Brew Rig Options

[thelastspud]

so it cost me squat.

Cheers

How much of this steel did you get for free mate? youve been pretty lucky

 

[Jono_w]

Cheers Doug,
I like sharing it the build.

None for "free" really, I have swapped electrical work and other items for some parts though. I worked on for 4 hours for that sheet, so at $50 an hour i pretty much bought it anyway.

 

[yardy]

I got him to fold up some of the sheet for a cable tray and the other piece I made a jig to cut out lids for my tanks.

This one is on my kettle, one side will be welded the other hinged, also a steam vent tube will be added.

Cheers

gday jonathon, like the jig B)

i take it the vent is incorporated into the fixed side of the kettle lid ? what if this doesn't vent/exhaust all the steam from the boil ?

i like the idea of a one piece lid on a spigotted tube welded to the wall of the kettle that can be rotated out of the way when the boil is up and running.

just my 2bobs, nice work

cheers

Dave

 

[Jono_w]

gday jonathon, like the jig B)

i take it the vent is incorporated into the fixed side of the kettle lid ? what if this doesn't vent/exhaust all the steam from the boil ?

i like the idea of a one piece lid on a spigotted tube welded to the wall of the kettle that can be rotated out of the way when the boil is up and running.

just my 2bobs, nice work

cheers

Dave

The reason is that the brewery has to be moved into town to get 3 phase power and the building that this is going into has low plaster ceilings and the steam will be plumbed outside with a exhaust fan pulling the steam off the kettle. I can open the front half to assist in flow. For now it's going to be moved into my brothers furniture making workshop, not sure he would appreciate steam through his workshop.

 

[Jono_w]

So, it's almost been a month since the last update, and not much has materialized since. But, I have spent a lot of time on the plc side of things, the touch screen interface and PLC program are starting to come together nicely. Spending so much time in front of a PC seems like a waste of time but it has to be done.
I have the lids on the Kettle now.
I have also stared rewiring a 30KW 3phase diesel Genset I was given a few years ago which I figure could run the whole setup nicely.







Cheers
Jonathon.

 

[Cocko]

View attachment 38971

Cheers
Jonathon.

Diesel powered touch screens??

Great choice.

 

[Jono_w]

Diesel powered touch screens??

Great choice.

Why not? Might even run it from waste vegie oil, beer and chips it is. :icon_drool2:

 

[Cocko]

Why not? Might even run it from waste vegie oil, beer and chips it is. :icon_drool2:

No argue, sounds real good like

 

[Jono_w]

So my eyes are aching but I have made a good start on the the PLC program.

For the PLC / programming among us here are some stats so far.

~ 65 variables
~ 8 digital inputs
~ 32 digital outputs
6 analog inputs
1 rs232 serial connection to the HMI screen which contains all of the operator inputs, PID's and gauges

The auto sequence is almost complete and hopefully tomorrow I can slot the PLC back into place and get some liquid flowing. Anything could happen as the brewery has not been connected while the programming has been taking place.

cheers

 

[aussiechucka]

Looks good mate, what is that a 5/03 or 04. Doing a fair bit of work there. Hope all goes well. Are you using spray balls for your CIP? We use these at work on our ferment and yeast systems.

 

[Bandito]

What time can we expect the national power grid to go down?

 

[Jono_w]

Looks good mate, what is that a 5/03 or 04. Doing a fair bit of work there. Hope all goes well. Are you using spray balls for your CIP? We use these at work on our ferment and yeast systems.

Cheers, it's unfortunately a 5/03 which only has a DH485 and 232 serial port and as I can only program it with the 232 port at the moment i cant have the HMI touch screen connected at the same time which makes it hard to program. I have ordered a usb to DH485 lead to make it easier.
All this would be fixed if I had a 5/05 with Ethernet, but they are very pricey..

I will be using spray balls yeah, still need to manufacture these though.

What time can we expect the national power grid to go down?

I'll make sure I give you time to finish watching dancing with the starz

 

[darrenp]

Fantastic set up. You can't wash that baby by hand. Fully automated CIP the way to go with full rinse and recirc cycles I reckon then sit back and take it easy.

Pays to have a prox on each lid that shuts the spray ball down if opened. Don't want someone taking a peek and getting a face full of it.

 

[Jono_w]

Fantastic set up. You can't wash that baby by hand. Fully automated CIP the way to go with full rinse and recirc cycles I reckon then sit back and take it easy.

Pays to have a prox on each lid that shuts the spray ball down if opened. Don't want someone taking a peek and getting a face full of it.

