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Recently I volunteered to provide beer for my brothers 30th birthday party. I decided to make plenty of different beers so hopefully everyone could find something they like. I made Dusseldorfer Alt, Chocolate Hazelnut Porter, Honey Pale Ale, Nut Brown, American Amber, American Wheat, Blueberry Wheat, and Watermelon Wheat. I contemplated transporting my kegerator but that would be a ton of work and still wouldn't have enough taps for all the beers. Instead I build a couple of draft boxes. I picked up some used cold plates for cheap from Ebay. I collected all the other parts and assembled the boxes using a couple of coolers. One box has a 6 pass cold plate and 6 taps. The other box has a 7 pass cold plate but only 3 taps because I ran out of taps and didn't need them for the party.

Check back soon for more updates. Some major changes are in the works for my brew kettle, conical, and system disconnects.

History:

Located in Gardner, MA, TopHat Brewery started out as a couple of turkey fryers on the back porch. I started out doing extract batches of beer. After brewing a few batches, reading countless threads on Beer Forums, and reading a few books I decided to give All Grain a try. I purchased a cooler from Wal-Mart for my mash tun. I decided to try batch sparging because setup was cheap and easy. After one or two batches I realized my 7 gallon turkey fryer pot was not ideal. It was small and flimsy, plus the weldless valve I installed kept leaking. I decided to get a sabco universal kettle. I used the old turkey fryer pot as my HLT.

By now I was collecting too much brewing paraphernalia. It was a real pain in the ass packing and unpacking everything every time I wanted to make beer. There just wasn't enough room on the back porch. Plus, it got real hot in there with 2 burners going full blast. I decided something needed to be done. My basement, although empty, was a dump. Also, there was the problem of running a propane burner inside that held me off for a while. Finally I found my answer. Electric kettles. I cleaned up the basement, put up some walls, a ceiling, and had myself a brewery. The name came from an image of me from my wedding, wearing a tophat, that was etched into my tap handles that I received as a christmas present.

Equipment:

	Right now I'm brewing with two sabco kettles, one is my brew kettle, the other is my HLT. Each has a 4500watt 240v electric heater element. The kettle uses a low density element to reduce the risk of scorching the wort. I use a pulse width modulation circuit with a SSR to control the kettle and a pid/ssr combo to set the temperature in the HLT. I found a used vent hood on craigslist from an old pizza place that was closing down. Without this there would be a problem with all the steam created during the boil. It also makes a very nice stand for the kettles. I am still using the cooler as my mash tun because it works great and I haven't had any problems with it. I use a march pump to transfer between the three and to pump the wort thru my cfc.
	I ferment in a 14.5Gal Fermenator conical fermenter. I keep the fermenter in an upright freezer which is temp controlled allowing me to ferment at any temperature and to lager. I also use some glass carboys for those times when I want to brew multiple batches at once and for 5 gallon batches of ale. I started culturing my own yeast because paying $7 for a vial of yeast seemed too expensive. Plus, it's fun. I always make a big starter, after stepping up a few times, and use a homemade stirplate to maximize yeast cell count. I also oxygenate the wort before I begin.
	I was really lucky and found a nice stainless 3 section sink on craigslist, again from a closed restaurant. This makes cleanup and sanitization very easy.
	I wanted to get some sort of flow booth to keep my yeast culturing activities as clean as possible. All the ones I could find were way too big. I decided to build my own. I bought a ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air) filter. You can see in the picture it is the 2'x2' metal box on the top of my booth. I then got some lexan that was leftover from a jobsite. I cut and assembled all the pieces so they fit around the outside of the filter. I then sealed all the seams with silicone. The filter has about 6" of empty space in the top. This is where I installed a 20" box fan. I sealed all around the fan so the air is forced thru the filter. With this setup there is always a supply of positive pressure super clean air inside the booth. I tested this out with a plate of malt agar left exposed. After two weeks there was nothing growing on the plate. Success!
	My grain mill is a JSP Maltmill run by a bodine motor. It has no problem grinding anything I put thru it.

Here are some pictures of my remodeled kitchen. That's right, my kitchen now has an integrated 6 tap kegerator made from a chest freezer. As always, click on the images to see the bigger picture!

Here's a couple images of a real nice brewing poster that has a bunch of formulas and conversions for brewing. Right click on the size you want and click "save target as".

Click here to sign or read my GuestBook.

Well, that's about it for now, if you have any questions feel free to email me. Thanks for looking!