Brew Easy System

[Simon2808]

Hey All -

It's been a few years since I've brewed, but I've finally got a joint with a dedicated brew room.

I'm thinking about starting out with one of those flash new Blichman Brew Easy Systems. I'm likely to go for the 15Gal unit at a hefty $1850, but as I'm going to be doing this over the next few years I don't see a problem with the initial outlay.

Has anyone else had any experience with this system? If so, could you let me know your thoughts?

Initially I was wanting to transition into a HERMS setup, but am not sure that this is going to be compatible with the Brew Easy System.

Oh yeah, the space I have is enclosed at the bottom of the house. Will using a HP Gas Burner in a 4 x 4 room be a major drama?

Thanks! Simon

 

[superstock]

Make sure the room is PROPERLY ventilated.

 

[yum beer]

Hey All -


Oh yeah, the space I have is enclosed at the bottom of the house. Will using a HP Gas Burner in a 4 x 4 room be a major drama?

Thanks! Simon

Only if you consider DEATH as a drama.

Gas is not an option in an enclosed space that size.

 

[Camo6]

Does that price include delivery and other incurring costs if importing? If not it might put you around the price of a 20l Braumeister. Have you considered one of these? Obviously not as much output but they're electric and compact. Would leave you heaps of room for the fermenting fridge, kegerator, mill, grain storage, yeast bank, stainless conicals, hop freezer, scales, kitten enclosure, corny kegs and any shiny pieces of stainless you can sneak from the kitchen or hard rubbish.

PS. Got a link to a 15gal for that price? I could only find 5/10/20/30gal from a quick search and all of them more than $1850 in the states.

 

[SimoB]

Natural gas is fine if you get a connection fitted. Lpg maybe not so good.

Sent from my HTC_PN071 using Tapatalk

 

[Burt de Ernie]

WTF is everyone on about here?? The amount of misinformation that goes on here is a JOKE! .....DEATH...lol....they don't run on old school town gas anymore!

The whole of America and a good portion of houses in Australia run on LPG. The key is to just follow the ventilation rules in AG601 Australian gas standards.

I would seriously consider storing your gas bottle externally however there in nothing in AG601 that requires you to do so.

 

[glenos]

Gas is OK in a small space as long as there is sufficient ventilation.

My calcs say a room 4mx4mx2.4m has a volume of 38 cubic m, to get an air change once an hour you need 640L/min air flow that is quite a lot. I don't know what the recommened numbe of air changes per hour are. But as the main product of combustion will be CO2 which is denser than air, if you could exhaust from close to the floor and draw in fresh air from near the ceilling you should be OK with sufficient forced ventilation..

As for NG vs LPG the combustion products are largely the same, non-toxic but asphixiating. The risks of a leaking fitting are also the same, BOOM, I guess the chance of a NG leak from a bayonet are a little lower than a bottle of LPG.

 

[Burt de Ernie]

FYI.

If you are in NSW you must comply with AG601 2006 as the 2010 version is not gazette yet.

Everywhere else the 2010 code is in play.

The reason this is important is because there have been changes made to the ventilation requirements in the 2010 code

 

[Burt de Ernie]

Gas is OK in a small space as long as there is sufficient ventilation.

My calcs say a room 4mx4mx2.4m has a volume of 38 cubic m, to get an air change once an hour you need 640L/min air flow that is quite a lot. I don't know what the recommened numbe of air changes per hour are. But as the main product of combustion will be CO2 which is denser than air, if you could exhaust from close to the floor and draw in fresh air from near the ceilling you should be OK with sufficient forced ventilation..

As for NG vs LPG the combustion products are largely the same, non-toxic but asphixiating. The risks of a leaking fitting are also the same, BOOM, I guess the chance of a NG leak from a bayonet are a little lower than a bottle of LPG.

The risk of boom from leaks is greater from LPG because the gas is heavier than air and can collect of the ground whereas natural gas is lighter than air and will have more chance to dissipate.

FYI I boom from LPG leak can only occur when the gas to air reaches 24:1.

There is more risk from carbon monoxide poisoning from incomplete combustion which can happen if the appliance doesn't get enough air.

 

[glenos]

I didn't consider the relative densities of NG and LPG, of course the assumption you have appropriately made is that there are more gaps at ceiling level than floor level.

Shouldn't that ratio be Air:Gas 24:1, that is about 4% gas? Or does the gas need to be that rich to burn?

