Homebrewing is a hobby that allows a great sense of satisfaction when you can pour a delicious pint and say to yourself, “Wow, I made that.” But why stop there? For the imaginative tinkerers, it is also an opportunity to utilize everyday household objects in unique ways to create your own brewing equipment.

For many, fermenting as a homebrewer starts with a bubbling bucket in the corner of the basement and, fingers crossed, you end up with something palatable. After they’ve tasted that first successful brew, the crafty ones start thinking; what can I use to make equipment at home to better mimic a brewery’s equipment and processes to make that next batch even better? Of course, there is always the option of buying stainless jacketed conicals and commercial glycol systems scaled down to homebrew sizes. The stainless is pretty, not going to deny that, but you can’t stand back, admire it, and say, “Wow, I made that.”

What are breweries able to do on the cold-side that elevates their product quality over the bubbling bucket in the corner? The top things that come to mind are full temperature control, the ability to drop yeast and hops, and pressurizable fermenters that minimize oxygen contact, facilitate closed transfers, and have the capability to cold condition.

If you’re one of those crafty brewers looking for project inspiration, meet Frankenfridge. Frankenfridge is a conglomerate of regular household items along with retail homebrewing equipment that accomplishes all those tasks, and then some. Its body consists of a 13 cu/ft (0.4 cu/m) upright freezer and an old dorm fridge with a wooden extension collar. Inside the freezer functioning as the main fermentation chamber is a spine made of PVC boards and laminated wood shelving rescued from a neighbor’s trash, and a set of locking drawer slides. Resting in and protected by the spine are two 7-gallon (27-L) Tri-Conical FermZilla tanks. Each tank is fitted with a temperature twister cooling coil, FermZilla thermowell, and stainless steel pressure kit as well as a FermZilla stainless tri-clamp reducing elbow and a lightweight 1.5-inch tri-clamp butterfly valve from BrewHardware. The accompanying chamber next to it is made from an old dorm fridge. It functions as a brite tank chamber and houses an 8-gallon (30-L) FermZilla All Rounder fitted with the same chiller coil, thermowell, and stainless pressure kits as the other tanks.

The heart is a 5,000-BTU window air conditioner (AC) unit with its blower fan removed and evaporator coil carefully re-oriented to fit into a 28-qt. (26.5-L) Igloo cooler. The heart is responsible for keeping the 65% distilled water/35% food-grade inhibited propylene glycol flowing through the system. Inside the cooler are three 550-GPH submersible pond pumps meant for outdoor fountains or fishponds, whose job is to recirculate the glycol solution to the stainless chiller coils for each of the three tanks and back to the cooler reservoir through insulated tubing.

The brain is a bank of six Inkbird temperature controllers, sending and receiving electrical impulses to maintain complete control of temperatures throughout Frankenfridge. There is one controller for each tank receiving temperature information from the probe in its thermowell.

When a tank’s temperature rises outside its programmed range, the temperature controller will send power to the pond pump associated with that tank and recirculate the glycol solution until the temperature comes back to the set range. Conversely, if a tank needs to be heated up, the Inkbird will send power to the seedling heat mat wrapped around the outside of the tank and heat it until it’s back within the set range. Both the dorm fridge and the upright freezer chambers have a temperature probe sending info back to their own Inkbird controller as well to maintain the temperature within the chamber itself. Each of these temperature probes is taped to the outside of a small soda bottle filled with water and wrapped in a small layer of pipe insulation. Without taking its reading from some sort of thermal mass, a temperature probe hanging in open air will see rapid and drastic temperature fluctuations causing excessive, frequent short run cycles that can cause premature failure of your chamber’s compressor unit. The last temperature controller has its probe submerged in the glycol tank, triggering the AC unit to run anytime that solution starts to warm, keeping that tank cold and ready.

My, how Frankenfridge has grown. Having started out many years ago as a single 2×6 wood collar on an old black dorm fridge proudly housing a bubbling brew bucket, it has gone through multiple modifications and reconstructions over its lifetime to become what it is today. Is it finally done? Time will tell. What hasn’t changed though, is that with every modification, every upgrade, every new aspect that makes it one step closer to successfully mimicking professional brewery processes, there is a satisfaction of standing back and being able to say, “Wow, I made that!”

Unlike most “Projects” columns in BYO, I’m purposefully going to skip giving exact measurements and a materials list, as this project was custom-built to fit my own equipment and needs. The hope in sharing it is that homebrewers who would like to build something similar can glean ideas from what I have done and then create their own design using the equipment available to them.

Step by Step

1: Interior Freezer Frame

The most dramatic change to Frankenfridge came with the addition of the upright freezer and conical tanks. The frame for the tank shelves uses PVC boards affixed to the inside of both side freezer walls. The boards and the freezer’s molded shelf supports were scuffed with a file where they would come into contact with each other; before being secured with epoxy and coarse screws. Take care not to use screws that will penetrate past the depth of the molded shelf supports to assure no vital components within the freezer wall are punctured by them.

2: Preparing Shelves

Using a circle jig and a router, smooth holes were cut into the laminated shelving to accept the conical tanks. Whatever your method to cut the holes, assure that they are smooth and perfectly round to not cause any areas of uneven pressure on the walls of the tank and risk damaging the tanks. Multiple coats of clear coat waterproof sealant were then applied before affixing the drawer slides to the shelves and attaching the shelf assembly to the PVC boards.

3: Drilling Line Holes in the Freezer

Now it’s time to really focus. Slow down. It’s time to drill holes through a perfectly good freezer and either continue making it a super cool fermentation chamber that will be the envy of all your brew friends, or destroy it. There’s no middle ground here. The walls of most new freezers are filled with some sort of foam and also have all their condenser coils running throughout the walls just under the metal exterior skin. Puncturing one of these coils spells death for the freezer. There’s no surefire way to know where the coils are exactly. With this particular freezer, I found that when I turned it on and it started to cool down, the sides all got warm, indicating there were condenser coils there. However the top never warmed up at all, suggesting it may not contain any coils there. To be safe, I’d suggest cutting through the plastic inside of the freezer first. SLOWLY dig through and remove the foam with a small wooden dowel until you’ve cleared all the way to the outer metal skin without encountering any coils. Then and only then, drill through the outer skin of the freezer to meet your hole inside.

4: Running Glycol Lines, Wires, & Tubes

Now it’s time to run all the wires and tubing through those holes. The hole in the rear is access for the two glycol lines, wrapped in pipe insulation, coming in from the pond pumps in the glycol reservoir to the chiller coil in each tank. The middle hole houses the return lines for the glycol returning to the reservoir. Temperature probe wires, power cords from the seedling heat mats and the auxiliary fan, and the blowoff tubes from each fermenter pass through the larger front hole. The two-vessel blowoff setup for each fermenter seen on top of the freezer is an extra layer of protection from oxygen and/or sanitizer suckback as fermentation slows, prior to pressurizing the fermenters to cold crash. The first bottle is empty and allowed to fill with CO₂. The second has tubing submerged in sanitizer creating the airlock. The “S” bubbler on top is unnecessary, but I just like to see the bubbling. On the note of necessity, notice the metal strapping that anchors the unit to the wall using the freezer door mounting holes. Extending the shelf with a full fermenter in it could be a catastrophic undertaking without it being adequately secured to the wall studs.

5: Fan & Temperature Probe

As the project comes to completion, you can see the 110V auxiliary computer fan mounted in the top right corner to keep air moving and maintain even temperature throughout the chamber. Down from it is the temperature probe for the chamber itself, with the water-filled soda bottle for some thermal mass as mentioned earlier. You’ll also notice the molded shelving brackets on the inside of the door have been cut flush and covered with a foil tape to increase the clearance inside for the tanks and drawers. 

I’ve been driving my brewery design for many years now. The push for convenience, storage organization, ease of use, and aesthetics are all considered as I design, build, and implement. My cold room, malt mill, kegerator, and digital tap handles have all been presented in previous BYO articles (links provided later, if you’re interested). The project in this article came from the inconvenience of having to carry my recently filled kegs into the cold room to pressurize and purge with carbon dioxide (CO₂).  

One of the keystones of my cold room design was to have an external gas cylinder plumbed in from outside (stowed in my attic). This concept allowed me to maximize space and organization in my cold room, distributing CO₂ via various tees, manifolds, isolation valves, and ball-lock connections. This worked great until I grew tired of lugging unpressurized kegs into the cold room after filling . . . not to mention bringing the kegs in prior to filling to purge out any oxygen. Having a small, portable tank to carry around my brewery wouldn’t suit my (admittedly, high) standards.  

I elected to tee off my source tank in the attic and plumb my gas lines over to where my fermenting fridge and conical fermenter are located. Note that I keep my main lines’ primary regulator at 3 bar (44 psi), which is my max desired carbonation level for my annual batch of Cedric’s Rhubarb Sparkle, and regulate down with secondary regulators for all my kegs. I have two lines from this point in the ceiling, one to a precision low-pressure regulator for my Blichmann Fermenator V4. The other line is a retractable coiled tube for purging and filling kegs. It remains at the main pressure, as a little extra oomph is welcome when purging kegs or over-pressurizing a new batch with minimal headspace. 

