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Thanks. 180F is the cutoff for mine as well. However, I find it works best (and pretty consistent) when I am
In the 165F to 170F range. I agree, it's one of the best additions to the brewery. I believe it saves quite a bit of propane as well but haven't verified.


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Did you find a high temp filter, pre-filter before the water enters the unit, or just not filter?
 
Build in progress
Forever developing

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How many of you guys with propane setups brew in your garage? My driveway is not level so I can't brew out there. Was wondering about brewing at the edge of the garage with the door up.




That is exactly what I do. Boil kettle is right inside the door but the HLT is about 6 feet in. I keep the door open but I will close it for short periods of time during the winter.
 
I used propane in my garage for years. There is plenty if ventilation if you have the garage up. Even with it half up on windy days is fine as the CO is heavy and goes to the ground. But, keeping the garage shut on a cold winters day is a good argument towards electric.
 
just buy a thermal gun (the small $15 ones from amazon) and keep an eye on your garage door surface temp with the open door right above the rig if you have that issue. In winter with it about 30F outside my open garage door reaches 130-140F on the surface. Too much more and I'd cut the fun and roll the rig outside.
 
I have a single-tier stainless steel, propane powered, 3 keggle system - HLT (thermometer, drain valve, dip tube, sight glass), MLT (false bottom, dip tube, drain valve, thermometer), BK (drain valve, thermometer, side dip tube)

Using silicone tubing with quick disconnects, 50 ft , ½” copper recirculation arm immersion chiller, Little Giant Pump. Barley Crusher

I had my system made 2 years ago but haven’t had time to brew!

Stuff I need to make it better:

Turn pump valve to face myself
Cut lid in BK with grinder for chiller
Find a place to attach recirculating arm to chiller (for chilling) and to BK (for aeration)
Get 2” probe thermometer for BK, the 6” is too long and hitting chiller.
Find a place to hang my mash paddle
Notch Mash paddle to measure BK volume
Get iodine to do starch test
Make pump cover larger
Control panel: create a way to turn on pumps with switches

Optional (at least 5 more brews):
Make or buy a sparge arm with extra pump, tube and fittings.

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Still fine tuning everything but I'm finally happy with the CFC setup. Also didn't want to make a control box so I'm using a wireless appliance remote control like the ones for lamps, etc. for the pumps and it works great. The only issue I've had is that I can't seem to keep the high temp paint from peeling everytime I brew. Also, NG conversion was the best upgrade ever.

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Here's my rig in process. Still waiting for my valves, sight gauges, and thermometers to arrive. Also need to install a propane regulator, and decide on a sparge solution. Eventually I'll go RIMS with this and build a control panel, but with brewing season starting this month for me, that'll have to wait. I hope to be brewing in a week or two. It's a solid strut build for those who are curious.
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These pics are a few months old. I got the rig primed and should have the painting done within a few weeks I hope. I will post the finished product as soon as she's done. I have put about 2 years of thought into this rig and left plenty of room for expansion for after the first time I brew with it. lol. Thanks for looking!!!!

Is that a Hoff-Stevens keg in the middle? If so, can you post some detail pics of how you modified it? I have 2 that I want to convert. Thanks!
 
Running of my houses natural gas, and there's a giant vent hood (air/moisture tight) with a hydroponics vortex fan venting gases and moisture. Nobody upstairs could smell the boiling wort.

Or anything else that may be down there. :off:
 
Here is my rig. It turns out the guy who owns my LHBS also runs a panel shop that makes control panels for all kinds of industrial applications. He was kind enough to let me use a work bench at his shop as well as any equipment I needed. Thanks JB! Anyhow, it is an E-HERMS controlled with a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). The PLC turns the elements on/off to control temperature, runs the pumps and has the ability to integrate a timer into the controls. This is great for mashing because 45 min into the mash the PLC turns off my mash recirculation pump at the same time ramps up the temp in my HLT for mash out. Once 60 minutes is reached the mash pump turns back on and mash out is complete a few minutes later sounding a buzzer. Learning how to program the PLC was quite a challenge for me but it adds some capabilities to the rig I could not have otherwise.

I sourced parts and materials all over the place including Bobby M and Jay Bird from this site. They were both a pleasure to do business with and stand behind their products.

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I threw this together in about an hour of time for this weekends brew day, I was tired of lifting the mash tun when it was time to transfer to boil kettle . All this was free. Next time I post in here it will be of my good stand I'm building just don't have the funds right now
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Here is my rig. It turns out the guy who owns my LHBS also runs a panel shop that makes control panels for all kinds of industrial applications. He was kind enough to let me use a work bench at his shop as well as any equipment I needed. Thanks JB! Anyhow, it is an E-HERMS controlled with a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). The PLC turns the elements on/off to control temperature, runs the pumps and has the ability to integrate a timer into the controls. This is great for mashing because 45 min into the mash the PLC turns off my mash recirculation pump at the same time ramps up the temp in my HLT for mash out. Once 60 minutes is reached the mash pump turns back on and mash out is complete a few minutes later sounding a buzzer. Learning how to program the PLC was quite a challenge for me but it adds some capabilities to the rig I could not have otherwise.

