Question & Answer

Questions about the brewery that have been asked and that might be of general interest are answered here. The list will be expanded with new questions.

Special questions that are not of general interest are answered individually. General questions about brewing and beer are not answered here.

Question: Is the fan on the agitator absolutely necessary?
Answer: Almost all agitators for home brewers that can be purchased do not have cooling of the motor. In this respect, the fan is not absolutely necessary, but it keeps the motor, which gets VERY(!) warm without the fan, at tolerable temperatures and therefore extends my opinion the life of the motor.

Question: What motor was used for the agitator?
Answer: It is an Audi A3 windshield wiper motor

Question: Is the “Turbo” speed necessary or is the “normal” speed not enough?
Answer: I use the turbo function regularly from the beginning of the mashing. If the temperature of the mash is higher, I switch off the turbo mode.

Question: Is the motor “reversed” and if so, does it mean that there are no problems with “electrolysis”?
Answer: The motor is reversed and runs clockwise to prevent the shaft from loosening when stirring. There are no problems with “electrolysis” as long as you use a galvanically isolated switching power supply for the 12V supply of the motor. A PC power supply should not be used.

Question: Were external services used for the construction of the brewery, or was everything built by yourself?
Answer: Everything was built using the tools or machines mentioned under the menu item “Construction“. The only exception was the 90 degree bending of the 3mm stainless steel sheet for the control panel. This was done “externally” with a bending bench, since you don’t even bend 3mm stainless steel sheet easily.

Question: How long did it take to build the brewery?
Answer: The question is difficult to answer because the brewery was not built “in one piece”, but was changed or improved over and over again due to new ideas. The vapor hood, for example, was not included in the first versions and was only tackled when it got too cold to brew outdoors in winter 🙂