The total cost of this build I estimate is under $150, with the bulk of the cost being the retractable line and tubing.

If you’re interested in the other builds of mine featured in BYO, here are the links:

Cold Room: www.byo.com/article/building-a-cold-room/

Malt Mill: www.byo.com/article/build-a-better-grain-mill/

Kegerator: www.byo.com/project/kegerator-tower-cooling-an-alternative-chilling-system/

Digital Tap Handles: www.byo.com/project/e-ink-faucet-handles/

Tools & Materials

• Polyurethane 3⁄8-in. tubing (100-ft/30-m bag) 
• Polyurethane 1⁄4-in. tubing (100-ft/30-m bag) 
• Polyurethane 1⁄4-in. coiled tubing 
• Push-to-connect 3⁄8-in. tee 
• Push-to-connect 3⁄8-in. to 1⁄4-in. plug adapter
• Push-to-connect 1⁄4-in. tee 
• Push-to-connect 1⁄4-in. wye 
• Push-to-connect 1⁄4-in. check valve
• Push-to-connect 3⁄8-in. bulkhead fitting 
• 2 barbed 1⁄8-in. to SAE45 1⁄4-in. flared fittings 
• 4 Oetiker clamps 5.8–7 mm 
• Ball valve 1⁄4-in. tube 
• Ball-lock gas connector 
• Ball-lock liquid connector 
• 2 socket head cap screws M4x0.7×15 
• 2 nuts M4x0.7 
• Rectangular magnet 
• Retractable laundry line 
• Shaft collar for 1⁄16-in. cable 

Step by Step

1. Preparation/Plumbing

Shut off your CO₂ tank and close all your isolation valves. Depressurize the system via a pressure release valve or a ball-lock fitting. Lock out as needed to prevent accidental pressurization. Locate the position where you want your lines coming through your wall or ceiling. Drill a clearance hole larger than the diameter of your bulkhead fitting. A Forstner bit is ideal, or a hole saw as a second choice. Watch out for your studs/joists, and take care not to punch through the back of the hole too hard. 

Cut into main CO₂ line and add a push-to-connect tee. Run your new line as desired and plumb into one end of the bulkhead fitting. Connect tubing to the opposite side of the bulkhead and route as needed. In my case I stepped down from the main line 3⁄8-inch (9.5-mm) tubing to 1⁄4-inch (6.35-mm), and teed off for the fermenter line. Connect the coiled tubing at this point, and let it dangle into your brewing area. The tubing I selected is from Freelin Wade and is flexible and reliable. Buyer beware — go with a reputable supplier. If you use to a cheaper version you can end up with a stiff or cracked tube. Youch!

2. Retractable Line

Since the coiled tubing is so loose, it won’t naturally return to its tightly coiled state. I kludged together a scrapped retractable laundry line. I made a plywood mounting bracket (2a), and securely mounted the mechanism, then screwed it to the ceiling (2b). 

3. Determine Line Length

I then pulled out the cable to my required distance and installed a shaft collar to lock it from retracting further. I inserted the cable through the coil, and used two Oetiker clamps to bind the coil tube end to the cable. The extension is now ready for testing. I recommend ensuring your retractable laundry line is 12–18 feet (4–6 m). My usage varies between filling at my sink during sanitizing and purging between kegs, to filling closer to the cold room – either way the extra reach is awesome. 

4. Ball-lock Connections

To prevent leaks, I used a ball valve after the coil so I can locally shut off the gas. In general, you should always use a check valve before an end-of-line, which is more important at the keg-side to prevent an empty tank from pulling carbonation from a filled keg. Next, I attached a push-to-connect wye and two short lengths of 1⁄4-inch tubing. I placed an Oetiker clamp on each tube, and inserted the barbed end of the SAE45 (aka MFL 1⁄4”) fittings. Actuate the clamp with a pex ratcheting plier or end-nipper pliers. Thread on your CM Becker ball-lock connectors as usual, and tighten snug with a wrench. 

5. Finishing

The wye near the end of the line has two small mounting holes. Insert two M4 socket head cap screws and nut the ends. Mark the wall where the cap screws touch the wall and screw the rectangular magnet to the wall in that spot. You now have a handy dandy magnetic wall mount for your retractable CO₂ line.  

You can now turn your carbon dioxide tank back on and purge out any potential oxygen ingress in the lines. Your newly installed lines will certainly need a thorough purge. Open any remaining isolation valves to get everything back online.

6. Testing

Pull your retractable line off the wall and put it back. Give it a stretch. Purge some kegs. Put it in some milk and make bubbles. 

Congrats! One last bonus for you if you’ve made it this far: Turn off the valve and put a spare 8-inch (20-cm) piece of tubing into the wye, and purge it. You’ve now got a very handy CO₂ purge for your hop pellet bags prior to resealing. 

Pushing your home draft system to new levels

Homebrewers tend to have a habit of making things more complicated than needed. Why buy a wort chiller when you can spend a weekend wandering Home Depot looking for the right combination of copper compression fittings? If you have a kegerator, I am guessing that many of you have contemplated installing a more ambitious beer delivery device. The kind of system that gets your cold draft to a corner of the house or home bar, far away from where your kegs reside. Don’t walk all the way to the kegerator. Have the beer come to you. 

It can be done and it’s not particularly hard, but these systems can be cost-prohibitive. Long-draw systems are most commonly found in bars where refrigeration storage for the kegs may be a long way from the faucets. And there are a few rules that must be adhered to and more than a few opportunities to mess it up along the way. This article will guide you through the design and installation process. 

We will discuss a hypothetical system installed within a single-family house with a basement. Your particular system may not require every aspect of this design, but with a little knowledge and an idea of what to look out for, you should be well prepared to take a deep dive. Previous draft system articles in BYO offer useful information about tubing, faucets, hardware, and home bar designs. Some of this stuff is going to be buried behind drywall or under a slab and a realistic evaluation of your builder expertise is warranted. I can assure you that nobody at the hardware store will have any useful expertise. Don’t make the mistake of designing and installing your system similar to household plumbing. We are going to assume you have a solid understanding of draft system balance. If not, spend some time learning about how the relationship of pressure, resistance, and temperature work in a draft system. A long-draw system is complex. I’m not here to tell you not to go for it, only to be the sober friend. You really don’t want to use substandard equipment anywhere, but with a long-draw the stakes are much higher. 

Loosely, there are three types of draft systems. A direct-draw system is one in which the kegs are stored in a cooler and the shank and faucet assembly penetrates the cooler wall. This is the simplest of the three. It eliminates several hardware and cooling problems, making life cheaper and easier. A converted refrigerator or chest freezer (a.k.a., keezer) are examples of a direct-draw system. A slightly more complex design is a short-draw system, in which the kegs reside in a refrigeration unit and the faucets are a few inches or feet away. A fan is typically used to move cold air from the cooler into the unrefrigerated space and then back to the cold space. If you are familiar with a typical kegerator with a tower, that’s a short-draw system. Both are fairly simple to design and install. The third design is a long-draw system, requiring an order of magnitude more planning, hardware, expense, and time. You’re looking at around $2,500 (USD)minimum and the costs can go up from there. That’s not including minor or major home renovations that may be involved. But the reward is impressive. 

The complexity of a long-draw system is mostly wrapped up in the refrigeration requirements, along with a decent amount of resistance headaches. Unlike typical plumbing, our beer always needs to be at the correct temperature from keg to faucet, which is never more than 38 °F (3 °C). This is one of those hard rules. You like your beer at 44 °F (7 °C)? Tough. Let it warm up or pour yourself a glass of foam. Keeping it cold is the prime design initiative and it is unfortunately not something we can neglect. Even a few degrees variation will cause foaming. You will be reminded, and annoyed, each time you pull a pint. Homebrewed beer comes with not insignificant amounts of pride. Commercial kegs come with a healthy price tag. We want this system to pour great beer, whether homebrewed or commercial, day in and day out. 

First, we are going to need a cold space to store our kegs. You don’t need a walk-in cooler (though if you convince your significant other . . . well, great). A fridge or chest freezer will work just fine. An external thermostat is required because, again, maintaining temperature is our dilemma. As for resistance, the farther the keg from the faucet the more line resistance we have to account for. Add lift or drop (a.k.a., gravity) to the equation and things get more difficult, but should not be a deal breaker. We will calculate resistance later. So number one, keep it cold; number two, correctly calculate restriction; and number three, apply gas pressure to get beer from keg to faucet. This last part is where long-draw systems can get nutty. We are going to discuss blended gas in a future article, so if your particular long-draw system cannot be balanced with 100% CO^₂, stay tuned. Soon you’ll be able to get your beer virtually anywhere in your home. 

In our hypothetical long-draw, Joe Homebrewer wants to install a faucet in his shower. Because why not? Joe has a basement and the shower is on the second floor, with a total distance of 25 feet (7.6 meters) from the Corny keg to the faucets. Joe brews a lot and wants four faucets available. He has a chest freezer for keeping his kegs cold and knows how to patch drywall as well as cut tile. Joe’s system does not need a drip tray (he is in a shower after all) but if you are going to your kitchen counter, plan for a drip tray and drain. 

