National Homebrew Club Ireland

Some of you will probably have seen this on twitter or facebook and I might have posted on here months ago about my mancave build consisting of a brewery and a gym.

Anyway, here's where I'm at. Most of the initial brewery is ready. I just have to fit an element to my HLT and tighten a few things. The chugger pumps have arrived in Ireland so I need to get those. They will be fit on the bottom shelf of my stainless steel table.

I have no plumbing in the shed and since it's pre-cast concrete, it's not too straight forward for me to put in myself. My initial plan is to put a bucket under the sink and then run a hose in from the window.
A later plan is to put in a waste pipe and also a hookup on the outside wall so I can just hook water up as if it were a caravan.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OOb1i1QPmtQ/VcNGlXIsISI/AAAAAAAAO4o/atO6yTesns4/s912-Ic42/20150802_152651.jpg)
A look at my kettle.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3-W1X5W_z3Y/VcNG4sXFDgI/AAAAAAAAO48/8_VphXVws3w/s912-Ic42/20150801_175721.jpg)
The brewery Setup.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1U8mlLGyT8E/VcNGyeCeF0I/AAAAAAAAO40/FUJSUzPomm8/s912-Ic42/20150802_191816.jpg)
The whole mancave so far.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O7p-wniHllM/VcNHGit1psI/AAAAAAAAO5E/710KIvhDwgI/s912-Ic42/20150703_220520.jpg)
Ventilation overkill. This fan is ridiculous.

Images aren't working :) I've seen it on twitter though - looking class!

Ah, permissions issue. They should be working now.

Nice. I take it you've earthed those elements. Going to get a cable gland to put over them to make sure no wort can get on them as well? Brewcon has made me a paranoid brewer these days!

Love the stainless steel brewtable. I took the plunge and ordered one last night as it was going to cost nearly the same to build my own one from timber. Must post up a pic of the final setup when everything arrives.

I'll be looking to cover them yes.

On the earth though, I thought that was only if using one salvaged from a kettle? These are brewing elements from HBC so I thought the earth runs through the cable? Or is that my ignorance.
I'm sure it was recommended at the conference to use proper elements and not the kettle hacks to avoid this issue?

I'm not really concerned about that. Sure once the mash is done, I can move the mash tun off there if I do need to use the sink.

Sexy, now the easy bit, brew some beer!

Is the exercise bike connected to a generator to drive the elements? A few 90min boils & you'll be doing the Rás next

Looks a great setup. Wish my shed was that tidy.

Thanks, I've yet to even test it with water yet. Fingers crossed that goes well.

Quote from: Saruman on August 06, 2015, 12:55:02 PM
I'll be looking to cover them yes.

On the earth though, I thought that was only if using one salvaged from a kettle? These are brewing elements from HBC so I thought the earth runs through the cable? Or is that my ignorance.
I'm sure it was recommended at the conference to use proper elements and not the kettle hacks to avoid this issue?

Basically you need to make sure there is a path to earth from the pot that is not you. So, if the element has an earth connection, does that mean if there's a fault, it will be the path of least resistance? I don't know the answer here, but I'm sure someone can tell us.

Saruman are they the bergland pots that angel homebrew and brewbuilder sell? If so how do you like them?

No, they are 70l pots from HBC. A lot of my fittings are from Brebuilder though because HBC didn't have enough of what I needed and while mybeerandwine had some of it, they didn't have enough and I simply don't trust a company that doesn't respond to you.

Why don't you run the waste and water above the slab and then box it out? You can then drop them just outside the shed.

I'm not sure what you mean by "above the slab", or "box it out"?

Quote from: Saruman on August 06, 2015, 05:19:10 PM
I'm not sure what you mean by "above the slab", or "box it out"?

(http://i.imgur.com/xzKVMbEl.jpg) (http://imgur.com/xzKVMbE)

Ah ok i get it now.

Gary, thought you only detailed Steel, that looks remarkably like timber and concrete.....

Ha ha, 'Earth and Shit'

Jasus that's some extractor fan :). Since thats blowing out the back wall why can't you push through that wall with a waste pipe from the sink :-\.

The air goes out the gable. That's just plastic and wood.
The main frame is the concrete. I can still carefully drill through it but it's pre-cast and not blocks so cracking could be an issue.

I'll get it done at some  point.

Who'd you get the precast from, I could have a look into it for you if you want? You'd have more an issue with cracking from block than precast (precast would be reinforced). Your biggest problem drilling through precast would be hitting the steel reinforcement strands (it'll rattle your teeth )

Quote from: johnrm on August 06, 2015, 10:40:25 PM
Ha ha, 'Earth and Shit'

Earth and Bud?

