thinking of switching to ebrewing to bring my brewery to the basement.

I'm thinking of a huge winter project to bring my brewery inside which would mean switching to electric. I'm pricing out everythong trying to make sure I get the best deal. Has anyone bought heating elements off ebay? I'm finding 5500w elements for like $16 instead of 35 for one at an online ebrew store.
My plan is to build a bcs 462 panel so I can control ferm chamber, run 2 pumps, and 2 heating elements plus a mixer in my MLT.
Also I haven't decided if I want to go with a rims tube or herms. Any advice on any of this would be greatlt helpful.
If not I'll just stick with my LP and use the bcs to control valves on that, but I'm thinking I want it in my basement like the guy in novembers byo article that has it in a room behind his taps. I currently am brewing in an 8x10 shed and its tough to get 15 gallons of wort to my basement to the fermenters.
Just looking for a little discussion and advice on what parts I can get cheap and what I need to spend the money on.

I went electric because my brewery shares my garage with my antique motorcycles, and gasoline and flames mix way too well.

The Electric Brewery has a great setup. I used all his kettles and plumbing and pumps and RTDs and everything works great. Zero complaints after 25 batches.

My control panel has the same functionality as his, and actually shares a lot of the parts with his - the big power relays and SSRs, are essentially the same (except I sourced them from Eaton/Cutler Hammer instead of from an eBay seller). My enclosure, heat sink, and much of the power wiring and connectors are mostly the same or similar.

Instead of his switches and knobs, I went with a software process control approach. Insane - it took me a year's time, and a thousand hours of programming. (I retired after 30 years in computers and electronics). It too works great - zero complaints after 25 batches.

One big plus (for me) is that during the hot summer or cold winter months, I don't have to spend the day in the garage - I can remotely monitor my process from a browser in any nice warm (or cool) room in my house.

Take a look at Broad Run Brewing. You might find a couple of good ideas there.

Dave

P.S. Electricity is cheaper than propane, and it will never run out halfway through a batch.

Wow thanks for the advice. Any chance you'd be willing to share how much your setup costs? Do you do rims or Hermes? I have kettles already.

Ventilation is the issue in basements.

Yeah I was going to put a hood over the setup and vent it outside.

I was just texting with my son about this yesterday. I had just finished brewing a batch after hauling the stuff out of the basement, brewing on the patio, then cleaning and putting it all back. I have been holding off building an indoor electric brewery as I hope to retire in about 3 years and will be moving. Once I recover from the two weddings we paid for in as many years, I may re-think the plan and build it here and then move it. The thought of having everything in one place ready to go is quite appealing!

Brewing in the basement is the best. If you want to go cheaper, building it yourself with parts off of ebay and amazon will save some money. If you're curious about how much it's going to cost, check out the BOM in my build.

Where is the bom? Did you guys go herms or rims? I can grt a few of the parts from some buddies that own heating and cooling businesses. I figure this will be an all winter project so I'm in no hurry I'll just piece it together.

I haven't put together a BOM by line item but have a running tally from all if my receipts.

I'm running a dual 5500w element HERMS with a BCS 460.

Between the new Stout kettles, stainless sink, pre-rinse faucet, panel (including internals), exhaust hood, ducting, plumbing, electrical, shelving and stand, TC fittings, counter flow chiller, etc I am currently around $5800.

Note: I was not able to use much, if any, of my previous all-grain setup so I was literally starting from scratch. I did get $425 out of my old stand, coolers and kettle whichever helped a very little bit.

walte1fr said:

Where is the bom? Did you guys go herms or rims? I can grt a few of the parts from some buddies that own heating and cooling businesses. I figure this will be an all winter project so I'm in no hurry I'll just piece it together.

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If you click on the build thread in my signature you will see the BOM.

wow. I wasn't expecting that much. I will be welding my own stand i already have 3 keggles 1 pump hood I was going to build, plumbing will be materials only, have a plate chiller, Electrical I have a friend that will rig that up for me also. wow I was expecting under 2,000 maybe I should reconsider. I'll look at your threat. Can I ask why you went with the herms instead of the rims? I'm in the air so haven't decided on 1 but I want to do step mashes also and can reuse some parts from my all grain I have now

I'm looking to do the full 3 keggle (HLT MTL and BK) maybe this is a little much for me right now hahahah

it shows only 1500 in costs so far. am I missing some receipts?

I had estimated around $5000 for everything. I didn't realize how much nickel and diming there'd be between fittings, electrical, PEX fittings, etc.

Granted, there are ways to cut costs (such as keggles vs buying new kettles) but my costs are relatively in line with the estimated Kal had put on his site (theelectricbrewery.com).

Remember this: bigger fans = less noise.

Going with an 8" inline fan is not much more expensive than going with a 6" inline fan, but you're going to move a lot more air.

A 6" Hurricane inline fan spins at 2915 rpm's and moves 435 cubic feet of air per minute.
An 8" Hurricane inline fan spins at 2530 rpm's and moves 745 cubic feet of air per minute.

I built a plywood exhaust hood out of some scrap lumber I had, and coupled with an 8" inline fan connected to some duct work, the exhaust hood doesn't even have a chance to collect any moisture on it, so there's really no need to be spending mondo bucks on a metal exhaust hood.

Some other places that you can save money:
* Some people like to build timers into their system, but who doesn't have brewing software on their smart phones that don't have a built-in timer already? Or a simple kitchen timer?
* Other people like to install a volt and amp display into their systems, but these are pretty useless too. If you forgo the volt / amp display, then you also don't have to buy ac/dc adapters and step-down transformers to run the displays. This would save you a lot of space in your control panel as well, so you wouldn't have to get as big of one.

