Fabrication



Casters

I bought some stainless steel tube for the frame and (4) stainless steel plates for the caster attachment. I also picked up (4) 3” casters at Harbor Freight. I am using 1-1/4” square x 18ga wall tube. If money was no issue I probably would have gone with 1-1/2” or even 2” square tube to give more surface space for the kettles to sit. But I got a really good deal on the 1-1/4” tube and have no reservations about the strength. I have been drilling the holes on my wobbly old bench top drill press and deburring all the edges with a die grinder. I am drilling the holes for the burner attachments. Any time there are holes, even if filled with hardware, there is a chance of fluids getting in. That is why I have been adding drain holes in every tube. My friend Mike, who welded the fittings into my kettle, will weld the frame for me. I am fortunate to know not just a welder but a darn good welder. I ordered a 10” burner and low pressure propane orifice from Brewers Hardware. I have a design in mind for the burner mounts but will wait until I receive the burner to begin any fabrication.

Caster plates

On the welding table

Tube for the frame

 
 





Stove design

I have a design for my stove with a few details left to be figured out as I go. The frame will be 60” long by 15-1/2” wide by 24” tall including the casters and will be built first. Then the burner mounts will be fabricated. Initially I plan to use just one burner so it can be connected directly to the propane tank hose. When another burner is added, a propane distribution system will have to be designed and installed. I have seen pictures of some very nice stoves that use the frame tubing for propane distribution. It is a very clean and professional look, but I have chosen not to do mine that way. I am concerned about a gas tight weld and am not sure that the tubing I will be using would be suitable for use as a gas pipe. I did decide that I would go with a low pressure system as this seems to offer the most flexibility if I ever choose to automate any part of the burner system. The Bayou Classic stove I was using is a high pressure burner and worked well. With its 6” burner, though, the heat was fairly concentrated and did cause some scorching and caramelizing of the wort. I will have to see what the results are with the low pressure burner.

Brew equipment upgrade (2010/2011)

Winter in Kansas City means it’s time to review the brewery equipment. No repairs are needed but a thorough cleaning is. I really want to upgrade the brew stove so that I can move away from the trailer. Setting up in the trailer allowed for gravity transfer of the wort, the chiller’s outlet has to be above the top of the fermentation pail for this to work. This is an effective way to keep costs down, since no pumps are needed, while still being able to brew and use the wort chiller. I am working on the design for a single tier, 3 burner stove with the idea that I can start with a single burner set up that will still allow gravity transfer. It will be expandable to 3 burners capable of simultaneous multiple extract batch brewing. Then, with the addition of pumps, should suitable for growing into an all grain set up.

Because I want to be able to do gravity transfers, the stand height needs to allow for the inlet on the chiller to be below the kettle outlet and the chiller outlet above the top of the fermentation pail. However, I want to keep the stand to the minimum height required so that I can tend the kettle without the need for a ladder. A 24” stand height seems ideal to meet both requirements. That’s the easy part. Next I need to decide on a burner type and whether I want a high pressure or low pressure system. Also a mounting system for the burners will have to be designed. Fortunately for me there are a lot of great systems out there documented with pictures on the interweb. I have been diligently studying them and am formulating my plan.

National Homebrew Day

National Homebrew Day is held annually on the first Saturday in May. The American Homebrew Association (AHA) has further information, check out their website. This year I will be hosting my second annual brew day May 7th with brewing beginning around 2:00 pm. It is always fun to get together to brew beer, talk beer, and drink beer. Also, the Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in May. We will be watching and cheering on our favorite ponies.

A few pictures from Brew Day 2010...

 

Beer... not just for breakfast.

 

What a smile.



Brewing up something good.



Bubble, bubble....

  






Washers and beer.
Two things that go great together





Another great beer.









                                                                                                                                                                                       











Brewing beer



Brew number 5



Brew number 4

I brewed 5 batches in 2010, each was 5 gallons. With each batch I learned a little more about beer and brewing. I created and brewed my own recipes, for me that creativity is a big part of the enjoyment. I have brewed six different beer styles and made notes about each with some slight recipe adjustments to be made. The specific ingredients selected and ratio of each can have a huge impact on the aroma and flavor of the finished beer. Beer is fairly simple in that there are 4 basic ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. Yet for something so simple, things can go sideways in a hurry. Anybody that has done any brewing has probably heard tales of exploding bottles. Fortunately I have not had any bottles blow their top. But I have opened and recapped a few bottles adding yeast to salvage flat, under carbonated beer. And I still remember the morning I went to check on my fermenting wort and found it everywhere. The fermentation had been so vigorous that it was spewing out of the airlock and had even built up enough pressure to blow by the fermentation pail lid and sprayed out onto the floor. Lesson learned. Now I always use a blow off tube on the primary fermenter.



Bottle tree with sanitizer pump



Secondary fermenter

Time to try out the new equipment

My new brew system, while not very sexy, is a big upgrade from where I started. I can hardly wait to brew beer. But before I do that I want to test it with water. After plumbing the system I will first test it with unheated water. This is done to make sure fluid can be moved as intended. You don’t want a mishap with 5 gallons of boiling water, or wort, you are transferring from the kettle. It is also a good time to check that there is no crud in the chiller that may have been left from fabrication. The siphon worked as planned. There were just a couple of connections that needed tightening to eliminate drips. The next thing to do is a full test with boiling water. I will also test the chiller operation. I brought 5 gallons of water to a boil and ran a little through the chiller to sterilize it. Now just open the valve from the cooling water and boiling water from the kettle goes in the chiller with 70 degree water coming out. The test is a success. A thermometer is needed to measure the wort out flow temperature. I am using Blichmann Engineering’s ThruMometer. It is reasonably priced and easy to incorporate into the brewery.