jamesj1982
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- Joined
- Dec 18, 2013
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Hello all,
Brewing has become a real PITA in the winter season, so I've started looking into electric brewing. Also driving this consideration is a desire to improve my system. I've gotten by brewing on a single burner with a 6.5 gallon aluminum turkey fryer, a 10 gallon mash tun, a cobbled together wort chiller made from a copper tube, and no pump for too long. Honestly, after seeing some of the absolutely fantastic setups the guys in my homebrew club have, my system is downright embarrassing. I mean, I'm proud of it in the sense that I set it up for dirt cheap with no advice purely on a whim after reading Papazian's Joy of Homebrewing. But I've been brewing for awhile and feel that I've long since outgrown it. After poring over tons of threads here and elsewhere, I decided to make a profile and get involved. I'm in a homebrew club with russki and was really impressed with his eBIAB system (linked to here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/dual-2000w-120v-recirculating-ebiab-build-381476/ ). It's simple, easy to clean and maintain, requires minimal equipment, and it looks like it will provide the best bang for the buck... In short, it's everything I'm looking for.
I've got access to a 4-wire 6AWG outlet rated to 50A at the breaker that I know is properly grounded, as I ran the line and installed the breaker for the stove myself and did the testing then. I've also got about 20 feet of this wire leftover. I'm just going to do a brain dump of what I envision my eBIAB system to look like, and hope that you wonderful kind people will give me advice.
I'm trying to do this on the cheap, so knowledge of where to get parts cheap is always appreciated. Until I finish the house remodel and nab a job, I'll likely be doing this in stages, as I have very little extra spending money. Since I can brew outdoors (though it's pretty inconvenient), the first stage will be getting the kettle finished minus heater elements and I'll continue to brew using propane. Stage 2 will be building the control panel. Stage 3 will be putting in the heating elements, and making the switch to electric control. Knowing the costs of each of these stages will help me plan out a timeline for when I can reasonably expect to finish this (please god, let it be before winter ends).
I've got the kettle mostly worked out, as it's basically the same rig as in Russki's link. It will probably be a converted sanke keg (provided I can track one down; man are they hard to legitimately acquire in Illinois). On that note... If you or someone you know happens to be around the Chicago area (or maybe on the way to Minneapolis, MN or Des Moines, IA from Chicago as these are both places I visit occasionally) and want to sell me one, please let me know. I see them occasionally on craigslist going for $30-$50, but they're always gone by the time I contact the seller. I haven't decided how I'm going to attach the element to the keg. I'd like it to be easily replaceable and was looking at tri-clovers but wasn't sure that would be the easiest/best/cheapest option. I'd also like a sight tee and would like to plug in the sensor for the PID there as well. I'm ok with using a spare piece of silicon tubing for the sight tube and calibrating it myself if it would save money. And of course, I'll need any/all hardware to attach everything to the keg. For the recirculation, I was thinking about putting on a length of copper pipe, pinching the end, and drilling holes throughout the length of it and attaching it to the camlock F port on the kettle lid. I'll also need a pump capable of handling boiling temperatures, as I plan to recirculate and use my awful chiller until I can afford a plate chiller. At least I've already got a thrumometer.
Actually, the panel setup will be fairly similar to Russki's as well, except that I'd prefer to use a single higher powered element, and don't care about pretty switches or LED lit buttons. I'm planning on brewing a max of 10 gallon batches, so a single 5500W element running @ 240V should be sufficient. Then again, I do have access to a lot more power, so perhaps I should use more? Could anyone weigh in about how long it takes to get 10 gallons of water up to mash temp, or how long it takes to get water from mash temp to boiling with a single 5500W element?
I plan to use a spa panel for a gcfi, as I feel it will provide me maximum portability should I ever move. I've decided against an estop and instead would like to go with a DPST switch mostly for simplicity of design and cost. I'd like to use an auberins pid syl-2352 and temperature sensor alongside a 40A SSR. I've read about coils frequently being attached, though I don't really know if I'd need one if I didn't use the fancy LED buttons or indicators (but also haven't googled it yet). Actually, there's a ton of stuff I haven't googled yet, so bear with me. I'd like a flash buzzer and toggle switch wired into the PID. And I don't think I need locking cables/connections, though if you have a compelling argument for it, I'm open to suggestion. I'd also like to have the element plug into the box and be controlled entirely by the PID and the pump manually controlled on the box with a switch/outlet combo. I know P-J has done a ton of wiring schematics, so if you happen to know of anything that looks reasonably similar to what I'm describing, please throw me a link. And if P-J happens to be reading this, if there isn't a close match, I'd be eternally grateful for a circuit schematic.
Once I've got all the details worked out, I'll gladly post a full design with discussion about design considerations and my choices therein. I'll also be posting updates as I go through the process, fully documenting the project in the hopes that someone else will want to follow suit. When I'm totally finished, I plan to document the first brew day I have with it, complete with the successes and failures. And there will also be a spreadsheet of my parts and their costs, and the total cost. I know there's a ton of interest in electric conversion, but most of the people I've talked to have been dissuaded by the initial outlay. I'm hopeful that we can design and build a system on an extreme budget that focuses on automation, ease of use, minimal equipment, and reproduceability.
