New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association
Uncategorized Boards => My Rig => Topic started by: JohnQ on January 31, 2012, 05:21:57 PM
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That was the sound of me pulling the trigger on the all new E Q-Brewery.
Controllers: HERMS Package with 4-Wire EBC II $689.95
Controllers: (2) Temperature Controller - Digital Ranco - Wired $198.00
Hot Liquor Tank Options: Brew Kettle - Blichmann BoilerMaker (20 Gallon) $399.00
Hot Liquor Tank Options: Heat Exchanger for HLT $57.95
Hot Liquor Tank Options: Heating Element - 5500W Stainless Steel w/ Weldless kit $94.95
Hot Liquor Tank Options: Thermowell for Temperature Controllers $24.95
Hot Liquor Tank Options: Weldless Thermowell Kit $6.95
Mash Tun Options: Brew Kettle - Blichmann BoilerMaker (20 Gallon) $494.00
Mash Tun Options: Autosparge $49.99
Mash Tun Options: Thermowell for Temperature Controllers $24.95
Mash Tun Options: Weldless Thermowell Kit $6.95
Brew Kettle Options: Brew Kettle - Blichmann BoilerMaker (30 Gallon) $509.00
Brew Kettle Options: Heating Element - SS 5500W Installed w/ Weldless kit $94.95
Product Subtotal: $2,651.59
1 March Pump (809plhs) $139.95 $139.95
1 HopRocket (BE-HR) $119.95 $119.95
1 Hop Blocker (HOP) $59.95 $59.95
The HERMS Package includes the first March Pump, so the 2nd one is for the pumped sparge, instead of using gravity for half the work.
He is about to release a different controller that would replace the ranco controllers and build it all in to one, so I've asked him about swapping out the 2 controllers and EBC II for the new version.
Plan to pick up on Feb 20th.
JQ
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sonofabitch...
One day, I will have that kinda money to throw around :P :shakes:
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Seems like a pretty good deal. I'll see how yours makes out and if I'm interested.
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You gotta love overtime.
Who'd you buy it from?
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ECHO!
new 15 gal boil kettle with 3 welded couplers arrived today
march pump, plate chiller, and misc fittings ship today!
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JQ must be buying it from High Gravity:
http://www.highgravitybrew.com/Index.asp (http://www.highgravitybrew.com/Index.asp)
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JQ must be buying it from High Gravity:
http://www.highgravitybrew.com/Index.asp (http://www.highgravitybrew.com/Index.asp)
Yup, Dave seems pretty good
They have a build your own brewery link on the page that works pretty well.
The difference to jump up from a 10 gallon system to a 20 gallon is pretty small, so if jumping in that deep, what the hell. I'll cash out some OT instead of taking the time.
JQ
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20g batches... you won't know what to do with all the beer!
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This set up sounds unreal... Gotta see some pics!
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Pretty sure I will.
JQ
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20g batches... you won't know what to do with all the beer!
I can think of something :wavebeer:
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Talked to John about it last weekend. Apparently he's taking his wife's washer and dryer and moving them, and removing the shower on the main level for this operation ... and your wife is OK with this?
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Our 31st Anniversary in a couple of days.
By now SWMBO knows what to expect. I just may be needing to trade help building our garage this summer in exchange for kegs of wort!
JQ
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Its quite remarkable.
Do you have a stand to put all those kettles and pumps on?
I think I nsaw some scaffolding on sale at HH. :P
Your wife is a Saint.
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I'm experiencing brewery envy!
So is the brewery from High Gravity?
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I'm experiencing brewery envy!
So is the brewery from High Gravity?
Yes.
Blichmann is back ordered on all of the kettles, but he had 2 20s and a 30 in stock and is starting the build today.
JQ
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This is very cool! New meaning to "club brew day"... :party:
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what is your plan for venting steam?
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There's a bathroom fan there now, plus I'm planning on a hood. Maybe a rubbermade :shock: with the hydro fan, haven't decided yet. Just knowing that with a 30 gallon kettle there will be a fair bit of steam coming off that puppy, so I'll likely see what it looks like before making a final decision.
The bathroom is on an outside wall, so the venting will be easy either way. I just installed the venting in the Kitchen last week, it will be the same kind of work, a couple of hours at most.
JQ
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Clowater could make a custom fume hood for you, it wouldn't be that much.
