Don Burke's New Brewery

[skippy]

nice setup mate, but where are the sight gauges ?

 

[donburke]

nice setup mate, but where are the sight gauges ?

no sight guage, stainless steel metal ruler, 1cm = 2 litres, piece of piss

 

[beer slayer]

Hey donburke

That is one impressive set up!
One thing that i would like to find out is, are they snap on fittings
on the ball lock valves? Are they stainless? Where did you get them from?
Cheers
BS

 

[donburke]

Hey donburke

That is one impressive set up!
One thing that i would like to find out is, are they snap on fittings
on the ball lock valves? Are they stainless? Where did you get them from?
Cheers
BS

thanks beer slayer

ss camlocks are from beerbelly

 

[sim]

ay Don, whats the flow on this march AC-5B-MD?

and what does your chilling schedule look like?

 

[donburke]

ay Don, whats the flow on this march AC-5B-MD?

and what does your chilling schedule look like?

sim,

the ac-5b-md is a beast, on paper its about triple the flow rate of an 809

in practice, if going from vessel to vessel, i get about 6 lpm with the 809 and about 20 lpm with the ac-5b-md

my coil is 24m long, as i used 1.5 lengths joined with comp fitting. when pumping through the coil, i get about 1 lpm with the 809 and a little over 2 lpm with the ac-5b-md

i use tap water to cool to 30 deg, 85 litres wort, takes about an hour in summer, and about 45 mins in winter

i then divert the flow via the product coils in my glycol chiller, to take me from 30 deg to pitching temp, takes another 15 mins to get to 20 for ales, and another 15 mins if i want to 15 for lagers

i dont use the coil as a herms anymore, i almost always do stepped mashes and found it much easier to step with either water infusions or direct firing the mash tun and stirring gently (this gives me at least 1 deg/min even if my mash tun is filled to the brim) and no scorching as the pots have a thick sandwiched base that spreads the heat source evenly

i have been thinking of an add on herms/rims controlled with a 2400w element, but at the moment dont see any need for it as i am getting good consistent results

 

[pike1973]

I know this is an old thread but I was wanting to know the actual size of your brew stand?
I've just bought some steel and would like to build a stand that is future proof to what could be an upgrade in the future, at the moment I only have 3 x 50l converted kegs, hoping for larger.

Thanks Adz.

 

[bigandhairy]

I know this is an old thread but I was wanting to know the actual size of your brew stand?
I've just bought some steel and would like to build a stand that is future proof to what could be an upgrade in the future, at the moment I only have 3 x 50l converted kegs, hoping for larger.

Thanks Adz.

Hey Adam,
Have you read through the Red Rocket Brewey build thread? I found it pretty helpful.

bah

 

[donburke]

I know this is an old thread but I was wanting to know the actual size of your brew stand?
I've just bought some steel and would like to build a stand that is future proof to what could be an upgrade in the future, at the moment I only have 3 x 50l converted kegs, hoping for larger.

Thanks Adz.

external dimensions of stand are;

1900 long
470 deep
700 tall including the castors

and as bigandhairy posted, the red rocket build will also provide good help, it did for me

 

[pike1973]

Thanks guys I'll check out the red rocket build.
Thanks again for the info.
Adz.

 

[shaunous]

Awsome looking rig donburke, still happy with it all after this amount of time? Is it all working to plan just like you dreamed?

Also where is the link to the Red Rocket build, would mind having a look at that also and cannot seem to find it.

Cheers,
Shaun...

 

[hsb]

Red Rocket:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=10984

 

[shaunous]

Red Rocket:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=10984

Cheers Mate...

 

[donburke]

Awsome looking rig donburke, still happy with it all after this amount of time? Is it all working to plan just like you dreamed?

Also where is the link to the Red Rocket build, would mind having a look at that also and cannot seem to find it.

Cheers,
Shaun...

i am still happy with the rig and have not had any maintenance or operational problems, ** touch wood **

one thing i have improved on is the chilling, i use tap water until say 30 degrees, then divert the tap water through the product lines in my glycol chiller before running through the cooling coil, works well in warmer weather or if trying to get to lager pitching temps

i dont have any immediate plans on automating it as i am getting consistent results with my efforts

 

[shaunous]

i am still happy with the rig and have not had any maintenance or operational problems, ** touch wood **

one thing i have improved on is the chilling, i use tap water until say 30 degrees, then divert the tap water through the product lines in my glycol chiller before running through the cooling coil, works well in warmer weather or if trying to get to lager pitching temps

i dont have any immediate plans on automating it as i am getting consistent results with my efforts

Hey Donburke,

Your using the kettle to keep the mash at the even temp, yeh? So that means your not using any burner flame under the MLT or very little?
Also the re entry from the kettle coil back into the MLT, is it above the 'cap' like in red wine maceration so it soaks back through the solids into the liquid below taking the goodness with it, or your re-entry is just back into the liquid, just at a higher point up?

Sorry to ask so many questions, i'm still learning from this type of brewing and can only go off photo's as I dont know anyone who doesnt just brew simple kit, and I like how your set-up is/works, or at least how i think it does

Cheers,
Shaun...

 

[donburke]

Hey Donburke,

Your using the kettle to keep the mash at the even temp, yeh? So that means your not using any burner flame under the MLT or very little?
Also the re entry from the kettle coil back into the MLT, is it above the 'cap' like in red wine maceration so it soaks back through the solids into the liquid below taking the goodness with it, or your re-entry is just back into the liquid, just at a higher point up?

Sorry to ask so many questions, i'm still learning from this type of brewing and can only go off photo's as I dont know anyone who doesnt just brew simple kit, and I like how your set-up is/works, or at least how i think it does

Cheers,
Shaun...

shaunous,

the plan was to use the coil thats fixed in the kettle as a herms coil as well as a cooling coil, but it didnt work out that way, in fact i've never tried using it as a herms coil, i'm sure it can be used as one, its just that i havent ...

its simply a cooling coil hardwired into the kettle

why i havent used it as a herms is because i have quite a steady temp hold given the large thermal mass, i might lose a degree in half an hour in the midst of winter and virtually no loss in the midst of summer

for adjusting the mash temp when step mashing, i direct fire the mash tun and stir gently, which achieves at least 1 deg/min ramp, and i've yet to scorch any mash, i think the thick base of the pot prevents this whilst gently stirring. i doubt i would be able to achieve that sort of ramp time with this volume using the coil.

i recirculate my mash before draining, drawing through the false bottom and the re-entry is about 2/3 of the way up the mash tun

i think the coil in the kettle would work well as a herms if it were on a smaller scale, and if the heating was electric which means it could be easily controlled with a temp probe and controller

i hope this answers your question