Browntown Brew Rig

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cdbrown

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Sep 30, 2009
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Hi folks,

Following a number of great threads I thought I might as well put my ideas and plans on here for comment/criticism/wonderful praise.

Excuse the metric but being Aussie I have little grasp on imperial measures

I've done quite a few brews using the old set up of two 20L pots which are used as the HLT and kettle, mashing in a rectangular 55L esky (cooler) which was lined with swiss voile material instead of a manifold or false bottom. Having to drain the mash and split it between two pots and then sitting one on the bbq the other on a 3-ring burner. Then syphoning to a cube for no chill was a lot of work and had inconsistent results (mainly due to me trying to rush). So now I'm in a new place with enough space to have a rig it's time to get something proper.

Plan is for a single tier, 3 vessel system with HERMS to be able to do single (20L) and double batches (40L). I've got three 50L kegs which I'll chop and some square hollow section which will be welded for the frame.

HLT - electric element for heating controlled by this with the help of a pt100 probe and SSR. Element size hasn't been finalised as I'm waiting to find out adding 15A circuits in the shed. Will either be 2.4kW or 3.2kW.

MLT - 12" false bottom, recirc through HERMS with an adjustable mash return (probably a 4 spout return).

HERMS - 7.6L pot with butchered kettle element controlled by this with the help of a pt100 probe and SSR. 12.7mm OD copper tube coiled and as much length as I can fit in there.

Keggle - 3-ring burner with adjustable MP reg - manual control. Not sure if I want to go for a false bottom or a bent pick up to the side and whirlpool. Bent pick up is much cheaper.

Pumping - march pump. Single head pump will be batch sparge only, but if I go for the dual head I could fly sparge. Still waiting to find out the difference in price from a local supplier and that will most likely be a deciding factor.

Still thinking about the valving arrangement to work out how many valves I'll need to buy - especially for the manifold around the inlet and outlet of the pump.

Will post pics as and when things happen - unfortunately time is a problem (stupid work takes up too much time).

Cheers
-cdbrown
 
Recieved the first package from auberins yesterday. PID, 2xSSRs and a heatsink. Man the heatsink is huge. Very impressed with the turn around on the goods - ordered it on Thursday last week and made it's way from the US to Aus to arrive at my door in 7 days. Can't seem to buy locally off the net and get goods shipped in that time. Here's the pics
DSC_0007001.jpg

DSC_0008001.jpg

They even put down that it was a gift valued at $11 to clear customs. Hopefully the other package arrives today with the ramp/soak PID and the PT100 probes.

Cheers
-cdbrown
 
A little update - the 2nd package from Auberins arrived last night. Opened it up to find the PID, heat sink and the 2 PT100 temp probes. Didn't realise how thick the probes are.
DSC_0014.jpg


Will be looking around for a cabinet to mount all this in along with some switches. The plan of the dual head pump has come to an end following advice from March Manufacturing that they aren't suitable for food at temperature. So a single pump is the way forward allowing for an additional pump later on if needed. Will get a sketch up shortly of the flow scheme and valving arrangment.

Purchased 2 coils of 12.7mm OD annealed copper pipe (6m), a variety of fittings, a soldering torch and solder. Picking up a 7.6L pot later in the week and will then start on coiling the pipe trying to get as much in the pot as possible. Will be trying to do a double coiled pipe having the internal pipe at a tight diameter and the outer pipe slighlty bigger. Might not be feasible though - all depends on the diameter of the pot. Need to get some flux and emery cloth to clean the pipe and also check the solder doesn't contain lead.

Cheers
-cdbrown
 

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