Yet Another Brewery Build

[MacKiwi]

Ok, all of you guys have seen this countless times before, but I'm led to believe you enjoy photos. So here goes...

Shipment of Shiney has arrived...

In the brew cave. It has taken a lot of working getting the shed to this point (it was totally derilict to start with), so I'm hoping building the brewery will be easy in comparison

Here's my plan for attaching the ball valve. The washer I crudly cut from a sheet of baking silicon

Yep, that worked out ok...

Fitted the elements. I'm not 100% happy with the lock-nuts, but they seem to holding.

Fittings for the sight-tubes (I don't have the plastic tube yet)

Getting some help filing the holes...

The bench and doors are all made from left-over material from an earlier renovation project. Hence they are a bit rough (that and my joinery skills are rubbish)

That's all so far. More to follow...

 

[31bb3]

Keep them coming take your time you will soon be brewing

 

[MacKiwi]

Beer by Xmas time if I'm lucky...

 

[Mark1964]

looks very nice so far :thumb:

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Nice pics, good luck with the new build.. :thumb:

 

[evanvine]

Very nice pics!
Don't THINK your elements are ok, be CERTAIN they are!!

 

[Mark1964]

maybe a good wrap of ptfe tape might give you a better grip on the threads for your elements

 

[PD]

Ooooh look at the first picture...............


Look at that blue sky...................











and the shinny things of course.

 

[RokDok]

Keep the pics coming.

Every build is different.

Have to say I'm a bit jealous of your brew shed & blue skies.

Cheers

RD

 

[Baldbrewer]

Lovely stuff ! What size are the pots?
May I aske how much and where from?
Chrimbo ideas! Will beat dodgy jumpers and socks!

 

[Dieseljockey]

Well done that man... :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

Nice work MK :clap: ...don't be worried about those KM8's they're going no where :grin:

 

[MacKiwi]

Hi Baldbrewer - the two stock pots are 100 litre, and the "thermo" pot (for the mash tun) is 80 litre.

I found it is best to email the company to order - the address is [email protected] (I found the info on this forum somewere). I can recommend them, the service is very good. The specific details are...

Référence: 10221
2 x 100L MARMITE COCOTTE CASSEROLE + COUVERCLE
-----------------
Référence: 10230
1 x MARMITE THERMOS CAPACITE DE 80 LITRES ACIER SPECIAL
-----------------

The cost, including shipping, was a little under £200. I guess this will vary with the exchange rate.

Lovely stuff ! What size are the pots?
May I aske how much and where from?
Chrimbo ideas! Will beat dodgy jumpers and socks!

 

[MacKiwi]

Ooooh look at the first picture...............

Look at that blue sky...................

I live in Scotland, I have no idea how I managed to get blue sky in the photo!!!

 

[MacKiwi]

Nice work MK :clap: ...don't be worried about those KM8's they're going no where :grin:

Quite right, I'd recommend them to anyone using these elements. The element itself is reasonably robust, but comes with a tiny plastic lock nut. It's only a few more quid to add the KM8 lock-nuts, which are extremely solid.

I think I've figured out my problem. My q-max cutter is a shade too small, and I was too lazy to file away enough of the hole. The element wasn't sitting flush, and the KM8s are quite a loose fit on the threads, so I was having trouble getting a seal. So having filed the hole a bit more, and adding PTFE tape to the threads (thanks for the suggestion Mark1964), everything is now rock solid.

 

[MacKiwi]

I've run out of some of the plumbing odds and ends I need, so while waiting for fresh supplies to arrive, I attacked the mash tun.

It turned out to be easier than I was expecting...

Firstly, I turned the mash tun upside down and used a hole saw that I had laying around to cut out the centre and remove the insulation. Then a 20mm qmax cutter to make a hole to the inside...

Then at the edge I repeated this with a smaller hole saw, and this time the qmax cutter hole was made out the side...

I pushed a length old 15mm pipe through the insulation so that there was a little tunnel linking the two holes.

The plan is to use this 15mm to 1/2" BSP elbow with a large flange nut fitted to the end sitting flush on the bottom of the tun, and use small bolts to hold it tight (ala Vossy's how-to, but I hope to use a silicon washer instead of JB Weld).

And then that just feeds into a 15mm copper pipe which goes out the side of the tun.

This is just a mock-up, as I don't have all the bits I need yet. But it seems to be coming together ok...

Then I spent the rest of the evening making up 4 leads for the kettle elements. zzzzzz

 

[MacKiwi]

Getting ready for a trial brew this weekend...

The mash tun's bottom drain is working, complete with camlock fittings on the ball valve and Vossy's silicon hose...

I have a single solar pump with camlock fittings so I can change hoses and use it for a variety of purposes. The pump is even smaller than I expected, but it does the trick (shifts around 10L/min). The PWM Led controller does work to control the speed, but has a very narrow operating range (you move the dial a few degress and it ramps from fully off to fully on), so I'm looking for a better solution. It only cost a few quid so I can't complain...

All lined up and ready to go!

 

[Vossy1]

Looking good MK :party: , good luck with the trial brew

 

[bobsbeer]

Looks really good. I hope your first brewday goes well. :thumb:

 

[MacKiwi]

HLT is warming up! There's no turning back...