Cami ... and welding!

No, Cami hasn't learnt to weld yet, but I thought I should mention my beautiful daughter and show her off to the world, at the same time as talking about the progress on my semi-automated brewing machine.

I have been on solo night duties for the past week as we are trying to get Cami settled into a sleeping routine and get used to settling herself back to sleep when she wakes rather than needing a feed from Emma. So waking at 2 or 3am and being up and down a few more times for the rest of the evening is taking its toll especially when you are busy at work. But I shouldn't complain as I have a very beautiful daughter and Emma has had to put up with the lack of sleep for the past 9 months (I did help her a bit on difficult nights but she definitely has had the lions share of sleep deprivation).

Anyway, here is a cute video of Cami on a lazy Saturday morning (a hungover one for Emma).

Anyway, regarding my brewing machine, I have achieved a bit this week but also had some setbacks. When Emma was out last night enjoying a night out with some of her fellow mums, I celebrated a night alone with a lovely sleeping Cami by enjoying some home brew whilst playing with power tools (always a good combination). I decided to drill the 22mm holes in the gas beam where the gas will come and be distributed to the different burners. I used a "step bit" for this task which is a lot easier than a large drill bit, but it is still bloody hard especially on 3mm thick stainless steel which is tougher than nails. So I managed to drill the holes which needs lots of lubricating oil on the bit as well as a slow speed to prevent the stainless from heating up and becoming so hard that it can't be drilled through. There is also a fair kick when the bit bites in to the metal ... luckily no spilt beer! So I managed to get all 4 holes drilled and enjoy a few home brews as well.

Here is the gas beam with the holes drilled.

Today I also managed to tack weld the top part of the frame together which is more difficult than it looks as you need to ensure everything is flush and square. Once it is all welded out there is no turning back so it is essential to get it right. Lots of G clamps, set squares, ratchet straps and leveling aids!

Here is a pic of the top frame when tacked together and also some video of me doing some of the tacks.

Maybe I can blame it on the lack of sleep, but I realized today that I actually cut the gas beam and the other long horizontal 20mm too short (pity it wasn't too long). Lucky I have sufficient spare steel tubing to be able to cut some more but will need to do this with my grinder and a cutting disc as I only hired the metal saw for 1 weekend. Oh well, not the end off the world but certainly a bit frustrating.

Till next time - cheers and beers!

Brutus Nervous System Arrives!

Received a care package today courtesy of USPS! Thankfully under the 400kr limit (inclusive of postage) so the Toll Nazi's didn't gouge me for it. What I received today is a core part of the safety system I am including in my brew setup and will work together with the gas pilot safety valves I got the other day. It is some thermocouples which will be used to sense the pilot light and if it blows out then they will tell the gas pilot safety valve to switch off and not send gas to the burner.

Anyway - here they are. I accidentally ordered one more than I needed - always nice to have a spare I guess?!?!

I also found out that the welder I have decided on is in stock so I pick that up on Friday. I also pick up the hired metal saw so I can prep the stainless ready for welding the frame. Good stuff hey!

Now ... off to get myself a beer ... specifically a little creatures pale ale clone!

The Brutus Brain and Skeleton is being pieced together!

I received some goodies in the post yesterday. For those of you interested I received a White-Rodgers 764-742 Gas Pilot Safety Valve (thermocouple operated). This will form part of the brain of the brew system and will provide a good safety system. As the burner system will be automated and will automatically fire the burners when there is a drop in either hot liquor tank (HLT) temperature or also for a drop in the Mash & Lautering Tun (MLT) temperature then I need to make sure that when doing this outside (also for safety reasons with the LP gas) that if the pilot light blows out it will shut off the gas supply to the burners. Therefore I have also ordered some good pilot burners (Honeywell Q314A) and a thermocouple to go with the gas pilot safety valves. These will arrive in the next week or so.

Here is a picture of the gas pilot safety valve.

I have also today gone and picked up some other important parts. The first one is a bunch of fittings for the brewing liquid system. I plan on welding (using a new MIG system) the 1/2" pipe couplers onto the side of the keggles (the BK, MLT and HLT) which will allow me to add various fittings and parts to my keg. The main fitting will be the drain which will include the ball valves. On the MLT I will also include a Tee piece which will allow me to fit a thermowell inline into the system so that I can plug in my thermosensor in-line and have accurate measurement of the wort as it is being recirculated through the RIMS system. This thermosensor will feedback info to the temperature controller and fire the burner under the MLT if the temperature drops below the necessary mashing or sparging temperatures. Easy-peasy!

Anyway here are my stainless fittings (316 stainless no-less!!) which I picked up from Maritim.no down here in Stavanger. Got a very good price on them too!

Here is how the Tee system will be setup with the pipe couple on the end welded onto the keg for the MLT. On the other end at the tee will be a 1/2" thermowell which will measure the mashing temps "in-line". I will then drain or re-circulate from the bottom of the Tee back into the MLT or when I am sparging straight into the BK.

The other thing I picked up today was the skeleton of the system! This is some lovely polished 304 stainless steel which will be cut next weekend (using a hired steel cutting saw). I plan on mitering the top corners for the frame so that it is a nice and flush surface for the kegs to sit on. The rest will be plain square ends. I haven't decided whether to include a gas beam into the system yet or whether I will just have it plumbed externally and secure the plumbing to the frame. I'm leaning towards a gas beam but haven't yet concluded on the final set up for the gas system. So the steel you see on my car roof is 18m of 304 stainless box section (50 x 50 x 3mm) as well as some flat bar which will be used to create an adjustable burner shelf so i can adjust the flame height/position once I see where it fits best. All exciting stuff I can tell you!

My lovely 304 stainless!

I have also decided on what MIG system I will get. It ain't cheap but it's a he'll of a lot cheaper than any other decent MIG system and will provide sufficient power to weld the 3mm wall of the frame. I'll include an argon gas shielding system and for the couplers on the kegs I will have a system to purge the back of the weld with argon to ensure no rusting as a result of the welding process. I'll show my lovely welder when I get it. If they have it in stock next week I may end up being able to perform all my cuts of the steel and start with some trial welding! My lovely steel supplier also threw in a stainless wire brush for polishing the welds after MIG-ing. Champ!

Beer on!