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Clowater could make a custom fume hood for you, it wouldn't be that much.
That's a great idea, might think about that one, and then look at the fan in the other thread that's hooked up to the Rubbermaid!
JQ
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JohnQ, I'm speaking completely out of envy here, but if you had have posted this in the "Auld Sláinte Rambling House" forum, you would have broken it's only rule:
"Forum rules
Don't be an asshole."
Haha!
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So I've been playing with Beersmith to see what happens when the recipes are scaled up to batches that we could split 5 ways, shooting for 22.5 gallon batches that could be split into 5 cornies...
The first one I tried was the GDTDiePA.
Total Grain Weight...66.5 pounds
Total Hops...2 pounds
Thing is, the 20 gallon Mash Tun that Blichmann recommends can't handle the volume of water required for a batch like that, in fact to get it into a single running would require scaling it back to about 16 gallons.
Anyone know if it's common to do 2 mashes on a big beer like that, then combine for a single boil?
JQ
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Common... whatever. Not a problem.. yes.
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So I've been playing with Beersmith to see what happens when the recipes are scaled up to batches that we could split 5 ways, shooting for 22.5 gallon batches that could be split into 5 cornies...
The first one I tried was the GDTDiePA.
Total Grain Weight...66.5 pounds
Total Hops...2 pounds
Thing is, the 20 gallon Mash Tun that Blichmann recommends can't handle the volume of water required for a batch like that, in fact to get it into a single running would require scaling it back to about 16 gallons.
Anyone know if it's common to do 2 mashes on a big beer like that, then combine for a single boil?
JQ
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Nice post Dave.
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I saw that, figured it was being edited, I guess Dave was speechless :mrgreen:
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Lol was only half paying attention to what I was doing :P
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Got notice last night it has shipped!
JQ
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Winning. :wavebeer:
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what is your plan for venting steam?
Just found one of these...
http://www.sears.ca/product/ge-profile-36-designer-hood-stainless-steel/622-000013474-PVUS836MSS
Brand new for $150, I'm thinking that answers the question.
JQ
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It's 36" wide and the Kettles are about 18" each, so they'll hang out a bit, but it will be high enough up that at 600cfm it shouldn't have a problem picking up all the steam.
JQ
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And here is what I picked up for $39 each to act as the my "temporary" Brewing Stand.
Got 3 of them.
JQ
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I've decided to go with a wood stand since its something I can work with and customize as I find what works best. I'll probably start building mine this weekend.
btw, the Sears link you posted, JQ, goes to a fume hood which is out of stock and $900
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Your temporary stand looks better than my standard one... FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU......... :shakes:
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btw, the Sears link you posted, JQ, goes to a fume hood which is out of stock and $900
Yeah I know, I found one for $150 in a clearance site.
JQ
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Your temporary stand looks better than my standard one... FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU......... :shakes:
They're on sale at HD for $39, want one? I can bring one by to show you and if you're interested you can keep it and I'll just pick up another.
JQ
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Nah I'm good, thanks :)
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So you wanna keep it?
If so I'll get SWMBO to pick a replacement up at HD on the way home from the snowshoe trek today.
JQ
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Yeah realised once I got it that it would be a perfect replacement for my wife's piano stool for mashing on :P
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Given she said my keezer couldn't go in there 'cause there wasn't room and three months later put it there... akimbo
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Pianokeezer(n): A device on which tickling the ivories yields a strange tinkling sound several minutes later.
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:lol:
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Yeah, the thought did occur to me :P
Don't think the landlord would have a problem with it tbh... although putting the Piano in the sun-room isn't really an option so it'd just free up space I don't particularly need.
Spoken to the wife about moving the Piano to the living room; that way I can get my damn kitchen back :P
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No, he'll need to call my wife for help moving the piano...Arms of a GRRRRL ;)
JQ
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I hate you all.
Why did she need to write it on the bag :?
My male pride hurts.
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Ok this is something I clearly missed ;) please let me in on the joke ;D
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what is your plan for venting steam?
Just found one of these...
http://www.sears.ca/product/ge-profile-36-designer-hood-stainless-steel/622-000013474-PVUS836MSS
Brand new for $150, I'm thinking that answers the question.
JQ
Just picked up this range hood for $150, and low and behold there was another one there. I had thought the one I saw was out of it's box, but there was another whole one in the box underneath.
If anyone wants to jump on it, PM and I'll send you the co-ordinates.
