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
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