My first post and simple eBIAB homebrew journey

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Disintegr8or

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I've been reading HBT for 6 months or so, and I finally got around to building my own little brew area in the back of my man cave.

Plan:
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Originally I was going to build all of the cabinets out of old pallets.

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First cabinet installed:

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Decided to go another direction with the cabinets after I found out I couldn't source enough pallets to complete the job (needed about 20)

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Door:
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More to follow. :mug:
 
Cool! I'm looking forward to seeing your eBIAB setup as I am looking to go electric hopefully this coming year.
 
Nice. What equipment will adorn this great space?

Think about a 'keezer conversion' looks like you have the space and the skills to make one real nice. Besides, kegging is much easier than bottling.

PS: Is that opening for an exhaust hood? if not it would be a good consideration. Merely the steam from the boiling wort will give reason to have a good ventilation setup.
 
I didn't have water to that side of the room, so I ran a 1" line from the well to the sink location.
This is how I plumbed it:

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44qt Bayou Classic kettle:

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Sink:

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CL freezer:

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Kettle:

I couldn't get 220v down there, so I put in (2) 110v GFCI's instead. I am running (2) 1,650 watt elements.
During test run, I got 7 gallons of 68deg water to 160 in 28 minutes, and boiling in 53

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I silver soldered the ground between the washer and the pot. I put a little JB weld on it to help hold it in place in case it got bumped.

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I finished up the room today. Just installed a 200 cfm exhaust fan and got it wired.

Unfortunately I won't be able to brew till the 7th of January. I'm having a few friends over to do my first all grain (EdWort's Hefeweizen).

Here are the final pics:

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I made a frame to support my basket to drain the grain. It is scrap 2x4 that I used a half lap notch on so I can setup and break it down quickly.

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My hop chute for when I try my Dogfish 90, hopefully it doesn't melt.

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Kegged my first beer Sunday:

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I was moving everything down to the brewery yesterday, and discovered I had enough stuff to cobble together an almost Dogfish Head 60 recipe. So I did a test brew to see how everything worked before the real brew on the 7th.

I decided that I am going to build a 2'x5' table that will rest against the back of the couch normally, and then move over to the brew side on brew days so I have more work surface area.

It was a little cramped yesterday.

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Love it. The pallet idea was a great one.

Your hop shoot is that a double coat hook? I may redo my hopspider with that idea thanks!
 
Love it. The pallet idea was a great one.

Your hop shoot is that a double coat hook? I may redo my hopspider with that idea thanks!

Thanks. The Wife came up with the pallet idea, so I do give her credit for that.

Yes it is a double robe/coat hook from Target, and it works great.
 
The other question I have is how are you dealing with the steam? I am planning on turning my shed into a brewhouse next summer an am worried about the affect it has on wood and insulation. I brew in the garage now and have a fan blowing the steam out the door. Before I did that I was letting the steam rise and after a few brews my ceiling dry wall started swelling and cracking.
 
I have a ~200 cfm bath exhaust fan mounted in the cabinet over the kettle.
It vents directly out the wall to the exterior. You can see it pulling the steam right up and out of the room off the kettle.

I may bend and rivet a piece of aluminum to make a shield on the underneath of the cabinet if I notice any issues arise from the steam.
 
How do you control your boil after you get it going? Or do you just let the two elements run at 100% the whole time?

This is quite interesting. I just ordered a 62 quart Bayou Classic pot today and am researching ideas on how to switch to electric.
 
How do you control your boil after you get it going? Or do you just let the two elements run at 100% the whole time?

This is quite interesting. I just ordered a 62 quart Bayou Classic pot today and am researching ideas on how to switch to electric.

With the amount of power I'm at, I just let both elements run the whole time.
I boil off exactly 1 gallon per hour. I tried only one element, and it wouldn't keep the wort boiling.

I am eventually going to make a PID controller for one element so I can control my mash temps, but for now I am simply plugging/unplugging one element to maintain temp.

Nice man cave!

Thanks!
 
Carefull with this the arcs that happen when pluging it in and unpluging with that much draw will wear your outlet/ plug out fast.
Honestly, I'll probably do one more brew before I build a controller. I've gone this far, might as well finish everything the correct way.

I did some work on my back splash. Here is a teaser shot until I get it finished and cleaned up:

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Yeah that looks wicked, very nice job! The roughed wood adds a really cool touch. :mug:
 
Thanks guys.

Well, except for the controller, I am finished with the brewery!
Here are some pics to show the new addition brew table I made for some extra counter space.

With table out of the way:

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With table in place for brew day:

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In anticipation for my 1st ever all grain batch this weekend, I decided I needed to hurry up and build a controller for my mash. So I ordered the normal PID stuff from Auber, and went to my local hardware store to get the rest of what I needed.

I am building something similar to jkarp's C-Top Brutus 20's control, except I don't need a switch for a pump (just yet anyways)

Everything but the PID components ready to install:
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Here is how it will be stup on brew day. Once again, it is just for mashing. I will simply unplug it, plug the element directly into the wall, and put the controller in the cabinet for the boil.
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Your brew buddy in post #26 has that "What the hell are you doing?" look on his face. :D
 
Why not boil with the Auber in manual mode? Simple one button operation. Dial the percentage you want like the infomercial says "Just set it and forget it"
 
Congrats on the new brewery. Nice use of the space and materials!

Side note: noticed that you have a case of one of recent favorite beers: Sierra Nevada Celebration. Very tasty stuff.

Enjoy!
 
Why not boil with the Auber in manual mode? Simple one button operation. Dial the percentage you want like the infomercial says "Just set it and forget it"

I suppose I could, but I kinda like hands on when brewing. I started this hobby because I felt like I was creating something with my own 2 hands. If I simply dump some grain in water and push a few buttons, it just isn't the same.


Congrats on the new brewery. Nice use of the space and materials!

Side note: noticed that you have a case of one of recent favorite beers: Sierra Nevada Celebration. Very tasty stuff.

Enjoy!

Thanks! Yes celebration was an impulse buy, and it is in my top 5 right now.
 
Well, everything is done. Did my first all grain brew last weekend, and it went perfectly. Can't wait till the next one.

PID parts:

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Controller assembled:
Front
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Rear
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In use:
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One thing I did notice is that the water temperature under the elements can be as much as 10 degrees cooler than actual. It pays to stir the water around when you are about 10 degrees from your target, just to make sure everything is mixed together well.

Also, I put the thermocouple in a few different parts of the grain bed during the mash last weekend, and there was a few degree temp difference there as well. I was going to mount the t'couple in the bottom of the kettle and install a sight glass, but now I think I'll leave it loose so I can put it right in the center of the mash for a more accurate temp control.
 
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