Seeking assistance for new system

I have been away from brewing for a couple years due to time constraints and now time is allowing it again. I have started to research building a system and have more questions then answers. I am trying to get the basics covered and then proceeding. I have two kegs currently and am thinking of getting a 10g beverage cooler for mlt. My plans are basic batch spraying and moving up to herms in the future. My brew area (garage) has two seperate 30a plugs that I can utilize and am wondering if this setup can satisfy my needs or if I have to first look at running more wires. If possible I would like to avoid this as I am looking at a run of 70' and tearing drywall and insulation apart. Any ideas? If you can tell from my post I am a novice at electrical but have two electrician/instrumentation friends who will be my 'guiding hands' setting up the system and teaching me through the process. Thanks again for any guidance and help

With two 30A circuits your better off than most.... I had to run one 30A 220v line for my electric setup. it is plenty to run one 4500/5500w heating element at a time. With two your golden, you can run pumps plus two elements at one if you want to start heating up you wort while still heating uour remaining sparge water.... a herms system is really inexpensive to build if you want it to be... I currently have that and am going to try building a small 1000w rims tube for recirculating during mash. my setup is only capable of doing up to 10gallon batches.

Woby said:

I have been away from brewing for a couple years due to time constraints and now time is allowing it again. I have started to research building a system and have more questions then answers. I am trying to get the basics covered and then proceeding. I have two kegs currently and am thinking of getting a 10g beverage cooler for mlt. My plans are basic batch spraying and moving up to herms in the future. My brew area (garage) has two seperate 30a plugs that I can utilize and am wondering if this setup can satisfy my needs or if I have to first look at running more wires. If possible I would like to avoid this as I am looking at a run of 70' and tearing drywall and insulation apart. Any ideas? If you can tell from my post I am a novice at electrical but have two electrician/instrumentation friends who will be my 'guiding hands' setting up the system and teaching me through the process. Thanks again for any guidance and help

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I've been a propane brewer for years but it seem like every time I swap out a tank it gets more expensive, and as far as I can tell I'm past $5.00 / batch in propane.

I'm no expert but if you brew like me you will only need one 240V 30 Amp circuit, at least that's what I determined after doing my research. I heat my strike water then I mash in a large GOTT cooler. I batch sparge then I boil. I have no reason to have more than one heater on at a time and the 5500 watt stainless wavy element I bought for my brew kettle only draws 23 amps. I plan on picking up a 4500 watt water heater element for my hot liquor tank from Home Depot for $11.28.

I haven't bought a controller yet but I pretty much decided that all I need is one of the small lower cost brewery controllers for my setup. To me the minimum would be something that will heat and hold my strike water and sparge water then run my brew pot. There are plenty to chose from and there's even a seller on Amazon.

One thing I recommend is a GFCI breaker. You can order a 50 Amp spa panel from Home Depot for $56.97.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-50...1328d9&cm_mmc=CJ-_-7104034-_-11210757&cj=true

But just because it's 50 Amps does not mean you have to run 50 Amps through the panel. I'm going to install a 30 Amp breaker in my main power panel because a 30 Amp breaker is less than half the cost of a 50 Amp breaker. The wire is cheaper too because I only need 10 gauge for 30 Amps.

FYI I just received one of these for my HLT yesterday looks to be perfect for that application with a brass element base. cant beat the price either.
my old element was rusting bad at the base... these are not ulwd so not ideal for the BK.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200909059093...:MEBIDX:IT

pizza_man said:

One thing I recommend is a GFCI breaker. You can order a 50 Amp spa panel from Home Depot for $56.97.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Eaton-50...1328d9&cm_mmc=CJ-_-7104034-_-11210757&cj=true

But just because it's 50 Amps does not mean you have to run 50 Amps through the panel. I'm going to install a 30 Amp breaker in my main power panel because a 30 Amp breaker is less than half the cost of a 50 Amp breaker. The wire is cheaper too because I only need 10 gauge for 30 Amps.

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This is exactly what I did as well...