Plans were submitted! They will be looked at for the next 20 working days, essentially a month. Mark, our architect, said it was very cheap relative to other cities so that’s good.
Craig and I detached the steel frames the fermenters came with. The steel frames were attached to protect the fermenters during shipping. The scissor lift and fork lift came in handy. The steel frames were heavy. The fermenters don’t look that big from the ground, but it’s looks quite a way up when you are sitting on top of one (I’m not good with heights hahaha). We used the forklift to support the frames while we detached the bolts. We used the scissor lift to get access to the top of the fermenter and undo the bolts. The steel frames are very cumbersome in that they take up a lot of space and will need to be broken down (welded together). We tried angle grinders, but it just wasn’t getting the job done fast enough. Craig said he will pick up some more blades for his sawzall. Should make quick work of them.
We had a cooler installer stopped by today to take a look at the place and what we have received of the cooler. He says what we have received of our cooler looks in good condition which is great news. We should get the rest of the cooler shipment in on Saturday afternoon.
Here is what the front of the building will look like with our logo on the silo.
We have a situation with the boiler. We want to put it in the middle of the brewery as we have seen in a few other breweries. Placing it right next to the brew house would reduce the cost of process piping substantially. Both the boiler manufacturers that we contacted said it was up to the municipality if they would allow it, as some will require a dedicated boiler room. They didn’t know about Tracy or San Joaquin County. Some places allow it, some
don’t. Some don’t allow it, and overlook it by accident. Our architect and the boiler manufacturers suggested that we submit the plans with the boiler where we want it, and if it doesn’t fly, have a couple of contingencies ready, which we do. The contingencies will be more expensive of course, though they will work if we have to go that direction.
Excavation of the dirt has commenced, but not going as easily as hoped. The dirt is so hard underneath the slab that it behaves like concrete. Looks like they used a ton of lime to treat the dirt. Tim the excavator has seen nothing like it in 30 years of excavation. He literally has to jack hammer to break it up into “boulders”. It will result in taking a lot more dirt runs than planned due to the airspace between the “boulders” on the dump truck.
My foot still hurts like hell but getting slightly better I think. Hard to tell it’s still excruciating. It’s right on the ball of my foot.