Messages

136

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Storage temperature of Ales

« on: October 29, 2011, 01:24:18 pm »

I prefer to keep mine @ serving temp of 38

137

Equipment and Software / Re: Cleaning a Cold plate and a Therminator

« on: October 29, 2011, 01:23:03 pm »

I'd give both of them a running through with Acid 5 and PBW. 

138

Equipment and Software / Re: Propane hardware help please

« on: October 22, 2011, 11:37:19 pm »

i used 1/2 copper pipe soldered together with 4 ports two each for the pilot light and main gas line to the burner.  needle valve on the pilot going to a 1/4 in copper copper tube bent to line up with the burner and crimped at the end.  the for the main you can go with a standard gate valve but i used solenoid valves and then gate valves for metering the flow. 

i would not splice rubber hose, i had mine cut and crimped at a local hose shop and at $4 a hose it was a great deal.

people get scared of propane but as long as you're leak free, test by pressurizing your system with air and squirting joints with water, you're fine

139

Pimp My System / Re: The Great Northwestern Brew Baron

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:39:51 pm »

mostly it's in my head.  i'll try and copy the plumbing system, though it looks fairly complex, once you realize where you are sending the water by opening which valves it's pretty easy.

140

Equipment and Software / Re: Barley Crusher

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:25:27 pm »

On thing with mills like that is if you re assemble them with just the slightest "tweak" in them the rollers bind up and the loose roller will not turn.  I had to deal with that on a monster mill we were upgrading a while back. finally said screw it extended the shafts and put gears on it.

141

Equipment and Software / Re: Gear bargains!

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:21:27 pm »

for some discussion on pro flow cam locks  look here.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=9415.0

142

Equipment and Software / Re: 809 March Pumps

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:19:29 pm »

Look it don't matter which way you mount the motor, base horizontal base vertical, because the pump head can be mounted in any orientation that works for your application, in 90 degree increments.  If you plan on orienting the pump head vertically yes out would be above the pump head.  If you orient the pump head horizontally, i have found that it works best for the inlet and outlet to be oriented above the shaft of the motor so "on top".   

143

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Homebrew Book Topics

« on: October 16, 2011, 02:05:20 am »

I definitely agree about getting in to some of the more advanced stuff without the nonsense.  Blending beer, yeast culturing, different equipment setups and techniques

144

Pimp My System / Re: Pilot Brewery

« on: October 15, 2011, 09:54:42 am »

We is me and my assistant brewer/ business partner

145

Equipment and Software / Re: Plate chiller

« on: October 12, 2011, 09:10:20 pm »

When most brewers clean these out they use PBW, which is great but the real trick to keeping these things clean is running an Acid #5 wash through it.  It really helps to have a grant though that you can use to recirculate your acid wash.

146

Equipment and Software / Re: 809 March Pumps

« on: October 09, 2011, 08:46:22 pm »

if you get the pump primed (being a mag drive it will not prime itself, i dont know why) you can restrict the outflow (close the valve) and it will be just fine.  I dont usually run it during the mash, just the last 15 minutes to settle the grainbed, but it does run the entire sparge with the valve mostly closed.

147

Equipment and Software / Re: 809 March Pumps

« on: October 09, 2011, 06:28:23 pm »

I actually hadn't turned it off when it stopped, I had about 2 gallons more to transfer over, but since I have a dedicated wort pump and water pump, the wort pump might have built some beerstone up from cooling and transfers, but I'll definitely share your perspective on the sugars stopping it since I was running 1.082 wort through it at the time. 

148

Equipment and Software / 809 March Pumps

« on: October 09, 2011, 12:52:46 pm »

I've been using my pumps for a while now, and they work great.  Both of them are hard piped into my system and have never had a performance issue until last night.  My wort pump seized up in the middle of transfer giving me the "opportunity" to yank it apart, thank god for unions.  I take good care of my pumps always flushing them out and running pbw and acid 5 through them but when I tore the pump head apart i found the shaft and impeller bore coated with a good amount of beerstone.  So I guess pulling the wort pump apart is going to become a regular maintenance item.  I was wondering if anyone else has had this same problem.

149

Equipment and Software / Re: Blichmann Valve Modification to Tri-Clamp fittings

« on: October 09, 2011, 12:40:27 pm »

Plug


Socket

The gasket is in the socket.  The plug fits into the socket and the cam arms are then pulled down and the cams inside the socket fit into the groove on the plug and lock it into place.

150

Equipment and Software / Re: Blichmann Valve Modification to Tri-Clamp fittings

« on: October 08, 2011, 08:41:33 am »

Tight.  No Drips at all.  I run two 809 march pumps as well as my supply water at 60 psi, never had a problem