A brewing thread

Science
1

Hello Beer enthusiasts!

It’s getting to be that time of year again when sitting outside and brewing a couple of gallons of beer won’t be excruciating. So we should start thinking about having another brew day.

We have quite a bit of good equipment at the space, but I think we can make some big improvements by switching from our gas powered setup to an electric setup. Something along the lines of: The Electric Brewery

We’ve got plenty of kettles and converting them to electric would be pretty easy. It’d take a couple hundred bucks to get the whole thing operational with a nice control panel and all, however since I’m building a control panel for my personal setup that’s close to what’s required for this, we could probably forego a good bit of the cost up front.

I’m thinking that one or two brew classes would cover much of the cost of equipment, and we can start with another brew in bag class on an upcoming weekend.

Who’s interested in doing this?

1 Like
2

Let’s Do IT!! I’ve been to a couple of brews but don’t have that much in depth knowledge. However I would be interested in getting your idea up and running

3

Excellent! Since brewing an actual batch is actually a pretty long process, do you think it would be worthwhile to do a ‘class’ first, covering the process and stuff before actually doing a full brew? There’s a lot of sittin’ round time while actually brewing which may bore some people.

1 Like
4

Yes, that sounds like a great idea! And whoever wants to stick around can. What do you want to do with it afterwards?

5

Drink it of course!

I’m thinking a weekday / evening class with some slides and discussion would be good, then we can do the brew some other time.

Unfortunately, my work schedule is ‘fluid’ at best (24-48hr notice on trips) so I may have to reschedule the class at the last minute. I’ll have to figure out how that works with the honorariums if I have to do a last minute reschedule.

6

Totally understand. I can try to find others who would be willing to teach.

7

Cool. I could put together a short presentation with notes and whatnot that someone else who has done brewing before could follow if we need it.

-Ian

8

Actually we’re planning to do a brewing class as part our our Science Space Build Out Project and just need someone to teach it. I’d be grateful if you could. The plan was to have it sometime during the first two weeks of November but it can be any time that’s convenient for you. Just let me know when.

I’d also appreciate any help you could give sorting through the brewing equipment to determine what we need to keep and what we don’t.

9

Cool. Timing works. I’ll start sorting through it when I’m there tomorrow.

I know there’s some stuff that could probably get tossed, or at the very least put into long term storage.

I think it’d be pretty cool if we could set up the rolling cart that all the stuff is on now as an electric setup that we roll outside and just plug into the charging station to brew.

10

I actually have a full sized electric brewery setup. 3 pids 1 timmer, etc… If anyone needs help with it or I could possibly bring my stuff too for a class.

11

Someone had grand plans for a brew cart, but it never materialized. You can probably still find those threads in this forum.

12

I’m kinda jealous! I’d love to come by and see it sometime!

13

I should be brewing something for Halloween here pretty soon. I will let you know when we set up a date to brew on.

14

Sounds good. Just let me know dates that work for a brewing class and a brewing session so we can coordinate with the other things going on in the space. Also, I’d really like for us to have a more compact brewing cart. We’ll be building some tables and storage soon so maybe we can make a custom cart for the brewing gear.

15

Ok, went through and inventoried the stuff on the cart and up on the shelf. I’ll update the wiki soon. I also removed some of the stuff that wasn’t brewing related and @Eric_Brunner was going to reorganize that stuff. Broke the bottle of cider vinegar and made a cool Halloween ghost print on the ground with it.

I’m out of town until next week, will continue as I have time.

1 Like
16

Ok thanks for going through the cart.

17

Hi,
I am glad that you are interested in brewing. I am also interested in seeing DMS restart its brewing
program. I have been brewing since 1976 and brewing professionally since 1984, so I am confident that I can provide expertise to help make the brewing program a success.

Several months ago I discussed the brewing program with Science Committee chair Ebony Jackson. Unfortunately, I ran into the challenge with our water and sewer. I reviewed the inventory of equipment on the premises then.

We have plenty of operational equipment on hand to heat sparge water and to boil wort. The propane system we already have works well.
Spending money to duplicate the functions of currently operational equipment would be unwise,
especially when much more important equipment is needed.

The big challenge that we need to address at DMS to move a brewing program forward is the availability of water and wastewater. We do not have a water source and drain allowing us to properly chill the wort through a heat exchanger. For consistent, quality brewing results quick chilling of the wort is essential. In addition, we have no suitable space where we can wash
down and clean equipment. This issue is where we need to spend any available money.

Ebony Jackson, the Science Committee chair, says that DMS is not allowed to spill water into the parking lot, so we can’t run a hose out there (300 feet? - we have no water out there) and let the coolant effluent drain to the ground.

I proposed that we use the water and the drain in one of the big bathrooms, but there seems to be some resistance to an occasional use of the bathrooms for this purpose.
Alternately, the janitorial sink and water may work for wort chilling.

We also need a wort chiller/heat exchanger and a temperature controlled refrigerator. A couple of
corny tanks would also be needed. These are the second most important items that require money.

My understanding is that DMS has had several viable brewing programs over the years, but they have not been sustained. I think that if we obtain the critical resources we need for a home brewery, then we can build a program that will be fun for members and that will be an asset to DMS. Brewing classes are a great way to attract new members to DMS as well as to have some fun.

2 Likes
18

What chilled water temp is required? Also what kind of tonnage?

19

So why not fill a cooler with ice and use a submersible pump to run ice water through the coil in a closed loop. Just keep replenishing the ice and collect any extra water in a small bucket.

20

@northstar, I agree with most of what you say, but I’d suggest that we spend money on building a good, highly controllable system that integrates with both the existing infrastructure limits as well as some of the experimentation that is being led by the science committee. Case in point is the Raman spectrometer they are working on.

I disagree on the part about a fridge and kegs though. I’d much rather see a member bring their own fermenter / carboy, and use their own bottles or kegs. The idea would be to brew at the space but ferment and store elsewhere. We already have storage woes at the space so we’d be much better poised to do the hard work at DMS and then let the member do the easy part at home. When the fermentation is done, they could bottle or keg it either location.

1 Like