cabot
Well-Known Member
So I've been thinking over the past few weeks that I'd really like to build myself a single tier electric brewery. I have a spare room in my basement that would be perfectly sized for this.
My thoughts:
I will use a converted keg for my HLT and for my BK. I would like to continue using my converted 10 gal cooler for my mashtun.
Ideally, I would heat the HLT and the BK with electric elements. The mashtun shouldn't need any heating. I'll be batch sparging exclusively.
My questions:
What do you guys think of this? Does it make sense? I think a HERMS or RIMS is overkill for me right now...but I believe if I build this, it could be converted down the road to a HERMS if I wanted.
I'd like to have 2 pumps and solenoid valves, allowing me to run the contraption from a brewing control panel. The line for my outside water spigot runs through the ceiling of this room, so I figured I could install another valve and run a hose with a QD on it and attach the QD to my brewrig and have a ready water supply.
Ideally my control panel would show me the temps of the HLT and the MT, and I'd also like to devise a way for it to correctly show me the volume of liquid in each of the 3 vessels.
I don't know if this is possible or not, but i'd also like to be able to set a temp on my panel for the HLT and have the electric element automatically ramp it to that temp and then maintain.
Other than that, I would also need to install some type of chiller onto the rig so I could drain from my BK through a chiller, to my fermenter. I live in Maine and my ground water is cold cold cold, if this makes any difference.
As you can see these are very rough thoughts, I'm just in the exploration stages of this. I know a lot of you out there have a lot of experience, and a lot of great ideas, and I'd love to hear them.
My thoughts:
I will use a converted keg for my HLT and for my BK. I would like to continue using my converted 10 gal cooler for my mashtun.
Ideally, I would heat the HLT and the BK with electric elements. The mashtun shouldn't need any heating. I'll be batch sparging exclusively.
My questions:
What do you guys think of this? Does it make sense? I think a HERMS or RIMS is overkill for me right now...but I believe if I build this, it could be converted down the road to a HERMS if I wanted.
I'd like to have 2 pumps and solenoid valves, allowing me to run the contraption from a brewing control panel. The line for my outside water spigot runs through the ceiling of this room, so I figured I could install another valve and run a hose with a QD on it and attach the QD to my brewrig and have a ready water supply.
Ideally my control panel would show me the temps of the HLT and the MT, and I'd also like to devise a way for it to correctly show me the volume of liquid in each of the 3 vessels.
I don't know if this is possible or not, but i'd also like to be able to set a temp on my panel for the HLT and have the electric element automatically ramp it to that temp and then maintain.
Other than that, I would also need to install some type of chiller onto the rig so I could drain from my BK through a chiller, to my fermenter. I live in Maine and my ground water is cold cold cold, if this makes any difference.
As you can see these are very rough thoughts, I'm just in the exploration stages of this. I know a lot of you out there have a lot of experience, and a lot of great ideas, and I'd love to hear them.