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WHAT'S NEW AT BLUE DOG BREWING |
We found that things are constantly changing |
THIS PAGE will bring you up to date on the latest inventions, modifications or purchases. Who was it that said, brew your own beer and you'll save money? HA! He lied But we do have a lot of fun doing it, so here's some new stuff...... Updated May 2012
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Bluedog gets squeaky clean! |
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Take $50 - buy an old 3phase Commercial dishwasher [what a steal huh!] and with a bit of enguinity you have a keg washer.... and a fermenter washer... and a cube washer. Scalding hot water for the first wash then rinse in cold water and what a difference it makes, everything so nice and clean. If you're a regular Bluedog-phile you'll know we just love the junk yards and our Tender Centre here in town. [its a place to sell your second hand goods - people put in a bid over the weekend, then Sunday night - highest bid wins!]
As usual we have full details of the build available for anyone who wants to copy or improve upon the idea at Bluedog's Kegwasher 2012
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Bluedog has WIND - a wind generation project making more electricity [Mar2012] |
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We finally got that wind generator up on a pole... only to find that the inverter wasn't suitable.... so we watched the blades go round and round for a couple of weeks... now it's running and wouldn't you know it.... calm - wind-less days! WTF? But it still looks so cool! Yes, we purchased most of the gear a year ago but the Bundy floods and a dozen other projects always seemed to get in the way... but finally it was time to make up the long pole (9metres) and get the damn thing in the air. It's a thing of beauty.
We have begun a new page on the Project Ventus Bluedog's Wind Gen Project It was finally connected to the new inverter in April so we'll be monitoring it so we can fill in the blanks about the performance. |
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Bluedog goes HERMS & Semi-Automatic [Jan2012] |
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It Works! We have a semi-automatic HERMS brewery The need for constant and repeatable temperature control of the Mashing process led us to the question of "What is HERMS"? We decided that Heat Exchange Recirculation Mash System was for us and it led to a radical re-design of the brewery. Follow this link to a pictorial diary and some of the logic governing our decision to make Bluedog a HERMS Brewery |
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A MASH PADDLE July 2011 |
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It was time to put the Smoker & Bacon project aside and get back to the brewery... and the next item was a paddle to continuously stir the mash. This will keep everything in the mash tun moving. It's led to better efficiency and also allowed us to connect a pump [but more on that later]. This new mash paddle fits into our existing Mash Tun. It's stainless of course and has spikes along the shaft and two paddles at the bottom. [update - slight alteration made to the bottom with addition of silicone brushes to slowly scour the false bottom] The paddles are angled so they follow the curved bottom of the mash tun, while also skimming the top of the mesh false-bottom and sending the mash in an upward movement. The unit runs on 24volts using an old garage door opener motor we picked up somewhere. Paddle goes in first, then the grain is dumped in - hence the section of lid with the handle. It's not heavy and is easy to fit although we can use the overhead crane [a previous brewery project] to lower it into position. There is a stainless knob in the bottom of the mash tun which acts as both an stabilizing point for the hollow paddle shaft and as a tightening nut for the false bottom.
Sparge water is added and as the level rises it creates quite a vortex in the Tun : Here's the paddle attached to the lid
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A smoker, a smoker... my kingdom for a SMOKER! (and perfect Bacon) |
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What's next you ask? What more could we need? BACON ! Yes, Bluedog hankers after American Bacon... thinly sliced streaky bacon without chemical colouring and nitrates. This should be easy... Step 1. Buy pork belly and marinate for week in maple syrup and other goodies. Step 2. Smoke it. Well that sounds easy, doesn't it. What it actually entailed was.... Find a 44Gal drum: Buy a cheap kettle style BBQ: Throw away most of the BBQ... retain only the circular racks and the lid: Put a frypan in the bottom of the drum: fill pan with wood shavings and Burn baby Burn! This was the first attempt.
After a couple of hours we had BACON!
