My first brewery... I've got cabinets now!!!

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calumscott

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As it's only going to be a month or two until I get my megashed, it's probably a good time to start to build, at least in theory, my new AG brewery. Well, SWMBO is busy planning interior design and spending theoretical money so I should to right? :thumb:

I'm going to need a lot of input with this because I want to get it right, I want to build something that I really enjoy using because that way I'll brew more and better beer I reckon. Here's where my head is:

I've been brewing kits now for 6 or 7 months and have had some really great successes. I've just about bought a new house with plenty of space and a lovely big shed with power already installed. I've been thinking I need to go to the dark side for a little while now and was going to go BIAB in my tiny kitchen but put all that on hold when we decided to move. Basically what I want to do is build a fully functioning but simple and expandable AG brewery from day one, so no HERMSes or anything really clever, just a simple system that I can fire up, brew and clean down and leave ready for the next one.

I've already decided that I'm going to go gas for water heating and boiling, simply because I'm a charcoal BBQer and sometimes, to do something a bit swish on the outdoor cooking front, a gas ring for making sauces and stuff is proper handy, two birds one stone.

Q: Should I be going propane or butane for my burner? There doesn't seem to be a lot to separate them price-wise...

My "phase I" build

The setup I think I'm going to use is a 50l stainless pot which I will convert myself to use as both HLT and boiler. I'll add a tap and a sight glass which I'll mark off in handy half or quarter litres.

For a mashtun I'm going to go stainless thermopot with a bottom drain and false bottom. I'll convert the pot myself and build a copper tube based sparge arm.

Q: Should I get a 50l or 36l mashtun? I'm mostly going to do 23l brews but I would imagine that the odd 46l might happen, particularly if I have brewing chums over, make a double batch of wort half each and send them off with a 25l drumful... would a double mash fit in a 36l?

Those will be set up in a three tier gravity fed system culminating in my existing plastic 25l FVs to collect the runnings at floor level.

I think I'll then add one of those nifty little solar pumps to lift the runnings (or at least the majority of them) back to the HLT/Boiler.

The Malt Miller's twin coil chiller seems expensive until you see what the parts cost. And I don't necessarily trust my soldering skills to build something so intricate. I'll just buy one of them.

Then I'm going to plumb it all together, I'm thinking standard plastic domestic plumbing stuff and the John Guest pushfit joints as they look to be the easiest to break down for cleaning.

Steam extraction will be courtesy of some domestic extractor fans and some kind of, probably very Heath Robinson, hood arrangement. Oh, and the door... :)

Temperature controlled fermentation will be courtesy of just bringing the prepared wort inside to room temperature. For now...


Phase II

Once I'm up and running with mashing and boiling, I'm going to get a temperature controlled fermentation environment sorted out.

But not just a fridge. My thinking is that you can only get one FV in a standard fridge. I want space for 3 - so maybe a couple of FVs and one set of bottles at any time. I need it to be able to get hot and cold because I really want to get into AG lagers.

I reckon I can build something with similar or better thermal performance than a fridge because I have easy access to the best insulation products on the market. A Cedaronics controller, a tube heater, the workings from a fridge (imagine the "Tesco kettle element" how to but bigger and more delicate!) and a purpose built and insulated cabinet. My reckoning is that you don't need anywhere near the cooling capacity to store food for brewing. Basically for ales I'd need to maintain 18 degrees and for lagers 12. I think a normal temperature for fridges is around 5 isn't it? So basically normally a differential of 13 degrees less than a fridge normally does and 7 degrees less for lagers. Given the effort increases exponentially the bigger the temperature differential I reckon this should work well for relatively low energy consumption.

Q: Anyone stripped down a fridge to build a brew cabinet before?

So that's where my head is, your thoughts and experiences are, as always, gratefully received and appreciated (particularly before I go and spend money on stuff!).

I'll keep this updated with pictures and stories as I get the brewery built. Watch this space!
 
calumscott said:
...I've just about bought a new house with plenty of space and a lovely big shed with power already installed....

...I'm a charcoal BBQer...
Love it :thumb:

calumscott said:
So that's where my head is, your thoughts and experiences are, as always, gratefully received and appreciated (particularly before I go and spend money on stuff!).

I'll keep this updated with pictures and stories as I get the brewery built. Watch this space!
Looking forward to updates on this thread! Sorry I am of no help whatsoever though!
 
