Birth Of A New Brewery

[FNQ Bunyip]

Bunyip Brewery:

Welcome into my Brewery, Ive been brewing can beer kits for 18 years and have had both good and bad results again and again over the years but have just accepted it as home brewing. Ive always wanted to have a good consistent beer or 2 on hand but never really done the brain work to get it right, you read the can and go by direction of shop owners / staff and learn to accept it. So over the years Ive tried a few things and had better success than some others that I know. I stopped using white sugar and moved on to dextrose. Ive brewed with all sorts of additives some good and some not so good.

Then I found AHB So now for about 18 months Ive been reading and looking at all the great beer and Breweries that are on display here and after much ummming and ahhrring Ive got the bug and am on the road to better beer

So step one to better beer: TEMP CONTROL

This most basic step is never really made clear on any kit Ive read but plays such a huge part. Living in Tropical North Queensland I have very high ambient water temps and getting a brew on with cold water of 28.5 theres no way its going to cool to a more friendly pitching temp. From what Ive looked at and read on the many brew related web sites Ive visited I have decided to build a brew box to create a micro climate for brewing.
I have used 2 sheets of 18mm form ply to build a cupboard of 1200x1200x600. I then striped the compressor out of an old bar fridge I was given. I have a couple of Dixell temp controllers so I can set it to a better brewing temp. Im not to sure if this unit will be good enough to get down to laagering temps but it should be able to hold 18 C I hope. And for ales and stouts this will be a big improvement on the 23 to 29 I have had up here in the past..

Bits cut out.

Second veiw.

Donner fridge, for the cooling.

All one peice.

In place

And moved to the brew room for testing.

I personally feel that TEMP control is probably the reason that so many people drop brewing, all those funky beers. If temp was outlined on the cans a lot better more people would keep at it, as there beers would be better from the start.

I plan to put a small fan both inside and out, One just circulating the air inside and one to help cool the compressor and condenser. Also of coarse a jiffy box to house the electrics. I also think that lining the box with sarking (silver / blue insulation paper stuff) would help with heat loss, I may need more insulation as well but time will tell. Maybe even a RHS stand and some castors down the track.

So step one is now plugged in downstairs undergoing testing, while I look into Step 2 Adding hops and better yeast, then who knows maybe grains, Grains will be harder as there are no local suppliers.

So I'll try and get a brew on today if time allows.

Cheers guys Its your help and posts here that have inspierd me to get with it and move on, not just accept that I've got another 45lt of shitty brew to drink befor I see what the next one is like.
Thank you All ...

:beer:

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

On another note I had a good score at a scrap yard in Cairns resently.
I dont have a use for it at the mo but could'ent just leave it there.. <_<

:beer:

 

[browndog]

Jeez Bunyip, that is a great score there, it looks like the chiller from hell. My local scrap dealer told me they are not allowed to "sell on" scrap and I'm pissed about that as they have had one of the old style S/S kegs sitting in the corner for ages.
Good luck with the fermentation cabinet, should make your beers much more drinkable mate.

cheers

Browndog

 

[Finite]

Great work mate! Looks the goods, let us know how the beer turns out. Sorry about the game last night Go the Raiders!

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Looks good FNQ. Made something similar recently with double glazed glass door, works well, i'm sure you will be happy.
Cheers 15BL :beer:

 

[Jens-Kristian]

It looks like the stuff! :beerbang:

I can't wait until I get a chance to fiddle around and do things like that.

Cheers,

Jens-Kristian

 

[darkhorse]

Hey 15BL...

That fermenting cupboard / fridge look amazing...

I've been saving used polystyrene (in flat sheets) from work to make up a cupboard myself but I don't think I'll be able to scrounge a double glazed door.

On the other hand dismantling an old bar fridge is sounding good for cooling (not just maintaining more even temp.

Now I just have to sort out the location for my box before I begin construction... Don't think mine will be portable in any sense of the word.

 

[Tony]

just a quick tip.

Go to an electrical appliance distriputor and get the bug sheets of white foam that come in the boxes protecting the fridges and freezers.

line the inside of it with this to insulate it better.

