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Brewery Photo Log |
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Here are some photos of my brewery, my "assistants," and a brew or two. I'll also be chronicling the construction of my planned 3-tier setup, as I work on it. Enjoy! |
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Back to my beer page |
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Back to my homepage |
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My back deck. This is where the 3-tier setup will eventually stand. For a variety of reasons, I intend to go with a gravity-fed system, with a 10-gallon max capacity. I haven't decided yet on using converted kegs (1/2 bbl) or getting big stainless pots. I'm thinking the kegs will be cheaper, long run. |
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The basement brewing bar, in its disorganized majesty. Visible are: three of my kegs (currently empty, unfortunately), my 5# CO2 tank, and my 2-tap tower (fed from kegs not visible to the right, through a chill plate in a dorm-size refrigerator, also not visible). Attached to the wall is an illuminated, calligraphed description of my Russian Red ale, brewed for Pennsic XXXIV. |
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My "equipment room," a severely modified bathroom in the basement. Visible: my homemade counterflow chiller (in the lower right); several 1-gallon carboys; a trio of empty apple juice bottles (now cleaned, sanitized, and used for bringing "clean" water out to the back deck for brewing); plastic containers for holding various chemicals/additives/adjuncts, and a horde of various bottles--some empty, some containing a variety of brews awaiting their day. |
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Heating water up the morning of November 5th. The planned brew this time around was a extract-with-grains Dry Stout. This is the water for steeping the grains... |
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...and here is the post-boil wort. I've already taken the hops out (I use whole hops, and boil them in nylon bags for this purpose). |
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And (as should be evident) the primary ferment was active. I think I ended up with something on the order of 4-1/2 gallons of wort, so when I racked, I topped it up with boiled (and cooled) water. For a size reference, the beer is in a 6-gallon carboy, and my 7-gallon is behind it. |
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And I have to brag a bit. This is a cider I've done, using apples from a friend's tree and 100% apple juice. The must started off quite green, but time has worked wonders. I haven't included the recipe on my recipe page, because there isn't really one to speak of. Apples and juice, pectic enzyme, and cider yeast (White Labs). This is a bit over a month into its "lifespan," as it were. Subsequent to this picture, I've hit it with some isinglass, and it's brilliantly clear. Now, to scrounge enough bottles for it... |
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The brewstand, being "broken in" on its first brew, 10 June 2006. It's about 7 feet tall, give or take; 3-tier, gravity-fed. Eventually, I'll have the propane plumbed, and some water plumbed, and my counterflow-chiller more permanently attached. I've also got a water filter I'm going to attach somehow... In the meantime, it works as planned! Further details available, you need but email me and I'll be happy to elucidate. Further photos as I get things built. |
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At my wife's insistence, I've converted this over to a 2-tier, pump-fed system. I received the pump late in February 2008. The conversion was finished (basically) on 15 March. The 'Beta Test' was on 16 March; I brewed a Northern English Brown and an Irish Stout. Pictures follow. Enjoy! |
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This is the new brewstand. 2-tier; the cooler (my mash tun) is supposed to sit on the top. The kettle in the center is currently my HLT; I plan on exchanging it for a larger one in the relatively near future. The cooler is sitting where my boil kettle goes--I miscalculated a crucial hose length, and had to improvise. That's one of the main changes I have in mind for Version 2.0.1. |
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The pump which is an integral part of the new system. I'm still tweaking its positioning and figuring out how exactly it functions... |
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I also picked up two new burners, and got new 60psi regulators to power them. They eat through the propane when they're cranked open like this, but it sure brings the wort to a boil quickly. |
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This is inaugural brew #2, an Irish Stout. Well, it was almost St. Patrick's Day, after all... |
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