The complexity of a long-draw system is mostly wrapped up in the refrigeration requirements, along with a decent amount of resistance headaches 

Joe plans to re-use his keezer for this long-draw system. Once the beer exits the refrigerated space it will warm and CO^₂ gas will escape resulting in a foamy mess each time a beer is poured. The foam will continue until the cold keezer beer reaches the faucet and then the warming process will start all over. Let’s not do that. We will use a dedicated trunk line with a glycol loop to keep our beer at the correct temperature from keg to glass.

All of the BYO draft articles I have written discuss the importance of using quality hardware and this goes double for a long-draw system. Some of this stuff is going to be buried behind drywall or under a slab so you really don’t want to use sub-standard equipment anywhere. With a long-draw the stakes are much higher. Use brewery-approved materials throughout, sourced from name-brand manufacturers. All metal components are going to be stainless steel and your vendor should have a reputation for integrity along with a generous return policy.

Keeping It Frosty

A glycol chiller used in combination with the trunk line should be employed to maintain temperature. The chiller circulates glycol within an insulated assembly of beer line, tape, and moisture barrier. The glycol continually removes heat that would otherwise allow the beer to warm up. A pump runs the glycol 24/7 in an endless loop and the compressor assembly switches on and off to maintain glycol temperature (usually cut out at 28 °F/-2.2 °C, then cut in at 34 °F/1.1 °C or thereabouts). With four lines to chill for a distance of less than 25 feet (7.6 m), Joe can use a chiller with a capacity of around 1,000 BTUs. A useful formula for calculating BTU requirements is to multiply the number of faucets by 100, then multiply the foot length of the trunk line by 7 (up to 6 lines). Add both to determine BTU requirements. The chiller should be a bit oversized though. Multiply the BTU requirements by 1.4 to determine the appropriately sized chiller. Round up to the nearest size. If your line goes through a hot attic you’ll want even more BTU. The chiller will also be used to keep the draft tower cold. Quality towers have an insulated shank assembly with chilling blocks built in, and that helps quite a bit. 

Here are some things to consider with the chilling part of the system:

• Account for a receptacle near the chiller. Get some “glycol jumper line,” a premade insulated length of line to get from your chiller to the trunk line, or make your own. Use 3⁄8-in. ID poly line. All of this refrigeration equipment makes some noise and generates heat too; choose your installation location carefully. But wait, there is more!
• The chiller will not bring down the beer temperature, but it will maintain the temperature from the cooler. The glycol chiller’s thermostat should be set to maintain a bath temperature roughly between 27 and 33 °F (-3 and 0.5 °C). The chiller will hopefully be factory set. If not, you get to experience the joys of programming a commercial digital thermostat. 
• Mix your 100% USP-grade propylene glycol to around 24 °Brix. That is roughly 2 parts water to 1 part glycol. Most chillers do not require distilled water, but check to be certain. 24 °Brix glycol will bring the freezing point well below the bath temperature. A refractometer is required for this measurement as hydrometers do not work so well with glycol (if you don’t have a refractometer, now you have a reason to purchase one). The copper chilling coils operate at around 0 °F (-17.7 °C). If your mix is too lean you’ll get a block of ice, but don’t overdo it or you can jam up the pump. Glycol absorbs moisture and it needs to be checked every few months and replaced when the Brix starts to creep. Only use 100% USP-grade propylene glycol.
• Pure glycol has a shelf life of about one year. UV light (sunlight, for example) will quickly degrade the fluid. Buy only enough of this increasingly expensive fluid to get going.

Right about now you may be thinking “I can design and build a homemade glycol chiller and keep it in the refrigerator.” That’s an idea, but a fridge will not get cold enough. Freezer? Unfortunately, residential freezers do not have the heat removal capacity. The air will get below freezing of course, but the constant heat loading in the freezer is too much for the unit to keep up with. In addition, air is a relatively poor conductor. A dedicated, purpose-built glycol chiller uses cold copper coils in direct contact with the glycol solution. If you’re still not convinced, we can provide a few examples of clients who asked us to get their glycol systems sorted.

Resistance

System resistance refers to the friction and gravity inherent to the system. It is a one-time design consideration we need to get right. First, determine how much trunk line you need. This is the length from the coupler to the shank. Trunk line is available in ¼-in., 5⁄16-in., and 3⁄8-in. ID sizes. 1⁄4-in. barrier tubing provides 0.4 psi of resistance per foot (30 cm), 5⁄16-in. is 0.15 psi per foot (30 cm), while the larger 3⁄8-in. ID is only 0.06 psi per foot (30 cm).

These are generalities because every manufacturer is ever so slightly different, but the differences are not so important within our limited trunk line distance. Ignore 3⁄8-in. discrepancies since they are really only useful in bigger systems like those found in stadiums. The other two sizes are similar. If your resistance calculation allows for it, ¼-in. is preferred as it contains less beer and is therefore easier to chill. It’s also a bit less expensive. The glycol line in the trunk is universally 3⁄8-in., however, and you are going to need 3⁄8-in. splicers no matter what the ID of your beer line. Almost all beverage line in the trunk is made with barrier tubing. Remember that the trunk is permanent and there is a lot of beer in that line. Barrier tubing is a requirement. The glycol line will be less expensive poly tubing.

Next determine the rise (lift) or fall of the beer. This is the vertical distance from the middle of the keg to the shank. We need to be accurate to within a foot or so. If the trunk line goes from the keg and into an attic before going back down to the shank, only measure the actual lift from keg to shank. Every foot of rise that has a corresponding foot of fall is cancelled (and vice versa). Our beer needs 0.45 psi pressure to overcome each foot (30 cm) of lift (or simply ½ psi per foot/30 cm). With the magic of blended gas we can overcome quite a bit of resistance and lift. What is much harder is dealing with gravity. Beer falling from a keg on the third floor to the basement bar is a complex design constraint because it is hard to compensate for the lack of gravity induced resistance.

Our applied pressure is carbonating the beer but it is also pushing the beer. If we have a target 2.5 volumes of CO₂ we will need to apply about 11 psi to the keg. If our system incorporates a 25-ft. (7.6-m) drop, that’s 11.25 psi of gravity removed restriction. 25 ft. (7.6 m) of ¼-in. tubing provides 10 psi of restriction. So we are already unbalanced. We will need to compensate with a lot of choker. It is usually much better to push kegs on the same level as the faucets or up a modest amount than it is to deal with beer drop. That and hauling kegs up and down stairs is not fun. If we flip the design and decide to push the beer up 25 ft. (7.6 m) we would be looking at 10 psi or 3.75 psi of resistance with ¼-in. and 5⁄16-in. respectively. With an applied 11 psi of pressure we can balance our system with a few feet of choker. Line diameter should progress from larger ID to smaller ID from keg to faucet. This is a hard rule. Introducing a smaller diameter tube along the circuit will cause foaming. 

Your Sanke couplers should use 3⁄8-in. tubing. Cornelius keg quick disconnects (QDs) need a line ID that is at least as large as the trunk line. This line should be flexible too, not rigid barrier tubing. “PVC Jumper” is available in premade lengths for Sanke couplers. 

Poly barrier tubing is difficult to work with in a cooler, from the coupler or QD to the trunk line. Use flexible tubing (https://byo.com/article/choosing-tubes-and-hoses/). Tubing from the trunk line to the shank will be 3⁄16-in. choker. Flexible TPE is best used for choker because it is 3 psi per foot (30 cm) and it is barrier, but quality PVC is not a beer crime. You can inspect the PVC and replace it whenever you feel it is required. 

After you peel off the insulation and install splicers, you need to rebuild the trunk. You need foam tubing, silver tape, foam tape, and refrigeration tape for all that. You’ll need it to insulate the choker as well.

The Install

After you have determined the design restriction, bought your glycol chiller and glycol, trunk line with an extra few feet just in case, glycol jumper line, 3⁄16-in. choker along with all of the associated splicers and clamps, you are ready to get a tower installed. There are literally dozens of design options. You do get what you pay for with draft towers. Economy towers tend to be flimsy affairs with mediocre insulation and questionable hardware. My advice is to find a reputable provider that will allow you to buy the tower without faucets so you can use your preferred faucet. Just be careful about compatibility issues; this equipment is supposed to be universal domestic thread, but it doesn’t always happen. Specify the proper width drip tray as well.

We typically install the draft tower first, then work from the kegs up to the tower. The tower will likely come with 15 psi of restriction out of the box and you will trim that back as needed. If your design needs more than 15 psi of restriction you should take a second look. More than around 15 psi is difficult to get right when using 100% CO². Try going from ¼-in. to 5⁄16-in. line and recalculate. Ask your supplier how much restriction they have built into the tower and how much restriction each foot of choker provides. This is usually anywhere from 2.0 or 2.2 psi per foot (30 cm) of PVC to 3 psi per foot (30 cm) with TPE line. It is very important to know this accurately so you can complete your install precisely. 

You have options when choosing your draft tower (sometimes called a font). Namely, look at purchasing a glycol insert. This is the guts of the tower and you can use it behind a wall, for example. You’ll save a bit of money as well. 

