Basement Brewery

[evan.sherlock]

So when a guy can work on his brewery what else can he do? Think about shit his brewery needs. Thus putting to work a graphic design degree and some spinning wheels on a school night. I figure at some point I am going to need a sign for this brewery and when else to start but right after I put my son to bed.

I am adding my old paper bomber label which would probably be my first logo of sorts for my brews. I used to use this when I brought beers into work, or to family or friends to give them. I could easily add the details handwritten in so they would remember. I feel I grew out of this some time back but there are elements of it that I did want to keep.

Over time I was exposed to the blog Shut Up about Barclay-Perkins and some of the books the author Ron Pattinson has written. Not only was the topic of mostly English beers but also there were so many graphics in the posts with old beer coasters, labels, and signs. I could not get enough, I absolutely love the art left over from this bygone era of hand designed and hand painted materials. These beer labels have such a punk rock and raw feel to them to me that really strike a note with me and my designer’s eye.

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So, not that I am here to emulate any style, but I might. I took a new stab at designing a brewery logo that I may or may not use. Who knows, it may just become a label. If anything this just feels good make new things for myself and my hobby. I just know if I am going to have this basement brewery I will need a good bar sign, maybe wood burned, maybe get someone to CNC it out for me.

Cheers again!

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• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by evan.sherlock.

[colterw]

Your URLs are not working

Cheers

Serving: Brooks Irish Red 4.8% ABV
Serving: Robert's IPA
Fermenting: We Are The Dreamer of Dreams (NEIPA)

[evan.sherlock]

Yeah, I had to figure out how to get google photos to be nice to me, look at me now! All shiny like Broadway.

[colterw]

You should look at this guys cans. This is pretty mush the modern label. I like where your going with yours.

https://www.reddit.com/r/HBL/comments/bghx7m/fake_beer_can_designs_i_make_in_my_downtime/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app

Cheers

Serving: Brooks Irish Red 4.8% ABV
Serving: Robert's IPA
Fermenting: We Are The Dreamer of Dreams (NEIPA)

[Spauld]

Well, you know I love making labels and logos for my brews, so I can certainly relate Evan. I concur with Colter; there does seem to be different approaches to this, ie modern labels vs traditional (from the bygone era, as you say). Guess I mostly like those old classic ones best, like those you posted above. A hobby within a hobby I think!

[evan.sherlock]

So I finished my electrical and got some new dimmer lights wired in. I have my epoxy paint ready to go until I realized the paint chips I had on hand looked like camo colors, I am not that guy, so I had to change that up so I ordered some different chips that would match the new brewery a bit better. I had to wait 28 days after finishing the concrete around the drain to do epoxy, so I did all the electrical and ceiling in that time. So this last week I sanded down all of the new concrete into the existing concrete so that it is smooth and started masking all of the walls, registers, and other shit so I can epoxy.

So, when a guy still finds himself thinking about brewing when he isn’t brewing, what shall he do? After putting the kid to bed each night; of course, find some other brewing related hobby to pour into till he gets some free dad time to do construction. Thus more beer labels/signs; not sure what to call these at the moment other than part of my brewery project.

I have continued on the journey of making new signage for my new brewery. I think of it as my brewery being represented through the process of design through the decades. I have been pouring over the images over at Shut Up About Barclay Perkins and have been downloading the images like crazy. I was looking for inspiration for logos I could adapt. I see these somehow fitting into my new brewery in some way I cannot imagine at the moment. But when a guy is fired up, don’t question, just let him do, it might all make sense in the end, or not, just ask my wife.

So here is where I have landed on my new inspiration and design work of late:

Well, hopefully, I get my paint chips here soon and can lay down some Epoxy. After that, I am waiting on putting in some FRP walls and finishing my plumbing through the walls. At the moment I only have 12 more days of school left so hoping this project gets on like donkey kong and can really have some life to it. Some of the fears I am anticipating are building my control box and wiring in some 60 amp service to the basement.

All in due time.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.

[Spauld]

My favorite of your label designs is the first one, tho I’m not sure I understand the motto “sure you know yourself”.
I’m a little slow tho, so perhaps it will hit me on the drive home tonight! 😂

Electrical work always makes me a little apprehensive….just like working with gas lines. LOTS of online research and taking things slow and steady is usually the best approach. Oh, and stopping if you get to a point where you are not 100% sure you know what you are doing!

I have no big projects going on now, so I’m a little envious!

[evan.sherlock]

An Irish person could both simultaneously dodge a question and answer it may be coming to a close, as an international court ruling has demanded an explanation for the expression “sure you know yourself”.
For decades, people from all across Ireland have skillfully steered conversations to their liking by simply responding to any question or query with the catch-all phrase.
“Sure you know yourself”, originally coined by Michael Collins in 1921 when someone asked him how he got on in England, is both an answer to a question and a deflection; something no other phrase in the English language can lay claim to.

I just find it to be a great phrase. It isn’t to far off from saying “Go fuck yourself.” when you don’t like what someone is asking you.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.

[evan.sherlock]

So this weekend I finally got around to some serious work on the brewery, floors were started and should be completed here after this smelly mess cures and I can throw on the clear coat.