I did this with a brerw cupboard i made to keep out the cold during winter when im trying to make ales. I van brew lagers @ 8 to 10 deg c on the floor of my garage during winter Its bloody freezing, literally.

worked a treat

and i can think of better uses for those kegs than what your using them for as well

cheers

 

[ntboozer]

Great set up 15BL.
For FNQB and any other refrigeration guru's - what would the limitations of this style of set up be in relation to size.
I have been thinking of making a similar set up. I am able to get hold of some 100mm thick insulation sheets from an old cool room company up this way for next to nothing. The plan was to line a ply compartment with them and mount the workings from a bar fridge the same as FNQB. Would the compressor etc. from a bar fridge be able to handle cooling a compartment a fair amount larger or would it run itself to failure?
Cheers
nt
:beer:

 

[ausdb]

For FNQB and any other refrigeration guru's - what would the limitations of this style of set up be in relation to size.

Would the compressor etc. from a bar fridge be able to handle cooling a compartment a fair amount larger or would it run itself to failure?

Whilst you could sit down for a while and work out a heat gain calculation of the new cabinet size compared to your old fridge cabinet size it is really a suck it and see scenario as you probably don't know the actual refrigerating capacity of the fridge part of your old fridge.

Yes there is a good posssiblitly of running it to failure, it all depends how hard you try and push it. As the other posters have all said insulation is the key and the more the better. Another factor to consider is that domestic fridges are generally designed to work in a 28C ambient as they are normally in your kitchen. If it's out in a shed then it will be working overtime as a normal fridge before you even try and make it a mini coolroom. I know my old brew fridge in the shed struggles to maintain sub 10C temps when the outside ambient in Perth is around 35C and higher.

Maybe a rough rule of thumb would be make the new cabinet roughly double the volume of the existing fridge cabinet. It woudl also depend a lot on how much you need to cool the wort/beer down to as well as dealing with the heat flow in to the cabinet. Also you probably don't want the compressor to run for more than 18 hours in 24 if you want it to last.

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

Darkhorse, It's made from mostuire resistant white melamine board without any other insulation. Has heavyduty adjustable wire shelves for air circulation.

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

Thanks for the replies.

Browndog: Scrapy dident on sell it was a straight swap, a bucket of old taps and ball valves I have replaced around here in the last few years for the coil. I was just in the right place at the right time for a change.


15BL : I sore your cupboard a few weeks back and that was part of my inspiration. Love that door...


Darkhorse : I live in a big flood zone so everything needs to be portable or tied to the house and washed out after...


Tony : Thanks for the sugestion as where to source flat polystireene sheets, I was thinking of more insulation as well. It can be hard to lay your hand on what you want up this way some times . As for the barrels they are conditioning and will be swaped around untill I get around to building a stand.

NTBoozer, Ausdb : This poor old bar fridge has been running flat out for 12 months with out a thermostat so Im not to worried about how it handles the extra size. I'm no fridgy guru as such but have played around with a few systems and have a brand new compressor here to replace the old one when she gives it up. Be carefull of second hand coolroom panles I've had lots offerd to me but when you have a good look most of them are water logged and useless, that s why you get offerd them. I agree that in our climate I will need better insulation befor next summer but I can work on that.


Testing : At the start I had a lot of condensation and I suspect that I will need to fiberglass the inside to water proof the ply so as it lasts. Thats not a biggy as I have everything except fresh resin... without a fan only one side was cool so I spent the arvo bustting up old pc's for bits and now have a 100mm fan moving the air around and have even cooling. I also placed an old pedestal fan next to the compressor to keep that end cool and that seems to have helped heeps. I put 2lt of water in @28 and it was cooling that at about 1 an hour yesterday arvo and has it @ 20.1 this morning. So its a lot better that nothing. I will need more insulation. This is a big box / cupboard app 845lt so its alot bigger than the old bar frideg that the working came from...

I'm very happy with it a few more steps this week and the next brew can go down next weekend. I'm off to Cairns this week so will try sorceing insulation.ect ect..


Thanks for your replies :beer:

 

[browndog]

Hope you didn't get rid of ALL your ball valves, they come in very handy indeed

cheers

Browndog

 

[dicko]

Hi Guys,
I found a good source for foam insulation is from a place that sells a lot of automotive batteries.
When they ship car batteries on pallets they sit them on a sheet of foam about an inch thick. In my area this foam just gets thrown away.
It is a good size sheet usually about 1.2 m x 1.2 m and makes great insulation for a fermenter box.
This may help,
Cheers

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

thanks dicko. more places to look is good .


So yesterday the temp cupboard moved about 1.2 over the arvo. Thats only in a 2lt bottle of water so I think that with 50 or 100lt of brew it would be a bit slower to change the temp because of the bigger thermal mass...having said that I definatly need more insulation...