Whether you go for propane or butane depends on where you plan to store your gas. Propane will withstand lower temperature and produce a gas. Butane on the other hand will remain a liquid at around zero so will not produce a gas. If you plan on only brewing in the warmer months then go for butane as the calorific value is slightly higher, but not by much. I would go with propane as it's more versatile. Good luck with your project.
 
Propane it is then! It'll be in the shed and I'll need it for mulling wine for winter BBQs...

Thanks Bob!
 
Good to read of the new brewery plans C :cool:
Should I get a 50l or 36l mashtun? I'm mostly going to do 23l brews but I would imagine that the odd 46l might happen,
I'd go 50ltr for flexibility, you might want to make stronger 23ltr brews every now and then, and as you say 46ltr brews. I used to find it handy to make larger brews as I brewed less often in summer so needed bigger batches to see me through :grin:
Q: Anyone stripped down a fridge to build a brew cabinet before?
There's a thread on the forum somewhere of someone doing just that, just took the gubbins out of the fridge to make their cabinet...have a search.
Looking forward to seeing how the progress :cool:
 
Could you not do with a larger HLT /Boiler if you are possibly going to do 46ltr brews, would possibly be better to go for a
70 ltr stainless pan otherwise there wouln't be much room :thumb: .
 
Boiler/HLT and plumbing thoughts today...

This will be freestanding on the gas ring which is going to be one of these: http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/L ... tml#aHA316

Which means I'm not going with a fancy-schmancy bottom drain, just a big old 1/4 turn ball valve on the side.

Q: Q-Max cutters can get through these German shiny pots can't they?

I reckon, what with plumbing stuff all having the same threads and all, that I could have a tank connector through the wall of the pot which is close coupled straight to one of these:

ae235


With one of these:

02293791_270001.JPG


...close coupled to each of the two ends. The close coupling should make it nice and sturdy and it shouldn't waggle around on the end of a length of copper.

Into the other end of each of the valves goes one of these:

brass_male.jpg


...which gives me quick disconnects. And assuming that Vossy's silicone hose fits a standard type of hose fitting then that provides a nice flexible and easy to manage transport mechanism.

Q: PTFE tape is OK to use in brewery plumbing isn't it?

In terms of hop straining, if I use one of these tank connectors:

ae235


...then I'll have a 22mm hole inside the boiler to which (with a little bit of modification, basically flare the end or just PTFE tape wrap it) I should be able to push-fit a hand rolled hop strainer.
 
Thanks Vossy!

That means, in technical terms, I'm rockin'!

Thanks also for your confirmation by PM that your hose fits "hozelock" style fittings, that means those little brass do-dahs will give me flexy hoses with disconnects at all the right places. If I get the routing and stuff right, it should end up, I believe the expression to be, "bang tidy"... ;)
 
Easy Peasie said:
Could you not do with a larger HLT /Boiler if you are possibly going to do 46ltr brews, would possibly be better to go for a
70 ltr stainless pan otherwise there wouln't be much room :thumb: .

I think I'll start at 50l and if I can't boil a 46l batch in there then for now I'll drop back to, say, 40l "doubles".

If I feel the need to upscale later then I can add a dedicated 70l pot as a third shiny I guess. So I'd end up with 50l HLT, 50l Mashtun then a 70l dedicated boiler.

STOP!!! STOP!!! I can't be thinking of upgrading before I even start!!! :rofl:
 
My advice would be buy a 70l pot! I do 25l batches and when doing a double brew worry if I'll get a boil over. Not much extra and it's worth it! Better to buy one rather than twice!!

D
 
Is that brass disconnect just a threaded hose fitting? Do you have a link please?

Looking forward to seeing this progress. People with far greater knowledge than me have answered all you questions so I'll keep quiet, save for echoing Darcy with regard to the 70l boiler. I do 35 litre brews and boil in a 60 litre bucket which is fine but I wouldn't like to go much higher. If you're doing 46litre brews then a 50 litre boiler just won't be big enough.
 
Just found the link on another thread :thumb: Would the Geka fittings not be better?
 
Ooooh! LIKE those!

Proper hosetails for a more secure connection, BSP converters for taps...

...BIG rubber seals...

Just the job. Brewery plumbing spec duly amended - thank you that man!
 
[quote="calumscott
If I feel the need to upscale later then I can add a dedicated 70l pot as a third shiny I guess. So I'd end up with 50l HLT, 50l Mashtun then a 70l dedicated boiler.

[/quote]


You will definitely do that. :lol: In fact if you want those double brews you don't have a choice, moreover 70,50,70 is more likely.
 
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