Belgrave Brewer
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 18/4/06
- Messages
- 577
- Reaction score
- 453
I've been working on this project for a looooong time. Slowly getting the pieces together, and putting time in when I can. A few DIY/How to videos on Youtube helped me with the design. I gave it a test run last week and it works great. I still have to dial things in a bit more and give it a proper test with liquid in the tanks.
I've built a fully insulated room as temperatures here range from -5C in winter to 45+C in summer. In winter, I can heat the room when required. The room is large enough for future expansion.
An electrician friend wired 2 temperature controllers into one control unit so when either fermentor needs cooling, a solenoid opens to the jacketed fermentor and turns on the impeller pump in the glycol unit. It was designed this way so the pump isn't running 24/7. There are also heating options on the controller which I may use in the future if required.
I've used the flooded font part of the chilling system, and have not used the 4 beer line connections. I may use the beer line attachments for chilling the wort, but will probably use a small commercial plate chiller.
The plumbing is a loop system with a shutoff valve between the lower intakes to the jacketed fermentors, and the return loop back to the glycol chiller. I've used the Icemaster G40 from Keg King for the chilling unit, but any icebank/glycol chiller with pump should work. There is also a shutoff valve between the chilling unit and loop, and a shutoff valve at the end of the lower loop so I can completely drain the system when required.
Still a bit of work to do before the brewery is up and running, but the most difficult part of the project (for me) is done.
I've built a fully insulated room as temperatures here range from -5C in winter to 45+C in summer. In winter, I can heat the room when required. The room is large enough for future expansion.
An electrician friend wired 2 temperature controllers into one control unit so when either fermentor needs cooling, a solenoid opens to the jacketed fermentor and turns on the impeller pump in the glycol unit. It was designed this way so the pump isn't running 24/7. There are also heating options on the controller which I may use in the future if required.
I've used the flooded font part of the chilling system, and have not used the 4 beer line connections. I may use the beer line attachments for chilling the wort, but will probably use a small commercial plate chiller.
The plumbing is a loop system with a shutoff valve between the lower intakes to the jacketed fermentors, and the return loop back to the glycol chiller. I've used the Icemaster G40 from Keg King for the chilling unit, but any icebank/glycol chiller with pump should work. There is also a shutoff valve between the chilling unit and loop, and a shutoff valve at the end of the lower loop so I can completely drain the system when required.
Still a bit of work to do before the brewery is up and running, but the most difficult part of the project (for me) is done.