What to consider with a draft tower? Faucets are a lever and that tower will get pulled on . . . hard. Secure it on a suitable substrate such as ¾-in. (19 mm) plywood or something equally robust. Drywall or tile backer board are definitely not going to work. Plan to sufficiently reinforce the wall or countertop. Promise draft beer after the installation is complete and employ a buddy for assistance.

Tall faucet handles can lean back into the wall before being fully closed. There is a thing called a faucet straightener for this and they are cumbersome, but they do work. Or just use stubby handles.

European towers may be metric and therefore do not accept domestic faucets. Check first. 

Ready to install this dream system? If the previous sections have not scared you off, and it shouldn’t have, dive in. A long-draw system is quite a bit more complex than any draft system you may have experienced and the results are accordingly very satisfying. Take your time, read up (including links below), and check all the boxes. Draft beer in the shower is really a possibility. And if your significant other has different ideas . . . we have never met. 

Additional Resources 

https://byo.com/article/faucet-design-from-functional-to-fancy

https://byo.com/article/design-a-homebrew-bar

https://byo.com/article/choosing-tubes-and-hoses

https://byo.com/project/diy-draft-trunk-lines-when-you-want-to-run-long-draft-lines

https://byo.com/project/homemade-glycol-chiller

When I looked to get back into brewing several years ago I bought a set of three Sanke kegs intending to build a three-vessel system. They sat for a while waiting on a stand. But along came a two-burner, three-vessel, turnkey system from a guy getting out of the hobby. He had three keggles and also two extra Corny kegs that I picked up in the deal. I started out on propane with that system but then converted the keggles to electric heat. I thought about tinkering around and assembling a gas system with the leftover kegs but somewhere along the way I decided I could make a vent hood out of two them. At the time I was brewing in my driveway, which I didn’t mind so much, but this past winter I mentally committed that being in a temperature-controlled environment in the garage would be a big improvement.

Originally I was planning on strapping the keg pieces together with nuts and bolts. I did have metal shop back in eighth grade but I was never too proud of the coat rack I welded — so welding was off the table. However, I got to wondering about the different ways to attach metal plates together and that’s when I hit on rivets as an option. It turned out to be a fairly involved process but it had a certain steampunk appeal to it. So I studied about rivets, overlapping joints, strapped riveted joints, and last but not least, the double butt strap riveted joint. I had a plan! So let’s get started . . .

This is a lengthier project and will require some time. Don’t rush it. Whenever working with metal, it is always wise to recheck every measurement. Also never operate power tools under the influence of alcohol. Maybe you can pop some rivets while kicking a few back but be sure all the holes are pre-drilled. You may also need some tools you may not have but you may be able to bribe a friend with some brews.

Final note: Please make sure that any kegs that you modify were legally acquired. Just because you paid a deposit or bought them on a website like eBay, doesn’t make them legally yours.

Tools and Materials

• (2) ½-BBL kegs
• Rivets (stainless steel or aluminum)
• Black automobile trim
• (2) Sealed lights
• ½-in. Flexible liquid-tight conduit ~4 ft. (1.2 m)
• 14/2 (with ground) electrical wire
• Ductwork, as needed
• Inline fan (400+ cfm)
• Exhaust vent w/damper
• Cutting wheels (several)
• Flap discs (coarse, medium, and fine)
• Flat felt polishing disc (2)
• 1-in. NPT stainless steel flange
• 1-in. NPT tee
• 1-in. NPT nipple, 4 in. (10 cm) in length
• 1-in. x ¾-in. NPT reducer coupling
• ½-in. flexible conduit barb
• ½-in. x 1-in. bushing
• Round weathertight junction box
• Polishing compounds (black and green)
• Reciprocating saw (metal and wood blades)
• Angle grinder (4.5 in. or 11.4 cm minimum capacity)
• Riveter
• Step bit
• Knockout punch (3⁄4-in. conduit)
• Duct crimpers
• Wire stripper
• Clamps

Steps

1. Keg polishing

First thing I did was polish up the kegs. I picked the best keg for the left and right hood sides and the other keg for the middle and straps. Kegs were polished using an angle grinder, three different grit flap wheels, and flat felt polishing discs with black and green polishing compound. Hearing protection is a good idea and, of course, wear eye protection. Also wear gloves and long sleeves. l did leave off the final polish, green, until after riveting the pieces together (Step 3). I only used the coarse and medium flap wheels on the worst nicks and scratches and did a full pass with the fine one. After the flap discs, use the black metal polishing compound with a flat felt disc. When finished with the black compound, remove the residue from the keg with a rag and some mineral spirits. I cleaned the edges up with as best I could but hey, that’s what the trim will be for (Step 6).

2. Cutting the kegs

I used a cutting wheel (you will need several) on my angle grinder to cut the kegs. Make sure the kegs are de-pressurized, and then I recommend positioning the keg in a jig to secure while cutting, I wanted to have the handles at the top of each side so I marked the cut lines on the keg accordingly on the first keg. The hardest part with this sized cutting wheel was cutting the tubular sections at the top and bottom (the chimes), which are a bit thick. An 8-in. (20-cm) grinder would be helpful at these points.

The second keg was cut in half lengthwise like the first one but the top and bottom were not needed so those are cut off too. I found it easiest to leave several short uncut tabs along each cut. This left the keg intact until the very end at which point I cut the tabs. I ended up with four 2.25-in. (5.7-cm) wide straps cut from the flattest sections of the keg. I recommend extra care in laying out the cut lines so that the strap edges are parallel.

3. Riveting

The join is a double butt strap riveted joint. It’s a butt joint because the two plates being joined are butted up against each other in the same horizontal plane with two (double) straps.

Straps are recommended to be ½ the thickness of the joined plates, should you decide not to cut your straps from the second keg. The rivets used are blind (pop) rivets. Selecting the correct rivet size begins with rivet diameter, a common suggestion is 3x the thickest piece. How thick is a half-barrel? I discovered the thickness was 1.5 mm (0.059 in.), which leads to a rivet diameter of 4.5 mm (0.177 in.). Note here that rivet diameters are given in fractional inches or whole number millimeters with specific fixed lengths. Moving forward, the formula for rivet length is 1.5 x rivet diameter + sum of the plate thicknesses (grip). If we cut the straps from the keg, rivet length is then 10.125 mm (0.399”). Now we are in the ballpark for picking a suitably sized rivet! Pick your measuring system, calculate rivet diameter and length and then check the rivet specifications to see if your grip value falls in the range for that selectied rivet size. Using Imperial units, and the measured wall thickness of 0.059”, we need a rivet diameter of 0.177”, which is greater than a 5/32” rivet diameter so use the next size which is 3/16”, and the length needs to be at least 0.399” (10.125 mm). There is a 3/16” x 0.45” blind rivet (No. 64) that works for a grip range of 0.126-0.250”. Another item to note is that rivet diameters are nominal, which in this case means not exactly what they say. A nominal 3/16” rivet will use drill bit size #11 which is not a 3/16” bit, whereas a 5/32” rivet uses a #20 drill bit yet is not 5/32”. Given the importance of the rivet fit, I don’t recommend translating the drill bit number to fractional inches.

For rivet spacing, we need to define a row. A row is defined in relation to the pieces that the rivet will pass through, here the top and bottom straps and a plate (1/2 keg). For this project, I used two rows of rivets for the straps. One row passes through the top and bottom straps and the left half keg the other row through the same straps and the middle section. As constructed, the rivets are matched in pairs between the rows but we could zig zag the rivets instead as another option. There are two important rules for spacing the rivets needed here. The first is that rivets should be at a distance from any edge that measures from 2 times to no more than 4 times the rivet diameter. For a 3/16” diameter rivet, that means 3/8”-3/4” from the edge, which in this case is the edge of the strap or the plate. Thinking carefully, the minimum amount of strap width needed around the left side row of rivets for the joint is 3/8” + 3/8”= 3/4” and the same holds for the right row of rivets making the minimum strap width 1 ½”. Using similar reasoning, the maximum width is 4 x ¾”=3”. The widest strap that can be cut from the keg is roughly 2 ¼” and that was the size I used without cutting into the ribs for the strap. The second rule of thumb is that space between rivets in a row (pitch) should be between 3 and 12 times the rivet diameter. For a 3/16” rivet, the pitch is in the range of 9/16” and 2 ¼”. To apply the two rules, we need the length of the joint. Diameter of a ½ barrel keg is 16 1/8” making the circumference 50.66”. Half of that is 25.33” which is the distance along the round edge of the half keg and will also be the length (theoretical) of the straps. For simplicity, suppose we choose a 1-in. (2.5 cm) pitch. This would allow 25 + 1 = 26 total rivets in a row and leave 0.33 in. to split between the two ends. (The extra rivet is the one you start with.) That means the end rivets are 0.165” from the edge, too short. Let’s try a pitch of 1.5” instead. Divide 25.33” by 1.5” which is 16.887 therefore 16 + 1 = 17 rivets which would cover 24” leaving 1.33” for the end spacing and rivets could be started at 0.67” on either end. In actual implementation, measure the piece lengths and choose a suitable pitch. If a zig-zig pattern is used, the edge distance for at least one row will differ at the ends for at least one row.

