43 replies to this topic

[positiveContact]

I'm considering drilling a small hole in my foundation so that I can run some tubing from my garage (where I brew) down into my basement (where I ferment). this would save me from lugging gallons of wort all the way down there.so firstly - how do I drill a hole? I'd probably like to insert something like a 1-2" diameter PVC pipe into the wall to act as a conduit for tubing and so I could easily plug it up when not in use. Is there a certain type of bit I can use that will give me a reasonably clean hole? Do I need a hammer drill type thing or can I use a normal drill for smaller diameter holes? I'm not exactly sure how thick the foundation wall is but this is a new construction 2 story home so I'm guessing the thickness is pretty standard. If it's likely that the half wall on the back of my house is the same thickness I can check that since there is a door through it.Secondly - can I use a 1/2" ID tubing or will gravity pull too hard?Thirdly - what complications have I not thought of? Is there some other way to do this that I haven't thought of? I'm thinking of buying one of those 13 gallon barrels that drez found but the idea of lugging 10 gallons of liquid down my basement stairs does not seem fun.

[SchwanzBrewer]

You want to move the wort to the fermentor in the basement through a fixed drain? Cleaning and sanitizing that may be a bit of a hassle. Also, avoiding mold build up and such could be a real problem too. My guess is that you would want a stainless pipe that you could dump boiling water/pbw down to clean and sanitize it.I would get a 1/2" stainless pipe and put a QD/ball valve on it (each end) so you just hook up your tubing and then close it when you are done.Drill the hole for the pipe, install it, then get some bathroom grout and fill back around the it. Use some pipe conduit clips to anchor it to a wall or post. Make sure you clean it well after you use it. Boiling water with PBW would be my preference. With a hot water rinse. Might make a long pipe snake brush to run through it every now and then too.

[HVB]

When I brewed in my garage I used to use a 25' section of silicone tubing. I woudl bring it through a window and right into the fermenter. I could boil the tubing to clean and sanitize. I never had an issue doing this.Are you planning to go through the concrete? That is what I get from reading the OP, have you thought about going slightly higher up and just going through the wood right about the sill plate?

[positiveContact]

You want to move the wort to the fermentor in the basement through a fixed drain? Cleaning and sanitizing that may be a bit of a hassle. Also, avoiding mold build up and such could be a real problem too.My guess is that you would want a stainless pipe that you could dump boiling water/pbw down to clean and sanitize it.I would get a 1/2" stainless pipe and put a QD/ball valve on it (each end) so you just hook up your tubing and then close it when you are done.Drill the hole for the pipe, install it, then get some bathroom grout and fill back around the it. Use some pipe conduit clips to anchor it to a wall or post.Make sure you clean it well after you use it. Boiling water with PBW would be my preference. With a hot water rinse. Might make a long pipe snake brush to run through it every now and then too.

not a fixed drain no. the PVC would just be 9" or whatever to act as a nice smooth surface to slide flexible hose through. I'd use silicone or vinyl for this. cleaning and sanitizing the tubing could be a pain though.change of thread direction...any ideas how I could use one of those sweet fermentors you've go even though I brew in my garage and ferment in my basement? if I had a dolly that would work for the part of the year where there is no snow outside since I could wheel around the house and go in through the bulkhead (only need to go down a few steps with the dolly).here's another question - how do you lift 10 gallons up when you need to rack to another vessel?

[positiveContact]

When I brewed in my garage I used to use a 25' section of silicone tubing. I woudl bring it through a window and right into the fermenter. I could boil the tubing to clean and sanitize. I never had an issue doing this.Are you planning to go through the concrete? That is what I get from reading the OP, have you thought about going slightly higher up and just going through the wood right about the sill plate?

That might be possible. I'd have to look to see if my BK is above the sill plate. wouldn't drilling through the sill plate horizontally be bad?

