Updates

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:00:00 +1000

Man, quite a few massive things have happened since my last post

Anna and I are pregnant and we are currently at almost 33 weeks. Things are ticking along here, and only 60 days left is a bit daunting....  So if you do the calculations we fell pregnant on the wedding night or just after. I promise!!!!

Yesterday I made the final payment on Trumpy, my Triumph Sprint ST, so it is nice to have him paid off and free. I will give him a wash and detail over the weekend as a celebration. Perhaps time for a new chain and sprockets as well. :-)

We have some big plans in place for the unit: replace the rear patio, completely pave the side of the unit, replace the rear garden (I chain-sawed down the trees from that garden and pulled out all the crud plants). So things are really on the go there. We would love to get the patio done before the baby arrives, but not sure if we will achieve that.

Phew, quite a lot on our plates....   :-)

Keg fridge upgrades

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +1000

Well, my keg fridge has two nagging problems which I have finaly solved this weekend. To properly balance a beer tap system, you need to run a certain pressure at a certain temperature to achieve proper carbonation. This then results in a required beer line length to slow down the beer coming out of your beer tap. This has resulted in 2.5 metres of line in the fridge which is a bit annoying. I purchased a beer tap which has a flow limiter so I can now shorten the beer line drastically and then slow the beer flow down with the tap.

The other problem is that with Brisbane's warm summers the beer tap and tower heats up as the cold air in the fridge does not make it up into the tower as warm air rises and cold air sinks. This results in the first beer poured being complete foam as the temp rise results in the CO2 falling out of the beer.

So I have made up a fan system which pumps air from the bottom of the fridge into the tower and this should cool the beer line, and hopefully also the tap. It even looks nice. :-) See the full post for images of the air-pump. It uses a computer fan, a project box, and some ducting to redirect cold air up into the tower.

Race/duck tape: the global solution

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +1000

We have lodged a request with body corporate to get the downpipe fixed as it has rusted completely through. Unfortunately they have not completed the job before the heavy rain today. So I have solved the problem with race tape. :-)

So what has been going on???

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +1000

Well, I have installed some cupboards in the main bedroom at our unit. It only had a shelf and full length rail, so not particularly helpful. We had some of the fabric shelves and other stop-gap measures so it will be quite nice to use them. I have to install them in the other cupboard as well so I have to go through the whole ordeal again.

My new temperature-controlled homebrew fermenter

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 +1000

Well, sumer is here and that means stress and work-arounds for us home brewers. Homebrew is meant to be brewed between 12-18 degrees (depending on the type of beer being brewed), but it can survive at higher temperatures. So we bring out the fans, wet towel wraps, ice blocks into the brew, etc, etc.

The beer does undergo a fuller fermentation at lower temperatures so I have purchased a temperature controller and wired it up. My fridge is now sitting at a constant 15 degrees Celsius. Which is better for my beer and better for me. The best thing about this approach is that I have not touched the fridge so I can put the temp controller into any other fridge very easily.

Here is the controller with some of the wiring done. Basically the controller is spliced into an extension cord which the fridge is then plugged into. The controller has a temperature probe which is placed in the fridge. I set the desired temparature on the controlller and it provides power to the fridge whenever the temparature goes above the 15 degrees. It then cuts the power when the desired temperature is reached.

And here is the finished product. A nice controlled 14 degrees. This batch is ready for kegging tomorrow night and I will then put another batch of homebrew in the fermenter.