Propane to all out electric build

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garbageman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
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Location
Lexington
After 15 years of doing this, I need a another project. With the boat sold and Jeeps and VWs sold, time to devote to brewing better. My excuse: the cost of propane and my rigs love to run through it, I decided to go electric. That and in July in SC it's a ***** to stand over twin 10" burners running wide open on the driveway. So, here goes. Hope to be brewing again by Christmas.

A lot of goodies are on the way. Everything will be controlled with a BCS and in a 50amp panel from ebrewingsupply.com. Lots more to come.

Current rig:
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Current area to convert in the garage:
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Cleared out and started:
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Stained and sealed, dual temp controlled fermenters:
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The boys helped distressed the table top:
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Brewers hardware RIMS tube:
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Backsplash added - also a blackboard. Great for notes and scribbles. 220v coming over to the work bench and prepping for control panel.

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Very nice! What type of wood is that on your stand? I need something similar for a project for my wife (so I can keep up with my projects 😁)
 
brian4508:
The wood is just #2 southern yellow pine from HD. Once built, my boys and i distressed it with whatever we could find. Basically beat the snot out of it with files, hammers, etc. Then rubbed a dark stain into dents and top coated with a pecan colored poly sealer. Saw on some HDTV show - first attempt.

aiptasia:
The conicals are from minibrew. You can catch them on sale and are wonderful. I need to cut the stands down so they will fit in my wine chiller for fermentation. Right now I use better bottles in the fridges and conicals when garage temps allow.
http://www.minibrew.com/
 
50amp service went in today! Running to outlet that will power the GFI spa disconnect. All wire from breaker to spa disconnect will be 6/3.

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Blackboards /backsplash was a great idea.

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Great build. This style bench is almost exactly what I have been thinking about in my kitchen build..
 
The woodwork top is great. What are your plans with the propane rig? Will you be using the same rig and just converting to electric elements?
 
For now still brewing on the propane rig. Hoping to brew on electric in 3 weeks. Then the propane rig goes up for sale. In the spring, once I can clean the rest of the garage, I plan to add a sink and scrub area opposite of the brew bench. Been stoping in at the kitchen surplus and government surplus looking for a stainless sink and prep table.

I'm adding the copper fresh water supply to the bench this weekend and filtration system.
 
are you planning on getting new vessels? if so, i suggest you investigate bottom drain vessels. not needing Dip Tubes and the ability to Clean In Place is epic. one of the best things about electric :)
 
I agree. Using my keggles for now. I have a 7.5 gallon for my mash tun and a 15 gallon for boil kettle. For the mash tun it will be easy and will add either a false bottom or a stainless screen coil. I have an immersion chiller for BK and am going to set it up to whirlpool while cool down. So an offset bottom drain may work for that. Need to find photo examples and threads on what people are using.
 
you will be able to put the Immersion Chiller in the HLT to manage mash temps (HERMS) if you are having issues holding heat in the mash for an hour. my 15 gallon MLT wouldn't hold temps, but i really like HERMS. gives me the ability to recirc the mash for an hour through the coil so the beer comes out crystal clear and i hit my temp dead on for whatever length of time i want. plus i can ramp up for mash out or step mashes if necessary.

as for the keg mash tun, i love my false bottom. it blew my stainless filter thing out of the water.

i have a side pickup in my propane fired rig, but i was never patient enough to let everything precipitate out... so all it did for me was waste about a gallon of beer in the bottom of the keg. if you can wait the few minutes for everything to settle it's a great method. i switched to a counterflow chiller and bottom drain so i can save a couple bucks on ingredients for that extra gallon or 2 i don't really NEED to brew. Trub in the fermenter isn't the end of the world.
 
you will be able to put the Immersion Chiller in the HLT to manage mash temps (HERMS) if you are having issues holding heat in the mash for an hour. my 15 gallon MLT wouldn't hold temps, but i really like HERMS. gives me the ability to recirc the mash for an hour through the coil so the beer comes out crystal clear and i hit my temp dead on for whatever length of time i want. plus i can ramp up for mash out or step mashes if necessary.

as for the keg mash tun, i love my false bottom. it blew my stainless filter thing out of the water.

i have a side pickup in my propane fired rig, but i was never patient enough to let everything precipitate out... so all it did for me was waste about a gallon of beer in the bottom of the keg. if you can wait the few minutes for everything to settle it's a great method. i switched to a counterflow chiller and bottom drain so i can save a couple bucks on ingredients for that extra gallon or 2 i don't really NEED to brew. Trub in the fermenter isn't the end of the world.

