Show Us Your Beer Engines

[wide eyed and legless]

Have you fitted a check valve? Because you have some carbonation in your beer your first theory was correct, thats why with water you don't get any leakage.

 

[mckenry]

Have you fitted a check valve? Because you have some carbonation in your beer your first theory was correct, thats why with water you don't get any leakage.

I havent fitted anything to it. It used to just work as it is. Where does a check valve go on an engine?

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Have a look at post 24 in this thread, there is another one somewhere with better pics, can't remember if it was in this thread though, might be in one about a rebuild of a beer engine.

 

[Howlingdog]

Images for beer engine check valve

http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/products/category/search/7BEER%20ENG%20CHECK%20VALVE

 

[Mardoo]

Well, what the hell. I just bought this. Let's hope that's not a very, very steep side road I'm now looking down! Pulled out of the pub by the publican who sold his pub and refurbished by him. Used regularly until he did. "Works as it should," were his words. Hasn't even shipped yet. Dayum.

 

[nosco]

Was the purchase inspired by a 9 gallon keg perhaps? Still waiting for parts for my beer engine. Should be here in time for another month or more of winter and a cube of Yorkshire bitter I have waiting.

 

[nosco]

Edit: double post

 

[Grainer]

Ill send that post soon mardoo

 

[Mardoo]

Was the purchase inspired by a 9 gallon keg perhaps? Still waiting for parts for my beer engine. Should be here in time for another month or more of winter and a cube of Yorkshire bitter I have waiting.

No, other way actually, the keg just came along earlier and was a speculative buy (maybe some day I'll...). I figured if I didn't use it, someone would want it or it would make a tidy little BIAB rig. I used to work near the Royston and would get the Holgate ESB on handpump and always had one when I went. That and a tour through Ireland and the UK about 20 years ago showed me I wanted an engine. When I saw Grainer's engine rebuild I thought, "**** me, that's a beautiful engine," so I've had my eyes open for something similar. This engine, the money and the drop in the pound all happened at the same time so I went for it.

He actually has two more he's rebuilding and mounting...happy to share details with anyone who might want to approach him. PM me.

 

[malt and barley blues]

Have you fitted a check valve? Because you have some carbonation in your beer your first theory was correct, thats why with water you don't get any leakage.

Not forgetting the back pressure.

 

[Grainer]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/88896-1960s-twin-beer-pump-restoration-gaskell-chambers/

Pardoo, If I was you I would replace the wood on that engine and replicate it with oak or something for a more authentic look..Just replace the front and top panel and repaint the white is a matte or semi gloss. I did matte for a more rustic look. Good luck the cleaning is the hardest part if you have friends in the right places!

Oh I didn't document the whole rebuild.. so if you want you can always come round and I can take you through it step by step and put you in contact with someone that may work for beer!

If u want pointers for the rebuild just contact me.

 

[welly2]

Transferred my English bitter into the cask (the brown thing in the foreground!) earlier. Gravity went down to about 1.014 and as I was expecting it to go down to around 1.012, it should naturally carbonate nicely in the cask. Will sit around 4.4% so a nice session bitter. Fermented super quick - I made this beer last Friday, casked it today. Will give it about a week in the cask and I'm going to tap it next weekend. That'll give me a week to figure out my cask aspirator and to build a stillage for the cask to sit on.

Those two demijohns are my housemates 2016 Hunter Shiraz which he racked for safe keeping until he plans to bottle it in the spring. He had three litres of the stuff left over that he didn't have room for in the demijohns which we smashed over the course of an evening. Man, it was absolutely beautiful. His 2015 Mudgee Shiraz was quite unpalatable but this stuff is incredible.

Sorry about the mess - it's my brew shed and there's shit all over the place. Beer engine in the background - my Angram CQ. Sadly no room in the house for it plus the temperature in the house isn't right for serving cask ale.

 

[spog]

$ 150.00 with a drip tray from a junk shop near Adelaide.
Another brewing project on the list.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

To the left of the 3rd photo spog is that the rule that went through the grain mill (the curved rule)

 

[spog]

To the left of the 3rd photo spog is that the rule that went through the grain mill (the curved rule)

One of the 2, shit you don't miss a thing,I didn't realise it was in the background.

 

[welly2]

So finally got everything hooked up and ready to go. Took a bit of pissing about finding the right hose sizes and right connectors. But got there eventually.

Needed standard 6mm gas line from bottle to cask breather, using a 5/16" to 3/8" JG adapter. And then some 10mm hose (I think) from other end of the cask breather to the cask spigot. The spigot will go into the cask where the soft spile is currently sitting (see second photo). Used some fairly hefty beer line from the beer engine to the tap and have used a camlock for a quick release. There's a barbed fitting that goes in the back of the tap. I was trying to get everything to be JG or something along those lines for ease of use but couldn't quite find all the right parts or sizes. We'll see how it goes tomorrow but I think it should be good. Or at least everything should work.

What will be interesting to find out is how the actual beer is. I had a couple of instances of the keystone, which goes in the front of the cask that I hammer the tap through, having popped out due to a build up of pressure (when it was standing vertical so I haven't lost any beer!). And it would have been like that for at least a few hours. I may find insects floating in the beer. Hopefully not though. I think I must have casked it just a bit too early. I wanted to cask it when it was about 2 points above finishing - I was expecting an FG of 1.012 and I casked it at 1.014 so maybe it still had a bit to go. Anyway. it'll still be beer and it might end up being rough as guts and want dumping. Update tomorrow.

Beer engine


Cask, vented ready to tap tomorrow


Tap, thanks kindly to Bribie


Cask breather and cask spigot

 

[welly2]

It's alive! Aliiiiiiiiiiiiive!

 

[Mardoo]

And??? How was the pint?

 

[welly2]

And??? How was the pint?

Good! Really good. It still needs a bit of work to be the bitter I'm after but it's the right direction. I'm going to make the recipe again but with some water adjustments and see how that affects it. But it's coming along.

 

[gap]

Welly2,

You should try a side by side comparison with the sparkler on and off to see if there is any difference to the taste of the beer.

Regards

Graeme