I finally ordered my dream brew rig!

[nudarkshadowl]

Well, I finally ordered my dream brew rig! A 10 Gallon Morebeer Single Teir Digital Brew Sculpture. This thing is going to be a beast, and is actually the exact system that commercial breweries such as Stone, Pike, etc. use for their pilot system. Can not wait to get this thing going. My first all grain batch will be on the new system, so im going to have to do some research over the next few weeks, but I am so excited! Also, I love the DIY aspect of this hobby, and have actually tackled quite a few projects already but I really wanted to get something that is a proven system right from the start, rather than building my own. I know I could have built something similar for slightly cheaper, but I really don't have the time, necessary welding skills, or honestly; the patience to build something that would be comparable to this unit.

I'm sure most know, but for those that don't, it's basically a fully automated system with auto sparge features, recirculation capability, temp controlled burners, water level float switches, etc.

Full list of components:

Stainless Steel Maximizers and Diverter
Analog Thermometers
Two High Flow March Pumps
Stainless Steel Sparge Arm Assembly
Stainless Steel Frame
Control Panel
Mash Tun and Hot Liquor Tank Float Switches
Mash Tun and Hot Liquor Tank Digital Temperature Control
Propane Gas System (Compatible With Low and High Pressure Propane)
Automated Hot Liquor Tank Burner
Convoluted Heat Exchanger
Boil Kettle Whirlpool Arm
All Necessary Tubing

CAN NOT WAIT! :rockin:

 

[bruteforce]

Nice!

 

[Rockn_M]

I'm not gonna lie, I am a little envious

 

[Hello]

Beautiful!

 

[grainbill]

Sweet!!!!

So what are you going to get for Christmas?

 

[nudarkshadowl]

This unit is my Christmas actually lol. I already have a 14 gal heated/cooled conical and a Chill Wizard just waiting to be hooked up to this system. Really excited to jump into all-grain and HERMS made more sense to me from a brewing stand-point. First batch is going to be an adventure, but I'll spend the next few weeks researching everything I can possibly find on this system and all-grain in general. Been brewing extract/partial mash for the last 4 years or so, so it will be really really nice to have the ability to control everything that goes into my beer. I think I might make a mash paddle though, as I don't currently have one. Cheers guys!

 

[musikguru6]

Just got my 20 gal digital stand & the 27 gal heated / cooled conical. It's amazing. Hoses could be a little larger, and there are some temp issues with the recirc system, but otherwise it's amazing!

 

[nudarkshadowl]

That's awesome! What kind of issues are you experiencing with the temperature and recirculation? Just fluctuations or something?

 

[Beer-lord]

Oh man, that is sweetness personified. I think I have a beerection.
Enjoy brewing on it!

 

[cswalker]

Kickass! While getting the kinks out I'd try a few sample runs to make sure everything is in order.

 

[musikguru6]

That's awesome! What kind of issues are you experiencing with the temperature and recirculation? Just fluctuations or something?

When I start the recirculation the mash temp drops by a good 10 degrees before slowly rising back to target.

 

[desabat]

nice!!! may you make great beers in large quantities! cheers!

 

[GarageDweller]

learning to run before you can walk.
In this case: $$$ > sense

 

[Fordmi]

I'm very jealous. I've had my eye on a 20 gallon digital for quite some time. The price point seems so high, but it's such a nice system.

I brewed on a 20 gal digital tippy dump a while back. I really never should have done that!

Congrats and good luck!

 

[nudarkshadowl]

Thanks for the comments guys. Musik, have you thought about bringing the hlt up a few degrees before starting your recirculation? I thought I read something about this, but I could just be thinking about strike temps when doughing in.

Lmao Garage, yeah it is going to be quite a jump, but I have be researching AG for a long time now and have had my water tested by Ward labs, entered my equipment into beersmith 2, along with my water profile, etc. Trying to be prepared as I can be before the system gets here. The way I looked at, it made more sense to save for a long time and get what I truly wanted, rather than building or buying more equipment to do AG without a sculpture, and then still wanting a morebeer system anyway. I have made some really nice beer with my current partial mash set up, but AG on a morebeer system has always been my end goal. I get the whole learning to walk before running thing, and normally I'd agree with you, but in this case I just couldn't help myself lol. Cheers!

 

[Black Island Brewer]

When I start the recirculation the mash temp drops by a good 10 degrees before slowly rising back to target.