Would this set-up be good enough for Bluedog?You know the answer to that one...... It was just a matter of time before........Back to the scrap metal bin... and the project took on a life of it's own as various methods of circulating smoke were investigated. Here's the finished project [or should we just call it Smoker #2 ? ] You can follow the progress at this Smoker Link
Bluedog was fortunate to have befriended a chap who was winding down at the end of a long and productive life. The old guy saw a kindred spirit in the Bluedog and passed on metal bits and pieces from his yacht building days. Every piece is coming to life again in the Bluedog workshop... Thanks Keith. |
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HERMS unit... Bluedog begins the long build (June2011) |
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I clearly remember someone saying that we had the perfect brewery set-up and nothing else was needed....... oh foolish reader, you should have known that brewers are never content and there is always something much more exciting, interesting, efficient or just fun that must be built. As bluedog was a manual brewery it was time for some automation and the first step is a HERMS unit... (I think that stands for Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System... as it involves taking the mash liquid [wort] out of the mash tun, heating it whilst circulating it through a pump and putting it back into the mash tun). First step: You need a peristaltic pump which costs around $500 for a small one... $700 for a better size! Naturally Bluedog has no intention of purchasing ANYTHING and once again resorted to the scrap bin... there must be something in there to build a pump. Here it is, the new Bluedog Peristaltic pump.... made from scrap aluminium & fitted with a perspex guard. It's powered by an old electric golf hand-cart motor with variable speed.
The beginnings of the HERMS Unit. This is the peristaltic pump, hand made from scrap materials. The rotating arm is variable speed to a maximum of 180rpm and that moves 3.5L per minute We also had some solid brass rod so making those tight-fitting barbs was a simple matter
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The 2011 Beer Fridge Project (May2011) |
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Remember about June last year and Hardly Normal were having a sale... we got a new Fisher Paykel fridge to match our existing one. Well life and family commitments and Bundaberg Floods held us back somewhat but now it's finished. Yes folks the new 2011 Beer Fridge is ready to serve beer. What's different about this beer fridge? Let's see......... 1. 6 Individual Pressure Regulators so that each beer can be served at just the right pressure 2. No more harsh overhead light when serving beer. Subtle white LED strip lights the 6 taps 3. Stainless back and two small stainless drip trays built to order 4. Perlick taps of course, there is just nothing better 5. New way to display the names of the beer on each tap and to light the labels a blue LED strip light And here is the end result. For more photos of the project follow this Fridge2011 link
The new 2011 Beer Fridge with individual pressure regulators, perlick taps and subtle LED track lighting |
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It's time for some Community Service (Feb2011) |
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No, it's not community service ordered by the courts.... but it was requested by the good Wife... could I please help the local Amateur Radio Club and build three identical cases to house Emergency Portable Radio stations..... No problems honey... happy to help....... Well it's true... we're fortunate at Bluedog to have a wife that's a full working partner and who has never missed a beer making session... She's also the Hop Quartermaster and the Yeast Wrangler so what's a day or two knocking up a couple of timber boxes..... Err.... What has to fit in this magical box?... You want it to come apart to serve other purposes too... OH and I can't paint it to hide any rough spots you'd like it varnished so you can see the nice wood grain? Oh, ok... I'll book out February for you honey bunny. But here's the result.......... 3 bright and shiny Emergency cases. The idea is that the operator grabs a case over the shoulder; grabs an antenna pack over the other shoulder and goes where no man (or woman) has gone before... well wherever the emergency services directs them to go. The Amateurs are part of a Bundaberg WICEN group who provide emergency radio comms when power goes down and phone lines don't work... sort of the last line of defence as they run on 12V batteries. And now Bluedog has done it's part to keep our community strong. The full story and photos is at this Cases Link
Three new Emergency Portable Radio Station Cases for Bundaberg WICEN
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Remember the Kegerator we made? We hate it.......... and besides.......Hardly Normal were having a fridge sale |
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Yes the truth must be told..... I once purchased a BMW Motorcycle as there were many in the club who had them... then I found all the horrible little bugs that Beemers have.... when I mentioned it/them... the others said sheepishly... yes but you get around it by this or that! What a load of bollocks! Too proud to admit the buggy beemer so another person was caught...**grrr** What's this got to do with beer and a crappy Kegerator.... WELL.... those who have them tell you what a wonderful thing they are... so you feel you must be missing out on something and you build one....... then you find.... Shall we make a list? The stain on the timber collar sweats and dribbles brown marks down the outside of the white kegerator The moisture builds up inside and becomes water inches deep in the bottom - not a problem IF you only have one keg in there and can mop it ..... but we keep 6 kegs in ours so water is a real problem. Oh and with the collar and wheels it's so high you cant REACH the bottom to mop or clean the bottom. And you have to lift kegs up and over the collar which is a pain in the ass... even with our little winch assembly it's just not as convenient as a front loading refrigerator. So there............. The solution? Well we toyed with the idea of selling it to an unsuspecting homebrewer HAHAHAHAHA but mongrels we are not.... so it will be stripped down and return to life as a chilling cabinet in the brewery and it can hold 6 kegs while they age. We purchased a new Fisher & Paykel fridge which hold 6 kegs. Actually it's identical to the current fridge we have so we'll have a matching pair. The 6 perlick taps will be recycled from the kegerator and we intend to incorporate some new ideas into the build...... but wait... won't that mean buying two sets of everything so the older fridge can be revamped as well? Oh dear... good thing the Aussie dollar is strong and the bank manager's gone on xmas holidays. So here we go......... Take one new fridge, carefully remove plastic wrap......Drill 6 BIG HOLES......