Pick your two best straps for the tops and do make sure that the widths are the same on both the top and bottom pair. Mark the rivet pattern on the top straps (see image above) resulting from the selected rivet diameter and pitch. I chose to drill the top straps first, and later drilled the rest of the keg halves and bottom straps while clamped together (see image below). Use a center punch to start your holes. A small diameter pilot hole sped things up and cutting oil prevents premature wear on the bits.

After it was riveted together, I polished it for the last time with the green polishing compound.

4. Exhaust system

Recommendations were that 400 cubic feet per minutes (cfm) or 11.3 cubic meter per minutes (cmm) is the minimum hood exhaust speed that you should use for my sized system. My choice was a 6-in. (15-cm) Cloudline (model S6) inline fan. The duct run rises up into the bay between the floor joists and runs out through the band joist (see image to the right). I am proficient with a reciprocating saw and that is what I used to cut the band joist, which I did first.

Next, I marked the top center of the hood, held a short length of duct centered and upright over that point and traced the sides onto the hood top for the duct opening. I drilled holes inside the traced area that would fit a metal blade and then used the reciprocating saw to cut out the duct opening. Control is key here, go slow. A hole saw could work here too (see image above). Foil tape was used on all connections except the fan, which included two large round clamps.

5. Electrical

The two brackets that support the hood also serve as electrical conduits. From the top down the pieces are 1-in. NPT stainless steel flange, 4-in. (10 cm) nipple, a tee, and a 1-in. x ¾-in. reducer coupling. There is a 1-in. x ½-in. bushing in the tee leading to a ½-in. barb flexible metal conduit fitting inserted into the flexible metal conduit that connects the two tees. The reducer coupling passes through the hood and a ¾-in. conduit nut holds the bracket to the hood.

I used a ¾-in. conduit knockout punch for the holes in the hood, which are located a quarter of the hood length from left and the right. The coupling screws into a round outdoor junction box. I drilled holes for the junction box in the back plate of the light. That makes the system sealed. I ran 14/2 Romex between the tees to the lights and out the top right flange. I added a small 2-in. x 3-in. (5-cm x 7.5-cm) metal junction box between the ceiling joists, which the flange covers. I added a switch to power on the light and the inline fan. Eventually, I will box out the duct with an access panel for the fan when I sheetrock. The lights were spray painted a metallic color matching the inside of the kegs. Each light has a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi color changing smart bulb.

6. Trim

The trim is an automotive-type trim. I took a ruler and measured all my cutting mistakes and found the largest one. Then I searched for a trim width that would cover it. These trims will sometimes just grip but I decided to use some multi-surface Gorilla Glue and it required clamping. The perimeter is long relative to the number of clamps I had so this took a few overnights. In retrospect, two long flat pieces of metal or wood may have worked with just a few clamps. A potentially useful option here would be to use an angled piece of trim mounted with perhaps a short rod connecting the two sides of the angle and going through the hood edge to act as a gutter to catch drips, a problem that sometimes pops up for me. Now that you’re done handling power tools and have installed your hood vent go ahead and pour yourself a homebrew. You earned it!

I like starting my brew days by milling my own malt. My first mill was a hand-cranked model and the first thing I did upon receiving it was install my electric drill to power it. Since the drill chuck diameter was larger than the distance from the shaft to the base, it was tough to install tightly and the chuck rubbed on the provided MDF base. It wasn’t a great solution and was a pain to keep the speed consistent. My next attempt at a power solution was repurposing an old electric mixer motor, but it didn’t have enough torque to maintain rotation. My third go-round was to adapt a small DC motor with some gears onto a second-hand metal frame I’d purchased at auction. Neither worked as well as I had hoped, so I reattached my drill and hit the digital drawing board.

What I’m going to share in this article is my most recent grain mill build, which I’ve been very happy with. The critical component of this design is the motor selection — it needs to be high torque, yet maintain a slow speed of 100–200 RPM. I didn’t want to use an AC fan motor I’d seen on other builds because they need a lot of space, pulleys, drive belts, and protective covers. A colleague suggested to me that what I’d want to use is a worm drive motor. Worm drive DC motors are typically used to slowly haul in crab traps on fishing vessels. After a long search scouring Ebay and several motor suppliers, I found one marketed for homebrewers from Motion Dynamics, in Australia (links and component lists can be found at the end of the article). This motor is powered by a 12V DC source wired to the supplied speed control board. I selected a 42-amp power supply for the motor. The next selected component was a Monster Mill MM-3 with three stainless steel knurled rollers, a ½-inch (12.7-mm) drive shaft, and aluminum frame components.

My design started with the painted steel frame that I was fortunate enough to find. In the absence of an inexpensive metal frame, or access to metal and welding equipment, a similar construction can readily be built with an aluminum extrusion system like 8020 or wood for those who prefer hammer and nails. For my build, I carefully measured my frame and reproduced it in my CAD software. Then I reached out to a local metal fabrication shop to laser cut a heavy steel plate to mount the base of the mill to. (As a fun side story, the person I spoke with turned out to be an old neighbor and childhood friend of mine. They quoted me $120 for the material and laser cut. When I arrived to pick it up, it turned into a facility tour and a homebrew tasting. They were really happy with the tasting and I walked out with a free piece of steel. Homebrew has that effect on people sometimes!)

With the kind assistance of my friend, Nelson, who is an experienced welder, the plate was MIG welded at a convenient height. After welding, I abraded and cleaned up some of the welds. I also removed one of the lower frame members to allow for ease of access during milling. In my design planning at this point, I hadn’t accounted for wheel height. I’d planned the plate at a height above my mash tun, so I could place it underneath and mill directly into my mash tun. At the time, I was planning to spray in hot water from my hot liquor tank in a fan shape across the top of the tun. Once wheels were added, they increased the height and dashed my plans. I’ve since upgraded to a 21-gallon (80-L) stainless mash tun from Ss Brewtech and would not be keen on lifting that tun when full. I recommend a close or tight seal between the base of your mill and whatever you’re milling into. It kicks out a lot of statically charged grain dust and debris.

After a few coats of spray paint, I started to install the Monster Mill. I cut, drilled, and tapped holes on some 3.5-inch (88.9-mm) aluminum stock to make the sides of the Monster Mill. I used stainless steel hex fasteners bolted under the mill (in hindsight, I should have countersunk some flat head fasteners for a flush surface).

Once the mill was installed, I measured the height to the plate from the mill shaft and estimated the location of the motor. I designed two stainless brackets that bolt directly to the recently installed plate on either side of the motor face. Note that when tapping into any metal you should go slowly, back out one turn every few turns, and use a lubricating cutting fluid. To join the two different shaft sizes (12 mm, 12.7 mm), I used a spider coupler. This three-part device fastens to each shaft and transfers power from motor to mill and allows for a small amount of misalignment, among other benefits. 

I designed a 4-sided hopper, edge brackets, and a top-mounted guide to try to mitigate any grain dust dropping through gaps in the sides and bottom. This was a challenge in a CAD environment, as the angles compounded and my frame wasn’t symmetrical, nor was the mill placement on the plate (by design to allow for the motor). Part and assembly drawings can be found in a link at the end of the article. After a few design iterations I ordered the stainless from another sheet metal shop to be laser cut and bent. For the top plate of the mill, I jigged a piece of ¼-inch (6.35-mm) aluminum with a routered slot to match the hopper opening. I added some 3/8-inch (10-mm) opening stainless mesh to make sure I don’t get any fingers milled. In practice, this can bridge with malt and stop the hopper from feeding the mill. With the mesh in place, I have to keep the grain moving. I may end up removing it. A steeper hopper may help alleviate this issue.

With my stainless hopper sheets in hand, I bolted the long edges to the frame first using M8 x 50-mm stainless button head cap screws, washers, and locknuts. Other than a few holes being slightly misaligned it went together pretty well. The smaller sides went in next, then I drilled holes to attach the hopper edge brackets with M4 x 10-mm button head cap screws and locknuts. The complexity of designing the asymmetrical components and fit up of the edge brackets had me leave the bolt holes to drill myself. I wasn’t confident I could correctly align the holes when assembled. Once in place I slid the top-of-mill-mounted hopper guides in and bolted them down tight using their oval holes.

My next milestone to get to a test run was to build the electrical enclosure. I selected a plastic enclosure from Polycase that would fit nestled in under the hopper, opposite the motor. I also laid out the components in CAD to ensure my 500W power supply would fit. 

Note that if you wire the negative (red, source) wire to the wrong motor pole, the motor will run in reverse. I learned that you need to wire lights in parallel so they all get full voltage. I also didn’t wire the holding relay correctly. When a momentary pushbutton applies voltage to the relay, it latches in place and holds the circuit on. The “full stop” button, or the E-Stop aka “red alert” cuts power to the holding circuit. This is a smart solution in case of power loss, as the motor won’t energize automatically when power is reapplied. If you review the wiring diagram linked at the end of the article, you’ll see that the red alert button kills power to several locations ensuring the motor stops. Only opening the circuit to the power supply (for example) would still take a few seconds to de-energize when pressed. I was really happy with how the finished control panel turned out.

