Brewing
London Hackspace had an active homebrewing subgroup at the old Hackney rd location. We still have a shared full-mash gas-fired brewing setup which is capable of a brew length of about 80 litres, as well as a CO2 keg dispense system. Anyone can participate, even if you've had no experience before, there's always cleaning to be done. :)
Since our brewing equipment is gas-fired and the space isn't well suited to the steam produced, we brew outside on the loading dock. This is more pleasant in the summer than in the winter.
Brewing as a "project" was driven by Det, helped by Ross, overseen by Russ with equipment borrowed from B3cft.
Get in touch
A public Google sub-group exists for planning brewdays, discussing recipes and the like. Other topics that affect the Space as a whole should be done on the main mailing list.
IRC: #london-hack-space-brewing on Freenode
Equipment
B3cft has kindly loaned the space his setup The kit is to be considered Hackspace infrastructure and is not to be hacked, but can be used with respect. As always, please clean up after yourselves, and return the equipment to where you found it. (Mention the permanent location of the kit here)
Full list of brewing equipment at the Hackspace:
| Item | Quantity | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100L Kettle | 1x | Hackspace pledged | incl. hop filter & ball valve |
| Gas burner | 1x | B3cft | |
| High pressure gas regulator | 1x | B3cft | Replaced the perished hose, but could do with a longer one. |
| 13kg Propane tank | 2x | B3cft & Hackspace (hired) | |
| 80L Stainless mash tun | 1x | B3cft | |
| Converted keg kettle | 1x | B3cft | |
| 29L Brupak Electric Boiler | 1x | Det | Good for HLT. Element needs regular cleaning to prevent gunking up the thermostat |
| 60L fermenting vessels | 3x | Hackspace | |
| 25L fermenting vessels | 4x | Det & Ross | All complete with bungs & airlocks |
| 19L Cornies | 8x | B3cft | Some require servicing. (perished o-rings, dodgy quick release valves, etc.) |
| Cornie taps & connectors | 3x pairs (?) | B3cft | Gas & Liquid pair (Gray = gas, Black = liquid) |
| Copper immersion chiller | 1x | B3cft | |
| Hose and fittings | 25m | Hackspace | (Bathroom tap adapter and hose connector) |
| Refractometer | 1x | B3cft | |
| Brew belt | 1x | Ross | |
| Thermometer & Hydrometer | 1x | Ross | |
| brewbot | 1x | Det | 2x temp probes & thermowells for the FVs |
| Silicon hoses & Quick Connects | Hackspace pledged |
Brewing equipment available but not at the Hackspace:
| Item | Qty if >1 | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mash tun (25L) | 2 | Ross & Det |
Beers
Consumables
See this sub-page for a current stock list.
Gas bottle refills can be obtained from: http://www.londongases.co.uk/lgcalor.php They'll deliver and take away the empty for £32.50.
We currently have 2x 13kg propane tanks, both with standard 27mm screw-in regulator. Please make sure there is always one full. If one runs out and you start the new one, send an email to the LHS Brewing group to let us know, and perhaps start a pledge for a refill.
Gas status:
- 13kg - Full
- 13kg - 4.5kg (35%) remaining
The tare (empty) weight of a 13kg propane cylinder is 11kg.
Water
Water analysis by Murphy's Homebrew from a sample taken on 22/03/2014, and from the Thames Water Quality Report 2012:
| pH | CaCO3 | Calcium(Ca) | Magnesium(Mg) | Sulphate(SO4) | Nitrate(NO3) | Sodium(Na) | Chloride(Cl) | Fluoride(F) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.14 | 211mg/l | 89mg/l | 5mg/l | 48.27mg/l | 25.2mg/l | 39.9mg/l | 43.5mg/l | 0.18mg/l |
Projects
In Progress
| Project | Description | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realtime Beer Stats | Build a Kegbot system | Det | The Kegbot board has arrived, need to wire up our existing flowmeters. |
Up For Grabs
| Project | Description | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparge Arm | Build a better fly sparge arm. Doesn't have to be a rotating one | Up for grabs | Worth doing? We do already have a little fly sparge arm that can be hacked. |
| Spent Grain | Find something to do with the spent grain | Up for grabs | |
| Chiller | Build a cooling chamber or something | Up for grabs | http://forum.brewpi.com/discussion/116/diy-fermentation-chamber-from-used-fridge |
Completed
| Project | Description | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| BrewPi | Temperature controller/grapher/etc. | Det | brewbot complete. Still yet to hook up the solid state relays to anything. |
| Hose Tap | Install an outdoor hose tap. eg. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XxJJKof2OQ & http://goo.gl/co3tWc | Up for grabs | Done, thanks Paddy & tgreer |
Dead
| Project | Description | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Realtime Beer Stats | Hack the Wii Balance Board to weigh the cornies in the kegerator | Det | One of the 4 sensors is a bit derpy, meaning depending on where the keg is placed on the platform, a different reading is produced. Haven't thought of a work around as yet. |
Pledges
From time to time we need to buy new things, be it consumables like propane, or new kit like a new boil kettle.
Current Pledges
Completed Pledges
Logo
Some suggested logos for the group
|
|
|
|
|
