New Brewing Equipment: Spike Trio

By scot in Home Brewing on Sunday, December 13th, 2020

It is official, I have a Spike Trio System! It is used and I had to drive to North Carolina to pick it up; I live in Illinois. The system is six months old and has only been brewed on three times. Purchasing it used allowed me to get it for 50% of the original cost, still making it expensive but getting it closer to my price range.

It is a 10 gallon, 30amp system, with the all important tri-clamps. I would have preferred 15 gallon and 50 amps but I couldn’t beat the price and my back isn’t getting any younger.

Cleaning:

I am brutally tough on cleaning my equipment. I can look at it an hour, a day, a week later and clean it more. I don’t want to have to clean on brew day as infections are not my bag, baby.

Since the Spike Trio System that I picked up had been in the person’s garage, didn’t seem to get the love that I would give, and it was new to me, it needed a thorough cleaning.

I took all the fittings apart, dipped them in hot, soapy water, then a dip in clean water, then, finally, placed on a towel to drip for a few minutes while I dried them off. The number of fittings with this setup is crazy, therefore this process took me 3+ hours.

Next it was time to clean the stainless steel table. It had a bunch of brewing spots: splashes, drips, etc. My wife, just the day before, had cleaned off spots on the stainless steel refrigerator and bragged about how well Bar Keepers Friend worked for her. I had heard of it before and found it ironic that she had exactly what I needed for the Spike Trio System to get shiny.

The only equipment that I haven’t cleaned is the brewing kettles. I will do that when I get everything in working order and use Brewers Wash when circulating.

Placement:

The system will be placed in a corner of the basement that is currently occupied by piles of junk. In order to move that pile of junk, another section of the basement, piled up with junk, will need to be alleviated of its junk. My wife has already started selling!

The corner will be outfitted with the following:

• Stainless steel sink with a wall-mount faucet.
• Power:
  • 1 220, 30 amp circuit
  • 2 110, 20 amp circuits
• LED can lights above the brewing table and sink.
• Floor will be sealed.
• Wall will be painted white.

None of these items are currently in hand as I am in the process of determining and finding the best fit. The electrical and plumbing will contracted out as I am in the process of getting quotes.

The latter two items above are to make cleanup easier and will be tasks that I do on my own once the pile of junk is moved to another area of the basement.

Time-frame:

The faster I get this work completed the faster I can brew my next batch of beer. Still, with the holidays upon us, January/February 2021 is beginning to look like a realistic time-frame to have work completed. The painting/sealing will be completed prior to contractors coming in and will be doing so during the holidays as I have time off.

I am excited to get this project completed. I figure it will take me 3+/- batches to get a feel for the system. Enjoy!

Useless fact: James Bond’s car had three different license plates in Goldfinger.

Tags: home brewing, spike trio system