More to come as the build really gets underway.
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Revamp the electrics & install a new [recycled] hoist |
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By the time we're 100 we'll have the perfect brew set up... until that time we continue to make improvements to make the process more convenient. The mobile brewstand had a small electric hoist which runs on an overhead bar and it was moved from vessel to vessel as it was required. This ended up being a pain when it was on the Mash Tun and we needed to lower the HLT to add water for the mash out etc. A new hoist was called for... well a 20 year old recycled Demag hoist scrounged from somewhere over the years....... Now the HLT has its own hoist with simple UP / DOWN buttons. Oh wait... to do that we had to revamp the power box which supplies the brewstand. And whilst we're at it upgrade the temperature control system with PID controller AND put in an additional PID controller so that we'll be ready for the next upgrade when Bluedog goes HERMES! But that's in the future. For now here are some photos of the new hoist arrangement and control box.
So yes, the next project will be converting the brewery to a Hermes System... oh wait... that's after we finish the installation of our WIND generation system.... more on that as the project develops, at this stage the parts have been ordered and we await manufacture and shipping.
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Bluedog turns GREEN - We install a SOLAR power generation system |
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We're forever imparting our philosophy on beer, food and everything else in these pages so here we go again.... We aren't advocates of man-made global warming theories but we do believe in cleaning up our nest and buying "Australian Made"[if possible]. To this end we installed a 32 panel 5.44kWh PVI system on our shed roof with a view to generating enough electricity to cut out our power bill. As we're in Queensland, there's usually an abundance of sunshine so it seems a pretty safe bet. ........Our system is designed 'sell' excess power back to the Grid - we are not embarking on a self-sufficiency [battery charging] system.
We wanted to use Aussie made panels made by Silex Australia so we were prepared to pay a little more. Here's a link to our Solar Webpage with some pictures of the install & info that might help if you're researching. Going Solar is a tough decision. There are so many shonky traders out there cashing in on the Government REC program, and using inferior panels and inverters. They're selling on price alone so keep your wits about you. The cheap imported components will not give the consumer what they're been promised and folks are going to be disappointed. Hope it doesn't give solar a bad name... like Insulation bats and aluminium insulation. If our page aids your research, we're glad to be of assistance. |
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Bluedog went in search of good beer in New Zealand... and found it |
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We have a philosophy at Bluedog that you can't take it with you... so we will always try and find a way to see more and do more...... this year it was New Zealand's turn........Two weeks to try and sample it all just wasn't long enough.
We rented a small car had a great time touring both islands. We drank some really great (and really crappie) beers. The food was outstanding and we're definitely going back. There are some photos of the trip and some tips on finding the best beers in NZ at the Bluedog in NZ webpage.
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Building a couple of GRAIN MILL's for mates |
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We always try to help our Bundy Brewer group and when asked if we could make a couple of rollers for a grain mill.... it sounded so simple.... Sure...... bring over what you've got and let's have a look.............. Three weeks later 2 grain mills were finally finished. They had 2 different diameter stainless pipe pieces so two different sets of everything had to be made.. no shortcuts here. They are Stainless, knurled rollers with ball bearings throughout. The side plates are 20mm alloy, the ends are 12mm alloy. They roll like a dream. There are some photos of the rollers and how we made them at the building the Grain Mill webpage. They've now gone back to their owners so they can complete the process, attaching the motor, building the stand etc. Our work is finished. |
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Bluedog's newest venture............ Cheesemaking |
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We never stop learning or trying something new at Bluedog Brewing......... the latest thing is making cheese... Following an intensive two day course with a champion cheesemaker it was all stops out to get some lovely Cheddars and Camembert's (and Mozzarella and Feta and Quark) put away to ripen. As each cheese needs its own time to develop some will take 3 months before a tasting, others we could enjoy immediately. Another great hobby which compliments beermaking so well and now our homemade Pizza have homemade cheese! There are some photos of our setup and final products at the Cheesemaking webpage |
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New 6 Perlick Tap KEGERATOR under construction Oct 2009 |
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New Kegerator comes to life - a 275L chestie
And look what the Brewer got for an anniversary present |
When a man had two taps, he dreamed of 4.... Then 4 seemed so few... Now SIX, he thought - a man could never need more than 6............... but man was wrong.......... Life is so short and the beers so many so what a man really needs is another 6 tap dispensing unit. This will give 12 beers on Tap, while another 5 are gassing-up in another fridge - and for emergencies they have Pluto guns and picnic taps. A man will never need more that 12 taps! It was a labour of love with Merbau timber and hand crafted fittings and there is a full photo diary of the projects at the Kegerator Page |
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Hop Socks |
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Homemade Hop Socks
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Having always used large (long) commercial hopsocks.... We were interested to hear of brewers reverting to small "baggies" which would float & circulate around in the boil - the theory being there was a better chance to expose all the hops to the wort rather than in a tight thick blob in the bottom of a long hopsock. So the brewer's wife went to work in the specially built sewing room and the result is 15 various sized hopsocks for a cost of about 30cents each. Made of Muslin used by chefs & cheesemakers - from Spotlight for $1/M.
