The Skull Splitter Peach turned out at 10.5% ABV and pretty tasty. The peach and honey comes through right nicely. I named it right. Drink one to many of these and you will most definitely end up with a split skull. LOL

This past weekend I brewed what started out to be a Imperial Pilsner with a final SG of 1.114 but as that night grew on I began to change my mind and decided to play with it to see just what I could do with it. Final gravity ended up at 1.145 and is now bubbling away, almost uncontrollably, in the fermentation chamber at 55 degrees F. Hopefully the yeast will stay strong and healthy to give me what I am shooting for 18% ABV beer. I used 55lbs of German Pilsner Malt so I am still going to call it a Imperial Pilsner. LOL I have a feeling that this beer may take a while to finish. I figured it would be so strong that it might make you slap your mamma so here is the label I came up with for this one........

I am also looking at doing a Imperial Pumpkin beer over the next few weeks. Just waiting to see some decent pumpkins this season. Won't be long now. Thought maybe this might make a decent label for it.......

More Later.......

Eruption!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember the time, way back when, in science class when we were taught the outcome of mixing vinegar and baking soda together? That is how I felt looking in on my latest brew bubbling away in the primary. The smell, sights and the sounds of the activity are all so very exciting. As hard as it is not to want this beer to be complete right this very moment I have to remind myself "Patience Grasshopper!".

I apologize for the poor video quality up front as it seem to be a little jumpy and sticky here and there. Hope all enjoy just the same.......

More later....... 

~Brew Day 07-05-2013~

Today we are brewing "SCBC Skullsplitter Peach"

More later.......

Greetings from SCBC everyone.........

Kegging the "Shaved German Blonde" today as well as preparing to brew a 5 gal. experimental batch respectfully named "SCBC Skull Splitter Peach" ringing in at about 11.5% ABV. This big ale also has a good amount of mountain honey and will be using two different yeast with one for primary and another for secondary to chew on the 15 lbs of peaches and almost 1 1/2 lbs of honey. This one will be aged and should be ready for the change of the season when the temps drop and a little warmth is always appreciated. The "Shaved German Blonde" will be yet another couple of weeks but so far taste and color are outstanding.

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." Frank Zappa

More to come later.......

So here is a quick little video update called The Shaving Cream for the Shaved German Blonde.......

More later.......

Here we are after much awaited time being able to produce our first all grain beer with the new system. It is a light German ale that we have appropriately named "Stumpy's Shaved German Blonde". Here is a short video of the goings on today as I brew.......

I just completed a Chill Water Test where I took boiling water at about 210 degrees and pumped it through the wort ports of the 40 plate Heat Exchanger and also took 38 degree water that was in the Chill Water Chamber and pumped it through the water ports of the Heat Exchanger. The results were quite dramatic as I had to adjust the flow of the boiling water as it was coming out at 40 degrees. LOL I did figure it out and had it at about 55 to 59 degrees. For the first test it went mighty well if I do say so myself. Here is a little video on the action.......

More to come.......

And another month has past and yet I still find myself having to order more items and await their delivery before I can get started brewing on this new system. I only have two orders outstanding and one I know will be here this next week and the other I have my doubts will ever show but I have been wrong before. We shall see. 

A little bit has happened since my last entry here. I attached all the bell's and whistles to the system, that I had on hand, and did my first water test which turned out great. Sure there has to be some tweaking here and there but for the most part it all worked as expected.

Lets start off with what the guy's at my employers shop did for me. I needed a way to mount the 40 plate Heat Exchanger,

and I thought how nice a stainless steel plate attached to the underneath side of the wooden brew stand would look so I made a few measurements and went over to the shop and POW!

And so I mounted it, and the Heat Exchanger to it, and it looks like.......

And while I was thinking of building a wooden stand, and staining it to match the table to mount the pumps to, stainless steel would not only look awesome but will stand the test of time. So I again made a few measurements and took my pumps with me so we could lay out the hole configurations so we could use the punch machine and I wouldn't have 28 holes to try and drill by hand. Anyone who has ever drilled stainless steel knows exactly what I am speaking of. In any case, I only have the wooden table to drill to fasten the stand to.......

And then we have.......

The empty holes you see on either side of each pump are for splash guards eventually.

So the pumps came with their own cords with molded plugs already attached. I had to cut the plugs off and lengthen the cables and install the twist-lock plugs that I had ordered months ago. This meant that I had to butt-splice the wires and then use heat-shrink tubing to waterproof the connections.......

With everything hooked up and the control panel operating correctly I decided to do a water test........

And then I got things heated up a bit.......

 And after about an hour.......

And so I rotated the water around through to the Mash Tun and then through the HERMs-Coil until the water temp matched with that of the HLT. I then transferred the water over to the Boil Kettle and cranked up the heat a bit.......

At this point I had already a rolling boil. Here is a video of what I had at about 197 degrees Fahrenheit.

!Warning! 

I am no videographer or movie star. Just a good ol'boy trying to get his brew on. 

And here are a few still photo's of the set-up.......