My home-made system does the same thing - it just reflects the cooling that is taking place in the liquor in the deadspace below the false bottom, where there is no insulation. If you heat for just a bit before you recirculate, you won't see as much of a drop. Of course, you risk scorching, but since it's mostly sweet wort, it is not much more risk than heating your first runnings in the BK.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

learning to run before you can walk.
In this case: $$$ > sense

Seriously? If you had the funds, wouldn't you want to do the same thing?

We all have our own values, and get to bring to the hobby all of ours, including what is worth spending money on, and when. Don't piss on the man's Cheerios.

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Thanks for the comments guys. Musik, have you thought about bringing the hlt up a few degrees before starting your recirculation? I thought I read something about this, but I could just be thinking about strike temps when doughing in.

Lmao Garage, yeah it is going to be quite a jump, but I have be researching AG for a long time now and have had my water tested by Ward labs, entered my equipment into beersmith 2, along with my water profile, etc. Trying to be prepared as I can be before the system gets here. The way I looked at, it made more sense to save for a long time and get what I truly wanted, rather than building or buying more equipment to do AG without a sculpture, and then still wanting a morebeer system anyway. I have made some really nice beer with my current partial mash set up, but AG on a morebeer system has always been my end goal. I get the whole learning to walk before running thing, and normally I'd agree with you, but in this case I just couldn't help myself lol. Cheers!

I built mine rather than buying one (but if I had the funds, I would have bought in a heartbeat). Have you thought about your first batch? I decided to do a SMaSH for my "shakedown brew" so that I had no expectations on what the beer "should" taste like. I shot for an APA, found out my efficiency was higher than expected, so I got a low-hop IPA. Still, it scored 31 in the IPA category. Have fun, and I hope it gives you YEARS of enjoyment!

 

[Braufessor]

Congrats! looks awesome.

I am still brewing on a Morebeer 3 tier gravity system (5 gallon batch system) that I bought over 15 years ago. It works as well as the day I bought it. To this day, it is the best purchase I have ever made - the cost of mine is now down to about $75 per year. I am sure that system has the potential to give you many years of enjoyment as well.

 

[nudarkshadowl]

Thanks guys! As far as what I plan to brew first, its probably going to be an IPA, but I have never done a Smash so that could be cool too. I have a couple brews that people are waiting on me to brew lol.

 

[Braufessor]

Suggestion - I would brew a couple basic (cheap) batches to start with. Get a feel for the rig with things that are not going to cost you a fortune. There will be a learning curve. If you are going to have any issues, you don't want to have screwed up $100 worth of ingredients.

Even go with a basic 1.050 pale ale. If all goes well, and it tastes to your standards out of the fermenter, you can always splurge a bit on the dry hop.

Also, have some DME on hand because you are not going to know what you are getting for efficiency until it is in the boil kettle. Get a pre boil gravity and then you can add some DME if you need to bring it up a bit.

Simple and straight forward is the best way to break in a new system.

 

[chickypad]

Lmao Garage, yeah it is going to be quite a jump, but I have be researching AG for a long time now and have had my water tested by Ward labs, entered my equipment into beersmith 2, along with my water profile, etc. Trying to be prepared as I can be before the system gets here. The way I looked at, it made more sense to save for a long time and get what I truly wanted, rather than building or buying more equipment to do AG without a sculpture, and then still wanting a morebeer system anyway. I have made some really nice beer with my current partial mash set up, but AG on a morebeer system has always been my end goal. I get the whole learning to walk before running thing, and normally I'd agree with you, but in this case I just couldn't help myself lol. Cheers!

Walking is overrated . It sounds like you've done your homework so you should be fine. I got this same sculpture but without the digital control for Christmas 4 yrs ago and brewed my first all grain batch on it. Like you I had pretty good experience with partial mash and knew a bit about water. Had a slight learning curve with the HERMS control but other than that no big deal.

Regarding that temp control - below is from a very helpful email reply that I got from Ryan Barto after my first batch. He is the morebeer customer service manager (or was) who knows all things with the Brew scupltures. It helped out a lot.


1)Heat the HLT so that it is up to temp at the time of dough in, just in case you need it to exchange. I recommend anywhere from 174-180 for the HLT temp, and to maintain it there for the entirety of the brew.
2)Prepare your mash water based on your calculations and heat it so as to hit your desired strike temperature.
3)Dough in to your desired temperature, stir the mash really well, and then let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
4)After the mash has settled in a bit go ahead and start recirculating the mash from below the false bottom directly back to the sparge arm making sure the sparge arm ring is *just below the level of the water. I use a fairly thin mash- about 1.4-1.5 qts/lb, plus 2 gallons for the false bottom.
5)You will probably see a bit of a decrease in temperature here, both due to the recirculating itself through the tubing, pump, etc, and also the mash becoming more homogenous now and giving a truer reading.
6)If it does drop below your desired set point then do a tubing change and now include the heat exchanger in the recirculation path and maintain the HLT temp in that 174-180 range. I'm usually starting at 174 for the smaller temperature increases/mash maintenance, and ramping towards 180 towards the end for the mash out.
7)After mashing for 45-60 minutes, given that you're satisfied with your temps and thusly your conversion/efficiency then start the mash out. This is where Im increasing from the 174/176 range to the 178/180 range on my HLT. This should only take 15min max, unless you're in a really cold climate I suppose.
8) My goal for mash out is to hit about 168-170, and then I sparge by simply doing one tubing change from the mash tun out, down the HLT out, so that I run the hot sparge water right through the heat exchanger to clean it in one handy step.

 

[nudarkshadowl]

Wow, thanks for the advice man! Once I get the system I'm sure those instructions will be clearer, and with the temp automation it should be pretty easy to hit my temps for the dough in and then mash out. I think doing a nice easy beer for the first batch is a good idea, lol. I'll definitely run some pbw, water, etc. through the system per the instructions and that should give me a basic sense of how to operate everything. I'll also be integrating a SabCo chill wizard in to the system, and then force transferring to my conical so it should be am interesting day lol.

 

[Clonefan94]

Walking is overrated . It sounds like you've done your homework so you should be fine. I got this same sculpture but without the digital control for Christmas 4 yrs ago and brewed my first all grain batch on it. Like you I had pretty good experience with partial mash and knew a bit about water. Had a slight learning curve with the HERMS control but other than that no big deal.

Regarding that temp control - below is from a very helpful email reply that I got from Ryan Barto after my first batch. He is the morebeer customer service manager (or was) who knows all things with the Brew scupltures. It helped out a lot.

I guess I see it like you do. I'm always one of those people who feels, why spend all the money and time building a basic all-grain rig, when you can just go for what you know you want to brew on. All-grain in general isn't that hard, if there is a learning curve, it's going to be the rig itself. Might as well spend that time working the kinks out on the machine rather than kicking around on something you don't plan on using in a year.

And I'm not a "brew rig" guy. I use a simple cooler mlt and a 10 gallon stock pot. If you already know you love to brew, I don't see the point in "starting small just to get a feel for All-grain. Might as well learn on the rig you are going to be using.

 

[Helloworld]

Lmao Garage, yeah it is going to be quite a jump

Why bother piecing together a system that isn't exactly what you want? If I had the cash I would have bought a tippy dump from B3 long ago. Sure, my cooler and kettle work, but control would be nice. Some day...

 

[DamonInPHX]

All-grain in general isn't that hard, if there is a learning curve, it's going to be the rig itself...

...Might as well learn on the rig you are going to be using.

Truth.

 

[nudarkshadowl]

So I decided on brewing the Inglewood IPA recipe from the Beersmith CCHBS AG add on for my first AG batch and I wanted to run some things by more experienced AG brewers to make sure I am going about this in the correct way.

First off, when Ward tested my water profile it came back with the following results (I.E. Unbalanced, this was the second time they tested the water with similar results and they recommended we expand the cations tested to include NH4 or Al in order to see if it balances out.)

Please note, this was straight out of the tap, unfiltered water. I have since acquired a filtering system and plan to filter my brewing and sparge water though a 3 chamber filter directly off of my hose (RV hose line, not a garden hose) that includes a PH correction filter, a Chloramine & Hydrogen Sulfide Removal Filter, and your basic active carbon block filter. After looking into the PH correction filter, it would seem that it neutralizes acid and with my PH being base/high at 7.9, it probably wont do anything but I got the filtration system for free so I guess it doesn't matter, lol.

pH 7.9

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) Est, ppm 546

Electrical Conductivity, mmho/cm 0.91

Cations / Anions, me/L 9.4 / 10.0

ppm

Sodium, Na 90

Potassium, K 5

Calcium, Ca 67

Magnesium, Mg 24

Total Hardness, CaCO3 268

Nitrate, NO3-N 0.2 (SAFE)

Sulfate, SO4-S 73 (219ppm)

Chloride, Cl 84

Carbonate, CO3 < 1.0

Bicarbonate, HCO3 187

Total Alkalinity, CaCO3 154

Total Phosphorus, P 0.02

Total Iron, Fe < 0.01

Everything seems to be in an OK range according to EZ-Water and other articles aside from the Alkalinity/Bicarbonate being high, thus giving the 7.9 PH value. I plan to bring my Sparge and Brew water down to 5.5 PH for this recipe using 7ml of Lactic Acid.

According to EZ water, this would be bring my profile for the IPA to the following:

(Ca ppm) 67 (Mg ppm)24 (Na ppm)90 (Cl ppm)84 (SO4 ppm)219 Ratio0.38 PH5.5

When I entered in my equipment profile in Beersmith, I accounted for a 2.5 gallon deadspace volume in the MT due to the false bottom. BS game me a total water volume needed of 17.62 Gal (9.32 for the mash, and 8.30 for the sparge). See below for the recipe profile:



Sorry for the long winded post, but I'm just trying to make sure my figures are where they need to be. The recipe calls for 37.27 qu at 161.6 degrees for my HLT, which after doughing in will hopefully stabilize at 152 degrees for the 75 min recirc. mash, then I'll sparge the 8.30 gal at 168 degrees hopefully over a 45 min period if i'm able to figure out the flow rate balancing for the pumps.

I am probably waaaayyy over thinking this and making it more complicated that it needs to be, but I have been reading a lot on all this stuff and there is just so much information out there that I am trying to absorb as much as I can.

My biggest concern is getting my Mash/sparge PH levels to be where they need to be, while also removing any chlorine/chloramine from the water. Basically I just want to make sure my water profile is on point for my first AG run. Did go about it correctly?

Cheers! And thanks again for all of the help/advice so far!

 

[bragona71]

Oh man, that is sweetness personified. I think I have a beerection.
Enjoy brewing on it!

I second that!!!

 

[chickypad]

I was under the impression that chloramine was very difficult to remove with filters, but I guess that's a special one you bought. You might want to post water questions in the brew science forum and get help from the experts. It seems like a lot of acid to me but I am used to brewing with very soft, low alkalinity water (the water out of my tap is pretty much like RO water). It looks like moderate to high alkalinity you have so that may be right. The other thing you can do so you require less acid is to cut your water with some RO. I do know that you shouldn't really pay attention to the starting water pH, it's the mash pH that's important. For example my water pH is around 9 according to ward labs, but because the alkalinity is so low the pH comes down rapidly just adding the grain. I only need to add acid malt when I have a nearly all base malt grainbill, and in fact on dark beers I end up needing to add baking soda to bring it up.

One other thing, did you get a dip tube for your mash tun? I would recommend it, as you mentioned there is a decent deadspace below the false bottom. When I bought my sculpture I didn't like the copper ones that morebeer was selling at the time so I bought a stainless from jaybird (NorCal Brewing). I think they do sell stainless ones now.

 

[nudarkshadowl]

I believe my mt comes with a stainless dip tube, but if not I'll pick one up. I'm in the process of reading Palmers Water book and so far its very interesting and informative. Does anyone know if ez waters spreadsheet accounts for the pH value of the grain bill prior to the additions of base/acid variations? I entered in the grain bill to the spreadsheet, but without knowing the true pH values of the specific grains I'll have, wouldn't the spreadsheet be inaccurate? According to my book, I shouldn't really worry about the water PH initally, only the mash pH. So should I bother with trying to adjust the tap waters ph, or just adjust accordingly once my mash stabilizes and I have a truer ph reading. Also, what about my sparge water then? Wouldn't I need to adjust the pH of my sparge water at the same time I adjust the mash? I'll take any other questions to the brew science section, and keep reading because all of this is more than likley in my book lol.

 

[cjgenever]

Drooooooool...

 

[nudarkshadowl]

Xmas came early!!!!


Fits like a glove!!! Got my ro system plumbed through the attic and working too! Today was a good day!

 

[doublehaul]

Wow that's sweet! Did you plumb natural gas to it? Are you going to put a hood fan in? I want to do the same in a corner of my garage. But it's not right at the garage door, it's on the opposite side.

 

[masskrug]

My God, you must be single.

 

[nudarkshadowl]

Haha, not single... Happily married with a very understanding swmbo!

No natural gas unfortunately, just propane and I'll run the system with both garage doors open. Should be ok, but if not I'll install a vent. Cheers!

 

[dobes]

Looks sweet!!

 

[chickypad]

Looks great! Except I'm envisioning some unwanted additions to the mash - like a screwdriver!