:beer:

 

[ntboozer]

Looks good FNQ. Made something similar recently with double glazed glass door, works well, i'm sure you will be happy.
Cheers 15BL :beer:

15BL,
How do you find those containers as fermenters? I notice you don't have taps fitted, do you syphon? How difficult are they to clean given you can't get a hand inside to give them a good scrub?
The reason I ask is that I have 4 of these containers in the shed -used for water when camping and never thought of them as fermenter candidates - they would fit so much eisier into my fermenting fridge.
Cheers
nt :beer:

 

[fifteenbeerslater]

NT,
I have brewed probably 40 times in each one of those, i find them easy to carry, seal, stack etc. and would never go back to the round ones with large open top. I tried taps but find it easier to siphon. No problems cleaning-you get get your hand inside and no need. Cleaning is easy, quick rinse out ,add 4 litres of hot water, seal, shake hard and empty. Use napisan soultion or similar for final clean. Works for me, want some old round fermenters!
Cheers 15BL :beer:

NT,
I have brewed probably 40 times in each one of those, i find them easy to carry, seal, stack etc. and would never go back to the round ones with large open top. I tried taps but find it easier to siphon. No problems cleaning-you cannot get get your hand inside and no need to. Cleaning is easy, quick rinse out ,add 4 litres of hot water, seal, shake hard and empty. Use napisan soultion or similar for final clean. Works for me, want some old round fermenters!
Cheers 15BL :beer:

 

[darkhorse]

15BL

Sounds like an endorsement to me... I was thinking of using Ex-fresh wort containers (15L) for secondary but I too was concerned about the cleaning... would of course need 2 for a standard brew but this is a plus for enabling 2 variants (eg dry hop vs no dry hop or different dry hop)

Also, if you are interesting in offloading old (but servicable) fermenters I would be interested (PM me).\

Cheers

DarkHorse

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

So the cupboard is going strong . I did my first temp controlrd brew a Coopers Blonde with 15g Cluster for 15mins I double batch so 2 kans of goo + 2kgs dex bring to boil chuck in hops boil for 15 then drop in fermenter. I also used US 56 yeast for the first time . This brew smelt and tasted great right from pitching It was slow to brew right out 15days but still tasted great when I kegged it yesterday . The brew box held it between 17.5 to 19 for the whole time...

I still need more insulation and its not even hot up here yet so I will proberly just go big and order a few coldroom panels and build the same thing out of them.

All the new brew toys are a great addition and I am looking forward to drinking better beer.

Today I have put on a stout same recipe as the blonde with a couple of stout kans... And got to use my Hopsock & Refractometer (Thanks Ross) And plan to put a second stout on tomorrow with a diferant type of hops .. I havent done enought reserch yet as to best types for each of my brews but dont mind playing around trying a few things as I'm sure that my brews wont be any worse than some of the crap I've brewed in the past at high temps ect ect ..


The wish list is growing by the day but with better results coming out at the end its worth getting right..

I have my kettle ready just need a nasa ... Then I can boil my whole brew and not worry about the tank water later in the season ...

:beer:

:chug:

Looking forward to the blonde as soon as this comercial Pale ale runs out , the rep was trying to get my to try a Boddingtons but as I havent had one I dident want to order a 30l keg .. I need to get out more ..
:beer:

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

With the move to BIAB recently and all the great brew stands being built I had to jump on the brew wagon and get busy.
I plan to do some mods to this stand as I am going but here she is as it stands this morning. I have done 3 BIABs on it this week since getting all inspierd at the swap last weekend..

All set ready to crush.

Crushed grain

Adjustable "nasa" The idea here is that I can adjust the hight and swing it to the right for a second pot. If I put the second pot on 10mins befor the first is finished mashing I can remove the bag from the first dip in the second lot of water and then swing the burner back to start the first boil while the 2nd one mashes with a seconde lot of grain doing 2 brews and only adding an hour to the overall brw day.

And the bare stand. I have some SS that I will get folded to make a top to fit over the mill so its a shelff for things while brewing. I all so want to put a shelff on the left end and a small jib crane between the pots to lift my bags up..

The fermenting box is going strong and I need to get a shelf in there this week as its full and I want to get a couple more on.


Cheers guys .. Your all great insperation and a great source of encouragement.. :beer: