Filling out the brew bays

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JamesLewis
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Filling out the brew bays

Jeff w recently surveyed all our small equipment so that we can make a recommendation of what we need so that all brew bays can have their own dedicated equipment set.

Large pots and mash tuns have not be surveyed in detail so it will be difficult to assign these to individual bays at this point but will be brought up in a separate discussion at a later date. 

This is what we have:

- 1 pot over ten gallons, 3 eight to nine gallon pots, 6 three to five gallon pots, and 2 pots under three gallons
- 3 complete sets of hydrometers, 4 hydrometer tubes, and 1 refractometer
- 5 mercury thermometers, 3 digital thermometers, and 5 turkey thermometers
- 4 metal spoons, 2 plastic spoons, 1 wooden spoon
- 2 large wire strainers, 2 smaller wire strainers, and 1 really small wire strainer
- 3 small funnels and 1 large funnel
- 1 gallon pitcher, 1 1/2 gallon pitcher, and 1 three quart pitcher (This last one doesn't look right to me. I think it's measurements are incorrect.)
- 4 complete siphon starters and 3 tubes
- 4 digital scales and 1 analog scale
- 1 mash paddle (I feel like there are more of these, but I could only find one.)

This is what we need for 4 complete sets:

- 1 hydrometers
- 1 digital thermometer
- 2 large wire strainers
- 2, 1 gallon pitchers
- 2 large(1/2") siphon starters (I suggest we replace the smaller siphon starters to standardize this piece of equipment)
- 20' siphon vinyl to replace existing  (7/16"id 9/16od)
- 3 mash paddles

This is a pretty easy order in terms of cost with the exception of the mash paddles, about $150. The paddles are a bit of an investment at $40 each. I recommend buying everything else and having the paddle we have as shared equipment. Jim can you order it and drop it off at the brewhouse? 

Other than that we need someone to make four number templates (1-4) so we can spray paint the walls to label the bays.  I will set up a night where we can create the buckets and label everything.

Any other thoughts?

Pete
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I bought the mash paddle at a

I bought the mash paddle at a kitchen supply shop by my house for 15.99.  It was a standard paddle and had a friend create the holes in it, we can go that route if we wanted more paddles.

"Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he will waste a lifetime!" Bill Owen

JamesLewis
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Thats great pete. I recommend

Thats great pete. I recommend buying 3 of petes paddles too. That would bring the total for the bays to about $200

JimChochola
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I can certainly do it. It

I can certainly do it. It will be done by the monthly meeting next weekend.

JamesLewis
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Jim, attached is what I would

Jim, attached is what I would order from NB. It includes a an inline thermometer for the counter flow chiller.

Pete, could you take care of the paddles in the next week? Jim will pay you back.

I need someone to make a template to spray paint number on the walls (or iggy you could make a sweet wood cut numbers that we could glue up there)

JimChochola
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Thanks! But, I'm not seeing

Thanks! But, I'm not seeing an attachment....

JamesLewis
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Forgot the atachment

Forgot the atachment

JamesLewis
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Forgot the atachment

Forgot the atachment

IGZ
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id rather not paint the walls

id rather not paint the walls, im sure things will change over time. i'll make something if stevens jig saw is still kicking around.

...igz...

JimChochola
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Can you just e-mail it to me?

Can you just e-mail it to me? I can't read that and when I download the image and englarge it, it's too pixellated to read...

Pete
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I can get the paddles next

I can get the paddles next week.

"Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he will waste a lifetime!" Bill Owen

JimChochola
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To which address am I having

To which address am I having this stuff shipped? Certainly not the brew house Or was this just a list and I'm going to buy them from B&G or Brew Camp or some place?

Pete
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I dropped off the paddles to

I dropped off the paddles to the brewhouse last night.  

"Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he will waste a lifetime!" Bill Owen

JimChochola
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Awesome.

Awesome.

As soon as I get a chance, I will order the stuff from Northern brewer.

Just for future reference, in cases like this, ANYONE can order the agreed-upon equipment and I can reimburse them. It will get done a lot faster than waiting on me.

JamesLewis
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Ill just order it and email

Ill just order it and email you the reciept. You can add it to my tab.

JimChochola
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That's fine by me! Thanks for

That's fine by me! Thanks for doing that.

Sorry for dragging my feet. During the school year, I'm the wrong person to ask to do stuff.

JimChochola
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What are we doing for the

What are we doing for the storage buckets at each brew station? Are we going to use some of the Homer Buckets already there?

EssFresh
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I have two 15 gallon kettles

I have two 15 gallon kettles (one with a false bottom), a cooler HLT (with sparge arm) and two burners that can live at the space once I am approved. 

JimChochola
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Iggy, are those grey metal

Iggy, are those grey metal surfaces from the old brew space still available?

We've got the equipment for each of the 4 brew bays; we have the burners. I was hoping to build three more tables (like the one near the stoves) with the grey metal surfaces to further delineate the four brew bays. The one long table piled with shit isn't cutting it for a brew bay table.

One may say that the other tables are working out fine but we also need surfaces for bottlers and keggers (I was in there yesterday and had to wait for a brewer to finish up before I could bottle; Steven was fixin' to set up on the sink station to bottle).

JamesLewis
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Fresh,

Fresh,

Your pots would be much appreciated, let me know when you hae been approved. Thanks,

James

JamesLewis
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Brew bay equipment is here,

Brew bay equipment is here, if anyone can show up early on Wednesday for the Style Session we can make the buckets and label the equipment then.

Does anyone have a dremmel with a bit we can write on the metal equipment with? 

 

EssFresh
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James, 

James, 

I already have one brew in as of Saturday with Pete and Dave. Left two pots and HLT there is that's ok? If i need to get them out let me know. I have limited access to a vehicle so its easier to let them stay.

- Fresh

JamesLewis
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Awesome, there is definitly

Awesome, there is definitly no problem with your stuff being there (as it is what we have need for).  Thanks a ton,

James

lucas
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During my downtime here this

During my downtime here this morning I went ahead and tried to divide stuff up among the five buckets.  I figured I'd try and give you all a head start.  I didn't label anything so nothing is set in stone.  That should give you all a little bit a head start tomorrow evening since you'll just have to do a quick check of each bucket and then label. 

Oh... my... god.  Why haven't we done this?    http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...

JamesLewis
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Great, thanks.

Great, thanks.

You found the box of new equipment? There are 4 new siphons and hoses for them. Also the inline thermometer is there for the counterflow chiller.

This is what should be in each set:

- 1 hydrometers, 1 hydrometer tube
- 1 mercury thermometers, 1 digital thermometer, and 1 turkey thermometer
- 1 metal spoon
- 1 large wire strainer
- 1 small funnel
- 1 pitcher for measuring
- 1 complete large siphon starter with tubing and carbay clip
- 1 metal mash paddle

lucas
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So everything is split up,

So everything is split up, each bay has the same length of hose and all of the above mentioned items.  Someone should probably go through all of the thermometers and calibrate/check them all as just from some quick checking in boiling water they were all in a range of +/- 40 deg F. 

Also, the metal mash paddles aren't in yet so only one bucket has one at this point.  They're all on the floor in the middle of the BH so you can't miss them tomorrow.  Thanks!

Oh... my... god.  Why haven't we done this?    http://thechive.com/2013/09/17/guys-rig-up-buddies-plumbing-with-beer-wh...

Pete
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I am having the holes made in

I am having the holes made in the mash paddles.  I will bring them back when completed.

"Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he will waste a lifetime!" Bill Owen

JimChochola
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Pete brought the mash paddles

Pete brought the mash paddles last night. Those are badass. I'm glad all brew bays now have one.

Now, that the brew bays are filled out, my vote is to rid the office of any excess equipment which should otherwise be in the brew bays (e.g., there's a bucket of wine theives and auto siphons which are unnecessary now that we have one at each brew bay). Thoughts?

adman
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We can chuck the older auto

We can chuck the older auto-siphons, for sure, as most of them are useless.  However, I don't believe that each station has a wine thief.  

I had a thought about the brew-bay-buckets yesterday: since things tend to get put back into the buckets wet, we should consider drilling a few drain holes in the bottoms of the buckets, so that the buckets don't accumulate pools of water in their bottoms.  Thoughts?

-Adam

JamesLewis
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I think we should make two

I think we should make two bottling/transferng buckets, labeled as such. Put the thief's in those. I think there are at least two good siphons left. Those buckets should have-

-Autosiphon + tubing

-Hydrometer

-Thief

-bottle wand + tubing

- capper

Anything else?

Someone will need to do an inventory of the remaining equipment, put together a list of what we need to buy, buy it and label it. Volunteers? Once that is done and the loft is put together we should assess what we have and put what is not is use in storage. There are probably some useful parts from the siphons ect that would be useful for when things break.

JamesLewis
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Also, i dont like the idea of

Also, i dont like the idea of poking holes in the buckets, I would rather see if water accumulation is a problem.

JimChochola
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I originally had the same

I originally had the same idea, Adam, about draining. But, on the other hand, the bucket at each brew bay can be used to mill grains (unless the new milling station will have its own bucket...) which drainage holes preclude...

adman
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It makes sense to me that the

It makes sense to me that the milling station will have a permanent bucket, but I suppose we'll decide that once we've motorized/powered the mill.

adman
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Also, I like James's idea of

Also, I like James's idea of having two bottling buckets with the listed bottling supplies.

JimChochola
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In all honesty, it's not

In all honesty, it's not pooling water that's a problem, it's the cleaning of equipment.

The reason I suggested we get rid of equipment in the office which is extraneous is because people are still using equipment from the office and putting it back in there (e.g., Brew Bay #1 big, metal spoon was put back in the office and put back in there sticky; other equipment in the office which has not been assigned to a brew bay was used and put back sticky). If your only option is the equipment in your brew bay's bucket, there's no taking from the office and/or replacing it there...