Transferring from Barrel to Keg – the Bulldog

Now that I have beer in the barrels, I started to look at the different ways to transfer the beer from the barrels to the kegs.  I was going to use a pump and a hose, but remembered that when I did this from my fermenter to kegs, the beer was oxidized.  This seems to be a common issue with pump transfers at this stage on a homebrew scale.  In my research, I came across a piece of equipment called a Bulldog. Continue reading “Transferring from Barrel to Keg – the Bulldog”

Adding Barrels to the Brewery

I was finally successful in acquiring a couple reasonably priced barrels for use in the brewery.  I am lucky enough to have a friend who runs a great barrel-only fermentation brewery and he was kind enough to pass on some savings, so…no links for purchase.  This is more for preparing the barrels for use, maintenance, and care of the barrels.  I’ve also build a multi-use stand for the barrels that will be detailed here.

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External HERMS Coil

I’ve been wanting to put this together for quite some time.  I’ve had the coil for a long time and the Quick Disconnects have been installed onto the hoses for about as long.  Well, now is that time.  I am going to use this HERMS coil externally because I do not want to install it into my HLT.  It will also make the system more modular to be its own entity. Continue reading “External HERMS Coil”

Brew Shed

Ah, yes!  The day had finally come.  I’m building a Brew Shed!  I’m very excited to be able to do this.  As this will be the single biggest project for the ‘brewery’, it will also be the one that takes the most time.
After researching the sizes I was able to build without permits and EPA studies, the 12′ x 12′ was the largest.  Once that was determined, I had to choose the shed.  Would I have it built and delivered?  Built on site?  Build myself?  After checking in to all of these options, I determined that I could save about $3000 by building it myself – and I could build it myself.

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