Hi, I have been interested in brewing my own beer for a 4-5 years now, and have purchased a number of items to start, carboys, a couple 5-6 gallon kegs, a kit to start brewing with from my local brewstore, even made 2 reverse flow chillers out of spools of copper tubing and garden hoses. I have slowly been collecting things for the day I have the time to devote to this new hobby. One thing that I became very interested in when I went to the 2010 AHA National Homebrewers Conference here in Minneapolis was a system to brew beer with, and I saw on display a Brewmagic VMS350. As I am a gadget geek and an appliance repairman to boot, this system really impressed me, to say the least. I knew it was the bomb, but at $6000+, there was no way I would be able to afford it at this time, though it did get my mind going on a BMO (build my own) version of it. One thing I wasn't too excited about was that it was gas powered. I prefer electrical, and decided that my system was going to be all electric instead of gas.
I have been quite impressed with induction cook-tops for a while now, they are pretty amazing in the kitchen, and I figured I would go this way with my setup, if I could find some at the right price. Well, I ended up coming across one that I think would work out quite well for my system. It is a Thermador CIT151DS, a 15" multi-element, up to 3600 watts. It takes a 20A circuit, but not sure if it draws that much when running, probably around 12-14 at full load. I think that a couple 50A circuits will handle the whole system easily. I ended up purchasing 4 of them at a Very Good price, 3 for the system and one as a spare, just in case.
When I started looking at making my my clone of their system, I went their site to examine how they set theirs up, and one thing I found (that is no longer up on their site) was a dimensioned drawing of the stand. I ended up copying the .jpg to my computer for future reference. I plan on building mine out of 304 or 306 SS tubing, depending on what I can find for a "reasonable" price, as I figure I will need 30-35 linear feet of 1 1/2 or 2" square tubing, and mimicking their design pretty closely. I will have to modify the dimensions slightly to be able to hold the 3 electric heating systems, but overall it will be close. One thing I do plan on doing is adding a 5500W element to each pot to use as needed, to assist with bringing the product up to temp as rapidly as possible, and to help hold the temp if the induction element for some reason can't keep up.
I really appreciate the information available here on the forum, I have seen a number of very cool builds, and it is inspiring me to get off my duff and actually start this project. There is a lot to building a semi-automatic system, and there are times I wonder what I have gotten myself into, but since I have purchased over 1/3 of the materials, it's pretty much too late to turn back now. I still believe I will be $1000's below the VMS350 when I am done, plus I will know it inside and out, not to mention I'll have the satisfaction of knowing it was built right. I know I still have a lot of research to do, (controls, pots, tubing, ventilation, etc, etc) but just wanted to say hi and thanks to all here that have contributed to the critical mass of knowledge. We Newbs greatly appreciate it!
I have been quite impressed with induction cook-tops for a while now, they are pretty amazing in the kitchen, and I figured I would go this way with my setup, if I could find some at the right price. Well, I ended up coming across one that I think would work out quite well for my system. It is a Thermador CIT151DS, a 15" multi-element, up to 3600 watts. It takes a 20A circuit, but not sure if it draws that much when running, probably around 12-14 at full load. I think that a couple 50A circuits will handle the whole system easily. I ended up purchasing 4 of them at a Very Good price, 3 for the system and one as a spare, just in case.
When I started looking at making my my clone of their system, I went their site to examine how they set theirs up, and one thing I found (that is no longer up on their site) was a dimensioned drawing of the stand. I ended up copying the .jpg to my computer for future reference. I plan on building mine out of 304 or 306 SS tubing, depending on what I can find for a "reasonable" price, as I figure I will need 30-35 linear feet of 1 1/2 or 2" square tubing, and mimicking their design pretty closely. I will have to modify the dimensions slightly to be able to hold the 3 electric heating systems, but overall it will be close. One thing I do plan on doing is adding a 5500W element to each pot to use as needed, to assist with bringing the product up to temp as rapidly as possible, and to help hold the temp if the induction element for some reason can't keep up.
I really appreciate the information available here on the forum, I have seen a number of very cool builds, and it is inspiring me to get off my duff and actually start this project. There is a lot to building a semi-automatic system, and there are times I wonder what I have gotten myself into, but since I have purchased over 1/3 of the materials, it's pretty much too late to turn back now. I still believe I will be $1000's below the VMS350 when I am done, plus I will know it inside and out, not to mention I'll have the satisfaction of knowing it was built right. I know I still have a lot of research to do, (controls, pots, tubing, ventilation, etc, etc) but just wanted to say hi and thanks to all here that have contributed to the critical mass of knowledge. We Newbs greatly appreciate it!