Getting Organized!

While I am generally the kind of guy that takes meticulous care of his brewing equipment, I have not been the most organized person in terms of making my visible storgae areas presentable. My wife (who is very tolerant of my hobby) and I live in a fairly small and old house. Our house was built in 1949, approximately 1250 sqft, and virtually no closet space. Where the hell did people put their stuff 60 years ago? But back to my point, I have finally gotten a little bit more organized and I was even able to incorporate my kegerator in to the "display". Isn't stainless just beautiful?

My last real project for this is to create something to mount my CO2 regulators to. I want them mounted and out of the way, yet accessible enough for adjustments.

And if you can't tell, I'm just finding things to write about so I can get some pics up of my stuff.

Upgrading My Mash/Lauter Tun

Because I am never quite satisfied with anything, I continually tinker with my brewing equipment in an effort to make things easier and more efficient. I recently switched to fly sparging (from batch sparging) and subsequently added a copper sparge manifold and copper mash manifold. I use a standard SS 1/2" ball valve (weldless kit) for run off into the boil kettle.

The sparge manifold is pretty simple and in it's current incarnation, it just drains from the "corners" lightly into the mash. I think I will eventually cap the corners and drill holes for the sparge water to sprinkle over the mash. I not sure that will help achieve anything, but may give a better sparge water distribution over the mash.

The HLT is located above and to the right. The sparge water is delivered to the MLT through a short length of tubing through the lid of the mash tun. A pic of the quick disconnect in the lid in below. It has proven to be an effective gravity fed system thus far.

Now for the mash manifold. I have just finished cutting and fitting all the pieces needed. My previous manifold was made of CPVC and serviced me well for the sort time it was used. I did have a couple of problems with it becoming disconnected and decided to make a more secure version of copper. I still have to solder a few connections and drill the bottom (which I am not looking forward to doing) so the mash can drain properly. My old manifold allowed me to hit 80% - 82% efficiency and I expect equal or better results with my new copper version.

I'll post an update when this project is complete and I can confirm my mash efficiency.

New Kegerator

So I just scored a new (to me) Sanyo 4912 fridge that will be turned into my new dual tap kegerator. My wife allowed me to go to Best Buy to get the fridge this past weekend. It was good timing. The last model in the building was a floor model, which had a couple very small dings in the bottom of the door, but is otherwise in great condition. I was able to get it for $129.00 (regularly $209.00) with a 3 year warranty. Needless to say, I think this is a pretty good deal.

I have my new stainless dual-tap tower and an extra Perlick faucet on order from Beverage Factory. I can wait for them to arrive! In the meantime, I'll be prepping the fridge to mount the tower, run a CO2 line, and all the other good stuff that's needed to get beer flowing ASAP.

My old ghetto kegerator will now be used as a fermentation chamber, just in time for the summer (and damn its hot as hell around here already). As usual, I hope to add some pics once we get a new camera.

UPDATE 6/17/08:
So my new kegerator is finished and pouring two kegs nicely (DunkelWeizen and a Rye IPA). I did, however, manage to break one of the pressure gauges on my new dual regulator (MicroMatic). So a new one is on the way. I must say the regulator is definitely worth the money. I couldn't be happier with the finished product. Cheers!

UPDATE 8/4/08:

I am now able to add some pics. Enjoy!

My Brewing Rig

Alright. After several months of not really being able to post, I'm back at it again. I have finally finished my brewery and I am quite proud of it. I will have an inaugural session ths weekend to test it out. I am particularly excited about fly sparging and seeing what will happen to my efficiency now that ingredient prices are through the roof.

Basically, I bough a couple of $50 wire racks from target, casters, a new HLT and burner, some ply wood, and misc hardware. I think any dummy could build what I did, but I am a dummy and I did it all by myself. Both burners will run off a single propane tank now that I fashioned a splitter. There is space to mount my pump, plate chiller, and water filter. The only thing I really have left to do is install a sight glass on the HLT and mark volume measurments. But this will be a project for later on.

I am still brewing on the screen porch (which my wife loves, as you can imagine). I'll be posting pics as soon as we get a new camera.

New Brewing Sculpture

I am generally not very handy, but brewing for the last several years of my life has brought out a certain creativity and ability to half-ass engineer something that actually works. Take a look at some pics of my new brewery (still in progess). It will be a three tier, gravity fed system once its all said and done.