In my early design sketches I chose to design a Star Trek: The Next Generation LCARS-style interface with physical light-up pushbuttons. This fit the theme nicely, as even my early malt mill builds were named Wesley Crusher. I used a transparent adhesive printed label from a local print shop to apply it to my enclosure. Digital artwork is linked at the end of the article. 

The last thing to do was to mount the control panel in place. I elected to use some shoulder bolts (think Frankenstein’s monster’s neck) into the sides of my control panel. I designed some forked heavy gauge stainless brackets that would allow the enclosure to be removed easily if needed. It also allowed for some play in the odd shapes in the design, and misalignment. Once installed a light tap had it in place, and this project is a wrap! 

This project cost me about $800 (thanks to the free steel plate), although I have been working on it for a few years to get to this point so some of the prices have risen since I bought them. The stainless hopper was the largest expense, with the mill and motor being the two other biggest ticket items.

Links

• Link to CAD file on GrabCAD: https://bit.ly/BYO22-GM-CAD

• Link to PDF of mechanical/electrical drawings: https://bit.ly/BYO22-GM-PRINTS

• Vector file of enclosure LCARS sticker: https://bit.ly/BYO22-GM-LCARS

Q: My neighbor recently gave me his used fridge and it still works great. I have been brewing awhile using all-grain ingredients. My question is, I can’t afford the next step in brewing, which for me is the Cornelius keg draft system. Is there any advantage using the fridge without the pressurized system?
— Bill Uffmann • East Liberty, Ohio

A: Glad to see you following one of the most important homebrewing rules of thumb; accept anything for free that can be used to further your pursuit of great beer! For what it’s worth, here are a few questions to consider when these great opportunities arise. If it doesn’t work, how much to repair? How much power does it consume and are the voltage, frequency, and total amp draw copacetic with what is available at home? Will it fit where it can be used? Does it look like it belongs at home or in a junkyard? Great that you hauled the fridge home before determining exactly what to do with it! Here are a few ideas:

Use #1 — Fermentation Control

The best use for a fridge, outside of the obvious beer cooler, is for fermentation control. A modest investment in a thermostatic controller allows one to convert a mundane refrigerator into the perfect temperature-controlled fermentation cellar. All you need to do is buy a controller, insert the temperature probe inside of the refrigerator, and plug the fridge into the controller. And if you buy a dual-purpose controller, you can plug the fridge into the cooling plug and some sort of heater, like heat tape wrapped around some sort of heat-conducting mass like a copper tube, into the heating plug. This project will run less than about $75. Just remember that if your free fridge has a freezer, this set-up will also turn the freezer on and off.

The best use for a fridge, outside of the obvious beer cooler, is for fermentation control.

Use #2 — Ingredient and Beer Storage

Brewing and party supply central. I don’t know about most folks, but my spouse does not want my brewing hobby or love of beer to take up room in our kitchen refrigerator. A second fridge is perfect for hops, yeast, great beers that all brewers require to stay current on brewing trends, homebrews that are chilling out waiting to be poured, and other brewing aids that need their own cool place to reside. Beer fridges are also perfect for adorning with cool, beer-related stickers, if that’s your jam.

Use #3 — Corny Kegerator

Cornelius keg layaway plan. The bill of materials required for a DIY project is short and will not break the bank if you do a little at a time. Start out by shopping for a used Corny keg that is in good shape. This is really not much of a challenge as these little gems are pretty easy to find for a reasonable price. The cool thing about Corny kegs is that a CO₂ tank and regulator is not required for a keg to be useful. I will save the details about the uses for another time. A cobra-head tap, aka a picnic tap, is all you need to dispense beer from your keg once it’s time to spend a few more bucks; and a few bucks is literally all you need to spend.

Finally, there is a gas tank and regulator. This is the most expensive step and will run you about $150. Do not, I repeat do not, buy a used or really “good deal” on a gas bottle without knowing what you are getting into. Gas cylinders require periodic hydrostatic inspections and gas companies will not fill cylinders that don’t have current inspection certification. In fact, most gas companies will not fill cylinders outside of their “float” of tanks.

The best thing to do is to go into a local gas supplier, explain that you want to get set-up for a home system, and they will know what you need due to the number of brewers and beer enthusiasts with home dispense systems.

I know you stated that you cannot afford the next step right now. Just take my sage advice and make this a slow-to-develop project and invest in it over time. Minimizing the chore surrounding bottle washing, bottle filling, full-bottle storage, bottle rinsing, empty-bottle storage, and feeling like opening a bottle is just adding more work to the aforementioned tasks makes brewing at home so much more enjoyable! Packaging sucks and is the reason that most craft brewers dream of being able to sell all of their beer on draft.

Early in 2020 my keezer was at the end of its life and struggled to keep my kegs cold. The timing was apt, as I was planning to move to a new home and build a brewery-oriented garage. I considered three options: Replacement, upgrading to a 3-door fridge, or upgrading to a full cold room. The cold room had the clear advantage for space, access to taps, heat and noise generation, and planned layout, and was the direction I ended up going. Now complete, I thought it may be helpful to run through the design choices and features for others who may be considering their own cold room upgrade.

Above is my concept model from early in the design phase, showing the brewery side of the garage. Left to right, you’ll see the cold room concept with six taps, storage racking, fermenting fridge (BrewPi-driven, arduino-controlled), 3-vessel electric system, my second-hand L-shaped sink, and my malt mill. The cold room would have an internal footprint of 6.5 x 3.3 feet (2 x 1 m), with 43 square feet (4 m²) in volume. This is compact enough for my needs, and much smaller than any commercially available cold room like those from CoolBot. I planned in space for six kegs on tap, six on reserve, a rack for my bottle cellar, and a cold water reservoir for chilling needs in the future.

The garage has a glycol-heated concrete pad, so when laying that plumbing the area around the cold room was avoided. The only other consideration in the garage-build phase was to include a small window opening for the through-wall air conditioning unit. The cold room frame was built after the outer shell of the garage was up, with the door opening sized for a commercial door in case I was able to find a used one. 

The garage construction has 2×6 wood studs, so I kept to that for the cold room. Since an R-value of at least 25 is recommended by the CoolBot manufacturers, I also included an internal 1-inch (25.4-mm) rigid foam layer. Remember to always put your vapor barrier on the warm side of your construction — for the cold Canadian winters where I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan that meant only inside of the outdoor-facing walls got barriers. The walls and roof of the cold room that face the inside of the garage also got an outer vapor barrier layer. Inside and outside were shelled with a 7⁄16-inch (11.1-mm) oriented strand board, OSB. Then a fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) called Exceliner FRP went up, which lends a clean, professional, finished look, as well as a beer-proof shell. 

SAFETY ADVISORY: Wear breathing protection when cutting fiberglass, use function-specific circular saw blades (or an oscillating tool for detail cuts), and make sure all your dust and waste gets bagged and goes into the trash — not outside into the environment. Be sure to wear gloves at all times, as exposed edges are quite sharp. 

As cut sheets, the FRP was good to work with. It is light, flexible, strong, and resilient. Panels are adhered to the OSB substrate with a water-based adhesive. Only the vertical surfaces needed to be supported during cure, the rest stayed adhered after applying pressure with a dry paint roller.

Having selected some components and layout early, I’d included a few handy features. I wanted to have distributed plumbing throughout my garage (air, water, sewer, compressed air, ethernet, CO₂), so I knew my CO₂ tank would need plumbing from the attic. I added two bulkhead fittings to plumb CO₂ though the cold room walls. The entire room runs on one GFCI 120V circuit, and the air conditioner has a dedicated 240V circuit sized for my A/C unit. I included a ceiling-mounted outlet for plugging in the CoolBot, and a RJ12 junction box leading above the cold room for the CoolBot Pro Wi-Fi module. I also included an outlet on the large wall where I planned to have a cold water reservoir and pump for a fermenter and brew day cooling loop. Note there are grommets on the outer wall for two PEX tubes for that expansion, which will be a project for another year. I also included an ethernet jack and AC outlet to the front wall to eventually build a Raspberry Pi-based tap list.

A cross-section view of the taps shows that I made a cutaway for the shanks. In hindsight I should have just bought longer shanks and used a full-thickness wall. It was a challenge to finish with the FRP, reduces my insulation, and as designed, relies on the compression resistance of the rigid foam. It has been a challenge to keep my shanks tight as the foam compresses. Longer shanks are chrome-plated steel instead of stainless — but I’d rather replace them periodically in the long run if I had it to do over.

By the time the main construction was complete, I hadn’t had any luck finding a used commercial door. I quoted new ones at around $2,500, which was more than I was willing to pay. Plan B was to design my own triple-sealed door.

Turning back to my 3D model I started to design the thicknesses, angles, heights, and widths of construction to allow the door to swing open without interference. I’d selected my door hardware and modeled it in 3D as well to aid in the design and ensure mounting would line up. The door is built from premium thin-layer ¾-inch (18-mm) maple plywood and the same rigid foam from earlier in the build (double layers between plywood). I copied the step design for the top of the door as well for simplicity. The bottom of the door has three weather strip floor seals. Cutaway drawings to the left show the door open action, and the need for the angled steps. The door jam also needed to be custom from treated lumber. I used 2×6 and 2×8 lumber that was planed, cut to shape, glued together, sanded, and painted.

