We (Adam, Ira, Tobias, and Matt) did a fair amount of work on the brewery components tonight. Pictures will follow here in a few days.

We have most of the cold box completed we only need to caulk a few seams, paint the outside of the box and put on casters and affix the heat exchanger to the inside of the box.

We also started the cart that the glycol chiller will sit on. This will be somewhat complex in order for the glycol reservoir not to leak.

However, the most interesting piece thus far is the "Brain" of the fermentation process which Ira is building and programming entirely from scratch. We are using a touch screen to control and monitor the process. At this point we will be able to program manually or use preset modes for the temperatures and times for fermentation.

This is a lot of information but I promise to include video and pictures to make the whole concept more intriguing.

Later....

Read more ...

This is the physcial construction part of the cold box. Ira is doing a great job of the automation and control side.

I included some basic pictures of the framing and will add more as we go along. The frame uses 1/2" plywood and 2x4's to create the backbone of the structure. Essentially it will be a box within a box. The inner box consists of 2" Dow Blue foam and the inner most liner is made up of FRP panels for durability and easy clean up.

To cool the box we are using between 2 and 4 120mm fans to circulate air over a Haydens 405 Transmission cooler that will be hanging from the ceiling of one end of the box.

Just a tip when constructing a cold box with Liquid Nails adhesive. When applying it above you be very careful how quickly you sit up. That stuff is a pain to get out of your hair.

Read more ...

A few of the other guys have tackled the task of construction of the brewery and i have concentrated on the automation of the fermenation process. So far i have created the logic which will be used for both the cold box and the Conical Fermenter controlling the heating and cooling process.

The idea is to make the system as flexible and easy to use as possible. To do this 2 variables will be used at all times to define if the system will be cooling, heating, or nothing. The logic is is shown below:


Both the Cold Box and the Conical Fermenter will be controlled separately. By controlling these process separately we will be able to ferment different types of beer at the same time. Because a PLC will be used to control this process it should be easy to track where each beer is in the fermentation process. The Control logic which will control the heating and cooling pumps is as follows:


This is the basis of what is needed to brew different beers. This logic will always be used regardless of the stage of the brew process Primary, Diacetyl Rest, Crash, Secondary. I will followup with the diagram which will show each of the process steps in a later post for now we have temperature control... O, yea not to mention the data logging. The data logging will be essential so that we understand what a beer experienced during the fermenation process. In logging this information we will be able to re-create a beer over and over again.

Read more ...