solar power brewing???

[soilboy]

I was planning to try exactly this later this year. I am thinking of trying to brew a low carb (CO2 that is!) beer using a combination of solar and wind.

I'm gonna build a solar water heater for my shed roof which although won't be hot enough to mash/boil should save a lot of energy getting to that point.

I'm also going to experiment with a wind turbine. If I can build a turbine that can produce 750W or more and assuming I can adequately store the produced electricity in batteries then in around 5 hours I might be able to power my 2.5kW eletric kettle for the couple of hours needed.

There are a lot of ifs and buts but it's just an idea at the moment.

All I need to do then is wait for a sunny AND windy day! I might get thirsty waiting!!!

I'll let you guys know how it goes in 6 months (currently busy with my job growing plants which will keep me busy 24/7 until July).

p.s. I'm currently looking to source my electricity from a renewable supplier instead so it might all be irrelevant but it's always fun to build gadgets!

[Brant]

heres a guy that did one for about $160 for a 40 gal system. it may not translate directly to everyones needs but its a great starting point:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/1979-09-01/A-Homemade-Solar-Water-Heater.aspx

[Thirsty Boy]

The Mountain Goat Brewery in Melbourne Australia uses a bloody big solar hot water unit to pre-heat all its mash water.

They save a crapload of energy AND they got a decent sized subsidy from the government to install the thing.

[UhrigBrauer]

That's what I'm talkin about Thirsty. Brewing beer lends itself to many efficient ways. Hell, it's suggested that the first beer was probably made when a sack of grain sat out in the sun too long and fermented into beer!!

Pretty cool stuff.

JU

[Mylo]

That's what I'm talkin about Thirsty. Brewing beer lends itself to many efficient ways. Hell, it's suggested that the first beer was probably made when a sack of grain sat out in the sun too long and fermented into beer!!

Pretty cool stuff.

JU

I'd like to meet that first guy who looked over at the puddle of liquid underneath the bag of wet, spoiled grain and said... "Yep, I'm going to drink that."


Mylo

[10X10pickup]

How about use'n and bike to gen elec for the boil? You'd have to have batteries to store the juice just like with a elector-solar set up. If you've ever seen a show called "Living with ED" you likely know he use a bike to run his toaster. You could get your exersice that way to, besides work up a thurst. One can do alot with the proper use of gears, I once knew a guy who used an old bike some used truck tires and some extar gears to crush cans, down to that paper thin that you get when they are run over by a car, he could do about 100 cans/5 mins.. Just a thought.

[Bugeater]

That's what I'm talkin about Thirsty. Brewing beer lends itself to many efficient ways. Hell, it's suggested that the first beer was probably made when a sack of grain sat out in the sun too long and fermented into beer!!

Actually is was more like an underbaked loaf of bread that sat for several days while the live yeast left in the middle continued to chomp away at the sugars in the raw dough. You can more easily imagine someone eating that than drinking the puddle under the grain sack. Early Sumerian beers were exactly that thick breadlike goo rather than a thin drinkable liquid.

Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company

[Tundra45]

Well, right here in the craft brewing capital of Portland, OR, Lucky Labrador Brewing just installed sixteen 4'x10' solar panels at their Hawthorne brewery location. They use them to preheat their hot water. Even with our cool winter/spring weather, they managed to get 145°F out of them. They plan to install another set at their other location soon too.

Here are some pics:
http://www.ra2energy.com/Photo_Gallery/ ... ckyLab.htm

Cheers,
Funk-out