Friday, February 24, 2012

Standing Up the Tanks!!

Every brewery, regardless of location, shares one common event: the raising of the tanks. For those with ample ceiling height, raising the tanks is a relatively simple process. The braces on the top of the each tank are tied to a forklift or crane and the tank is lifted and set into position. For those with less than ideal ceiling height, the process is not as straightforward. Turtle Anarchy happens to fall into the latter category.

Standing up our tanks took two highly skilled forklift operators from The Bailey Company two days to complete. It was a very tedious process but necessary considering that we do actually want to produce beer some day.

The first tank to be raised was our brite beer tank. It was a good tank to start with since it is one of the shorter tanks. Since there wasn't enough ceiling height for a crane, each tank was lifted as high as it could be with the forklift and then pushed over onto its feet. It was kinda scary.




The next tanks that we stood up were our four fermenters. These tanks are 13.5' tall. As you can see in the photos, there wasn't much room above the tanks. The mast of the forklift actually had to be maneuvered around the support beams, electrical conduit, and sprinkler pipes all while lifting the tank!



In the end all of the tanks were successfully raised without any problems. The brewhouse and hot and cold water tanks will be moved to their final locations after some framing is completed. (I'll have info and photos of the framing soon!) I would like to thank the forklift operators for their time and patience with this delicate process. These tanks are more fragile than they look. I would also like to let them know that they are now my go-to guys for all my brewery tank logistical needs. Thanks guys!!


More photos on Facebook

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Construction Begins

So, construction began at our building a little over a week ago and I finally have time to show you all the progress we have made.

The first step was to remove a large section of concrete in the middle of the building where all the tanks will eventually stand.


The next two photos show the jackhammer at work. They filled up 3 or 4 dump trucks with concrete waste and it took them about a day and a half to do it. After they removed the concrete, they sloped the the earth in the resulting hole toward the future trench drain.



The next couple photos show the trench drain before and after it was installed.



After all of the drains were installed, the vapor barrier and mesh was laid and we were ready for new concrete.


Pouring concrete took all day but in the end the concrete came out perfect. The floor in a brewery is just as important as the rest of the equipment. It must be strong enough to hold the fluctuating weight of the tanks (my tanks will weigh 1,500 lbs. when empty and 10,000 lbs. when full) and maintain its integrity under constant water and chemical abuse.




This is probably the best photo of the slope in the floor. The slope will insure that any water that falls within the boundaries of the new concrete will make its way to the trench drain. Water gets sprayed everywhere when brewing and the sloped concrete will be a big help when trying to control where all that water goes.

These last photos were taken the day after the concrete was poured. It was hard enough to walk on and I can't wait to get the tanks stood up in a couple weeks!


Watch out for more construction photos on this blog. And I will be posting more photos on Facebook shortly.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Much Awaited Tank Deliveries!

Hello everyone,

As promised, here are some photos of our brewery tanks being delivered. The fermenters and hot and cold liquor tanks were delivered first. The first photo shows the top of one of our fermenters as it is about to be pulled out of the truck. They fit three of them in one truck!!


Here is one of the fermenters as it is about to be pushed into the brewery (well, what will become the brewery).

Here you can see all six tanks that were delivered during the first day. Looking from left to right, there are the four fermenters, the hot liquor tank, and the cold liquor tank. There were some tense moments as the tanks were lowered out of the trucks and onto the ground, but they all made it safely into the building!


The next two photos are of the second tank delivery. We received the mash tun, the brew kettle, the platform, and a mystery box. Now we just have to get all this set up and start making some beer!!

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Beginning

Hi everyone,

My name is Mark Kamp. I am the President of a new microbrewery opening in Franklin, TN called Turtle Anarchy Brewing Company. We leased a space at 216 Noah Drive where we will be producing craft brewed ales on a 15 bbl system. We are a 100% family owned business and we are excited to begin brewing beer for the very deserving people of Tennessee. Construction began at our building a few days ago so I'll be posting photos of the progress over the next few days. In the mean time, feel free to drive by our building and take a look through the windows. There isn't a sign up yet but we are directly across the street from the fire station.

On a side note, we are still fine tuning this blog so don't be surprised if it looks different every time you stop by. Stay tuned for photos and info.

Cheers,

Mark