[SchwanzBrewer]

not a fixed drain no. the PVC would just be 9" or whatever to act as a nice smooth surface to slide flexible hose through. I'd use silicone or vinyl for this. cleaning and sanitizing the tubing could be a pain though.change of thread direction...any ideas how I could use one of those sweet fermentors you've go even though I brew in my garage and ferment in my basement? if I had a dolly that would work for the part of the year where there is no snow outside since I could wheel around the house and go in through the bulkhead (only need to go down a few steps with the dolly).here's another question - how do you lift 10 gallons up when you need to rack to another vessel?

I use my left and right guns. It's kind of a pain, but not that bad. I'm still young enough to cope.Simple solution would be to drill a small second stopper hole and put a nipple or 1/4" threaded fitting on it. On the airlock you replace it with a racking cane (through the stopper), and then you hook up CO2 to the nipple/fitting and force the beer out with low pressure CO2. That allows you to do closed transfers at the same level.Another solution would be to use a scissor lift to gain some potential.I'll probably modify my stuff to do closed transfers.

Edited by SchwanzBrewer, 05 November 2012 - 09:32 AM.

[positiveContact]

once you figure out the closed transfer let me know!

[HVB]

here's another question - how do you lift 10 gallons up when you need to rack to another vessel?

Lift?? Why lift when CO2 can do all the work for you!

[positiveContact]

Lift?? Why lift when CO2 can do all the work for you!

care to share a shot of your setup for pushing it with CO2?

[HVB]

care to share a shot of your setup for pushing it with CO2?

Yeah, I will take a picture and post latter once I am home. It is far from sophisticated.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Yeah, I will take a picture and post latter once I am home. It is far from sophisticated.

Think about it a little. you need an inlet and an exit just like a keg.CO2 IN: You drill a hole in the lid for a small stopper. Use one of these in the stopper (drill out the stopper to fit the barb snugly) if you have flare fittings on your CO2. If not you get a barb/barb adapter or valve and just fit the hose on it.BEER OUT: You already have to drill a whole in the lid for a stopper/air lock or blow off tube, so using the same size stopper, put the racking cane through the hole and replace the stopper in the lid.Done.

Edited by SchwanzBrewer, 05 November 2012 - 11:06 AM.

[HVB]

Think about it a little. you need an inlet and an exit just like a keg.CO2 IN: You drill a hole in the lid for a small stopper. Use one of these in the stopper (drill out the stopper to fit the barb snugly) if you have flare fittings on your CO2. If not you get a barb/barb adapter or valve and just fit the hose on it.BEER OUT: You already have to drill a whole in the lid for a stopper/air lock or blow off tube, so using the same size stopper, put the racking cane through the hole and replace the stopper in the lid.Done.

Pretty much now mine is but I have it all contained in a universal stopper so i did not have to make anymore holes in the lid.

[beach]

That might be possible. I'd have to look to see if my BK is above the sill plate. wouldn't drilling through the sill plate horizontally be bad?

You should be able to drill through the rim joist to gain access to your basement. Since you have new construction this shouldn't be an issue. Go down in the basement and take a look above the foundation wall. On top of the concrete wall you have a sill plate (probably a 2x6 or so) laying flat an fastened to the top of the concrete. On top of that sill plate you have the rim joist. It will be the same size and material that your floor joists are made of. The rim joist will be above grade and will be the best and easiest way to get your tubing from the outside to the basement. All you'll need is a standard drill and a wood boring bit if you have wood or vinyl siding. Brick or stone/cultured stone will require a hammer drill and a carbide masonry bit.Beach

[positiveContact]

You should be able to drill through the rim joist to gain access to your basement. Since you have new construction this shouldn't be an issue. Go down in the basement and take a look above the foundation wall. On top of the concrete wall you have a sill plate (probably a 2x6 or so) laying flat an fastened to the top of the concrete. On top of that sill plate you have the rim joist. It will be the same size and material that your floor joists are made of. The rim joist will be above grade and will be the best and easiest way to get your tubing from the outside to the basement. All you'll need is a standard drill and a wood boring bit if you have wood or vinyl siding. Brick or stone/cultured stone will require a hammer drill and a carbide masonry bit.Beach

yeah - it's a 2x? PT right on top of the foundation and then just regular KD stuff above that. (this is what I remember anyway)

