Barrel Washing Rack

***This is a previously unpublished draft that I wrote up back in 2018. I was doing some work to support a new craft brewery in Utah, specifically on their barrel program. This rack was built to make it easier to rinse barrels after emptying.

Today's post isn't exactly for homebrewing, or at least not for most homebrewers (there's probably one person out there with a forklift, doing 60 gallon Solera projects), but I thought homebrewers might find it interesting. This is an equipment build I'm doing for my gig managing the sour beer program, and to an extent, the barrel-aged clean beers at a local brewery. This is a cleaning rack to assist with rinsing barrels between fills.

The way it works is after the barrels are emptied, a standard double barrel stacking rack is lowered onto the cleaning rack. As the stacking rack is lowered, the casters engage the barrels and the stacking rack drops out of the way and rests on the cleaning rack. With the barrels suspended on the casters, you can easily rotate the bungholes to the 6 o'clock position for dumping sediment and rinsing the barrels. Long story short, it makes the barrel cleaning process much quicker and easier.

We have two types of barrel racks. The overall dimensions are basically the same but the construction varies slightly in that some have two crossbars, but most have four. This isn't a huge issue, it just means some of the stacking racks rest lower on the cleaning rack than others. Stacking rack dimensions tend to be 44.5" wide x 30.75" deep x 14.125" tall.

To build the cleaning rack, I used 1.5 x 2.5 - 14 gauge rectangular steel tubing. Materials and cuts are as follows:

• (4) Outer posts at x" long (I forgot to measure these and I no longer have access to the rack)
• (2) Long horizontal beams at 48" long
• (4) Inner posts at 12" long
• (2) Short horizontal beams at 19" long
• (8) Casters

The pieces were assembled as shown in the pictures below. There's enough clearance to slide a bucket under the barrels during rinsing. This is important because while clean barrels will most likely be rinsed in the brewery, sour barrels will likely be rinsed outside to minimize contamination risk in the brewery. We'll need to be able to capture the wastewater and properly dispose of it, so clearance for a bucket is key.

The sizing noted above will give you a couple inches of clearance side to side and front to back. That said, it does require some precision to use, so you need some decent forklift skills to load barrels onto the rack. I also added some rubber pads where the stacking rack rests on the horizontal beams. Hopefully these will avoid damaging the paint and keep it rust-free longer.  I added the same rubber on the bottom of the legs so they don't damage the floors in the brewery.

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Kamado Controller

***This is a previously unpublished draft that I wrote up back in 2018. I gave the Kamado away when I moved, but kept the controller to use on a future Kamado.

In addition to homebrewing, and sometimes related to homebrewing, I really enjoy BBQ and smoked foods. Smoked beers, like-minded cheese, brisket, I dig all of it.

I picked up a Vision Grills Kamado a while back (clearance at Sam's Club) and I love it. Kamados are versatile because you can cook low and slow over indirect heat, or you can open the vents and crank up the heat for some high temp grilling. There's quite a bit of mass, so temps tend to stay fairly constant. That said, The temperature can fluctuate over extended cooks. To remedy this, I decided to build a digital temp controller that controls a small 12 volt fan to regulate the airflow into the firebox. This it's basically the same concept that a lot of people (including myself) use for fermentation temp control. Instead of controlling a refrigerator, I'm controlling a small fan. Essentially what happens is if the temp drops below the setpoint, the fan turns on, stoking the fire and increasing the temp. It is a PID controller, so it will cycle the fan on and off as it approaches the setpoint. This helps keep you from overshooting your target temperature. With this approach, I should be able to maintain constant temps until the fuel runs out. PIC

Here are the components I used for my build:

• (1) Ceramic adapter from BBQ Guru
• (1) Pit Viper Fan from BBQ Guru
• (1) Inkbird ITC-106VL PID Controller
• (1) 12VDC Power Adapter
• (1) Project box
• (1) Panel-mount K-type socket set
• (2) 12VDC female power connectors
• Misc supplies and wire

This particular model of Inkbird controller runs on 12VDC and the output rating is also 12VDC, so the wiring couldn't be more simple. 

The fan from BBQ Guru is nice because it incorporates a very functional housing that  provides protection from the heat and incorporates a damper for fine tuning the airflow. It took a little bit of adjusting to get the fan damper and upper lid damper set correctly on the first use, but once dialed in, it worked awesome.

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Potato Pavé

New food recipe. I'd seen some IG Reels where someone said Potato Pavé was one of their family's favorite comfort foods. It sounded and looked pretty amazing...I mean, who doesn't love potatoes? 

Most recipes call for using heavy cream but I didn't have any and didn't feel like running to the grocery store, so I used half and half. Some recipes also incorporated in buttermilk in place of some of the cream, so there's room to experiment. Some recipes called for different herbs, but I have a pot of rosemary in the back yard, so that's why I went with it.

A couple other notes, a lot of the recipes also tell you to trim your potatoes into rectangular shapes. This helps ensure your slices are more uniform which makes things easier when you get to the layering step. I trimmed my first few but towards the end I was mostly just peeling them. It actually worked out well as I needed some different widths and lengths to fill in my loaf pan.  

One last note, this recipe isn't hard but it takes some time to make. Plan ahead, or like in my case, make it day 1 and serve it day 2.

Here's the recipe as I made it today.

Ingredients

1.25 to 1.5c Half and half, or heavy cream, or a blend of the two. Optionality, substitute some buttermilk for part of the cream. 

2T Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

2t Garlic, minced

1t Kosher salt, heaping 

3-4 lbs Russet potatoes (preferably large with similar size and shape)

1/4c Butter, melted

Black pepper

Olive oil

Directions

1. Combine cream, rosemary, garlic, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Prepare potatoes by washing, peeling, and trimming to uniform lengths. 
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Using a mandolin slicer, slice over the bowl containing the cream mixture. Remember to occasionally stir them to make sure each side is coated with the cream mixture.
5. Once all potatoes are sliced, line a loaf pan with parchment paper and begin layering the thin potato slices. Do your best to keep the layers as uniform as possible.
6. Every 3-4 layers, drizzle about 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the layer, then add a pinch of salt and black pepper. 
7. Repeat step 6 until you've used all potatoes.
8. Fold parchment paper to cover the last layer, or trim it to be level with the top of the loaf pan. 
9. Cover the loaf pan tightly with aluminum foil, then bake at 350F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. 
10. After 1:20, remove from oven and use a skewer, fork, or knife to check to make sure the potatoes are fully cooked in the middle of the pan. If they're not, put them back in the oven for 10 minutes then check again. 
11. Once fully cooked, you're going to press the loaf and allow it to cool to room temp. The easiest way is to use a second loaf pan filled with weights (e.g. cans of vegetable) to gradually press down on the layers as it cools.  Remember to place a later of parchment between the potatoes and the second loaf pan. I also lined the second loaf pan with a kitchen towel to insulate the canned vegetables from the potatoes. Allow it to cool to room temp (a small fan blowing on the pan will help).
12. Transfer the whole setup (second loaf pan plus weights) to the fridge and chill for several hours or overnight. 
13. After chilled, remove the potato loaf from the pan using a spatula to loosen it along the edges.  
14. Discard the parchment and slice the loaf into 1" thick slices.  You can also slice these in half for smaller serving sizes. This will yield blocks about 1" wide x 1.5" long x 2" deep (or however deep you layered them).
15. Heat a pan over medium-high heat with a thin layer of olive oil. 
16. Place the potato blocks in pan (it should immediately sizzle) and cook bottoms until golden brown, 1-2 minutes. 
17. Carefully turn and cook all sides until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side.
18. Serve and enjoy.

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