The rest of the door is two torsion boxes assembled with a pneumatic pinner, adhesive, and some heavy duty long wood screws all anchored to the middle layer of plywood. I used some long stainless steel oval-head screws for mounting the main hardware. The door was assembled from the inner layer outward, shimming the bottom and sanding the edges to fit evenly in my door jam. Links to more photos of the construction process and a short time-lapse video illustrating the stages the door was constructed in are included at the end of the article.

With the door and weather stripping installed, the next step was to start up the air conditioning and test out the CoolBot.

I’d intentionally oversized my air conditioner out of due caution, but that seems to have driven my air temperature to drop below freezing briefly during cooling cycles. I haven’t seen any ill effects from this as the freezing temperature doesn’t last long. Even on hot summer days, the system only turns on about once per hour.

Inside the cold room isn’t large but it feels great and looks amazing. It will eventually get epoxy floors along with the rest of the garage. 

To get this cold room build operational, I estimate it cost me $4,500 CAD ($3,600 USD). I already had the WilliamsWarn counter-pressure bottle filler and a dozen kegs. The LED light is a 6,000 lumen 50W fixture, and is excellently bright. A link to a full bill of materials (in Canadian dollars) is at the end of the article, but here’s a quick summary:

Exceliner FRP, trim, and adhesive ($900)
Kason door hardware ($900)
Insulation ($225)
2×6 framing ($200)
Air conditioner ($800)
CoolBot Pro ($400)
Perlick taps, shanks ($300)
Drip tray ($540)
CO₂ tank, lines, regulators, manifolds, and accessories ($300)

After planning to have a chalkboard tap list, I stumbled upon tapit
good.com, a web-based tap list. Its interface is easy to use and it looks good. You can program in your beers and add or remove them from the list at any time. There are also several integrations with various software — hopefully more to come. I invested in the annual subscription fee of $20 for more than four taps and installed a computer monitor, and Raspberry Pi programmed to boot full screen to my page, which can be seen in the picture at the top right. 

Want to see more of this build? Visit these links:

• Cold room and door dimensioned drawings: https://bit.ly/GP-BYO-ColdRoomDrawing

• Bill of materials: https://bit.ly/GP-BYO-ColdRoomBuild

• Build video: https://youtu.be/-n3YAtKM7w8 

There always seems to be something that needs attention with my brew-making hobby that requires some creative action to solve a nagging issue. This time, it was my spare 5-lb. CO₂ cylinder that had a mind of its own wanting to get tipsy (but not from drinking too much homebrew). That double gauge pressure regulator with two product outlets, two gas line hoses each with a gas-in ball-lock fitting on the end and installed on the gas cylinder valve adds extra weight at the top of the cylinder. This makes it all too easy for the cylinder to tip over, especially when the tank contents start running on empty.

One of the concerns was a tip-over event when using the cylinder for purging activities. The first thing I do after filling a keg of homebrew and before placing it in the kegerator is to perform numerous CO₂ pressurize-and-vent cycles to rid the headspace of oxygen. This keeps the beer fresh while it chills and carbonates. Even when gently tugging on the gas line hose to connect it to the keg gas-in post, that tug will tend to tip the cylinder over. Careful attention is required to keep the cylinder in the upright position. This concern also applies when using my Tapcooler counter-pressure bottle filler to purge bottles prior to filling.

Another issue is storing of the cylinder when not in use. In my brewing storage area, I have many items nearby that could cause a tip-over when moving things around. So, I always worry that the cylinder will get accidently knocked over. These worries revolve around two potentially disastrous results: Either the valve breaking off and the cylinder becoming a projectile or the regulator breaking from a bad fall.

This makes it all too easy for the cylinder to tip over, especially when the tank contents start running on empty.

These concerns led me to do some internet searching to gather some ideas for a do-it-yourself (DIY) project that I could make to add some stability for my CO₂ cylinder. Efforts focused on finding a solution for my desired design constraints that included being light in weight, easy to construct, stable, portable, use readily available materials, and kept at a minimal cost. I found PVC to be the ultimate make-anything-toy-set, as you can pretty much make anything you can think of by just using some fittings and pipe.

Other considerations that factor into a satisfactory solution are taking advantage of tools and extra stuff that you might already have. Of course, like all DIY projects, there are countless ways to end up solving a particular issue that one may have. The final solution therefore features PVC materials and wood scraps that best satisfied my design constraints.

If you are somewhat handy, have the time, want to make something simple, and stop your cylinder and regulator from meeting a tragic ending, this solution is for you.

Tools and Materials

• (4) ½-in. 90-degree PVC side outlet elbow
• (8) ½-in. 90-degree PVC tee
• (4) ½-in. schedule 40 PVC cap
• (5) ½-in. x 2 ft. (61 cm) 600-psi schedule 40 PVC white.
• PVC cement
• Doorjamb scrap (about 8-in. long x 45⁄8-in. wide x 5⁄8-in. thick or 20 cm x 11.4 cm x 1.5 cm)
• 1×2 wood scraps
• Miter saw
• Wood glue
• Danish oil (natural oak)

Steps

1. MATERIAL SELECTION

I decided to use half-inch PVC piping to keep the stand bulk and weight to a minimum, while still being rigid and sturdy. PVC side outlet elbows, PVC tees, and PVC caps are used to provide the necessary piping connections for the stand. PVC cement was used to provide a permanent structure. The critical material selection factor is to lay out the design to determine the overall length of PVC piping required.

2. DIMENSIONS

The first thing you need to do is determine the overall length of PVC pipe required. My general design focused on the stand height, length, and widths. Stand height is limited to the overall height of the CO2 cylinder, while avoiding interference from the gas regulator, hoses, and fittings. With the stand height now determined, the stand base width and length were chosen to match the cylinder height as measured from the cylinder bottom to the threaded male connection on the gas cylinder valve, as this seemed to make the most sense to provide the desired stability while at the same time not being too excessive. Some factors to consider when measuring the desired piping lengths are to account for the maximum insertion depth of the pipe into the fitting as well as the fitting dimensions. These dimensions may be different for each PVC manufacturer.

3. PVC CUTS

Before cutting the PVC piping, you may want to remove the ink markings for a clean finish. If this is desired, then wipe off the ink print with nail polish remover and an old rag. Another option would be to use furniture-grade PVC.

First, cut four 9.5-in. (24-cm) vertical pipes. Make sure that when the wooden base is installed, the top of the PVC fittings will not interfere with the gas hoses.

Then cut eight 4.75-in. (12-cm) pieces to be used to surround the cylinder in a square configuration, making sure the lengths are long enough so that the cylinder can be inserted and removed easily from the stand, yet short enough to keep the cylinder snug within the stand. Four 4.75-in. (12-cm) pieces will be installed at the top, and the other four pieces at the bottom. After installing the piping into the fittings, the square length and width inside measurements should be slightly larger than the cylinder diameter.

For the stand length and width extensions on the bottom portion, cut four 3.25-in. (8.3-cm) pieces (to be used with the pipe caps) and four 3.75-in. (9.5-cm) pieces. These lengths are not too critical, but should be enough to use most of the remaining PVC piping.

4. ASSEMBLY

Assemble the top square using the 90-degree side outlet elbows and four of the 4.75-in. (12-cm) pieces. Before gluing with PVC cement, make sure the cylinder will fit within the square. Attach the four vertical legs at the bottom of the side outlet elbows.

Next, assemble the stand bottom section using the remaining PVC piping pieces, eight tee fittings, and four PVC pipe caps. Check for overall fit-up before gluing with PVC cement. As an option, you may wish to make some of the extensions removable, if desired, for your particular application and usage.

Finish the assembly by joining the stand bottom section with the top vertical section. Once assembled, the overall length and width of the stand was a few inches longer than the stand height.

5. BASE

I always keep a pile of wood scraps around at the completion of any woodworking project. In my scrap pile, I found a small section of doorjamb and some 1×2 scraps to construct the base where the cylinder rests when in the stand. I cut the doorjamb to match the width of the stand (7.5 in./19 cm), and cut two 1×2 pieces to fit tight and snug between the PVC piping on the underside of the base. I sanded smooth with sandpaper and then stained the wood pieces with Danish Oil natural oak (another woodworking project leftover) to provide a neat and professional look. The 1-inch x 2-inch pieces were then glued and clamped to the base, and then installed in the stand after the glue dried. With the wood base installed, the total weight of the CO2 stand was 3 lbs. (1.4 kg).

6. STEADY EDDIE

Finally, it is now time to insert the cylinder into the stand. A gentle tug on the gas line hose should reveal that the base stabilizes the cylinder to ensure it is no longer tipsy. For bottle-purging activities I can now place the stand on my countertop, which I find to be much more convenient and comfortable. Problem solved!

I have been brewing on an all-electric system for quite a while and cleaning the stainless steel heating element has remained troublesome. The baked on residue was hard to get off. I tried many things to make cleaning the element easy and effective and all were what I considered failures since I wanted the element shining like new. But the combination of failures led to a simple, cheap, no-hand-scrubbing solution.

In the beginning, I tried soaking the element in a hot PBW solution in a tall narrow container and then used assorted brushes to scrub it. I imagine many electric brewers are still doing this and I did it quite a few times. This was difficult, time-consuming, and had less than perfect results.

