Ash's Brewery Progress

[browndog]

Ash, your brewery is looking better and better every day, I am looking forward to hearing your report on the maiden run mate, any ideas what you will do ?

cheers

Browndog

 

[Ash in Perth]

Yeh i cant wait to get it going. fingers crossed that the pump arrives early next week.

a simple munich helles. weyerman pils, caramalt, melanoiden and acid malt. Hopping with crystal to about 25IBU and a decent dose late in the boil.

 

[yardy]

Ash

Good to see somebody is trying the expansion jointing. You won't be dissapointed. My HLT and Mashtun are covered with it. The mashtun rarely loses a degree over the course of a 60 minute mash.

At $8 per keg it's bloody good value too. :beerbang:

Warren -

gday guys,

where can i get some of that there insulation thingy stuff ?


cheers

yard

sorry for the ot a bit.

 

[Ash in Perth]

no worries mate, im doing this to help other people mostly anyway.

came from bunnings. the stuff i used was $20ish and it did both MY(smaller) kegs wityh a bit left over (5cm by 25m and about 1cm thick). you will need some tape aswell. i went stupid and spent $20 on 50m of 'air cell insulating tape' which is jsut glorified aluminium tape.

 

[mike_hillyer]

Ash what can I say except you a real visionary ahead of your time and I'm obviously extremely jealous!

 

[Franko]

Ash,
where did you get that elecric element from mate and what did it set you back
cheers
franko

 

[Ash in Perth]

its a 2000W element from TWOC in bibra lake, my HBS. cost $44 bare or about $60-70 by the time i bought the cord that plugs into it and a socket that screws it in place on the outside.

I tihnk its the same as the ones grain and grape have but im not sure.

 

[iceman]

Hey Ash,

Looking good, Am in the process of setting up my own rig also. Nice jpb on the insulation. Will check that out on my next shopping trip. Quite similar to the set-up i've got going (although it has been re-designed sooo many times i've lost count, what if I....?) make a plan and stick to it.

Got an addition to the side of mine that I hope works. Picked up an old glass washer from a mate and adapting it to wash my bottles!!! washing and sterilising 200+ bottles (330ml) in 15-20mins hopefully!!

nice thread mate, be checking up for the completion (and any more hints)

iceman

 

[Ash in Perth]

i had heaps of plans and things to figure out, which is why it took me so long to get started. once i did itall fell into place well and i ended up doing a better job than my plans and for a higher cost. but it ended uop being much easier than i thought it would.

That bottle washer sounds good. a mate of mine said he was going to make something like that for us to use but it never happened.

my pump should be here tommorow so ill be brewing as soon as it arrives if it isnt too late. only simple connections the rest is ready to go.

 

[Ash in Perth]

Its all ready to brew with now. Pump arrived today and its all hooked up.

Gave it a quick run with 10L of lightly acidified water to help clean the welds up a bit more.

I didnt realise the march pumps were so noisy.

Chiller worked well at first bbut towards the end had heated the water up a bit and so did not chill that well. this will be solved when i brew because there will be about 10kg of crushed ice in the tub. I made a simple areator with some racking tube heated up and hole punched.


for now i will be using hoses to connect/disconnect things but if this is too much hassle ill build a simple 2/3 way SS tap system but id rather keep it simple if it works.

 

[Archie]

Hey Ash,
The Brewery really looks the goods. What stuff did you use on your kegs to cover them up is it some sort of adhesive stuff and where did you get it. Wouldnt mind using it on mine.

Cheers Archie

 

[Ash in Perth]

its expansion joint stuff, came on a roll from bunnings for about $20 to do both kegs with a little left over. The tape is holding it on and in place which is $20 per 50m also and a waste of money, any tape would be fine. its 'air cell insulating tape' paid for the name and didnt realise it wouldnt insulate by itself but jsu tseal it which is good i spode but any tape will do the same thing (maybe not look as good though?)

look at the top of this page and in the previous one there is a bit more info on it

 

[Archie]

Cheers Ash

 

[big d]

Im hoping that powerboard doesnt stay too close to its current location Ash.Water near by it can be a very big worry to your health should the worst happen.

Cheers
Big D

 

[Ash in Perth]

haha no that was jstu temporary untill i could raid an extension cord from somewhere else. its now sitting in the middle of the chiller coil on a brick away from splashes and the cords have drip loops.

 

[Batz]

I didnt realise the march pumps were so noisy.

Mine march pump is not noisy at all,I think you have a problem there.

Batz

 

[Hopsta]

They are noisy if you run them dry. When i first recieved mine i plugged it in for a couple of seconds to make sure it worked and it screamed. Running them dry is deffinately not good for them.

 

[Ash in Perth]

it wasnt running dry i let the water flow through first

would it maybe do it if it was trying to pump under too much pressure?

 

[Batz]

it wasnt running dry i let the water flow through first

would it maybe do it if it was trying to pump under too much pressure?

I wouldn't think so Ash,stupid question I know but you where running it in the correct rotation?

Batz

 

[Guest Lurker]

Its a single phase pump Batz, not 3 phase, so I dont think it can run backwards.