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Mostly cutting and varnishing ply today so not much to see there - but a couple of other things might be of interest...

First, temperature control. I want to control the temperature of my fermentation cabinet and shed but I don’t want the motorised valves to be constantly cycling so this is the solution I’ve come up with.

View attachment 34940
It’s a small test tube filled with water and the temperature probe sits in the water. This should mean that transient air temperature changes (me opening the door to pour a beer from one of my kegs) won’t then lead to cooling being turned on and off in short cycles.

Second, carbonating bottles. I use forced carbonation to good effect with my kegs but bottles are a pain so I’m going to force carbonate them too. I saw a video that showed how to do it and I’ve bought the bits. This is the set up...

View attachment 34941
Schrader valves fitted to the bottles temporarily, Schrader chuck with a barbed adapter that fits 3/8 line from the gas supply. Pressurise the bottle to about 50psi, shake vigorously, repeat until no more gas goes in (about 7 or 8 times). Then put the carbonated beer in the freezer for a short time to chill down. Once chilled, swap the cap for a regular cap and top up the head space. Done.

Would love to see a video if you bottling with that, can't get my head around the instructions.
 
The fermentation cabinet and shelving is now done. To do - floor and ceiling, insulation for the door, fit the heat exchangers and test the cooling system. Once the cooling system has been tested I can finish insulating the pipes and finish boxing in the cooler. Install the gas regulators and distribution. So close...

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Got a bit more done this afternoon. The floor is now insulated and boarded, just the threshold to finish.

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The boxing of the cooler is almost complete, there’s a ply front to fit that’s just had it’s first coat of varnish.

Speaking of varnish, all the ceiling panels have had their last coat and I would have been fitting them tomorrow. I think though, my wife is planning a walk along the beach and fish’n’chips as a last “Hurrah!” before we’re confined to quarters so the ceiling panels might have to wait until Thursday.

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I’ve also had the fermentation cabinet on soak test. It’s holding temperature just fine so it looks like a brew is definitely on for the weekend!

A66A8930-18FE-489C-988C-E9040DB8F176.jpeg
 
Got a bit more done this afternoon. The floor is now insulated and boarded, just the threshold to finish.

View attachment 34978View attachment 34979

The boxing of the cooler is almost complete, there’s a ply front to fit that’s just had it’s first coat of varnish.

Speaking of varnish, all the ceiling panels have had their last coat and I would have been fitting them tomorrow. I think though, my wife is planning a walk along the beach and fish’n’chips as a last “Hurrah!” before we’re confined to quarters so the ceiling panels might have to wait until Thursday.

View attachment 34980

I’ve also had the fermentation cabinet on soak test. It’s holding temperature just fine so it looks like a brew is definitely on for the weekend!

View attachment 34981
I'm totally impressed! Next year maybe,I will invest in a new outdoor mancave...I think my limits though will be a 3 cornie kegerator...
 
Major milestone today, I fitted the heat exchangers and fired up the cooling system. No leaks and seems to work really well - though admittedly temperatures are not too challenging at the moment!

This is the small one in the fermentation cabinet...
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This is a view of the rear of the main heat exchanger in the brew-shed, note the fans...
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And a view of the front as fitted...
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Chiller performed flawlessly and chilled the coolant (just water at the moment) to about 3C. Nice cold breeze from the heat exchangers. athumb..
 
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