That is a great point on the prox's on the lids, a face full of hot caustic is always best avoided.
As I look at cleaning as one of the most important and also least enjoyable part of brewing it will be automated as much as possible.

 

[darrenp]

Thanks Jonathon that was my first post, was a bit nervous. I've been doing a lot of research the last few weeks to do my first all grain and getting heaps of good ideas for my own set up.

I see your in SW Vic, good dairy country and I reckon you could get your hands on some cheap spray balls easier than they would be to make. Try some of the farm supplies stores like Murray Goulburn Trading and Landmark and go for the small balls with split pin attachments, don't need anything fancy just need to get full coverage for the inside of your tanks.

Keep an eye on run off from the inside of your lids, will make a mess if you can't keep it all in the tanks. Let me know if you need a hand setting up a functional description (FD) for the process. Not much chop with the programming side but got a fair bit of experience in setting up CIP systems.

 

[Jono_w]

Thanks Jonathon that was my first post, was a bit nervous. I've been doing a lot of research the last few weeks to do my first all grain and getting heaps of good ideas for my own set up.

I see your in SW Vic, good dairy country and I reckon you could get your hands on some cheap spray balls easier than they would be to make. Try some of the farm supplies stores like Murray Goulburn Trading and Landmark and go for the small balls with split pin attachments, don't need anything fancy just need to get full coverage for the inside of your tanks.

Keep an eye on run off from the inside of your lids, will make a mess if you can't keep it all in the tanks. Let me know if you need a hand setting up a functional description (FD) for the process. Not much chop with the programming side but got a fair bit of experience in setting up CIP systems.

First post Darrenp and it was helpful! , welcome to the forums mate.
There is loads of great information and some very knowledgeable brewers on here, it has been a great resource for my project.
There is a dairy supply shop an hour away in Warrnambool I have been told have all sorts of stainless gear, might be worth a visit.
You make another good point on the lids not sealing, A bit of trial and error is in order.
Thanks for the offer , the CIP side of things is all new to me but its one that I think if i get it right will be the most helpful part of the whole automation process.

Cheers.

 

[JayCharles]

Hi Jonathon,

I saw this on evilbay: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Beer-Fermenter-home...=item335ee88dd7

I didn't know if it was what you were after - especially price wise.

cheers

Jay

 

[unrealeous]

Hi Jonathon,

I saw this on evilbay: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Beer-Fermenter-home...=item335ee88dd7

I didn't know if it was what you were after - especially price wise.

cheers

Jay

That's a terrible price

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=1149

 

[Jono_w]

Cheers guys,

I think I'm onto some 300L jacketed tanks, we shall see. If anyone is seriously looking for fermenters of this size (300L) let me know.



Also If there are any guys out there who have started a small brewery, I'm interested in hearing about the process and how they went about it.
I have a month off work in august and I'm more than willing to swap this information for some grain shoveling.

Jonathon

 

[theover]

Try this one

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...T#ht_500wt_1154

 

[Jono_w]

Try this one

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...T#ht_500wt_1154

Yeah, onto it.

 

[Jono_w]

Also If there are any guys out there who have started a small brewery, I'm interested in hearing about the process and how they went about it.
I have a month off work in august and I'm more than willing to swap this information for some grain shoveling.

Jonathon

Just bumping as I'm pretty keen to get some hands on.

 

[Fents]

Just bumping as I'm pretty keen to get some hands on.

PM me with some questions you have i should be able to answer them.

 

[Jono_w]

PM me with some questions you have i should be able to answer them.

Cheers mate, I'm doing a bit of snowboarding this week, should have plenty of questions by next week.

 

[Cocko]

Jonathon,

Did this rig ever come to life?

I assume you no longer frequent the forum but would love to know if you ever ended up making beer and not just gear

OR did I miss a different thread that has your brew day pic and results?

 

[yardy]

Jonathon,

Did this rig ever come to life?

I assume you no longer frequent the forum but would love to know if you ever ended up making beer and not just gear

OR did I miss a different thread that has your brew day pic and results?

+1, bump etc...

 

[schooey]

You reckon Johnno and Bandana Boy have run off together and opened a micro? :unsure:

 

[user 10246]

Hehe

 

[Bongchitis]

They both have been very quiet :blink:

 

[Jono_w]

Hey guys,

Still working away at it, I have a lot of interest in the system from a very wide and varied community of brewers , emails and so on seem to be a better way of interacting with genuinely interested, like minded folk. so keeping track of the threads has not been a priority. I have been in the garden working on hop plantation which I have posted in the 2010 hop plantation thread.

A fermenter deal fell through as the build quality was terrible. Still looking at options.


Cheers.

Jonathon.

PS I don't know where bandananana went.