New System: BCS HERMS

Here's my new system: The O.K. Combrewter (Over Kill). It's a BCS, three pump system that was inspired largely by Jon W.'s BCS system.



The stand is a little different than your normal brew stand. The structural component of the stand has a L profile rather than a square/rectangular profile.



I mounted some aluminum extrusion to the stand and then the Blichmann modular burners to to the extrusion. It's pretty damn sturdy.



I then fabricated some square stainless tubing to mount to the extrusion and hang out in front of the burners. I piped all the natural gas and electrical through the tubing.



The kettles are from Stout Tanks and Kettles and incorporate Stout's HERMs option.



The brew kettle has a tangential inlet and concave bottom for whirlpooling. Since I'm already whirlpooling, I installed a dedicated immersion chiller.



I brewed on it this weekend and it went about as good as I could have reasonably expected. Here's a picture of me and my buddy with two outrageously overfilled carboys:

think i'll go out to the garage, dismantle mine, and cry myself to sleep . VERY nice!!!!

Holy crap. That is a thing of beauty!
Forgive the uninformed, but what are the blue items?
How long is a brew day from start to clean for you?
How many brew sessions would you get out of a propane tank?

It's so... shiny.

I have been thinking about getting the stout 15 gallon package next year when they become available, what do you think of their stuff? Would you go that route again?

Chromados

Damn, I love stout tanks and kettle so much. Triclover IS SO SHINEY

The eballvalves are impressive as well. The RIMS looks like it stretches all the way across the bottom of the stand? Is it really that big? I was comparing BrewersHardware's RIMS module and Stout Tanks RIMS, does stout tanks offer rims input and output to Male NPT or is it hose barb only?
How did you mount the RIMS?

Very nice!

Very nice. Just curious, how much time does one spend cleaning all of this equipment after a brew session?

I spend about 45 minutes in clean up. Hot PBW wash with Hot rinse

Thundercougarfalconbird said:

[...]The RIMS looks like it stretches all the way across the bottom of the stand? Is it really that big?[...]

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There's no RIMS on that system as it's a HERMS design...

Cheers!

Nice Setup guys!

HitTheTwit said:

what are the blue items?
How long is a brew day from start to clean for you?
How many brew sessions would you get out of a propane tank?

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The blue boxes are electronic ball valves. I control the flow of wort from the computer via the BCS.

The first run was 7 hours. I should have it down to 6 after a few more brews.

It's natural gas, so no more running to the store for propane!

chromados said:

I have been thinking about getting the stout 15 gallon package next year when they become available, what do you think of their stuff? Would you go that route again?

Click to expand...

I like them so far. They made sense for me because the company could accomodate all my modifications. The pots cost more than Blichmann kettles but after you account for all the modifications (which were very inexpensive) and options (i.e. HERMS, whirlpool, included false bottoms, etc.), it's cheaper. The obvious downside is that they take 4 months to receive after ordering. Of course, if you luck out and find a set in stock, score!

Thundercougarfalconbird said:

How did you mount the RIMS?

Click to expand...

They look like RIMS tubes but their just Brewer's Hardware's tri-clover piping.

Seven said:

Just curious, how much time does one spend cleaning all of this equipment after a brew session?

Click to expand...

I typically start cleaning well before the boil is over but I usually spend 1/2 hour to an hour of cleaning after the carboys are down. I run a clean in place program so that BCS pushes my cleaning solution in and out of the pots and through the piping. There's still a good amount hand cleaning but it's not quite labor intensive as my previous system. For the mash tun and dirty kettle I just lean pots over the back bar of the stand and hose out the mess. One thing that impressed me with was how well the wort and other liquids were contained in the vessels. My floor was nearly spotless when I was done.

Very nice setup!!!

Very nice setup. Whats the diameter (OD) of the coil. Would that coil fit in a Corny keg diameter wise?

Wow, sweet setup!

Gorgeous!

rockytoptim said:

Whats the diameter (OD) of the coil. Would that coil fit in a Corny keg diameter wise?

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OD of the coil tubing roughly measure 1/4". The OD of the coil itself is 6.5". If you could find some way to get it through the opening on a corny, it would fit inside.

kevmo said:

OD of the coil tubing roughly measure 1/4". The OD of the coil itself is 6.5". If you could find some way to get it through the opening on a corny, it would fit inside.

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Thanks for the coil size. Thats what I needed to know. I am thinking about making small HERMS vessel out of a corny. I would cut the top off of it. I am currently using a 2 gall igloo cooler my HERMS vessel with copper coil but would like to go to SS coil.

Interesting design. What size aluminum extrusions are needed to mount the top tier burners? I'm guessing you had a top tier at some point in order to get the mounting arms for the burners. Or, is there a source of them that I don't know about? Out of curiosity, what did you not like about the top tier that led you to this? I only ask because I'm going through a buy vs. build debate with myself at the moment. I like that you retained the ability to adjust the height of the burners with this design which would be nice if you were setup with different sized kettles.

armageddon said:

Interesting design. What size aluminum extrusions are needed to mount the top tier burners? I'm guessing you had a top tier at some point in order to get the mounting arms for the burners. Or, is there a source of them that I don't know about? Out of curiosity, what did you not like about the top tier that led you to this? I only ask because I'm going through a buy vs. build debate with myself at the moment. I like that you retained the ability to adjust the height of the burners with this design which would be nice if you were setup with different sized kettles.