When the rest of what I have ordered makes it here I will get things ready to do another water test but this time will include the Chill Water Chamber where I have over 30 gallons of water at 34 degree's Fahrenheit to pump through the 40 plate Heat Exchanger to reduce the boiling wort to 70 degrees or lower.

But for now it is time to dim the lights.......

And enjoy some relaxation while I kick back and drink a cold craft beer and watch a little..........

I will try to post in the next week, or two, as I am waiting for a couple of items to show up and as I said I will be posting on the Chill Water Test. I will also be posting on the first brew day with this system so stay tuned and support your local craft breweries.

Brew Strong!

More to come.......

 

The pond liner wasn't going to work out as the shape and stiffness of it all just wasn't going to fit with all the lap-overs and wrinkles. I settled for a spay that the manufacture swore would do the trick for what I was doing. I have used their other product called "Liquid Tape" and I loved that stuff. I might just put this in all three to keep from rusting and ease of cleaning. Here is what I am talking about.......

Now before I used it the inside of the freezer looked like this.......

And just after one coat it looks like this.......

It seems to feel the gaps and cracks up right nicely. I will probably go with 7 coats in the chiller since I will be putting 30+ gallons of water in it which will stay in it and used when needed. The manufacture assured me that their product would stand up to it for however long. I personally would like to believe them but I will be looking for a large drip pan that this unit can sit inside that I can plumb to the outside just in case. I for one do not like the idea of having 30+ gallons of water on the floor. ;-)

I will put 2 or 3 coats in the two fermentation chambers to keep oxidation and rust from forming and if there be any spill over from a monster blow off then it will be easier to clean up.

More later.......

I hope this addition to the blog finds each and everyone of you in good spirits and good health.

I began to wire and program the main control panel.......

The layout was a bit trying but I finally got to a conclusion and screwed them down.......

And as tedious as it is I began and.......

Finished!

Now for all the bell's and whistles.......

Everything works perfectly with exception to my Voltage and Amperage panel meters. The instructions were not very clear and I ended up frying both. The AC to DC power converters are adjustable and I neglected to check at what voltage they were set at before energizing the meters. They are suppose to be set at 5vdc or a little less but they were at least set at 18 to 25vdc. I will have to replace them. But I can use the panel without them so I am in no real hurry to replace them. I may even wait until I get to brew my first brew as I am getting really anxious now.

I also hit another snag as I have been unable to find a container that would hold at least 30 gallons of water that would fit in my 7 cubic foot freezer so I have opted to try a small pond liner. I will also have to build a collar for the freezer to run the pump lines through. Since I am going to have to do that I might as well build collars for all three of them.

I also still have to build a platform for the pumps as well as mount the pumps to it and then put all the parts and pieces for this whole system together. Still a bit to do but will be completed before I know it and then we can get down to the business of brewing well crafted beer. I can't hardly wait.

More later.......

Just a little teaser. I was able to power up and program the Dwyer/Love controllers for the fermentation chambers. Got Fermentation chamber #1 all dialed in and ready to go. Stuck the stainless steel probe in a gallon of water with a heating pad under it and it all looks like a go. T - Minus a day off from what and where I can brew? This has me wanting to brew so I may just break down and brew a couple of extract brews on the stove and then ferment them in the new cambers just to get a feel of what they would be like.......

So I have made some pretty good progress over the past couple of weeks as you are about to see. I still have so much more to accomplish but it is all coming together and I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome thus far. 

Now for the picture's.......

So I started the frame for the exhaust system by centering the bolts in alignment with the 2" X 4" stud's within the wall and ratcheting into the studs.......

After making sure they would tighten all the way I then removed them and put the 7/8" uni-strut, that was cut to fit, up onto the wall to bolt down.......

I made sure that it was plumb and level as I did with each piece I bolted together.......

Once the main frame was installed I attached the cross beams that the exhaust fans would attach to. I had ordered some 45 degree uni-strut brackets on E-Bay but they had not arrived at the time I built this but it is sturdy enough to hold the exhaust fans without them. I will install them as soon as they arrive.

As you can see that I marked and placed 3/8" spring nuts which will match up with the mounting holes on the exhaust fans.......

Now for the exhaust fans. They are stainless steel. The white you see is the protective film that was left on by the manufacture. I have decided to use the top knock-out for venting purposes as the vent holes and louvers are already installed and awaiting attachment to the exhaust fans.......

I did not buy a kit but rather bought pieces of duct work to accomplish my goal.......

Once the pieces of duct were screwed together I used Great Stuff foam insulation to seal up the seams.......

I then installed the exhaust fans to the uni-strut frame that I had built.......

I then attached the vent ducts with the louver vents using steel flex hose and heat resistant ty-wraps.......

I then connected the power wires to the exhaust fans.......

And they worked perfectly.......

I almost was afraid they did not work as I had them on high. I soon found out that they were just that quite. They seem to be strong enough but if I find that they are not I will install what is called a in-line vortex fan which will be more than enough while using the same hoods. At this point I do not see me needing to do that though but it is an option.......

