Breaking in my new rig tomorrow!

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Coohang

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OK everyone…tomorrow is the big day – first all grain…

I thought that I would take some time to provide an overview of my system. I have been brewing extracts for about 8 or 9 years (1 or 2 partial mashes). I have been getting more serious over the past 2 years. I have robbed ideas from those on this site (thank you!) and I have always enjoyed reading about someone else’s rig – so I figured it is my time to return the favor….

I struggled for a few months about building a single tier rig (no weld build via slotted angle iron, purchase something “commercially”, or get a local welder to construct the frame and then do everything else myself). Well – since I am a DIY’r I wanted to go as cheap as possible. However, I found a guy in the Philly/NJ area via craigslist – He makes stands and will weld BKs/MLTs/HLTs. His price was reasonable and the speed at which he would complete the job compared to me was a “no brainer”. If interested – PM me and I will fwd the contact info (not sure how much business he wants). Below is what I purchased from him:

Single tier stand with 3 – 6 inch banjo style burners/ fully plumbed for LP
HLT/MLT/BK – all with welded ports, temp gauges, sight glasses, valves, etc.

Some other points about the system:

To the stand, I added 2 SS chugger pumps. I know that I have read mixed reviews – but I thought these pumps were awesome during my water test. Not an issue at all priming, very quiet, and they move the water fast. I also installed “wet area” switches to control each pump (and a GCFI).

Plumbing – I am using ½ inch ID high temp silicon tubing with cam lock QDs and ss street elbows (as recommended by BobbyNJ). I did not grind the threads off of the street elbows. It did not leak during water test – I hope it doesn’t cause a problem down the road. We will see….

To the HLT – I added a copper coil for HERMs – it is about 25 ft of 3/8 inch copper tubing. I sure hope its long enough. Who doesn’t worry about if his pipe is long enough?

To the BK – I added a side pick-up tube in the bottom and a recirculation arm for pump assisted whirlpool. My only concern is the amount of wort that will be left behind after transferring to fermenter. Water test resulted in 0.75 gallons remaining. I use hop pellets. Plan to whirlpool during cooling with an immersion chiller (50 ft of ½ inch copper coil that I made), remove the IC after desired temp, whirlpool for an additional 5 min, and then let wort settle for 15 – 20 min.

I am taking the afternoon off tomorrow to brew a 10 gallon batch of a simple nut brown (all grain kit from NB)…I will post updates when I can…..

15 lbs English Maris Otter
0.5 lbs English Chocolate Malt
0.5 lbs Briess Caramel 120
0.5 lbs Belgian Biscuit
0.5 lbs Briess Special Roast

Sacch’ Rest – 154 for 60 min
Mashout – 170 for 10 min
Sparge at 170

2 oz. Fuggle @ 60 min
Wyeast 1945 NB Neobritannia (yeast starter stirring…)

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I really like what you've done with the brew system. Congrats on getting her complete. Anxious to hear how the brew day goes.
 
All is going well! HERMS keeping the temp locked in at 154. Sparge starts in 15 minutes.

I feel like I am all thumbs on this first run - but it's better than working today!
 
Finished about an hour ago - wow cleanup sucks! OG was 1.042 instead of 1.044 - I won't complain about that. I ended with 11 gallons vs the targeted 10. Collecting data helps dial it in :)....
 
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