I'm setting it up using a brewers hardware RIMS system. I have a jay bird false bottom that I'm going to use and now add a bottom drain for the mash tun.

I plan to whirlpool the wort using the pump while cooling using the immersion chiller to help aid. Does the counter chiller not get clogged on yours with hops going through? I would think a bottom drain would pass all the hop sludge and clog the counter chiller.

The bottom drains are for clean in place on mine.
 
the IC goes in the kettle and you pass cold water through it. it never sees wort on the inside.

i have a whirlpool arm i use, but it's never had any problems with hop residue. i use a hop spider or hop bags and haven't had a problem. i start the pump with 10 min to go in the boil, then recirc while cooling so the pump, lines and recirc port are all sanitary from the boil.
 
Understand the IC, used one for years. But do you drain/pull from the bottom of the kettle when you cool sucking all the trub through while cooling?

And I was thinking you had a plate chiller, not counter.
 
Gotcha.

Got a load of stainless fittings and weld less parts in today. Waiting on some KO punches from a friend. Gonna brew my last brew Saturday on the propane rig then start cutting the keggles.
 
Update:

State surplus had a Dell Touch Screen All-in-one for $25. Score! Powered up and works, has a windows 7 fresh install and wiped clean. Good to go! This will connect to the BCS and run the brewery.

Powered up
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Son helping me get in setup and on the network.
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50amp spa disconnect in and awaiting panel from ebrewsupply.com. Ryan has really been spot on helping me figure all parts of converting to electric brewing.
 
Right now now it's desktops for 10$ and monitors for 10$. Mostly Dells and of various design. But about 200 of each. Grabbed a Mac, but put it back. Saw this.

Just come to SC. Right beside the airport.
 
Update:
Plumbed in water and filter. A swivel spigot up top for MT and BK. Also a fresh water QD for cleaning near the pumps. Also mounted first pump and added another 4 bank of 110v outlets for fermenters and computer.

Spigot:
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Shark bite valve:
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Bench mounted fresh water QD:
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Underside:
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Pump mount:
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50amp service went in today! Running to outlet that will power the GFI spa disconnect. All wire from breaker to spa disconnect will be 6/3.

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Blackboards /backsplash was a great idea.

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That chalkboard is a great idea! And im def a fan of that oaked yeti in the background...lol
 
Quick update, less ebrew and more eferment. Had the afternoon off yesterday so I did an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Amber and Beirmunchers Blond on the old system. Got the fermenters hooked up to the Johnson controllers. These will be replaced and controlled by the BCS.

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Panel goes in this weekend along with keggle conversion.
 

At the moment, we're using a pair of 7 cu ft Holiday chest freezers for fermentation/kegging. Each can hold 2 6-gal carboys along with a few 6-packs stuck in and around for conditioning. The cost for each was slightly more than one of the wine bottle coolers. Unfortunately, using chest freezers sacrifices precious space - they can't be under-the-counter, and you have to have clearance above them to open them.

1. will a 6 gallon carboy with airlock/blow-off tube fit into one of your coolers?

2. do you have need to heat these? If so, how to you accomplish this? My brew area is in an uninsulated area of the basement, so I do have to apply heat to my freezers (tiny space heater or blow dryer and Ranco Dual Controller).

Looks good. Thanks for posting.

Keith
 
Yes. In the photo those are both 6 gallon carboys. I can get measurements if needed.

In garage and down south. More concerned with cooling. Even when cold, inside the fridges unplugged they stay 62 degrees. If I needed to, I'd do a belt or something to stay warm.
 
- they can't be under-the-counter, and you have to have clearance above them to open them.

2. do you have need to heat these? If so, how to you accomplish this?
Keith

if you put them on casters they could be pulled out from under the counter to be opened. depends on the height of your work bench i guess :eek:

i heat my fermenting chamber with reptile heating wire from the pet store. the stuff was like $15 and raises temps gradually. before that i was using little space heaters and would routinely overshoot temps by a few degrees because of the power the thing put out. the reptile heaters have definitely added stability to my esters. way less funky tastes with more precise control of the temp.

the reptile mats are basically the same thing, just in a solid form not a cord. some of the best money i've spent in my beer brewing, and some of the cheapest :)
 
Control Panel time......

Trying to get decals cut and on:
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Inside:
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More to come as I get this thing mounted and wired. Also, this is a ebrewsupply.com box that I'm working with. Ryan was so helpful as I was laying all my plans out that I decided to just go for it.
 
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