Eric's basement brewery/cooler/etc. build

Crazy Brewer · Joined: 12 Feb 2014 Posts: 60 Location: Houston area, Texas

Nice! Very nice! You might try heating your screens with a hair dryer or heat gun before starting your boil so they don't cool and condense the steam generated during the boil.

foomench · Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 4:06 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the comments and advice crazy brewer. I'll do some experimenting again before a real brew.

BTW, where in Texas are you? I spent many of my younger years in San Antonio.

Crazy Brewer · Joined: 12 Feb 2014 Posts: 60 Location: Houston area, Texas

foomench · Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:05 pm Post subject:

I brewed my first beer this weekend, and ran the fan on high during the boil. I saw some condensation on the screens, but didn't ever see any drips. It was just a 6 gallon batch, so that might have helped as well.

BTW, the hood has a squirrel cage blower, not a fan. I noticed/verified that since the last test when I pulled the screens out looking at them.

foomench · Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 5:17 pm Post subject:

Now that I'm seriously brewing, I decided that it was time to polish up my electric BK. Plus, since Blichmann no longer sells shiny kettles, I figured it was time to set mine apart Wink

I still need to clean out the chimb welds and lettering a little bit.

Walts Malt · Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 6:55 pm Post subject:

What did you use to polish those? Can you provide some details (tools, pads, compounds, etc.) as I'm considering doing the same when I covert to electric this winter?

foomench · Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2014 8:07 pm Post subject:

foomench · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2014 5:01 pm Post subject:

Some other minor recent upgrades to the brewing area. First, the entrance area got some decor:

As I was brewing, I found the paper towels just sitting next to the sink wasn't so convenient. So I googled "Grundtal paper towel holder." Lo and behold, there is just such an item, made by Ikea ... but discontinued about eight or nine years ago. I was trying to figure out how to fabricate my own and one came up on eBay with some other accessories, so I bought it.

Finally, I wanted some more shelves to hold a bunch of small ingredients and what have you. Alas, the Ikea Grundtal Spice Rack, a tiered shelf, has also been discontinued. I bought three of the current individual shelves and fabricated my own stacked shelf. I might add on the third, but at the moment I like the look of two and I don't need the third.

bsquared · Joined: 27 Jan 2014 Posts: 9

Fantastic build, very inspiring for sure. We're looking into finishing our basement and the costs go up very quickly. Doing portions yourself doesn't always knock off a proportional amount from the price as some contractors want it all for themselves.

It seems like you've found some very good ones to work with that helped you out along the way, custom last-minute changes and additions, even tossed on some foil tape for you Smile

Congrats again on the build!!

foomench · Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the congrats. As for contractors, it turns out contractor #1 walked off the job somewhere around 2/3rds done (end of page one of this thread, at the time of the floor sealing). Contractor #2 saved us and I would highly recommend. We paid him and his workers time and materials. I had always planned on doing the painting, and with the contractor situation, ended up doing a bunch of other work as well. There were certainly details to work out as things took shape, but looking at the original plan on page one, there weren't really any last-minute changes or additions.

Made electric beer #3 this past weekend, and I haven't had any problems with condensation on the hood.