JQ
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Just playing with the configuration in the Living Room.
Thought it would be fun to put the "old" system in front of the new one for a size comparison...
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NICE!
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You must be crazy excited to brew next you need a 20 Gallon conical !!!
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Remarkable, wow!
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sonofabitch
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Yeah, the 30 Gallon boil kettle is ENORMOUS, but fits great on the little stands I picked up.
The march pumps look they'll fit on the steps on either side of the stand really nicely.
In the middle of the CFC on the right....that's the hops rocket...It's also ENORMOUS, way bigger than I expected from the photos.
JQ
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:rock:
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Kiss my ass John :P
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That's pretty wild Senior! Thanks for posting some pics. Any chance you can post a pic of some of the electrical? Controllers, heating elements?
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Here's the build in a few pics....
First, the Plumbing...
Step 1 Install new line from well bypassing the water softener.
Put a shutoff valve to provide a shut down spot for the whole system, and allow changing of the filter.
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Next Step,
Add a Tee and add a shutoff, then a half inch female connector, which will allow a QD connector.
This will be the water supply connected to the HLT.
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Final step for the water line, another Tee, top half goes is a standard tap for random water supply, bottom half has a shutoff that is connected to a dishwasher supply line that goes directly to the cold water in port of the CFC...
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Drainage...
Add a Dishwasher connector to the former washing machine stack, to provide a direct connection for the CFC.
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Now for the wood butchering...
Starting with a series of stacked 2 by 4's and a joist across them.
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Continue to frame up for shelf...
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Finished the wood butchering with a sheet of half inch ply on top of the framing...
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Put the Kettles in place...
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Add 185 pounds to see how solid the shelving is...pretty damned solid...
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CFC installed beneath boil kettle on bottom left, the March pumps in the middle.
CFC will have to be moved about a bit as I see how well it works.
That's all until I get the stainless fittings on Tuesday to swap out.
JQ
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Holy cow. Sweet setup. Can't wait to see it live in action at the mash occur!!
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+1 - Awesome.
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you've been busy...
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Add one SS 36 inch Range Hood...
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Nearly done, just the hoses to build and it's brew time...
Would be nice to get the Controllers in the mail before I start, but if they aren't in the mail tomorrow, I might need to run without them.
Here is the final construction picture, complete with all the new stainless fittings...
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And here is the CFC fully plumbed...
The top tap is the cooling water feed...the bottom tap is the cooling water release...
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Here's the discharge to the drain line from the CFC cooling water.
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Last one for the night...
A shot of the Feed lines to the HLT.
Top is fresh water, bottom is recirculated cooling water from the CFC....
Using the Polysulphonate connectors that came with the system.
JQ
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I can't wait to try this... er.. I mean watch you try it... :cheers:
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what's it like to be livin the dream? :rock:
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OK, the major upgrade has begun,
Delivered the 20 Gallon MT to fakr at the meeting yesterday, the 30 Gallon will be picked up in 8 days, on my way home from the concert.
I think I've solved the "pushing the problem one kettle over" issue that RB brought up.
I plan on using the 30 gallon BK to heat the strike water from now on, using a 2nd electric cct.
Then as soon as I've done the strike, I can already have 20 gallons of Sparge water in the HLT, ready to recirculate through.
JQ
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I'm in Blichmann heaven!!! I'm now living a third of a dream Jake and it feels goooooood! :banana:
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That's a sweet piece of equipment fakr! Enjoy!
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Finally, I ran a batch with the 30 gallon Mash Tun.
And to be sure it could handle whatever I wanted to throw at it, I made a 27 Gallon Batch of Vienna LSA (headed for the barrel).
63 lbs of grain, no problem.
Heated the water with the boil kettle, cross connecting it with the HLT using both the pumps to heat up 45 gallons of water at once...that took some time, definitely will be putting both of the elements on electric at once when I move the brewery to the garage.
When ready to move strike water, I balanced the correct amount plus 1/2 gallon into the Boil Kettle, shut off pumps, reconnected boil kettle pump to MT and transferred until it lost siphon. Used a towel to soak up what was in the bottom of the kettle.
The HLT was then connected to the electric to keep it's temp stable and the MT connected to the heat exchanger.
