beer maker 3000

[paulcgi]

my kids named my RIMS setup the "beer maker 3000"
pics of it during the Get Real ESB brew session:
http://www.cgiconsulting.net/bm3k/esb/

I have 5 or 6 movies done with my digi-cam, but some machines have trouble playing them back. I will post links to them (for those interested) once I get them converted to something else (quicktime maybe)

cheers!

paul...

(this was brew session #3 on it, starting to go a little more smoothly although I do have quite a bit of work left on it.. ie control panel, GFCI outlets, switches etc)

[HogieWan]

I'd like to see the movies - what format are they?

[paulcgi]

AVI

but off of the canon powershot.. some crazy motion jpeg.. my mediaplayer at home plays em just fine, here at work. no go. dont have the right codec. BUT quicktime usually will open them just fine.
I'll put up a link to one after lunch and you can try it

actually, here ya go. this is 23meg 320x240 mjpeg AVI straight from the canon... just starting to sparge/run-off into boil kettle.
http://www.cgiconsulting.net/bm3k/esb/mvi_0110.avi

[HogieWan]

Your runoff looks very clear - nice job.

[Otis_The_Drunk]

Clear wort, pretty color, looks like it will be a great brew session.

[paulcgi]

thanks
yea, the runoff was very clear.. of course then I go and boil the crap out of it, and put in hops and irish moss and then cool it and get all kindsa floaters (and sinkers) in there.
but the thing seems to be that it clears really quickly in primary.

did the vid work OK? I'll probably convert them anyway to get them a little smaller.

here's the vid as a little smaller mpg (14mb)
http://www.cgiconsulting.net/bm3k/esb/brew2.mpg

note too how loud those little pumps are. you should have heard it with both propane burners and the pump going. course, it didn't help that I had the stereo cranked up either ;-)

[BrewDog]

Looks good!

[paulcgi]

thanks brewdog.
fermentation is going like crazy tonight. high krauesen is already past. amazing how all the little chunks o crap go flying around in the fermenter. need to try to get a vid of that. all the gunk zipping around, up n down in there. but I dont think that it would show up well.. might have to "borrow" an HD DVCAM from work some time ;-)

[roggae]

very nice

[paulcgi]

thanks. I'm working on putting together a website with build docs & pics along with a description of using the thing. still have lots to do, but it's moving along

[MrNate]

Hey, I have a recirculating question for you - is that manifold height-adjustable? In other words, do you position the outlet pipe just below the surface of the wort to recirculate?

If so, I think that begs the question, "Why not do that when lautering?"

Also, you get bonus points for using both a hammer and a table saw in your brewery.

[Uncle Joe]

Clap clap.

[paulcgi]

hey now.. there is also a Delta 1.5 hp dust collector in the background, 4 tool chests, 3 drill presses, belt sander and an extension ladder.. and I am REALLY surprised nobody has freaked out about this guy
http://www.geocities.com/paulsgi/hero.jpg ;-)

height of the manifold is semi-adjustable. It hangs from an old chrome towel bar. so I can move the towel bar and I can also bend the copper wire that is holding it in place to adjust the height.

it stays in place the whole time. after circulating, I disconnect the tube from the out of mash tun and connect it to HLT. then this manifold now becomes my sparge manifold instead

[MrNate]

Yeah, interesting. I came to that part of the lauter tun design, and I started wondering why I would want to use a sprinkler head for the sparge if I'm trying to minimize hot-side areration.

Oh, and as far as your mascot goes... have no fear. Your secret identity is safe with me. And really, there's nothing at all wrong with Bud anyway.

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by paulcgi
height of the manifold is semi-adjustable. It hangs from an old chrome towel bar. so I can move the towel bar and I can also bend the copper wire that is holding it in place to adjust the height.

it stays in place the whole time. after circulating, I disconnect the tube from the out of mash tun and connect it to HLT. then this manifold now becomes my sparge manifold instead

Can you post some more detailed pics of that piece. If I ever get my pump built, Ill need something to use for both recirc and sparge and yours looks like a good dual-purpose solution

[paulcgi]

sure. I'll take some pics this weekend and post em.
need updated pics anyway

[paulcgi]

OK.. the manifold sitting on the counter.
http://www.cgiconsulting.net/bm3k/images/bm3k_manifold.jpg
It is built of 1/2" copper; the elbows on the corners point up at about 15 degrees, give or take. actually the liquor in the mash will kinda swirl around on top of the grain bed.. works for me.
it hangs from a chrome towel bar that sits on the top of the mash tun. because of the size of the tun (converted keg) even with 11 pounds of grain, not much height adjustment is necessary. The manifold hangs from the bar with a piece of copper wire. I have another version in the works where the manifold down tube will be inside another piece of pipe and will be height adjustable with a set screw.
Altho it works fine too to let the manifold sit on top of the grain bed. I have done it this way a couple times and it worked just fine except that the manifold wants to tilt to one side because of the down-tube for the false bottom.
just for fun
the false bottom:http://www.cgiconsulting.net/bm3k/images/bm3k_false_bottom.jpg

the homemade 'hop stopper' thing: http://www.cgiconsulting.net/bm3k/images/bm3k_kettle_drain.jpg
on each of the sides of this one, I put the SS lint trap from home depot

[kujo]

OK - I have a question about this setup. I've been *really* paranoid about sweating copper tubing that will be exposed to my beer. What are you using for solder? Is there a food-safe solder?

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by kujo
OK - I have a question about this setup. I've been *really* paranoid about sweating copper tubing that will be exposed to my beer. What are you using for solder? Is there a food-safe solder? All plumbing solder is now lead-free. Solder away. If you are doing anything more than sweating tubing fittings, silver solder will give you much stronger joints.

[paulcgi]

I've been using just normal lead free plumber solder (silver solder). Same stuff that was used on all of the water pipes in my house. I figured that if it was OK for my drinking water in the house, it was ok for beer too. Palmer talks about it in how to brew
http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixB-3.html
as long as it's silver solder (lead free) it should be good to go

[HogieWan]

I noticed WalMart had 2 lead free solders - one sliver and one mostly tin (like 95%)

[MichaelM]

get whatever type your torch head is capable of...... basically the higher the silver content the higher the temps needed to melt it and get it to flow.

[Beerbilly]

I use Dutch Boy "lead free" and lots of flux.