So now to install the ceiling grid and cut to fit the ceiling tile to fit around the vent ducts.......

And also the other side of the building as well.......

I then installed and bolted two pieces of strut to blocking that I had placed in the wall prior to sheet-rock to hold the weight of the main control panel.......

I want to take this moment to explain to some the workers of the hardware store I frequent just exactly what I was talking about and asking them for when I was looking for 3/8" spring-nuts. There it is laying on top of my uni-strut. It has a spring to hold it in place and those groves on top of it to grab the inner part of the uni-strut........

Like this.......

So one can install stuff like this.......

That panel does look awfully good in it's new home. It will look even better when it is in full operation helping make some really good beer. Or at least that is my dream.......

WOW! What a mess. Time to clean all that stuff up and get ready for the flooring.......

I have to make sure that I get every little piece of trash and metal off the floor before the sub-floor goes down.......

First piece of luan plywood underlayment goes down.......

Lots of sawdust to vacuum and sweep up as well.......

I used screws and screwed the luan down. Nails tend to pop up over time........

Then I laid the linoleum down.......

I carefully folded it back on itself until I could get the table moved carefully over to the other side of the building placed gently down onto the new flooring.......

Then using a pneumatic finish nailer I installed stained quarter-round molding around the base of the walls.......

I then used a wood filler pencil to fill all the holes made by the pneumatic nailer and also put a thin bead of silicon on top of the molding to seal it from any splashes making it's way down the wall and in behind the molding.......

I then installed my life safety grounding grid which will connect to the frame of the exhaust fans, the control panel (even though it is also grounded via the spa panel and the sub-panel which in turn is also attached to the ground rod system outside.) and last but not least, each kettle. Safety is always first whether one deems it over-kill or not I aim to get "Over" it and take the word "Kill" out of the equation. Pun intended.   ;-)

I then drilled and taped 1/4"x 20 screws to attach the grounding conductors to.......

I then drilled a hole at the base of the wall and ran a #4 solid copper wire outside to attach to yet another ground rod. I sealed the hole with Great Stuff and silicone. I also attached ground clamps that will attach to the kettles at the flat side mounts of the kettles handles.......

Hooray!!!!!

The 45 degree uni-strut brackets finally made it.......

That really sturdified (is that even a word?) the whole frame. Might be able to do chin-ups on it. Hehehehe Just kidding.......

Now time to get the conduit ran between the spa panel and the main control panel. I am running 1" EMT conduit. EMT is short for Electrical Metallic Tubing. It will have more than enough inner dimension to handle the 3 - #6's and a #10 ground as well as 3 - #12's for emergency control circuits. I started with cutting a hole in the lower left hand side of the panel and mounting a 1" myer's hub and a 1" seal-tight 90 degree flex connector.......

I then attached some 1" seal-tight flex and another connector and a "C" conduit body for wire pulling purposes. It would also serve as a place to pull the wire back to from the control panel if I for any reason needed to remove the panel to services it or change it out to another system altogether like a fully automated operators touchscreen interface with server and full internet access so I could operate any and all devices remotely from anywhere in the world. Hey! It sounds cool. I actually was already shown by one of my work acquaintances just how to do it. He had my logo up on his tablet PC and when he clicked on it this interface came up which showed my entire schematic and he was able to turn things off and on and manipulate the PID's for temperature as well. What a fun toy that would be. One of those items to place on the bucket list for when I win the lotto.......

I then installed the 1" EMT connector on the other end of the "C" conduit body and installed 1" EMT conduit from the main control panel over and down into the top of the spa panel.......

Then pulled the wire.......

I then pulled the backing off of the cork squares and stuck them to the top of the brew stand. I sealed the seams with silicon. These should help protect the top of the brew stand from the heat.......

Then it was finally time to start moving the other items, which had been stored in the other building, into there new home.......

Two fermentation chambers and the lone one just out of view to the far right is the chiller chamber for the cold water used with the 40 plate heat exchanger........

Here we see that one holds two corny kegs and a 5gal carboy.......

and another one holds two 6gal carboys.......

I may also get a upright refrigerator that will hold a 15gal conical fermenter but that will have to wait for now.

And this, my friends, was a long time coming.......

I have to say that these bad boy's look pretty awesome in their new home and really makes me want to hurry up and get this build done so I can fire these bad boys up and get to brewing.

Now for another important part of the build. The fermentation chamber's control panel. What we have is a small panel with two Dwyer/Love TSS2 controller's and two duplex receptacles with the tab's broken off so each will be separately controlled for either the freezers compressor for dropping the temp, to a heat pad to raise the temp. The yeast are absolutely going to love these love controllers. (no pun intended).......

Well this is it for now. I still have plenty to do as I have to wire both the fermentation control panel as well as the main control panel and then put everything together. I still have to build a pump stand and install a 30gal. water bladder in the chill water chamber. But one thing is for sure, I'm a whole lot closer to brewing now than I was 6 months ago. Hehehehe.......

Happy brewing all!

More to come.......