Question

Hey guys, Im not new to brewing, but am seriously switching off the gas. I am currently building a house and im having the garage wired with a 220. I know nothing about electricity and im not interested in shocking myself to death, so my question is, are there any pre-fab electric systems on the market and if so which is best?

There are several, Kal offers this setup on theelectricbrewery.com (This would be my recommendation for something pre-built) also HighGravityBrewing however I have not seen this is actions, but there are some safety issues that concern me. I know that Kal covers his own @ss in his design.

Immediate, check out Kal, if you have some time, keep an eye on ebrewsupply.com. I'm hoping to have some DIY kits out in the next few weeks, and assembled in a few months.

One of my friends built my control panel, as I am totally ignorant of electric wiring and diagrams. But that could be something to consider- have the CP build by somebody who knows what they are doing, and do the rest yourself to save money. The electric elements themselves are cheap and if you're handy at all you could do that.

But if the cost isn't that much more, buying preassembled e-kettles would rock!

If you're building the space - design it for as big as you think you will go. Kal's system is based on a standard 30a/240(220)v dryer outlet and provides enough power to do ten gallon batches. The temp probes, weldless elements, and control panel can be bought fabricated. It's a damn good system for a homebrewer, but expensive (but for good reasons). I started with barely 1/3 of it. If you already have your keggles or pots, it's that much less expensive.

High Gravity built Wildwest's system (search brew lean-to in the DIY section).

I ended up building my own simple control panel with some of Kal's pre-fab'd parts for now as phase I of the home brewery. I didn't like the cost and low-bling factor of the high gravity stuff. YMMV.

Fly_Rodder said:

If you're building the space - design it for as big as you think you will go. Kal's system is based on a standard 30a/240(220)v dryer outlet and provides enough power to do ten gallon batches.

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20 gallon batches work fine too. I know of many who do 20 gallons off one 30A/240V line. Some even do a full barrel (31 gallons) with a single 5500W element in the boil kettle but IMHO that's starting to push it a bit I think. YMMV.

Kal

kal said:

20 gallon batches work fine too. I know of many who do 20 gallons off one 30A/240V line. Some even do a full barrel (31 gallons) with a single 5500W element in the boil kettle but IMHO that's starting to push it a bit I think. YMMV.

Kal

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Sorry to hijack, Kal what do you mean when you say a full bbl is starting to push it? Pushing the limits of the setup in general or too much volume for the 5500w elements?

Too much volume for a single 5500W element. You may have issues getting a nice rolling boil and the heat up and ramp times start to get long. That said, I know of some brewers who do 1 bbl batches with 5500W and they say it works for them. YMMV.

Kal

kal said:

Too much volume for a single 5500W element. You may have issues getting a nice rolling boil and the heat up and ramp times start to get long. That said, I know of some brewers who do 1 bbl batches with 5500W and they say it works for them. YMMV.

Kal

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I'm going to pm you rather than hijack.