Hello, I am just about finished with building an R2D2 kegerator for my gallery. It has custom ic boards that measures the fullness and temperator of the beer and makes appropriate R2 sounds accordingly. My excitement in this kind of project is designing and building the kegerator. i don't have any experience in brewing, and am looking for another or even a group that would like to brew beer and serve it once a month at the local artwalk. The R2 is designed to work with standard 2.5 to 3 gallon home brew kegs. The C02 tank is mounted on R2's arm, and can go through about 3 kegs before running out of air. Here's a pict of the current state of R2, it's getting stained in about a week.
r2_tap.jpg (81.18 KiB) Viewed 2178 times
Would anybody like to brew their beer and serve it as artwork at the artwalk? I'd love for this to be a regular even for home brewers too, maybe even to educate people on brewing, the quality you can get by making your own.
Let me know if you are interested. The next event is the first saturday of May. I'd love to have a couple kegs at the ready, and invite people interested in beer and art. (I'll have coffee also for drivers and non drinkers;) The event/gallery is in Santa Ana, CA.
Santa Ana isn't too far from you, just down the 22;) If this becomes more popular, I might bring R2 to other beer related events, but for now, it's just the monthly artwalk;)
That is a tough weekend for us, it's the same day as the Southern California Homebrew Festival up in Ojai where the club has a booth.
I think that's a really cool idea and I love what they've done with that whole area in downtown Santa Ana. I used to work at 5th and Main and the area was a little different when I was there. I might be interested in the future, but all the beer I'm brewing right now is headed up to the festival.
Yup, certain weekends will always be tough for somebody. This is why having so many people would be fun. Would be nice to have a different brew or different brewmeister each month. Anyway, I'm looking, if anybody would like to be involved, let me know. I'd prefer this to be home brew, rather than me filling up my home brew keg with commercially bought beer (how lame is that!)
FYI - just something to point out.... Barry had said in the first post that R2 will fit a 2.5 to 3 gallon homebrew keg. Don't know how many of you have those.
Barry - most homebrew kegs are 5 gallons and the 2.5/3 gallon ones are pretty rare. What is the inside dimensions that you can fit? A 5 gallon keg is about 24" tall.
It's will only fit the 2.5/3 gallon keg size. I have empty kegs of those size if need be. 5 gallon is taller than the height inside the barrel. I'll need to find somebody shortly. May 4th is coming up. Have I mentioned that is also Star Wars Day?
RebelUnit,
Your kegerator is very cool and I like the idea of introducing the art of Homebrewing to new people.
However, there are some concerns that should be addressed before pouring free beer at a public gathering. Alcohol laws are strict and confusing.
Will the drinking be confined to inside your building. Will someone be checking I.D. etc...
Brewing is at least a 4 week process and the average cost of ingredients for a 10 gallon batch is around $40 to $50. Will the brewer be reimbursed for them?
If you want to start making your own homebrew, there are classes available at local homebrew supply shops or you can learn on-line. You might enjoy building your own homebrewing systems too. (and sell them).
The drinking will be confined to my gallery, and only to those that are 21. As for brewing, I don't want to get involved in it. My interest is in making things and art, not brewing. I'm willing to pay for 1/2 the brewing cost each time if needed. I'm offering a venue, cool machine to dispense and good atmosphere for beer and art enthusiasts.
Thanks, interesting idea of building my own brewing system, but I've got plenty of crazy projects already on the books. I've gotta stick to those for the time being.
Rebel Unit
What time do you open your shop during the week? I’d like to come by and see it.
There is a chance that someone might be willing to bring their system to your shop and do a brew on site during the monthly Artwalk .
Don
The best time to come is on the weekend, as often times I have to work in LA. Tomorrow I'll be working in the gallery, pretty much all day. This weekend, from 1 PM to probably 8 pm both Sat and Sun. Here's the address:
727 North Poinsettia St
Santa Ana, CA 92701
It's in the courtyard of the north complex
I'll give you a quick tour of the projects and of course show you R2.
