I heart electric brewing!

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The_General

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After a run-in with condo management where they scolded me for using a burner on my balcony, I decided to give electric brewing a try. Why are more people not doing this?

I'm not nearly advanced as some of you but I'm really impressed after my first brew day. I used two 1500 W heatsticks for a 5 gallon batch. The boil was just as quick if not quicker than propane. I cut back to one heatstick to maintain the boil. I didn't have to worry about running out of propane or the dangers associated with propane, open flame, etc. Plus the cost of electricity is like 10% of the cost of propane.

What are the drawbacks of electric brewing? As of now, I don't see any.
 
Also ventilation, especially in the summer when the extra humitidy and heat are undesirable.

but ill never go back. Its nice not having to haul things around, my brewery is 10 ft away from my fermenters which are next to the kegerator..
 
But you can't brew bee during a power outage! :D


Neither can I, and I have propane :D But electric PID controller for the RIMS system, and Pump....

Glad your loving it!
 
The most electrical work I had ever done in my life prior to building my e-system was changing fuses on my car and taking Physics 102.

The easiest way to get into all-electric brewing is with a heatstick, but building a 30 amp panel using the resources on here wasn't really hard. Kal's site pretty much tells you what you need (and where) and gives instructions on how to connect everything. Add in all of the builds posted on here (that include everything from heatsticks to e-BIAB to 50 amp dual element monsters) that help fine-tune and customize what you want to do.

The biggest obstacle, I think, to getting started was the upfront cost. The more handy you are and the more free-time you have the cheaper it'll be.
 
I am a few weeks away from going all electric. Parts are arriving from China, P-J assisted me with a custom diagram. I move into a new house in a few weeks, and the build will begin.
 
I could see ventilation being a problem but, for now, I'm still brewing on the balcony. I'm hoping that the lack of open flame will keep nosy neighbors from complaining. Well that and the fact that I'm not doing anything that's against the rules.

I'm sure that I'll upgrade as space increases but I think heatsticks are about as far as I'll go for now. With me, the girlfriend, and a dog in a one bedroom apartment, it's a miracle that I can do all grain brews as it is.
 
I made two heatsticks. I needed two of them to get up to a boil but it was a very vigorous boil. I just took one out and the remaining one was enough to maintain the boil. I guess I was just lucky.
 
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