Brewing has become a real PITA in the winter season, so I've started looking into electric brewing. Also driving this consideration is a desire to improve my system. I've gotten by brewing on a single burner with a 6.5 gallon aluminum turkey fryer, a 10 gallon mash tun, a cobbled together wort chiller made from a copper tube, and no pump for too long. Honestly, after seeing some of the absolutely fantastic setups the guys in my homebrew club have, my system is downright embarrassing. I mean, I'm proud of it in the sense that I set it up for dirt cheap with no advice purely on a whim after reading Papazian's Joy of Homebrewing. But I've been brewing for awhile and feel that I've long since outgrown it. After poring over tons of threads here and elsewhere, I decided to make a profile and get involved. I'm in a homebrew club with russki and was really impressed with his eBIAB system (linked to here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/dual-2000w-120v-recirculating-ebiab-build-381476/ ). It's simple, easy to clean and maintain, requires minimal equipment, and it looks like it will provide the best bang for the buck... In short, it's everything I'm looking for.
I've got access to a 4-wire 6AWG outlet rated to 50A at the breaker that I know is properly grounded, as I ran the line and installed the breaker for the stove myself and did the testing then. I've also got about 20 feet of this wire leftover. I'm just going to do a brain dump of what I envision my eBIAB system to look like, and hope that you wonderful kind people will give me advice.
I'm trying to do this on the cheap, so knowledge of where to get parts cheap is always appreciated. Until I finish the house remodel and nab a job, I'll likely be doing this in stages, as I have very little extra spending money. Since I can brew outdoors (though it's pretty inconvenient), the first stage will be getting the kettle finished minus heater elements and I'll continue to brew using propane. Stage 2 will be building the control panel. Stage 3 will be putting in the heating elements, and making the switch to electric control. Knowing the costs of each of these stages will help me plan out a timeline for when I can reasonably expect to finish this (please god, let it be before winter ends).
I've got the kettle mostly worked out, as it's basically the same rig as in Russki's link. It will probably be a converted sanke keg (provided I can track one down; man are they hard to legitimately acquire in Illinois). On that note... If you or someone you know happens to be around the Chicago area (or maybe on the way to Minneapolis, MN or Des Moines, IA from Chicago as these are both places I visit occasionally) and want to sell me one, please let me know. I see them occasionally on craigslist going for $30-$50, but they're always gone by the time I contact the seller. I haven't decided how I'm going to attach the element to the keg. I'd like it to be easily replaceable and was looking at tri-clovers but wasn't sure that would be the easiest/best/cheapest option. I'd also like a sight tee and would like to plug in the sensor for the PID there as well. I'm ok with using a spare piece of silicon tubing for the sight tube and calibrating it myself if it would save money. And of course, I'll need any/all hardware to attach everything to the keg. For the recirculation, I was thinking about putting on a length of copper pipe, pinching the end, and drilling holes throughout the length of it and attaching it to the camlock F port on the kettle lid. I'll also need a pump capable of handling boiling temperatures, as I plan to recirculate and use my awful chiller until I can afford a plate chiller. At least I've already got a thrumometer.
Actually, the panel setup will be fairly similar to Russki's as well, except that I'd prefer to use a single higher powered element, and don't care about pretty switches or LED lit buttons. I'm planning on brewing a max of 10 gallon batches, so a single 5500W element running @ 240V should be sufficient. Then again, I do have access to a lot more power, so perhaps I should use more? Could anyone weigh in about how long it takes to get 10 gallons of water up to mash temp, or how long it takes to get water from mash temp to boiling with a single 5500W element?
I plan to use a spa panel for a gcfi, as I feel it will provide me maximum portability should I ever move. I've decided against an estop and instead would like to go with a DPST switch mostly for simplicity of design and cost. I'd like to use an auberins pid syl-2352 and temperature sensor alongside a 40A SSR. I've read about coils frequently being attached, though I don't really know if I'd need one if I didn't use the fancy LED buttons or indicators (but also haven't googled it yet). Actually, there's a ton of stuff I haven't googled yet, so bear with me. I'd like a flash buzzer and toggle switch wired into the PID. And I don't think I need locking cables/connections, though if you have a compelling argument for it, I'm open to suggestion. I'd also like to have the element plug into the box and be controlled entirely by the PID and the pump manually controlled on the box with a switch/outlet combo. I know P-J has done a ton of wiring schematics, so if you happen to know of anything that looks reasonably similar to what I'm describing, please throw me a link. And if P-J happens to be reading this, if there isn't a close match, I'd be eternally grateful for a circuit schematic.
Once I've got all the details worked out, I'll gladly post a full design with discussion about design considerations and my choices therein. I'll also be posting updates as I go through the process, fully documenting the project in the hopes that someone else will want to follow suit. When I'm totally finished, I plan to document the first brew day I have with it, complete with the successes and failures. And there will also be a spreadsheet of my parts and their costs, and the total cost. I know there's a ton of interest in electric conversion, but most of the people I've talked to have been dissuaded by the initial outlay. I'm hopeful that we can design and build a system on an extreme budget that focuses on automation, ease of use, minimal equipment, and reproduceability.
. Has anybody out there used both? I'm not really qualified to comment on the scorching of different elements as I have approximately zero empirical evidence. Once I'm actually brewing on it, I'll pass on what I've learned. What my reading thus far suggests is that regardless of element, scorching can be minimized by good circulation and not cranking the PID as high as it can go during the boil. People apparently put the PID into manual mode during the boil and use some percent of the element's capability. You would ideally use the minimum setting while still maintaining a rolling boil. Not exactly what you asked, but it's what I know thus far.