I did take extra effort to really grind down my semi-sloppy concrete work to make sure the transitions would be seamless and the lumps and bumps would be smoothed out. I diamond-ground down the concrete with an oscillating multitool. This prepped the small amount of surface that didn’t already have epoxy on it as well as make the concrete job not look so shitty.

The kit for the epoxy was only listed as having medium gray listed on the website, no color swatches to look at, so it was a crap shoot as far as getting it correct. I also had to rush order my color chips as I determined I didn’t need a G.I. Joe themed brewery. Lucky these came at 7 pm on Friday night so I was all set for a Saturday to install. I will say that custom ordering the color chips in a non-Rustoleum themed blend really helped make this project stand out as the color pallet was not so off the shelf look to it.

As I remember from before doing the epoxy is the material is tough to work with. It is thick and goopy and nothing like paint. It feels a lot more like trying to paint with creamy peanut butter as it is insanely viscous.

My 2-gallon treatment of “medium gray” was listed on the specification sheet as being able to cover 400 sq/ft. This is where my past told me to go ahead and use it all. I knew using a thicker application would still work as well as give me more of the material to go back with and hit some thin spots. I also used the spiked shoes this go-round, level up with this tool, I could now walk back onto my work; I had not used these before which lead to my really shitty covering of the paint chips the last time I did this.

I wish I would have mixed the 2 part solution for another 10 minutes prior to spreading because halfway through “painting” I was finding lumps that I had to go back and remix into to help smooth out. I am a thankful husband that my wife reminded me to get my respirator prior to opening the cans because this product stunk so bad. The product sheet did say don’t use in basements because of the VOC’s, fuck it, I have windows and a giant exhaust hood to use, nothing stopping me now; I still have not turned off the hood here 28 hours later.

The painting part of the install was quick as I just cut in all of the corners and walls as well as the drains. I was worried, as my dumb ass decided to use foam brushes for the cutting in. I should have used a bristle brush as it would have helped smooth it out a bit better; the material was so thick on the foam brush I might as well have used a scrap of cardboard. It really just came down to flow management and pushing and pulling the material around. I had used nearly half of the product once I was done cutting in, I was a bit concerned. I got the roller out and a stick and pulled all the paint away from the walls and already had half the room done. Then pour out the rest of the material in lines around the room and bring it all together, bam, I was done in about 45 min.

The most satisfying and my favorite part of the job was getting the paint chips on. I was leery of my ability to do this as I had fucked this up so bad before. It really turned into a game of pacing the room and spreading chicken feed, at least that is what was going on in my mind. Just really trying hard to get it even and consistent, but it was fun. I ended up using 4 lbs of the paint chips which they say would be the amount for roughly a 200 sq/ft room and my room with hallways is about 140 sq/ft, so I was a bit heavy. I am sure I will sweep up quite a bit of the material here once the stink goes away but I am glad that I went heavy, I love the look of it.

So the three hours or so that I spent prepping and knocking out the job went fast. With epoxy, you really have to be concerned with the life of the pot and how quick setup is, as a guy that has done this not once but twice I felt I had a little more liberty knowing it would happen as long as I took my time and was prepared for how the job would go. My shower at the end of the job was interesting as I kept finding more and more spots of epoxy on my knees or elbows not knowing how on earth they got there.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 1 month ago by evan.sherlock.

[Spauld]

Nice job Evan….dang that looks AWESOME 👍👍👍👍

[colterw]

Evan it seams your pics are not working. I want to see it….

Cheers

Serving: Brooks Irish Red 4.8% ABV
Serving: Robert's IPA
Fermenting: We Are The Dreamer of Dreams (NEIPA)

[evan.sherlock]

Really? I spent a whole 20 minutes trying to get them images correct.

Here is a link to the album:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7QfrkojoVvsttdV46

I have found that using google over bbcode isn’t always perfect, notice the number of revisions I have on posts. Not sure if I am a retard and can’t get the URL’s incorrect placement, if brackets are acting odd, or if I am a total dumb fuck. Well, history will let us know.

[evan.sherlock]

So this weekend I wrapped up the flooring project by laying down the clear coat of urethane mixed with the anti-slip agent. This will give a good durable clear coat to protect the epoxy and color chips. It will also prevent dirt from surrounding the color chips and also the discoloration of the color chips that can happen over time.

I had to wait a week for the epoxy to gas off and vent out the room. The application of the urethane went easy. I was able to get 2 coats down 16 hours apart from each other and then let them cure. In comparison to the epoxy the urethane went down quickly and effortlessly. It was a 2 part water based urethane when mixed had the consistency and look of milk. Once applied the product did have a smell to it similar to super glue even thought it boasted no VOC’s, so I still had to vent the room all weekend but the smell went away in about 12 hours.

[Spauld]

Very cool…. can’t wait to see this new floor and the next ‘phase’ of the Sherlock Brewery renovation!👍

[colterw]

What are the next steps?

Cheers

Serving: Brooks Irish Red 4.8% ABV
Serving: Robert's IPA
Fermenting: We Are The Dreamer of Dreams (NEIPA)

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