I am so glad that I built an electric brewery in my basement! It was well worth the money and time.

Wow thanks a lot for the advice. Thats a great idea for a fan. My father has a sign shop and always has leftover wood. I could use that or plexi since I wouldn't think the hood would get too hot then put my name and designs on the hood and get it all designed up with my logo and everything. Thats a great idea thank you

Is everyone going with a herms or rims system? I was leaning towards rims so I could do step mashes quicker but just looking for added input. What efficiency are you guys getting too?

Is a rims tube usually easier for step mashes and to hit the correct temperatures?

Why do you want to do step mashes? Today's malts don't need them except for a few oddball ones. Practically nobody, including commercial breweries, does it anymore.

RIMS v. HERMS - A RIMS system (heating the mash water directly) has some potential problems. If your mash gets stuck or partially so, you can end up boiling the mash and/or running the heating element dry. Cleaning the RIMS tube can be difficult, especially if the above happens. A HERMS system doesn't have these problems.

The RIMS system might be a little faster if you've got your heart set on doing step mashes. You can do it with a HERMS too. But why do step mashes at all?

walte1fr said:

I'm finding 5500w elements for like $16 instead of 35 for one at an online ebrew store.

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Yeah, you can get one for $8 at the hardware store. BUT - read the Heating Element page at The Electric Brewery to find out why you might consider the $27 ones he uses.

Spend some hours reading all the "Building Your Brewery" and "Brew Day: Step By Step" pages there, and read WHY he made his design choices. It will be time well spent, even if you build something completely different.

I'm not set on doing step mashes but if I'm going to spend this much and time on upgrading my brewery I just didn't want to not have the option to do it. Yeah I'm not going to start building tomorrow. This is going to be a 6 month project I'm guessing and I'll slowly put it together I just want a game plan so I can start acquiring parts. I've read quite a bit of stuff that's why I posted this in the forums. I'm looking for some more input and ideas on if someone could add or change or not do 1 thing with their brewery what would they do? Thanks for the advice I'll read some more on his page this week.

walte1fr said:

I'm thinking of a huge winter project to bring my brewery inside which would mean switching to electric. I'm pricing out everythong trying to make sure I get the best deal. Has anyone bought heating elements off ebay? I'm finding 5500w elements for like $16 instead of 35 for one at an online ebrew store. My plan is to build a bcs 462 panel so I can control ferm chamber, run 2 pumps, and 2 heating elements plus a mixer in my MLT. Also I haven't decided if I want to go with a rims tube or herms. Any advice on any of this would be greatlt helpful. If not I'll just stick with my LP and use the bcs to control valves on that, but I'm thinking I want it in my basement like the guy in novembers byo article that has it in a room behind his taps. I currently am brewing in an 8x10 shed and its tough to get 15 gallons of wort to my basement to the fermenters. Just looking for a little discussion and advice on what parts I can get cheap and what I need to spend the money on.

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[]! I'm the owner...just thought I'd bring it to your attention.

Thanks looks like an awesome biab setup. I'll pass it on if anyone asks. I'm looking for a little more in depth system. Just trying to plan it out now though. Thanks for the info though

Hey have any of you heard of the Electric Brewery .com I am thinking of buying a kit panel from them since I do not have the time to design my own.

globetrekker said:

Hey have any of you heard of the Electric Brewery .com I am thinking of buying a kit panel from them since I do not have the time to design my own.

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Sure. Kal builds some nice control panels.

Yeah I was going to look at buying the kit and building on my own. I have no rush on when I need this so I have the time.

Yeah Kal really got it all sussed out with an electric brewery. That being said my setup is going to be pretty custom as I live in the land of 240ac and I want to build a 30 gallon system and I will be using Stout Brew tanks as well. However it should be a fun project.

walte1fr said:

I'm thinking of a huge winter project to bring my brewery inside which would mean switching to electric. I'm pricing out everythong trying to make sure I get the best deal. Has anyone bought heating elements off ebay? I'm finding 5500w elements for like $16 instead of 35 for one at an online ebrew store.
My plan is to build a bcs 462 panel so I can control ferm chamber, run 2 pumps, and 2 heating elements plus a mixer in my MLT.
Also I haven't decided if I want to go with a rims tube or herms. Any advice on any of this would be greatlt helpful.
If not I'll just stick with my LP and use the bcs to control valves on that, but I'm thinking I want it in my basement like the guy in novembers byo article that has it in a room behind his taps. I currently am brewing in an 8x10 shed and its tough to get 15 gallons of wort to my basement to the fermenters.
Just looking for a little discussion and advice on what parts I can get cheap and what I need to spend the money on.

Click to expand...

I made the switch 2 years ago and my biggest issue was steam condensing on everything. I bought all the right exhaust fans that were supposed to work and I could not understand what was going on until about a year ago my wife came down the basement stairs and "wosh" the vents started working the way they were supposed to, then they slowed down when she went back upstairs and closed the door. The little windows around the basement were sealed shut by someone living in the house before me and I freed one up. Now I open the window when I brew and everything is fine.

That's kind of funny. Thanks fort he advice I'll look into that. I would love to get bigger kettles but I think all I have to work with right now are keggles. Maybe I can just get a bigger boil kettle and run 20 gallon boils. Hmmm ideas floating around