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iijakii

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So I recently sold my 3v HERMS setup. Might be moving soon, plus I got sick of cleaning it. Decided to build a super basic BIAB rig but that quickly snowballed. The goal for this new iteration (gotta be my 5th by now... hi my name is iijakii and I'm a HB rigaholic) is purely to have the easiest system to clean.

So my setup is BIAB with a pulley system cuz weak and lazy. No pumps, no recirculating. I'm going to insulate the pot well and hopefully see no issues regarding mash temp loss, but we'll see. I have an idea of making an insulated 3-sided box and putting that over the pot with a spare heat lamp I have. Not sure if that's needed, but that'll help keep the pot from shedding too much.

Oh, I also bought two conicals and am going back to kegging. My goal with the conicals is because I hate cleaning carboys, and I can drain them straight into the keg.

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Currently building a table for them. Top is chalkboard paint so I can write what's in them or draw penis jokes or what not:

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This was before I opened it up more, but you have the idea of what it'll look like. And yes, I suck at woodworking like you wouldn't believe. Also making tables solely with a jigsaw is tough :drunk:

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Wrapping the conicals in heat tape and hose which I'll pump a glycol solution through, then insulation.

Tore down an AC unit to use for the glycol chiller:

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Making a box with a few STC1000s to control it all.

Back when I used to keg I absolutely hated having 10+ feet of beer line to balance my system, having to clean it, etc. I preferred bottling over that nonsense and having my first pour be foam and just sitting in the lines etc.

So I went with the Perlick 650SS flow controls and the post adapters from ChiCompany:

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And I gotta say -- it works AMAZINGLY well. I can adjust it all the way down to no foam if I want to. Easy to dial in to perfect head.

This picture is not the greatest example as the keg was only two days old and not totally carbed yet, and the dial was a tad high, but just to show you I can pour a beer that isn't pure foam:

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So for the panel I've decided to go a different route as well. Had the idea to mount everything on the same plane and not worry about moving wires coming loose or having to make door-runs etc. Then I got the idea to make it a bit rugged...

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Ordered a kettle from ColoradoBrewing with welded TC port for the element so that'll be easy to clean as well. Won't receive that in until next week (last part I'm waiting on), but the Hot Pod from Bobby is pretty spiffy as well.

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Still a lot of work to do but I'm starting to get excited about what to brew next...
 
if you want easy, you can just go to these things called liquor stores.

you can exchange money for kegs full of beer.

;)
 
I think we're similar. I enjoy the process of making the beer, and tinkering with my set up, more than actually drinking the beer I make.

Looking forward to seeing the final product!
 
Yep the biggest draw back of the 3 vessel system. I made myself a little 2gal eBIAB because I only need 5 -10gal of beer a few times a year.Things I hate: getting any drunker, fatter, stupider, and cleaning.

Unless you make in clean in place :) I just have to clean the boil kettle and mash tun.. all my lines, pumps rims and chiller are cleaned by running hot water through immediately after brewing and a pbw rinse every now and again.
no more effort for me really than the effort of cleaning out a bag and kettle..
 
I've thought more than once how to make CIP work for me. But considering I just don't drink that much anymore, it's a lot easier to pull out the mini batch stuff.
I have to break down my equipment for storage, if I had a dedicated space where I could install a convenient sink cleaning would be less of a pain. I can't wait till the kids are old enough that I can make them clean it.
 
I've thought more than once how to make CIP work for me. But considering I just don't drink that much anymore, it's a lot easier to pull out the mini batch stuff.
I have to break down my equipment for storage, if I had a dedicated space where I could install a convenient sink cleaning would be less of a pain. I can't wait till the kids are old enough that I can make them clean it.

the funny thing is I dont really drink that much either... I have a lot of friends that drink and a place at a seasonal campground where a lot gets consumed in the summer after I brew all winter...I enjoyed the engineering that went into designing and building my setup as much as the brewing ... But yeah BIAB does make a lot of sense for easy cleanup and use.
 
I definitely didn't design my last system properly in regards to CIP. I wish I had done bottom-draining kettles and hard plumbing with dump valves, that's for sure. But I still found that rinsing, then recirculating PBW, then rinsing again to be way too much of a hassle for me.

I bet I'll be able to clean this new system in the time it'd have taken me to just scoop out my old MT, let alone clean the BK and hosing and pumps etc.
 
I definitely didn't design my last system properly in regards to CIP. I wish I had done bottom-draining kettles and hard plumbing with dump valves, that's for sure. But I still found that rinsing, then recirculating PBW, then rinsing again to be way too much of a hassle for me.