[positiveContact]

Think about it a little. you need an inlet and an exit just like a keg.CO2 IN: You drill a hole in the lid for a small stopper. Use one of these in the stopper (drill out the stopper to fit the barb snugly) if you have flare fittings on your CO2. If not you get a barb/barb adapter or valve and just fit the hose on it.BEER OUT: You already have to drill a whole in the lid for a stopper/air lock or blow off tube, so using the same size stopper, put the racking cane through the hole and replace the stopper in the lid.Done.

I have QDs on my CO2 line so I can pretty easily make something that will adapt to push the CO2 in.

Pretty much now mine is but I have it all contained in a universal stopper so i did not have to make anymore holes in the lid.

I like the sound of this. I'd like to go the simplest route possible.

[Mindblock]

You should be able to drill through the rim joist to gain access to your basement. Since you have new construction this shouldn't be an issue. Go down in the basement and take a look above the foundation wall. On top of the concrete wall you have a sill plate (probably a 2x6 or so) laying flat an fastened to the top of the concrete. On top of that sill plate you have the rim joist. It will be the same size and material that your floor joists are made of. The rim joist will be above grade and will be the best and easiest way to get your tubing from the outside to the basement. All you'll need is a standard drill and a wood boring bit if you have wood or vinyl siding. Brick or stone/cultured stone will require a hammer drill and a carbide masonry bit.Beach

"Back in the day" I knew a guy who did this.....he had a hole in his sill plate with a 3" diameter piece of PVC pipe that he would stuff with insulation and seal when not draining wort through it. On brew day he would snake his ~25' of hose through it to his waiting fermenter in the basement.....he ran sanitizer through it, and he had a valve on the receiving end of the tubing so he could close the valve and keep it filled with sanitizer so he wouldn't have to worry about priming it to siphon, and he kept both ends in of the tubing buckets of sanitizer during the brew. To transfer all he did was hook one end of the tubing onto the valve he had in the BK and open it, then go downstairs and open the valve on the bottom end, discarding the sanitizer into a bucket until he had wort coming through.....then start running it into the fermenter.....You would be amazed how quickly a kettle will drain through a 1/2" I.D. hose with a 9 - 10' drop.....

[beach]

yeah - it's a 2x? PT right on top of the foundation and then just regular KD stuff above that. (this is what I remember anyway)

If you don't have a masonry veneer (brick, stone, etc) it's a piece of cake with no specialty tools needed. Through the rim joist is your pathway to the basement. Put your burner and BK on a cart/dolly and wheel it over to where the tubing goes into the basement, get some silicone or vinyl tubing and gravity feed into the basement fermenter.Beach

Edited by beach, 05 November 2012 - 11:48 AM.

[positiveContact]

If you don't have a masonry veneer (brick, stone, etc) it's a piece of cake with no specialty tools needed. Through the rim joist is your pathway to the basement. Put your burner and BK on a cart/dolly and wheel it over to where the tubing goes into the basement, get some silicone or vinyl tubing and gravity feed into the basement fermenter.BeachBeach

yeah - it's an attached garage so it's a direct shot from the garage to the basement. As far as I know it should just be rim joist and then some drywall.

[beach]

yeah - it's an attached garage so it's a direct shot from the garage to the basement. As far as I know it should just be rim joist and then some drywall.

Yep, even better. No worries Studs, easy peasy.Beach

[positiveContact]

Yep, even better. No worries Studs, easy peasy.Beach

yeah - I need to figure out how small of a PVC I can use with 1/2" ID thick walled silicone tubing.