hi,
on my search for a bigger boil kettle (to do AG on ~7gal preboils; 5gal final batch)) I scored a dirty and dirt cheap 15gal keg (cheaper than any 8gal alu pots). A friend of mine will weld all couplers in.
I was wondering about the kw i should use?
I was thinking about two (2) heat elements with about 1500W each.
This should be able to run them on two different 120V circuits and keep my apartment still as brewery-playground.
Are 3000W on two 120V circuits enough to get a boil for ~7gal? How long would it take to heat up from ~170F to boil temp?
Well, last night was awesome. Brewed up a 4 gallon batch of Saint Simon IPA from my Twelve Hopostles series, and it went great. We were drinking some of the American Wheat we brewed while getting better with the system.
I'll post up all my log book pages once fermentation and aging are done.
Briefly:
4.25 gallons of 1.066 wort collected
67.5% brewhouse efficiency (99.6% conversion / 69.3% lauter / 7.1% left in kettle)
7 hop additions and another kick ass cooling
I finished and fully cleaned up (including mopping the floor and scrubbing counters) in 5.5 hours.
I also pulled the controls out of my old side by side fridge and reinstalled in a more size appropriate fridge. I am fermenting in corny kegs, and my new fridge fits two perfectly.
I've read through your thread a few times and will be reading it as well as your other builds over and over as I begin mine, thanks for all the detailed information.
I have a similar rubber coated keg and was wondering about your valve assembly. I couldn't quite tell from the pics in Post 66 if you bored the rubber away for the valve like you did the element. Or, if you just drilled the right size hole for the nipple to the pass through to the bulkhead.
I have the full size keg like this and am looking for another to complete the set. Did you notice if the rubber gave you much insulation during the mash?
Thanks again for all this information, and I thought I was going to be happy with a turkey fryer and extract, man was I mistaken.
I am glad you like the system! We did indeed cut away the rubber before mounting the weldless fittings. We did the same for those as we did for the element. Pilot hole -> big hole saw to cut away the rubber -> step bit to cut 7/8" hole for the nipple.
The rubber definitely insulates. It is warm to the touch during the boil but never hot. To me that is pretty good.
Offers like that will get you in trouble. I am learning about electricity in a big way. There will be a long list of credits when I do my build thread. Fortunatley my Electrical Engineer neighbor should keep me from killing myself, plus he likes good beer.
Great news about the insulation, both for mash and safety. I have little ones and want to brew with them around and don't want to risk a trip to the ER for a burned hand on a gas burner.
Brewed a kiwi wit this weekend and ended up with 62% brewhouse efficiency. We are still dialing in the system and I think I need to tighten up my crush, but I think 65-70% is where we will end up.
Just ordered a lot of stainless parts, and two pumps for this build last night. I'm modifying by adding a second pump and going single tier, but your build list helped a ton with the parts so far. Thanks.
Just ordered a lot of stainless parts, and two pumps for this build last night. I'm modifying by adding a second pump and going single tier, but your build list helped a ton with the parts so far. Thanks.
Next up...electrical components...
Yo may want to take a look at 2P-Twent-E in my sig. It is a single tier version of this build including all the safety changes mentioned in this thread.
wondering about the elements
Linear Mode
