutes later and I have a water tight element! I had to put in an extra rubber washed as the copper wall is thinner than the kettle so when the fixing screws were done up tight the element rotated freely in the hole.

slung in the kettle lead to illustrate it!


LB

I decided to use a moulded kettle lead rather than the spade connectors that came with the kettle. I'm going to re use that for wiring up my digital temp controller! yorkshire thrift and all that!

I'm going to fix a shroud round the elements like this one. I put the unused cable in just for the picture! It's a shame, the kettle lead I got from homebase (£4 ish) has a moulded plug on so I'm gonna have to cut it off and re wire a normal one on when the cable is through the gland! Oh well, more tinkering!

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

My ASDA elements were a bit loose so I ground about 3mm off the threaded fixing on the element side to make it pull together tighter.

BB

 

[graysalchemy]

I'm going to fix a shroud round the elements like this one. I put the unused cable in just for the picture! It's a shame, the kettle lead I got from homebase (£4 ish) has a moulded plug on so I'm gonna have to cut it off and re wire a normal one on when the cable is through the gland! Oh well, more tinkering!

I like the shroud for the elements how havre you made that?

:

AG

 

[Sean_Mc]

Good stuff LB :thumb:

What's the top diameter of the HLT now, just that some Tesco's have stainless steel trays for under a fiver and would make a cracking lid, they measure a tad over 14inches.

When I converted my cylinder I cut below the shoulder, so it won't fit my HLT

 

[leedsbrew]

I like the shroud for the elements how havre you made that?

:

AG

Cheers mate, it is from screwfix HERE

Its an access plug for waste water pipes. I drilled out an 18mm hole in the cap and fitted the cable gland.
The pipe is 40mm so a little too small to go over the element back as it is. I plan on using plastic cement to fix the threaded part onto a piece of silicone sealant tube then attach it to the tank. :thumb:


LB