I got it from Shedworld. (http://www.shedworldwexford.com/new/index.php?page=conc_bld&quality=high)

(http://www.shedworldwexford.com/new/images/gallery/conc_bld/high/interior_bare_1.jpg)

This stock image shows the layout of the panels.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bTWX61IMqoE/VC6DisebG3I/AAAAAAAAO4o/cTvzG_bdHQQ/s912-Ic42/mancave_3.jpg)

Here's mine, in the area I put the brewery before I put up the insulated plasterboard. I had insulated the roof with shiny bubble stuff.

I've never seen precast panels like them before, they look cool. How thick are they?

BTW, I think your cat is possessed!

(http://i.imgur.com/xxaxQ3r.gif)

You have too much time on your hands Gary  :D

As you can see, they have varying degrees of thickness. It's just a guess but I think the panels are about 4 inches thick at the frame but you can see they get narrower so possibly only an inch or two.

- honey, where you going?
-  I'm going to workout   ;-)

Great setup.

I'm guessing its about 2" thick at the narrowest part so. Similar to a patio slab. You need a coring bit with the hammer-action turned OFF. These bits are expensive to buy but most plumbers would have one in the van. A few bottles of beer to drill a hole sounds fair to me?

Or you could cut a square hole with an angle grinder and diamond disk.

I've got a stainless steel kettle that I got from Hop and Grape and there was a safety booklet they sent with it. You need to earth the pot itself (image below) by attaching an earth cable to the pot wall and running it to the ground, the earth in the plug itself is not enough. You also need to make sure your using rubber gaskets between the element and the pot walls so its well isoloated, but I'm sure you've already done that. Looks like a pretty good set up!

Good to know. I should also probably have the pots sitting on wood or something instead of directly on the stainless steel table.

Yeah, thats definitely a good idea. You could even run an earth cable from the table as well, just in case.

My pot is not in a permanent possition so I just run the cable to the ground (concrete) and put a brick on top of it. Not really ideal but sufficient

Quote from: Saruman on August 07, 2015, 10:48:51 AM
Good to know. I should also probably have the pots sitting on wood or something instead of directly on the stainless steel table.

I boiled wort in a plastic bucket on granite worktop once.
Just once.

Quote from: Saruman on August 07, 2015, 09:04:41 AM
I got it from Shedworld. (http://www.shedworldwexford.com/new/index.php?page=conc_bld&quality=high)

(http://www.shedworldwexford.com/new/images/gallery/conc_bld/high/interior_bare_1.jpg)

This stock image shows the layout of the panels.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bTWX61IMqoE/VC6DisebG3I/AAAAAAAAO4o/cTvzG_bdHQQ/s912-Ic42/mancave_3.jpg)

Here's mine, in the area I put the brewery before I put up the insulated plasterboard. I had insulated the roof with shiny bubble stuff.

They say you can use it for a pump house so you can definitely put a pipe through it! The thin areas are probably not load bearing, just infill panel (pretty typical of precast concrete panels to reduce weight, concretes heavy). The load looks like it's being carried down the thick bits (like small stanchions), you should be able to core through the middle of the thin areas. Send an email to shed world and ask them. Their product, let them stand over it!

Quote from: johnrm on August 07, 2015, 11:56:38 AM

I boiled wort in a plastic bucket on granite worktop once.
Just once.

I boil on a granite worktop, should I not be doing this?

I already did actually. I know I can drill through it when the time comes.
That time just hasn't come yet.

Quote from: dcalnan on August 07, 2015, 06:14:22 PM
I boil on a granite worktop, should I not be doing this?

Expect cracks.
Place wood under your boiler.
It might have been dodgy granite, but it can crack.

Quote from: Ohnidog on August 07, 2015, 11:00:12 AM
My pot is not in a permanent possition so I just run the cable to the ground (concrete) and put a brick on top of it. Not really ideal but sufficient

:o No its not!   :o

When the pot says "This must be grounded" or "connected to earth" they mean connected to an electrical earth! Touching the ground (concrete) is not the same thing. You have NOT earthed the pot!

The simplest way for something temporary like this is to fit one yellow/green wirte to the earth pin of a 13 amp plug. Plug in the plug and connect the pot earth to this wire then you are safe.

If anyone reading this post is not clear what I am on about please talk to a qualified electrician

Thanks Will, you certainly cleared that one up and probably put the shits up a few others. Earthing to your element power cable ok? Actually, earthing directly to the earth in the socket? If you look at mine, my sockets are above my pots. The left and right are both fed on separate circuits from their own MCB. The shed has its own RCD as well as the house. This was all done by a qualified electrician.

I reckon I should also run an earth to my stainless steel table just to be safe.