At the end of the mash, I elevated the MT temp setting to 168 and 15 mins later the mash was there, then did a 3 step sparge that was a combo batch and fly...drained the MT completely, started the first 10 gallon sparge, and as soon as the grain was fully covered began a fly sparge until the full 10 gallons had transferred. Stopped waited for a few mins, Full drain of the MT and repeated the process for the second 10 gallon Sparge.
27 gallons is still a bit much to handle in the 30 gallon kettle, even doing a fakr and transferring more as the evap happened, I took 2 gallons to the stovetop, boiled it there and then transferred it back during the whirlpool.
Ended up with 27 gallons of 1.073 and 86% efficiency, could still be better, as the Gravity of the sweet wort left over in the MT was still 1.040.
In future, I'll stick to 25 gallon maximum I think, then go to 4.25 gallons per corny for spunding, instead of 4.5 gallons.
JQ
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86% is pretty damn good! Im jealous
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So this is what a full mash looks like in a 30 gallon Blichmann...
74.25 pounds of grain.
23.5 gallons of strike water.
22 gallon batch with an og of 1.095
JQ
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SS Sink and Counter
Just paid for it at Zellers Closeout at Brookside, will be needing some help moving it though!!!
JQ
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That is amazing!
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Sweet!
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Where the hell are you going to put that? The garage?
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you are my hero
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Your wife is a Saint.
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Your wife is a Saint.
Agreed. I'd be shot if that much stainless showed up at my house at one time.
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:banana: :banana: :banana:
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Where the hell are you going to put that? The garage?
We're measuring up, but right now it looks like we're going to move the shop area to the garage where we had planned the brewery, and we're going to fit it in to the basement and make the whole area downstairs outside the grain room into brewery.
That way our brew/ferment/serve areas will all be beside each other.
And yes, my wife IS a saint!
JQ
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Let us know if you need any help.
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Let us know if you need any help.
Will do, and I'm sure I will!
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First, with the help of Colin and Brew...we get it home...
Then Deb and I build a ski/frame to slide it around to the back door and get it inside...
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I cut out the sink divider so it's now got one 34" sink and one 17"
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Trim the left side and bend it up to make a finished left edge and get it in place...
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Now to fit the fan in place, plumb hot cold and unconditioned well water in, connect the drain pump and the new heat exchager...wire in the 220V...
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This is quite the operation!
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Looking awesome JQ. This is going to be sweet when its ready...
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That looks killer Senior!
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Very nice.
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Very nice indeed! So.... when you starting your brew company?
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I was in the Prospect Street NBLC and a certain member asked me to show another employee there pics of my system, and when going to the site, it became obvious that I never posted these final pics to the thread that started it all, so here they are, so now if I ever need to I can show off!
JQ
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I see brewhemoth are proudly displaying your pictures as well John. Its a beauty setup!
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Making the last Bang sound like a Pop!
JQ
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Nice jq need to check this out in action sometime!
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They just started building 4 of them, in Italy...Will be July before they're here, along with a mixing tank from the same company.
JQ
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Wow! Very nice!
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And they have landed in Niagara Falls, will be here within a couple of weeks...
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you should show a carboy and a brewhemouth beside that for scale! Looks beautiful!
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It looks like it got a few dents during shipping... I don't mind, I'll take it off your hands :cheers:
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Oh no! Now I got to change my pants! :pal:
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you should show a carboy and a brewhemouth beside that for scale! Looks beautiful!
Great idea, as soon as they get here I'll do that.
JQ
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And...
Got the call from ANBL today, Sunset Heights Meadery now has a Manufacturers Agency Store License, We may now sell to bars, agency stores and the public in NB.
Waiting for the listing for Queen's Nectar to be approved with a "Cottage Listing" and we're off and running.
JQ
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Great news JQ cant wait to see this in the great wild...
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JQ
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Very nice!
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Sweet
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That's some sexy equipment! :banana:
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Interview on CBC in 5 minutes from now.
JQ
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Great interview, John!
I caught it on the way home, perfect timing :cheers:
The interviewer might slur a little on the air tonight, haha
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Thanks Blisster,
The editing did me a bunch of credit...
JQ
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Here is the interview:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/sunset-heights-meadery-1.2827382 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/sunset-heights-meadery-1.2827382)
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Thanks @blisster (http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1931) I was looking for the link.
@JohnQ (http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=64), good job. You really have a face for radio. ;)
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Listening to it now...well done JQ!
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Yea I just got around to listening to it today. Good job! :cheers: