First brewday on DITCHES build - lots of beer porn!

[Budzu]

Is contactor another word for relay? Any reason you went that route instead of a high-amp switch like the one you used for a main power disconnect?

-Joe

Yeah, its a mechanical relay. The big disconnect is only turned by hand. It cannot be controlled by a switch. The relays are cheaper and can be switched by the 120v switches.
I have yet to install the remote handle for the disconnect, but it will give me a big red on/off on the outside of the door for the whole system.

 

[Budzu]

Today is the day... first time to test the 24 gallon batch mode. It's our club's big brew day and we're going to run 2 back to back 24 gallon batches and make about 8-9 corny kegs worth of my Clementine Extra Pale for the Southern Brewer's fest in Chattanooga this August. Clementine is a winning fruit beer with a balance of Clementine zest and citrus hop flavor/aroma.

I have only been brewing at night so far on this thing, but today the weather is unseasonably cool (70F highs) and I think it won't be quite such a sauna in there

 

[bendavanza]

Budzu
1) very cool setup and 24g out of keggles is fantastic.
2) I like clementine zest, too! I shave them with a peeler and lay the zest on a screen or paper towels by the window, they are so much more orangey than the stuff in the bag at lhbs. In this pic, clockwise from left, LHBS orange rind, clementine rind, clementine zest. Care to share your recipe?

 

[Budzu]

Hi Ben, noticed you have a nice rig built as well, I like!
I'll definitely share the recipe, its pretty simple.

85% 2-row
10% white wheat
5% crystal 10
152ish mash

23 IBU Summit - 60 minute
3 IBU Cascade - 15 minute
.75 oz summit per 10 gallon - 0 minute
1 oz cascade per 10 gallon - 0 minute
1.050 post-boil

As for the zest, I take only the very outer layer with a zester, no white. I soak this in 2 oz vodka per clementine, for 1-2 weeks or the length of fermentation. I keg and carb, then add zest when its ready for serving. I will add 1/2 oz of vodka solution to the keg at a time, mixing in and tasting as I go until the clementine flavor matches but does not exceed the hop character. I usually end up using a total of 1 clementine or slightly less per 5 gallon keg. This is the important part of the recipe, to balance these flavors correctly. I've won gold with this in fruit beers in BJCP, and I've also gotten comments like "not enough fruit character for style". But regardless it should not be dominated by the clementine. When balanced, this beer is awesome.

 

[Budzu]

The big brew day went great The 24 gallon batch idea is wonderfully effective and I got over 80% efficiency. I will certainly be doing that again.

Almost had a march pump tragedy last night however:

Last night I brewed a 12 gallon batch of a black IPA at 1.075 gravity. Everything was going swimmingly until during the sparge I heard a funny noise then started smelling a burning smell that was different.
I sniffed around then noticed that my wort pump was hot as all hell, and was not rotating. I thought for sure it was dead.. tried starting it up again several times and it just stayed hot. So... to finish the fly sparge I had to put the kettle on the floor and gravity drain from MLT. Then before the boil I hoisted it (full of 14 gallons to almost the brim) back onto the stand and went on with it. I ended up chilling with the sole working pump recirculating wort, and a pond pump recirculating some ice water.
The morning after, I inspected the pump closely. The moving parts were all stuck. I removed the wet assembly and opened it up. The impeller thing (that moves the wort) was lodged to the axle by a tiny paper-thin skin of grain. This had stopped everything from moving in the pump including the motor and magnet.
When it happened, the pump heated up to the point it would blister your skin if you touched it. Now its just fine, once I dislodged the grain bit.

There has to be some way to avoid this! Surely if I had let it run it would've totally burnt up. And it would've been tough to notice. I'll be trying to think of some safeguard. Until then I'll keep rolling with it and pay close attention.

 

[Budzu]

Well sweet, got an AHA site feature! Thanks to a gentleman who saw it on this site. Thanks Steve!

http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/community/pimp-my-system/show?title=adam-hales-d-i-t-c-h-e-s

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Awesome write up! Thanks for the props man, but your system is all your own! Great work

 

[wildwest450]

” is also home to one of the finest homebrew systems that side of the Mississippi River." We'll just have to see about that! J/K, cool setup, I hope to see it in action someday. I have yet to decide on the direction i'm going to take.

 

[P-Lay]

Just read the whole thread. Awesome build! Glad that pump problem was just a grain particle and not something worse.

Quick question: In this picture what are the modules to the left of the main power disconnect? You mentioned you got some of your parts from Automation Direct. Are they the supplemental protectors listed here? Are you using them in place of regular fuses and as manual disconnects?

Thanks. I'm trying to figure out your wiring.

 

[Budzu]

Hey P-lay
Yes you have it right. When I bought my supplementary breakers, they were cutler hammer brand and were about to be replaced with what you linked. The only difference is yours now are $1 cheaper.
All 3 breakers are the "B curve" versions, which have the lowest trip limits. D curve for instance will not trip until larger loads are applied, and I think are designed for motor starts.
The big disconnect is for everything, and it can handle 63amp. It shuts off the neutral, and the two hots. Directly to the left of it is a 10 amp single pole. This supplies everything that is 110v (pumps and bcs), and is split off by the terminal bar to the left of the breakers. I chose a 10 amp because the switches I have on the outside recommend using a 10 amp circuit protection. Notice also that the hot entering the 10a breaker is still 8 gauge wire. It is then 16 gauge coming out (slightly oversized). None of my wiring has an opportunity to be overloaded. This is a better option than what you see some people do, splitting off of terminal blocks, which offer no such protection of wiring.
The other two breakers are double pole 30amp. They are supplied by 8gauge and output with 10gauge, which then go to the contactors above, which are switched by the 110v load coming from the external switches.

The breakers provide both circuit protection and a means for a semi-permanent shut-off in-case a certain component of the system needs to be tested or is damaged.

Good luck with everything, holler if you need any other clarifications.

 

[P-Lay]

Budzu - Great information! Thanks! It's making sense now.