Click to expand...

Here is the exact extrusion I bought. The channel is slightly narrower than the top tier extrusion so the top tier mounting bar bolts are slightly too wide. I went with these. I was a little concern about the load at first but after I got it all together, it is amazingly strong.

I was originally going to have the mounting burner sleeves fabricated but I eventually decided that the fabrication costs would have been a good percentage of the cost of the top tier set up. I also was a little squeamish about fabricating such a crucial-load-baring part. I ended up getting the whole thing and I now use the top tier extrusion and other hardware for a little grain weighing and milling station. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably buy the top tier and cut the existing extrusion. I would have lost 6 inches in adjustment height but my burners are currently below that threshold now. As far as I know, Blichmann will not piece out any portion of the top tier.

I just prefer single tier designs. Less lifting and easier to get the type of automation I wanted.

And my kettles are in fact different heights, so the ability to adjust the height is helpful. I'm also really tall and I occasionally brew with vertically challenged friends, so it's nice to be able to adjust accordingly.

One thing I hadn't anticipated was how easy the sculpture is to break down. I could easily break it down, slap on some propane orifices and take it to a brew out.

Awesome. What Valves did you use?

TipsyParrot0265 said:

Awesome. What Valves did you use?

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These.

My jaw just hit the floor.

AWESOME SYSYEM!!! I'm designing and collecting parts for mine, may steal some of your ideas.Any Pic's of the control box? what relays did you use for the valves?

very impressive

TipsyParrot0265 said:

Any Pic's of the control box? what relays did you use for the valves?

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The box is not as organized as I would like. I'm going to rerwire it soon.

I picked up the two relay boards (solenoids and e-valves) and control box off ebay. The pumps are driven by the solid state relays from ecc.

Thanks, relays have been a sticking point for me. I'm doing a gas HLT, Boil, and a weird style E-HERMS for the Mash. The herms coil will be in a seperate sealed tube (like a very large rims) in a glycol solution. 8 valves( I messed up and bought 220v), bcs460, I'm even going to try the DIY peralastic pump, with a march for the hlt.

*falls out of chair*
Excellent work!

Like Radiohead much?

TipsyParrot0265 said:

Thanks, relays have been a sticking point for me. I'm doing a gas HLT, Boil, and a weird style E-HERMS for the Mash. The herms coil will be in a seperate sealed tube (like a very large rims) in a glycol solution. 8 valves( I messed up and bought 220v), bcs460, I'm even going to try the DIY peralastic pump, with a march for the hlt.

Click to expand...

Sounds cool. Be sure to post pics when you get it together. If you end up going with those relay boards, send me a PM if you can't figure them out. It took me forever to get them wired right.

EarthBound said:

Like Radiohead much?

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My wife insisted that The Bends be playing when our first child was born. She was in labor for 32 hours. Must have listened to the whole album 7 times in that time.

kevmo said:

My wife insisted that The Bends be playing when our first child was born. She was in labor for 32 hours. Must have listened to the whole album 7 times in that time.

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I thought I was a huge Radiohead fan, but man that is epic!

Wow, that is one of the coolest setups I've seen. You better patent this before Blichmann steals it to replace the Top Tier, lol! If you don't mind me asking, what was total cost of the stand?

Great looking system.....and I thought mine was shiny!

One word. Wow.

kevmo said:

These.

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In respect to the motorized ball valves, I also use the ones above.

I however didn't purchase them from oscsys, I emailed the manufacturer in china and got them direct.

From memory I only bought 6 of them and they were worth about $20 each. The kicker is shipping so if you buy a bunch of them then the price goes way down. But even with buying only 6, I ended up paying about $30 each

If anyone is interested, my contact was Amy at: [email protected]

On a side note: sweet system

Although this is an old thread I hope to get some valuable information on this build from you. I have been kicking around the idea of using 80/20 t-slotted aluminum to build a brew stand and like this design.

Would you happen to have a sketch with dimensions and materials used for the stand?

How difficult was it to get the tower mounts for the burners? I already have floor burners.

How difficult was it to mount the burner to the 90mm extrusion? Was it the dimension or the bolts?

Thanks

Todd

I am looking to automate my system with motorized ball valves. I have not been able to find valves like yours that have the tri clamp fitting. Where did you get them?

kevmo said:

Here's my new system: The O.K. Combrewter (Over Kill). It's a BCS, three pump system that was inspired largely by Jon W.'s BCS system.

The stand is a little different than your normal brew stand. The structural component of the stand has a L profile rather than a square/rectangular profile.

I mounted some aluminum extrusion to the stand and then the Blichmann modular burners to to the extrusion. It's pretty damn sturdy.

I then fabricated some square stainless tubing to mount to the extrusion and hang out in front of the burners. I piped all the natural gas and electrical through the tubing.

The kettles are from Stout Tanks and Kettles and incorporate Stout's HERMs option.

The brew kettle has a tangential inlet and concave bottom for whirlpooling. Since I'm already whirlpooling, I installed a dedicated immersion chiller.

I brewed on it this weekend and it went about as good as I could have reasonably expected. Here's a picture of me and my buddy with two outrageously overfilled carboys:

Click to expand...

Looks like they are standard NPT female ball valves, and they have threaded in male NPT to triclamp end fittings

Beautiful!