I then built an enclosure to protect the electrical connections on my tri-clamp element and ran it through the dishwasher. The enclosure was just a large empty plastic food container with a screw on lid (see picture below). I used a bolt-on tri-clamp fitting on the lid of the enclosure. This was a total failure since the enclosure leaked a bit because the lid didn’t seal well and the element didn’t come very clean anyway.

Next, I thought it would be clever to build an ultrasonic cleaner using parts ordered off the internet. The ultrasonic transducer and driver circuit board are surprisingly inexpensive. Ultrasonic cleaners use a transducer that converts electrical energy into high frequency mechanical vibrations. The vibrations are transferred into the cleaning solution where they create cavitation bubbles on the object thereby cleaning it. I tried a system running at 40 kHz and rated at 60 Watts.

I epoxied the ultrasonic transducer to a stainless container (sold as a vase) and connected the diver circuit board (see picture above). I also added extra sealant around the solder on the base of the vase. However, the vase was not well matched to the transducer for power transfer. I think the area of the base of the vase was too small to vibrate enough to transfer the energy properly. This resulted in little transducer energy being transferred into the hot PBW solution in the container. Most of the energy was reflected back into the transducer making it HOT!

I combined the knowledge gained from previous failures into a system that actually works with no scrubbing by hand! By using a hot PBW solution, a suitable tall container, and an aeration wand with an aquarium air pump running, the hard to remove baked-on film on the stainless heating elements slides off by itself after about 30 minutes. The bubbles seem to do all the work. I just do a bit of rinsing at the end to get it all off. The idea to try the aeration wand came from the ultrasonic cleaner failure. Even the wand gets a cleaning in the hot PBW as a bonus and other small items such as dip tubes can also get simultaneously cleaned in the process.

A little while back I purchased a Robobrew (Brewzilla) all-in-one brew system. It comes equipped with a good immersion chiller. If you have a system like this and you’re happy with it, then read no further. But if you’d like to make your chill time a little shorter and use less water, then I highly recommend a plate chiller. I won’t get into the details here of what makes a plate chiller awesome but there are many resources that can explain why, like the story found here: https://byo.com/article/wort-chilling-2/.

For 5-gallon (19-L) batches, a small 20-plate chiller will get the job done. Here in New England, we get very cold water in the wintertime. When I run my faucet at full speed, I can pump my wort directly into my fermenter at 70 °F (21 °C). In the summer it will take a bit longer so I’ll just recirculate back into the kettle until the Blichmann ThruMometer tells me that the wort is coming out at an appropriate temperature for direct pitching of the yeast.

Having the ThruMometer is optional, but it makes the chilling process that much easier since it takes the guesswork out of the process.

Using camlock quick disconnects is a no-brainer in my opinion. This allows you to bypass the recirculation arm and connect your chiller directly to your pump. Besides, the recirculation arm that comes with the Robobrew is designed for 3⁄8-in. ID tubing. That sizing means much slower flow rates. I recommend stepping up to the next diameter sized tubing . . . you’ll get much a much better flow rate with ½-in. ID tubing.

I chose to use male fittings on the wort-side of the chiller itself for a couple of reasons. Having both of them be male fittings means that you can connect your pump to either side of the chiller. This allows you to recirculate your cleaning fluid in both directions when you’re finished with it. Just be careful, because this also means you can run your wort in the wrong direction and not get very efficient cooling.

Having the ThruMometer is optional, but it makes the chilling process that much easier since it takes the guesswork out of the process. You can immediately see what temperature your wort is coming out at, which saves you time and energy. Once the wort reaches the appropriate temperature you can just put the out-tube directly into your fermenter. It only takes a couple of minutes for the pump to empty the entire Robobrew.

You will want to make sure to get the ½-in. ID and ¾-in. OD silicone tubing. Any thinner-walled tubing is not meant for hot liquid. It’s so thin that your tubes will immediately kink and stop the flow of wort. Also, you’ll want to make sure you use a proper braided hosing for your water-side. Using anything less strong could potentially burst. Trust me on this one . . . I now use a basic garden hose. (Did I learn this from experience? . . . no . . . why would you ask that?) Having quick disconnects on the water-side of the plate chiller is optional but awesome.

Tools and Materials

• Plate chiller — ½-in. NPT wort side and ¾-in. NPT water side
• (2) Male camlock — ½-in. NPT fittings
• Male camlock — ½-in. barb
• (2) Female camlock — ½-in. barb
• ½-in. ID, ¾-in. OD silicone tubing
• Garden hose
• (2) ¾-in. garden hose repair kits
• Teflon tape
• (2+) garden hose quick-disconnects (optional)
• Blichmann ThruMometer — ½-in. barbs (optional)

Steps

1. Assemble Plate Chiller

Wrap all four NPT fittings with plenty of Teflon tape. I recommend no less than eight wraps to ensure that you don’t get any leaks. Then, thread the male camlock fittings onto the wort-side of the chiller and the garden hose quick-disconnects on the water-side of the chiller. Use a wrench to make sure these are nice and snug.

2. Wort-Side Tubing

Measure out how long you will need your tubing to be from the brew system to the chiller. Cut this tube to length. Repeat this process for the output tubing from the chiller and back into the system. If you choose to use the ThruMometer, you’ll need to cut your output tube into two pieces. You also want this tube to be long enough to recirculate into your system as well as reach your fermenter.

On the input tube, slide on the male camlock with ½-in. barb on one end and the female camlock on the other end. On the output tube slide on the male camlock on one end, slide the ThruMometer on the opposite side. Then with the other piece of output tubing, slide the other end of the ThruMometer into it. The opposite end of the tubing will likely be open for recirculation and dispensing into your fermenter. Finally you’ll need to use clamps or zip ties to hold the tubing onto the barbs.

3. Water-Side Garden Hoses

Start by measuring how long you need your garden hose to be in order to reach your faucet and to reach your drain. Cut the garden hose in half (or whichever length you determined for your particular setup) and grab your repair kits.

Use the hose with the female fitting still attached as your input hose. On the cut end, drop a hose clamp around the hose, and then insert the female fitting from the repair kit. I found that using a little keg lube helped to get this fitting installed. If you don’t have any keg lube, you could probably just use some petroleum jelly. This means that you should now have a female fitting on both ends of your input hose.

Your output hose should be the hose with the male fitting still attached. On the cut end, drop a hose clamp around the hose, and then insert the female fitting from the repair kit. As with the input hose, using a little keg lube helps this go on easier.

4. Testing and Preparing

Before brew day, make sure to fill your brew system with some water and turn on your pump. Check for leaks. Do the same with your garden hose. If there are no leaks, then add some cleaner to your system and run the pump for a while to make sure the tubing and the plate chiller are nice and clean.

After this you may want to run some fresh water through the plate chiller to make sure there’s no residual soapy water in there.

5. Brew Day!

Once you’re ready to use your system, connect all of your tubing and hoses while you’re still boiling. You’ll want the output tube to be flowing back into your kettle at first. Make sure you have your cold-side hoses connected to flow the opposite direction of your hot-side tubing. If you run these both in the same direction, you’ll get very little cooling power. Start by running boiling wort through the system for at least 10 minutes in order to sanitize everything.

(Side Note: I highly recommend using a good hop filter or hop spider. You don’t want to clog your pump or your plate chiller on your big double New England IPA.)

Once you’re ready to start chilling, simply turn off your elements and keep your pump running. Now, open your garden hose faucet all the way (you checked for leaks, right?) and watch the temperature drop. Once you get a reading on your ThruMometer that you like (yeast pitch temperature) just close the valve on the recirculation arm, pull the output tube out of the Robobrew, and insert it into your fermenter. Now open the valve and wait for the system to finish pumping all of your cool wort into your fermenter.

Once you’re finished, I recommend keeping a small bucket or pitcher nearby to catch any drips as you disconnect each tube/hose.

6. Cleaning

Start by disconnecting the hot-side tubing from the recirculation pump and use a garden hose nozzle to run fresh water through the system. I do this on both sides of the hot-side tubing, back and forth, to get as much junk out as possible.

Once it’s running nice and clear with no more hop particles or grains coming out of the plate chiller, then I connect the hot-side tubing to the recirculation pump again. Then I put all of my various brewing pieces into the Robobrew (malt pipe, extra tubing, mash paddle, false bottom, hop spider, etc.) and fill it almost to the top with cold water. I turn on the heating elements and set the temperature to about 140 °F (60 °C) and then add an appropriate amount of cleaner (PBW or similar).

Now I turn on the pump and let the cleaner recirculate through the plate chiller for 15 minutes or so. Then I swap the two female camlocks on the plate chiller so that I can reverse the direction of flow through the plate chiller, and run the pump for another 5 minutes or so. This ensures that the plate chiller gets thoroughly cleaned and there are no hidden surprises when I go to brew next time.

Finally, I drain the Robobrew and rinse everything off and then put another gallon (3.8 L) or so of acidic sanitizer solution in the Robobrew and turn on the pump to rinse the chiller out really well.

If you have any questions, please visit my website at www.echrisdenney.com