The sewing room most brewer's wives would love |
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Sink and Counter area gets an overhaul (Aug 2009) |
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Sink area - before
Sink area - almost complete |
The sink and counter area of the brewery was a mess.... The cupboard and sink was very old and no matter what we did it never looked clean. Drastic action was called for so we stripped everything out and oh my! you should see what we found behind the sink... snake skins and cane toads and all manner of things the mouses had dragged in. It was off to the workshop to build a galvanised framework to be kept off the floor so no more nasties in, behind or below this baby and we'll be able to pressure wash the floor when needed. Custom built to take the 20L chlorine drum, a shelf to hold lids and 'stuff' whilst we're brewing and a bottom shelf that rolls out so you can see what you're looking for. It was all built around a BIG acrylic sink -complete with the medical/laboratory faucets. This unit was picked up second-hand a couple of years ago and we knew that one day it could be made into something useful. During the refurbishment a new cradle to hold the water hose nozzle was mounted - we now have a 3/4inch water flow to fill the HLT. There is room at the end of the bench for the Pressure washer and it also has it's own water supply so nothing in and out of the sink area anymore. You can see the full photo diary of the build at the Sink Page |
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Overhead hoist system in the brewing area (Aug 2009) |
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The new Bluedog Brewing overhead gantry system which covers an area 3m x 6.5m... Allows easy lifting and moving heavy vessels, double fermenters etc around the brewing. We lift full kegs & double fermenters out of chest freezers and moved them around the brewing area so this is an investment in our old age. If you're interested in how we achieved this follow this link to the Hoist construction & installation webpage |
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Altered Gaslines (May 2009) |
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Altered gas lines with two valves allows separate or simultaneous use of Nasa burner and/or 3ring burner with one High Pressure regulator. Previously we were using the large gas bottle on the Nasa burner and a small 9kg bottle for the 3 ring burner. It was a pain making sure the small bottle was full and also became another thing to trip over as we worked around the brewstand. After fitting a "T" and running new copper gas line one large bottle with a high pressure regulator supplies both burners and the individual valves, marked with yellow arrows allow efficient lighting and control. Our brewstand uses gravity feed so our Mash Tun is raised and lowered as required so we use a flexible rubber gas hose on the 3 ring burner. |
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When temperature control is everything |
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OK this may seem like overkill but..... They had a sale on Chest Freezers so we got two of the 510L size. They go so well with the Upright freezer which was recycled from the house....
This upright was a pretty poor household freezer as it constantly iced up BUT... it had removable shelves and look.... it now holds two 25L fermenters. By using a fridgemate it doesn't have to freeze so it's now a very efficient chilling cabinet! And we feel we're being greenies by recycling hahaha.
Each chest freezer has a Tempmate control unit and can hold a Double and three Single fermenters. They can be processing different beers or a different stage of the process & for Cold Conditioning a chestie can hold 12 cornies.
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AAHH ! Life in the tropics ! |
Now don't get us wrong, we love the warmth but the sun just comes streaming into the brewing area... The solution? An awning.
This 13ft awning is made by Dometic for use on Caravans so it retracts and locks up out of the way or comes down in a simple one-handed operation. Just the thing to keep the sun off the brewery whilst we're working. |
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That's about all the new stuff at the moment... Check back later and we'll show you what we're up to
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Just Pizza photos |
Pizza Night - Every Friday Night |
At Bluedog Brewing |
Contact the Blue Dog |
If you would like any information on how Bluedog makes beer, just ask. (also if you notice any errors on this page we would appreciate a heads-up) |
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