3 keg brewery build

[Spud395]

I reckon I have enough pic's of my build to do a build tread on a simple 3 vessel brewery, from start to current (never say finished  : )

I might do it over a few days as I'm slow at this net stuff

[Spud395]

Kettle/hlt build, both are very similar designs so I'll just do one to avoid doublings up.

Starting with a standard dirty "builders" keg I cleaned it up a bit and removed the top skirt just leaving the handles




Made a jig to cut keg top, it's adjustable in and out



In action, this was when I was cutting for my FV as I didnt want as big an opening in the top



I decided to bottom drain to avoid deadspace, centre hole



For the bottom drain I need to add some hight so drilled 3, 8mm holes in bottom rim and tapped the to take m8 bolts



Legs in place




Fitted tank connector and copper drain




I dont have pice of fitting the elements, but here are the 2 Argos kettle elements in place, I've since changed the hop filter I'll take a pic sometime



You can see my dodgy welding above the elements, I added a shroud over the elements for safety. This is just some of the skirt I cut off the top of the keg cut to size, you can see it in this pic. Also my ash mash paddle, made from a hurly stick I bought from the local hurl maker for a fiver and a bottle of stout



Note hole size in mash paddle is the same hole saws I used for the keg   



Next episode Mash tun and FV build  8-)

[MAF]

Superb work Spud! And the shed looks fairly tidy too 

Love the paddle though, looks the job.

[Spud395]

Some may have seen this elsewhere but I'll put it up again.

We start with a 100mm (4") graphite enhanced insulation board, 2 in fact, other insulation board will work very well also this is what I got when I bartered 




Work out what your cuts are and have at it with the saw



This keg has very big ridges, but it's a good idea to cut out for them anyway



Using a good quality thermal rated foam (PUR7)



Work your way around, glueing each piece to the next.....ah you know what I mean



For the bottom I used a high density board to cope with the weight of a full mash. First fill the void at the end and then glue on the insulation



Push on your end piece, forgot the picture  :oops:

The foam will want to expand and push everything all over the place, a couple of rachet straps do the job.



Walk away and let everything set


I sanded off the points where the sheets met, this brought me back to my youth as a surfboard shaper in Maui*



Then wrapped the whole thing in black cling film (silage wrap for the country boys) 5or 6 times. To further protect the edges I used some trusty duct tape.



I'll pass on the advise I got and ignored. Have a 2nd pair of hands for the wrapping, you will note my custom psycodelic wrinkly bits.

Finally for today a blank for the lid, some work needed here yet




*Utter fantasy or complete lies

[Spud395]

oops got a little ahead of myself, 1st I put in a 4" long brass nipple low down in the keg.
I had a friend of mine make up a stainless false bottom for a couple of bottles of ale.
I then attached a copper dip tube from the nipple to the centre of the keg through the false bottom.

This drains leaving less than 50ml of wort in the bottom of the tun

[Spud395]

Top notch! I feel a wiki article coming on!

Can I just copy and paste?
Not had much time to look at it yet

[Spud395]

Superb work Spud! And the shed looks fairly tidy too 

Love the paddle though, looks the job.

Ah you've seen it worse Mark  : some day I'll get it sorted.
Paddle should be good up to about 10 hectolitres I reckon 

[Spud395]

Getting into this now so I'll keep going 

Reasonably small hole for the FV



I then used the top of the HLT for the lid. The rubber bung for a carboy fits the keg nicely and allows a bubbler.
To be honest I just cover it with aluminum foil now as it's to tall for my fermentation fridge with the bubbler



I did clean it up a bit after this last pic  :

[Shanna]

Hi Spud,

I am going to build a keg soon and I want to insulate it also but I was thinking of building a circular mold and using expanda foam to cover the keg, by placing the keg inside the mold and spraying the foam between the wall of the mold and the keg wall. I have some concerns as to whether or not to apply the insulation before or after putting in the drain and the power supply. I wonder what did you do?

Have you used this new keg yet? If so how easy or otherwise is it to move around and or empty it. I did not see any handles in the photos?

Have used brass connectors to connect the drain to the ball valve? Curious as brass contains lead.

Regards,

Declan

[Spud395]

Hi Declan, I would fix all drains/elements whatever before insulating. From a practical point, it's easier fix a leaky connection.

It's no bother lift, not heavy but I've taken to cleaning in place.

Have you used expanding foam before? It can be a bit of a ballbreaker to use in a confined space like you're talking about.

You'll find you have brass in contact with your water supply in many places. In many parts of the country there is still lead water main.

[christhebrewer]

Better to use cut sheets of foam because with expanding foam is very difficult to achieve a decent density and you will not have enough insulation. Also sheets are easier and probably cheaper.
Great brewery Spud!

[Tucan]

Better to use cut sheets of foam because with expanding foam is very difficult to achieve a decent density and you will not have enough insulation. Also sheets are easier and probably cheaper.

[Tucan]

It's not a good idea to use expanding foam to fill voids of over 30mm, The reason for this is because of the way the foam cures from the outside in witch will result in the first 10mm to 15mm being properly airated and cured, after that the lack of air means no cure and you're left with an expensive void and structural weakness. Also if you notice Spuds used a high density insulation for his base capable of withstanding the weight, No expanding foam on the market can do this.
Christhebrewer is also right about cost.
I would estimate the cost of the insulation would be less than the cost of two cans of expanding foam.

[Shanna]

Hi Chris and Spud,

Thanks for the responses regarding the appropriate choice of insulation. I was thinking along the lines of expanda foam because it would be easier to pickup off the shelf somewhere. However given your comments I guess I will go the way of the external insulation.

Declan

[Shanna]

Hi Spud,

The more I look at your setup I am thinking that I could also use the second keg I have to create a mashtun ;-) Any chance you would update the page with the details of the size and type of the connectors for the drain (ball valve, copper tubing, compression fittings etc).

In for a penny in for a pound, if you also have the name/type of the insulation that you used that would be sweet.

Thanks

Declan