I sourced parts and materials all over the place including Bobby M and Jay Bird from this site. They were both a pleasure to do business with and stand behind their products.

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Man that is 1 KILLER system! Thanks for letting me and my team help!

You got MAD skills man if you built the control system! Coming from a 19 year PLC and industrial electrical career where I have built, programed, installed and maintained hundreds if not thousands of panels and PLC systems, you did a KILLER KILLER job!
Here is the last project I worked on in the field before I left to run NCBS full time....

Keep up the good work man!

Cheers
Jay

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What's that rod with the weight looking thing on it in the boil kettle for?



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It serves the same purpose as a sight tube. The rod has a groove turned in it that corresponds with each gallon in the kettle. The weight is held in place with a thumb screw, so it can be moved up and down the rod.

I heat the wort as it comes into the boil kettle and by the time I have collected 11-12 gallons it is being held at 208 Deg F. I have found that, due to thermal expansion, this is nearly 2 quarts more volume than the same water cold. I place the bottom of the weight on the volume I want in the kettle then I sparge until the wort flows over the top of the weight. This compensates for the thermal expansion.

I did not want to use a sight tube on the boil kettle because I was worried that with electric the wort inside would never boil and unwanted bugs might not be killed (I use an immersion chiller). I also thought a sight tube would be more difficult to clean. The fact that I am less likely to break a stainless steel rod is nice too.
 
It serves the same purpose as a sight tube. The rod has a groove turned in it that corresponds with each gallon in the kettle. The weight is held in place with a thumb screw, so it can be moved up and down the rod.

I heat the wort as it comes into the boil kettle and by the time I have collected 11-12 gallons it is being held at 208 Deg F. I have found that, due to thermal expansion, this is nearly 2 quarts more volume than the same water cold. I place the bottom of the weight on the volume I want in the kettle then I sparge until the wort flows over the top of the weight. This compensates for the thermal expansion.

I did not want to use a sight tube on the boil kettle because I was worried that with electric the wort inside would never boil and unwanted bugs might not be killed (I use an immersion chiller). I also thought a sight tube would be more difficult to clean. The fact that I am less likely to break a stainless steel rod is nice too.


That's a cool idea. Thanks for explaining it.



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Here's my trusty set up all stacked up and waiting for the next brew day ImageUploadedByHome Brew1410834990.091340.jpg 11 gallon bayou classic bayou burner and my 52 quart igloo MLT


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Where do you place your probe?
 
I needed my setup to be easy to store, and I did not want to work in a ladder most of the time. Also I did not want to use a pump. So I built this baby. I use the boat winch to raise the shelves once it's time to transfer from one vessel to the next. I always work at a normal work height, and transferring the wort is fast because of the difference in height. I am very happy with it. I brewed two batches with it so far, one five and one ten gallons.


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"I needed my setup to be easy to store, and I did not want to work in a ladder most of the time. Also I did not want to use a pump. So I built this baby. I use the boat winch to raise the shelves once it's time to transfer from one vessel to the next. I always work at a normal work height, and transferring the wort is fast because of the difference in height. I am very happy with it. I brewed two batches with it so far, one five and one ten gallons. "


That is why I subscribe to this thread

Boat winch, seems like such an easy idea.... wish I had though of that first !

Smart !

S
 
I needed my setup to be easy to store, and I did not want to work in a ladder most of the time. Also I did not want to use a pump. So I built this baby. I use the boat winch to raise the shelves once it's time to transfer from one vessel to the next. I always work at a normal work height, and transferring the wort is fast because of the difference in height. I am very happy with it. I brewed two batches with it so far, one five and one ten gallons.

Cool idea!

How do you transfer water into the mash tun? It looks like the boil kettle is always lower than the MT? Do you batch sparge or no sparge?


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Cool idea!

How do you transfer water into the mash tun? It looks like the boil kettle is always lower than the MT? Do you batch sparge or no sparge?


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Thank you all for the kind words! Well, the thing is my toy budget has been dead for a few months now! I will buy another stainless steel pot and another burner to mount on another mobile "shelf" above the mash tun. For the time being, I overshoot my water temperature a little, and transfer to the mash tun using a clean pail. Same thing for the sparge. Just before I am ready for the sparge, I prepare my sparge water and pour it in my pail, then use the kettle for the boil. The trick is to overshoot the temp just enough so the loss during transfer is accounted for.
 
Thank you all for the kind words! Well, the thing is my toy budget has been dead for a few months now! I will buy another stainless steel pot and another burner to mount on another mobile "shelf" above the mash tun. For the time being, I overshoot my water temperature a little, and transfer to the mash tun using a clean pail. Same thing for the sparge. Just before I am ready for the sparge, I prepare my sparge water and pour it in my pail, then use the kettle for the boil. The trick is to overshoot the temp just enough so the loss during transfer is accounted for.


You could grab yourself a 12v solar pump online for 50-75 bucks.
 
Userzero great job. Love the simplicity. Got a better picture of the top of the mast and the pulley setup?


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