There is more risk from carbon monoxide poisoning from incomplete combustion which can happen if the appliance doesn't get enough air.

This is what I saw as the main risk, having worked in a poorly ventilated room with a CO supply. It did at least have a CO monitor which was visible from outside the room.

 

[Simon2808]

It's not all that dramatic, the ceiling height is about 3m and there is a big open door at the side. I'll get an extraction fan if needed. I live in the Adelaide Hills, it's bloody cold here so the idea of having an inside brew room is very tempting. I'm in the DG business, the way I see it the flame output isn't that much bigger that what I'd use on the wok burner upstairs, but maybe a concrete slab outside is the place to go for boiling

 

[Burt de Ernie]

Shouldn't that ratio be Air:Gas 24:1, that is about 4% gas? Or does the gas need to be that rich to burn?

Glenos,

You are correct.....that was a slight faux pas!

Nice pick up

 

[Online Brewing Supplies]

Carbon monoxide is a killer which ever gas supply you get it from.
I worked in front of it for many years and it didn't do me any favors, occupational asthma and skin disorders, not nice.
Nev

 

[Burt de Ernie]

It's not all that dramatic, the ceiling height is about 3m and there is a big open door at the side. I'll get an extraction fan if needed. I live in the Adelaide Hills, it's bloody cold here so the idea of having an inside brew room is very tempting. I'm in the DG business, the way I see it the flame output isn't that much bigger that what I'd use on the wok burner upstairs, but maybe a concrete slab outside is the place to go for boiling

I believe the HP burners are approximately 80-90mj/r.

When ventilating from outside air like you are doing the gas code requires a high level and low level grill.
If you like I can confirm the exact size on Monday once I have the gas code in front of me.


EDIT: The top tier burner is actually 72000 BTU or 76mj/hr

 

[Gavo]

Other than gas ventilation how about extracting the evaporating liquid fromt the room. At 14% evaporation rate you are looking at 7lt of evaporated liquid in the room.

 

[Simon2808]

yeah, I'm thinking of the condensation on the windows. I might be better off making a hardstand outside and just doing the finicky stuff inside, that would leave space for the fridge and grain storage and the mill, etc. I'll figure it all out, I'm still just looking at the technical feasibility of putting together a workable system

 

[Northside Novice]

Hi simon2808, i dont have any experience with the system you are looking at, same goes for most round here too i would say ?

re the burner/co2/vapour production. you could get/construct a ducted exhaust fan setup fairly cheaply , that would pretty much exhaust all co2 /vapour outside via a window .

also check out

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum.php

its a yank forum that would have heaps of dudes brewing on the exact system you are looking at .

 

[manson81]

WTF is everyone on about here?? The amount of misinformation that goes on here is a JOKE! .....DEATH...lol....they don't run on old school town gas anymore!

The whole of America and a good portion of houses in Australia run on LPG. The key is to just follow the ventilation rules in AG601 Australian gas standards.

I would seriously consider storing your gas bottle externally however there in nothing in AG601 that requires you to do so.

I'm pretty sure my house is natural gas for both cooking and hot water. I've not done research but just always thought if I don't have big LPG tanks and it comes from a line in the ground, it's natural gas? They don't pump LPG through the underground lines right?

 

[Burt de Ernie]

I'm pretty sure my house is natural gas for both cooking and hot water. I've not done research but just always thought if I don't have big LPG tanks and it comes from a line in the ground, it's natural gas? They don't pump LPG through the underground lines right?

Spot on!

 

[yum beer]

It's not all that dramatic, the ceiling height is about 3m and there is a big open door at the side. I'll get an extraction fan if needed. I live in the Adelaide Hills, it's bloody cold here so the idea of having an inside brew room is very tempting. I'm in the DG business, the way I see it the flame output isn't that much bigger that what I'd use on the wok burner upstairs, but maybe a concrete slab outside is the place to go for boiling

OK sounds a bit different to 'an enclose area under the house'.

Don't forget that your wok burner upstairs is a much better engineered piece of equipment than your burner downstairs and will not produce as much undesirable shit in the air 'carbon monoxide, unburnt gas'.

On a side, its interesting that people want to complain about misinformation then can't get the ******* basics right. Most houses DO run on old school town gas, or natural gas for the newbs...if its plumbed in from the street its natural, if you chain a bottle or 3 to the wall of the house its LPG.