2 tier electric brewery

[sflegacy]

I built this electric brew setup about a year ago and just never got around to posting pics or info about it. Lurking around on this website proved to be really helpful during my build so I thought I'd try and give back.

I built the stand from scratch and painted it with that rustoleum hammered finish paint.

The electrical enclosure is based heavily on Kal's design. I used the enclosure that Auber sells with the precut squares for the PID's. Most people say that this enclosure is too small but it seemed to work out fine for me.

The mash tun is a 20 gallon with bottom outlet from Stout tanks. The boil kettle is also from Stout and is the 15 gallon model with the dish bottom and electrical element fitting. The Hlt is a 9 gallon kettle that was my old boil kettle. I modified this with an electrical element and a sight glass from morebeer.

The Rims tube, all of the tri clamps, gaskets, Chugger pump and many of the valves are from Brewers Hardware.

I installed an exhaust fan that exhausts out of a basement window that I open up during the boil. I found that just having the aluminum vent over the boil kettle works great and pulls out pretty much all of the steam. It looks kind of unfinished but it works great. Someday I might fancy it up a bit.

Anyway I've attached a few pics of the finished product. If anybody has any specific questions I will try my best to help out. It's been so long since I finished it that I'm not in the "build zone" anymore, so my memory might be a bit fuzzy on some things!

Uploaded with ImageShack.com
Uploaded with ImageShack.com
Uploaded with ImageShack.com
Uploaded with ImageShack.com

 

[Pie_Man]

Very nice!

 

[ReuFroman]

Looks great! How have the brews been?

 

[brewbama]

That's a nice brew station!

 

[sflegacy]

Thanks guys! The brews have all turned out pretty decent. It's nice to really be able to dial in a recipe and duplicate it. I mostly do 5 gallon batches but the 10 gallon capacity is great if a friend wants to come over and brew. I average about two brew days per month, although lately I've been brewing more than that. The system has worked great and hasn't had any issues in the past year. I don't think I would change anything about it.

 

[goodmojo]

Impressive, most impressive

 

[nm_johnson]

That is beautiful! Any idea how much $$$ all in it took? I'm just beginning to budget an electric brewery all out and trying to get as much info as possible!

 

[nwsportsman]

Very nice. Its close to how i want to build my setup.

Your rims tube, can I see a pic on how your holding the element with a TC clamp?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[sflegacy]

That is beautiful! Any idea how much $$$ all in it took? I'm just beginning to budget an electric brewery all out and trying to get as much info as possible!

I didn't really keep track of costs during the build but just kind of adding it up in my head I probably have somewhere in the neighborhood of $3500-$4000 into it. Sorry I don't have more accurate numbers.

 

[sflegacy]

Very nice. Its close to how i want to build my setup.

Your rims tube, can I see a pic on how your holding the element with a TC clamp?

Thanks for sharing.

Here is a link to the element adapter I used to connect the element to the rims tube http://www.brewershardware.com/TC15F10NPSCOV.html

I also used the same adapter for the brew kettle element. Hope that helps!

 

[kal]

Looks good!

For the exhaust you may want to just at a minimum put a board or something with a round hole at the end of the flex hose just to avoid hitting that rough hose with your hand when you're working in the kettle - don't want to cut yourself by accident as those flex hoses can sometimes have sharp edges!

Kal

 

[airbalancer]

Very nice.
What kind of temp controllers did you use? I've been looking for some that have a resolution of .1 F.

 

[sflegacy]

Looks good!

For the exhaust you may want to just at a minimum put a board or something with a round hole at the end of the flex hose just to avoid hitting that rough hose with your hand when you're working in the kettle - don't want to cut yourself by accident as those flex hoses can sometimes have sharp edges!

Kal

Funny you should mention that. I've cut my hand a couple times on that vent. I think I may have invented a new style of beer called "blood stout". I suppose I should build some type of hood this winter! Thanks for the compliment by the way and also for providing a step by step guide to electric brewing that regular guys can understand!

 

[sflegacy]

Very nice.
What kind of temp controllers did you use? I've been looking for some that have a resolution of .1 F.

Thanks! I use this controller for the RIMS http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=239

And this controller for the HLT and BK http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=106

Not sure what PID's you use but I had to go into the menu to change the resolution. Maybe yours also have this option.

 

[ReuFroman]

Thanks! I use this controller for the RIMS http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=239 And this controller for the HLT and BK http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=106 Not sure what PID's you use but I had to go into the menu to change the resolution. Maybe yours also have this option.

I recently had the same question. I decided on the timer combo. You can use the functions as just a PID or a timer or both. I was going to get 3 PID and a timer from aub. But it seems to make the most sense for the limited space in my panel.

 

[sflegacy]

I recently had the same question. I decided on the timer combo. You can use the functions as just a PID or a timer or both. I was going to get 3 PID and a timer from aub. But it seems to make the most sense for the limited space in my panel.

I really only use the timer function for the mash and sparge times. It is set to begin it's countdown once the set temperature is reached. You need to enter the menu to change the timer so it functions as a stand alone timer. It's just enough of a pain to change the timer setting that I just use my cell phone for the boil timer.