I bet I'll be able to clean this new system in the time it'd have taken me to just scoop out my old MT, let alone clean the BK and hosing and pumps etc.

With all that money invested, why not just spend another $40 on a shopvac like Kal uses to get your grains out of your pot? Screw scooping **** out when you can just vacuum it into a shopvac and dump it into the garbage or yard debris.
 
No real answer to that, heh. Would have been easier in that regard, but still doesn't eliminate a bunch of cleaning and rinsing.
 
Nice job! I like those conicals too. Seems like an awesome price! I got a small shop vac just for the mash tun. I live in a rural part of my county and I'll feed the spent grain to my chickens! It also makes excellent compost for the veggie garden.

John
 
Didnt really do anything on it last week at all, so not much progress. Finished the crappy conical table and got the chiller panel mostly finished. Need to install a GFCI breaker, get glycol, wrap the conicals in the hose and then insulate. Think that's about it. Can brew next weekend if I get it all sorted out. Also ordered a Cereal Killer today. Not sure if I'll mount that somehow and drive it, or just hand-crank like a pleb. We'll see how hard it is to mill, I've never hand-turned one before. Oh, got the pot in from CO.Brew. Happy with it, welds are good. I can see a couple chips on the inside wall next to the welds they probably hit grinding them smooth, but they're minor.

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With all that money invested, why not just spend another $40 on a shopvac like Kal uses to get your grains out of your pot? Screw scooping **** out when you can just vacuum it into a shopvac and dump it into the garbage or yard debris.

I never heard of using a shopvac. At first I thought it was a good idea but isn't easier to just dump the grains right from the tun? I hate scooping grains but if I used a shopvac I'd have to clean the mash tun and the shopvac when I was done. I must be missing something. :confused:
 
I never heard of using a shopvac. At first I thought it was a good idea but isn't easier to just dump the grains right from the tun? I hate scooping grains but if I used a shopvac I'd have to clean the mash tun and the shopvac when I was done. I must be missing something. :confused:

Eh, shopvacs dont really need to be too clean, can just pop the top off and a 5sec rinse is fine.

When youre dealing with larger pots, or trying to do a CIP system, the shopvac is easier than lugging around a large heavy pot with wires running out of it etc.
 
Eh, shopvacs dont really need to be too clean, can just pop the top off and a 5sec rinse is fine.

When youre dealing with larger pots, or trying to do a CIP system, the shopvac is easier than lugging around a large heavy pot with wires running out of it etc.

Oh, I get it now. I'm still working with parts that aren't really connected and don't have wires and such hanging off. That makes sense now.
 
I never heard of using a shopvac. At first I thought it was a good idea but isn't easier to just dump the grains right from the tun? I hate scooping grains but if I used a shopvac I'd have to clean the mash tun and the shopvac when I was done. I must be missing something. :confused:

I have no plans trying to lug a giant 20 gallon pot plus false bottom plus like 30-40lb of wet grain off my table...Shopvac it out, clean the kettle, dump the grains and give the shopvac a quick hose out..all done. Yes its an extra thing to clean but it takes an extra 30 seconds to hose out the shopvac and requires a lot less manual labor of heavy things :)
 
I have one of those shop vac heads that clips on a bucket. Makes it very easy to dump and I just suck up some water to clean the vac head and bucket. Super Easy[emoji106]
 
Alright, wired up the control panel for the fermenters, gorram that was tough. Regret not buying a larger panel with a hinged door. Will probably wind up with some loose connections since I had to smoosh the door a bit to get it on. Working fine for now.

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Midway point of the controllers being wired up, just needed to get the loads to the outlets.

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Middle controller's a lot more dim. Wires are secure on it, so probably just an LED defect. Not going to do anything about it unless it starts acting up, though.

Also wrapped one of the conicals in the layflat hose, insulated it and then tested it all. The layflat and cheap aquarium pump seems to work pretty well, decent flow. I get my glycol this coming week and will do a cooling test.
 
How do you keep the vac hosefrom getting all moldy?

I leave the valve open on my mash tun to drain it so its not as heavy (I brew on a second floor)....even with the 10 gallon brews I'm making it just seems easier... Aren't you primarily only brewing 5 gallons at a time? And I thought you BIAB? It seems the vacuum step would be more work and hassle for this than worth? You still have a heavy vac to move and dump?
Curious what is the temp probes in the Mash tun for? I only have 2 camlocks to disconnect my tun sfrom my setup to take outside and dump/ rinse
 
Alright, wired up the control panel for the fermenters, gorram that was tough. Regret not buying a larger panel with a hinged door. Will probably wind up with some loose connections since I had to smoosh the door a bit to get it on. Working fine for now.

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Midway point of the controllers being wired up, just needed to get the loads to the outlets.

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Middle controller's a lot more dim. Wires are secure on it, so probably just an LED defect. Not going to do anything about it unless it starts acting up, though.

Also wrapped one of the conicals in the layflat hose, insulated it and then tested it all. The layflat and cheap aquarium pump seems to work pretty well, decent flow. I get my glycol this coming week and will do a cooling test.
Is that the same 12x12 enclosure I used? It seems smaller? I agree a hinged door would be better. You can also increase the flow of your pump if your concerned by raising the height of your chiller..
 
How do you keep the vac hosefrom getting all moldy?

I leave the valve open on my mash tun to drain it so its not as heavy (I brew on a second floor)....even with the 10 gallon brews I'm making it just seems easier... Aren't you primarily only brewing 5 gallons at a time? And I thought you BIAB? It seems the vacuum step would be more work and hassle for this than worth? You still have a heavy vac to move and dump?
Curious what is the temp probes in the Mash tun for? I only have 2 camlocks to disconnect my tun sfrom my setup to take outside and dump/ rinse

Is this directed at me? I'm not going to use a wetvac, that was musings on easier cleaning of MT. My old setup was 3v HERMS. This will be BIAB, ya. Old setup had a probe in the mash just to monitor effectiveness of the heat exchanger etc.
 
Testing the glycol chiller tonight. It dropped the temps of my 8 or 9 gal bath by 25 degrees very quickly. Then the AC unit turned off. Compressor and fan motor are quite hot to touch. Also started whining a bit. Hopefully there's a thermal cutoff and I didn't kill the AC unit. Was a $25 Craigslist special though at least. Once the reservoir is cold it wont take long cycles so as long as it's not dead I'm not too worried about it working out...
 
Testing the glycol chiller tonight. It dropped the temps of my 8 or 9 gal bath by 25 degrees very quickly. Then the AC unit turned off. Compressor and fan motor are quite hot to touch. Also started whining a bit. Hopefully there's a thermal cutoff and I didn't kill the AC unit. Was a $25 Craigslist special though at least. Once the reservoir is cold it wont take long cycles so as long as it's not dead I'm not too worried about it working out...

You didn't tip the air conditioner compressor on end did you? It has to operate in it intended orientation (and should be left in that position for 24hrs prior to using it) or it can cause the compressor to seize up.
 
I did try to move it today, but it wasn't on end at all. Tilted, though, sure. Perhaps I'll let it sit overnight. I was going to test it soon once cool.
 
Just plugged it in and the fan and compressor kicked on! Turned it back off though -- will test it again tomorrow in case it's due to the compressor tipping.

One thing of note is every once in awhile when it kicks on the fan motor won't have enough torque to start. If I give it a nudge it'll work fine. Most of the times it's fine though. Wonder if the start-up capacitor is not operating at 100%? We'll see how well it works once everything is working fine. I wonder how long it'll kick on for to maintain the glycol bath, might not even be an issue if the fan doesn't work sometimes if it only stays on a minute or two at a time.
 
The compressor has an internal thermal cutoff but that is probably not what is happening.

Did you do anything to bypass or override the evaporator freeze sensor?

-BD

Yeah, I did override that. And especially with it submerged in the glycol bath right now I don't think it'd be shutting off due to that.

Pretty sure it was just the thermal cutoff. Compressor was really hot. Seems to be fine now.
 
My experience with a modded dehumidifier is the sensor needed to be pulled from the coil, even in the glycol bath, and placed aside else the compressor would cycle on and off which made getting down to layering temp tricky. If it is the compressor thermal switch you may have a problem getting down to low temps in high ambient temp environments.

-BD
 
Subscribed. Interested on how you going to wrap the coils around the fermenter and insulate.
 
Alright, got major work done today... looks like Ill be brewing this coming week.

Replaced AC unit and it's working great now. Also fabricated a good cover for the unit :goat:

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Going to test cooling the conical later tonight.

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Also just fashioned up my space-age super advanced insulator for during the mash.

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Testing it right now as we speak, then will either add another layer if it needs it, and seal the rest of the edges up with tape.

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162F at 12:41. 6 gallons of water in a 15gal pot, so should lose a lot more heat than a mash would. Also need to cut a layer of insulation for the bottom, but that's not included for this test.
 
Alright, at 40 mins in I had lost 7 degrees. I think with an insulated pad for the pot to sit on, taping the gaps in the box, plus actually having decent mass from grains and more volume I'll cut that down to just a couple.

But as a side-bonus, I just threw a reptile heat lamp under the box ontop of the pot's lid. Already had one leftover from old ferm. vessel. Going to let it go another 40 and see.
 
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