The building of MD's Wraith Brewery

[Muddydisco]

Hi guy's
This will be a updated story board of me building my AG brewery from stratch, I will put photo's on as and when new stuff is built and done. Any comments accepted, more good the better! Any if you see any stupid mistakes Please tell me! :wha:
I'm in the process of drawing up the system on pc for you to browse over as well.

Day 1
The 44ltr mash tun has had bottom strainer and tap fitted.

And have cheated abit and built the immersion chillers before having a Boiler!! But I know the dimensions of the one I'm getting! They have a total of 25m of 10mm in the combined lenghts and will be flow controlled seperatly.

 

[BrewStew]

that is some very tidy work there mate :thumb:

i recognise that chiller design from somewhere :wha: :lol: my one works very well on my 5 gallon brewery, chilling 5 gals down to 25'c in 20 mins but less so on my 100L system (45 mins at least) as it's no where near got enough overall length (it's about 20 meters) and width to fill my boiler, but i didn't want to build one so big that it wouldn't fit in my 5 gallon system as i use the same one for both breweries :thumb:

 

[llannige]

Looking good

Won't be long before you're up and running :thumb:

 

[Wez]

I'm looking forward to this :thumb:

 

[GeordieBrewer]

Hey congrats!!! looks really good - i'm about 2weeks behind you in building my first AG brewery... last weekend I finshed my temp controlled FV and this weekend i'm planned to start and complete my Mash Tun... I might even get onto my cooler too, i'll be using a VERY similar design, thanks!!! :thumb:

Couple of areas of help.. what Cool box did you go for and for what price? Also how easy did you find it to fit the tap - was it a simple operation? and were did you find the cheapest place to get your 8mm mirco bore piping.. is B&Q a good option?

Good luck with the rest of the build.. i'll be back with some questions about your boiler and can't wait to here how your first AG turns out!!!!

Thanks in advance for the help
Ian

 

[Muddydisco]

I have used a second hand Coleman coolbox of 45ltr they normally come with drain bungs so all you have to do is remove the bung and fit your tank connector, like this one Clicky. I also have a 65ltr one for larger brews The piping is 10mm not 8mm and was sourced from local plumbers merchant they are always cheaper than B&Q along with the taps and connectors, Taps were £4 ea, connectors £1 ea, and piping was £1 P/Meter.
The boiler is an issue at the moment was looking at plastic and kettle elements then realistically priced up the electric and :cry: ! So thinking of going shiny straight off, Looking for kegs/stockpots of 60ltr and run on propane as can get hold of a supply at half price to most. But burners aren't cheap for that size :shock:, so really stuck between the 2 at moment!

 

[Vossy1]

Tidy work md :thumb:

 

[Aleman]

burners aren't cheap for that size :shock:, so really stuck between the 2 at moment!

30 Quid too expensive Damfoose uses one and with a 0-2 bar reg it really gets things to a boil . . . . I might be replacing My dual Bullfinch Furnace with a couple of these. . . . as they are no where near as ferocious as the bullfinch (Single jet burner)

 

[A T]

Tid bit of work there MD :thumb:

 

[bramswell]

Nice job there

maybe the mash tun manifold could be slightly bigger, with about 1" gap from the sides and a few cross bars, this would reduce channeling and give better extraction i think.

 

[GeordieBrewer]

Hey - Thanks for the advice, i'm going to go hunting for a cheap coolbox this weekend after dropping by my local plumbers merchants!!!

I'll let you know what I decide to do with the boiler .. the burner suggested looks pretty good for £28

Cheers
Ian

 

[Muddydisco]

I had seen these burners but alot more expensive than that! Here's a question for Aleman or Damfoose, what brew lenghts are you doing on this burner and how long is it taking? I'm looking at max 50ltr lenghts.

Bramswell Your notes have been taken into account and changes made, It ended up like that cos I can't find any more tee's in my kit and couldn't be &*sed to go out and get some!

 

[Aleman]

That burner is fine for 50L brew lengths . . . . With an appropriate regulator (0-2Bar adjustable NOT a 22mbar one!) it will do MUCH bigger batch sizes . . .DF says that he has had the 'skirt' of his keg glowing red with the heat output

 

[damfoose]

The burner is great

It will heat 40 plus litres to 80 c in about 15 - 20 min

Getting to the boil from a mash is about the same time

The burner will get the skirt of the boiler / keg glowing red with no problems when turned up a little say 1 bar but to be honest I have now started to conserve gas and I tend to leave the pressure at 1/2 bar which makes little to no diffrence as the flames are licking the bottom of the keg just right for maximum efficency.

When I do turn the pressure up the flames bounce back from the keg and down through the centre of the burner ring and cause the concrethe on my drive way to pop and crack it also makes the bottom of the keg glow very red.

I am pretty sure these will be good for 100 litres plus.....

If your still unsure come round in 2 weeks im going to be brewing you can see how darn hot these things get.

If you cant make it not a problem as i will be taking pics as normal and will ensure I get a glowing one of the bottom of the keg for you while I heat up the sparge water..

 

[Muddydisco]

Here's the plan on how the brewery will work. Any comments/ ideas accepted. Red Numbered cross are taps!

 

[Muddydisco]

Have had a wonderfully productive day have rebuilt the strainer for the mash tun making it bigger and more cross piping. Sorry no pic's of it!

Then I have built some of my brewhouse trolley which will house everything I need on brew day. It is shown as set up for storage in photos 1 & 2 but photo 3 is for when it's in use, Boiler and HLT yet to go on top.

Yes it will be painted, if I win the lottery I will have it chrome dipped!
And I have fitted 2 concrete fence posts and panels today.
And also today swmbo asked me what about a cider for summer So a TC is planned for tommorrow :grin:
Now to down a few Black Pearls! :drink:

 

[llannige]

Looking good :thumb:

 

[A T]

That is taking shape i'll look forward to the next set of pics

 

[EskiBrew]

I like the slide out gubbins :

 

[Wez]

Oh yes :thumb: