Show Your Electric Brew Day Pictures!

[JonyMac]

This past weekend I brewed a Deschutes Fresh Squeezed clone - here are some pics from that brew day. Have any recent brew day pics?

Grinding 30lbs of grain:

IMG_0346 by jonymac, on Flickr


Hoses hooked up and filling HLT:

IMG_0345 by jonymac, on Flickr


My buddies waxing philosophic at the end of brew day:



IMG_0350 by jonymac, on Flickr

 

[kal]

Here's some from my most recent brew done on my all electric setup: A German Pilsner (batch #195). Recipe here.

The malt (I love this stuff):

Strike water at temperature, just about the mash in:

Measuring out salt additions of gypsum, calcium chloride, and Epsom salt:

12 gallons of the finished German Pilsner chilling down to ~48F in Danby 45 bottle wine fridges used as fermenting fridges:

10 days in and fermentation is nearly complete so the temperature is raised ~10F to start the diacetyl rest until fermentation is done (3-7 days):

Fermentation done. Beer is racked into CO2 purged 5 gallon glass carboys. Gelatin added to clarify, then kegged ~2 days later:

Beer's now been in the conditioning fridge at ~32F for a week now. I'll leave it for a good month or two and then it should be perfect and look like the beer the recipe was modelled after:

Kal

 

[Elkobrewer]

Um that's awesome. Love your set up bro

 

[JonyMac]

Kal - that's the first time I've seen your fermentation control - love the blue LEDs!

JoonyMac

 

[TylerAI]

While it's not as impressive as some home breweries, today was the first brew. The write up is coming but I can't resist posting this first photo.

I still have some organizing to do, and I don't really like my RIMS stand. But it will make beer.

 

[JonyMac]

While it's not as impressive as some home breweries, today was the first brew. The write up is coming but I can't resist posting this first photo.

Dude! Congrats! That's an awesome setup - let us know how the beer turns out - what did you make today? You'll have to explain the post with the plumbing in the middle too...

 

[TylerAI]

The beer is a simple Porter and I am going to add some coffee after the primary. The writeup on the the ebrewery should be soon.

 

[kal]

Looks great TylerAI! Your RIMS tube is interesting... it looks like 2 RIMS tubes stuck together with a sight glass in between?

Kal

 

[TylerAI]

Looks great TylerAI! Your RIMS tube is interesting... it looks like 2 RIMS tubes stuck together with a sight glass in between?

Kal

I really wanted a sight glass, but had to have the system easy to set up and take apart. I have no space to keep a dedicated, albeit mobile, stand. To minimize plumbing, a split RIMS with the sight glass seemed like a good idea. It works well, just long. The folded 240v 2000w element ends about 1/2 inch below the glass. Couldn't have planned that better.

I am going to redesign the stand it is mounted to. Not living up to my expectations. I wanted something to mount the RIMS vertically, chiller horizontally, and pump. Then the whole assembly would clamp onto my table for use and hang in the garage for storage. This was a wooden prototype. Not sure I like it.

 

[kal]

Being able to see the flow/clarity is kind of neat too!

Kal

 

[jcav]

Here is mine in action!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

This past weekend I brewed a Deschutes Fresh Squeezed clone - here are some pics from that brew day. Have any recent brew day pics?

Grinding 30lbs of grain:

Hoses hooked up and filling HLT:

My buddies waxing philosophic at the end of brew day:

Care to post a link or recipe for the Fresh Squeezed? Love that stuff and can get it easily out here but its damn spendy.

 

[cod3ck]

Here is mine in action!

View attachment 334678



View attachment 334679

That's a sweet setup jcav!

Is the HLT on the right? What do all those hose connections on the kegs go to?!

Also, what lids do you use for the tops of the keggles? Looking at maybe getting my hands on some...

 

[cod3ck]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454393139.564392.jpg
This is a shot of my brew from yesterday running a screaming boil right at the top!

 

[kal]

That's a sweet setup jcav!

Is the HLT on the right? What do all those hose connections on the kegs go to?!

Correct - from left to right: Boil kettle, MLT, HLT.

Hoses are used for recirculating the sweet wort in the mash (middle kettle) through the HERMS coil in the HLT (right kettle). The water in the HLT is also recirculated constantly to avoid stratification. So lotsa hoses. Like so while mashing:

More details on my brew day step by step article on how the hoses attach and get moved as the brew progresses: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/brew-day-step-by-step

Kal

 

[JonyMac]

Care to post a link or recipe for the Fresh Squeezed? Love that stuff and can get it easily out here but its damn spendy.

Here is the recipe I used for this batch - all my other recipes are posted on Brewer's Friend too:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/284627/deschutes-fresh-squeezed-ipa

 

[jcav]

That's a sweet setup jcav!

Is the HLT on the right? What do all those hose connections on the kegs go to?!

Also, what lids do you use for the tops of the keggles? Looking at maybe getting my hands on some...

Thanks! This is basically an "Electric Brewery" Kal Clone. The only difference is I used my Sabco kegs that I already had on hand and converted them to electric, like Kal did, by following his plans and adding hot water heater elements. I also used tri clover fittings that I also already had, but you don't need these, you can use disconnects or cam locks, they all work fine as long as the gaskets are good. Kal (the man and originator himself) answered you perfectly with the diagram he posted, and the diagram shows how it works. It is a "HERMS" system (heat exchanged recirculating mash system), and the HLT is on the right. The mash tun is in the middle and the boil kettle is on the far left. Check out Kal's site "The Electric Brewery" that he linked to and you will find an incredible amount of information on how to use this awesome system. I am two brews in on this system with a third coming up next week and I am totally satisfied that I went this route.

The lids I used are the Sabco lids that they sell on the BrewMagic website, that came with my custom kegs that I had ordered. They are just stainless steel lids that are 12 inches in diameter that fit kitchen stock pots. You can go to their website or find them on kitchen supply websites. Here is a link to the lids: https://www.brewmagic.com/products/kettle-lid/

If you have any more questions just ask or pm me......

John

 

[part16john]

A couple recent pics with some new additions.

 

[cod3ck]

Thanks for the info John and Kal! I'll definitely do some more reading... So far I've only been doing single infusion. For the long term though, HERMS definitely seems to be the way to go!

 

[dlaramie08]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454504826.290808.jpg

Recent 11g batch of Hefeweizen.
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454504903.420099.jpg

 

[kal]

Thanks for the info John and Kal! I'll definitely do some more reading... So far I've only been doing single infusion. For the long term though, HERMS definitely seems to be the way to go!

For what it's worth, 95% of the beers I brew on my HERMS setup are single infusion mashes.

An electric HERMS just lets you set a temp and not worry about hitting it right, or how long it'll hold. There's no over/undershoot. You just use the UP/DOWN buttons to set to (say) 150F mash temp and that's it. You don't care about ambient temp, the mash tun temp, the amount of water or temp, the amount of grain, and so forth. No more futzing to hit your target temp.

When it's time to mash out, you simply hit the UP button a bunch of times to go to 168-172F mashout temp and that's it.

Step mashes are possible of course but I bet more than 95% of what people brew on electric HERMS setups like our are not complex step mashes as there's usually no need at all for that.

Kal

 

[BrunDog]

Out of curiosity Kal, how long does it take to complete a mash out? For example, from the time you raise the HLT temp to the time the MLT volume has achieved temp (eg 152 --> 170)?

Also, do you raise the HLT temp to mash out temp, or higher to make the MLT temp rise go faster?

 

[kal]

Out of curiosity Kal, how long does it take to complete a mash out? For example, from the time you raise the HLT temp to the time the MLT volume has achieved temp (eg 152 --> 170)?

About 20-30 mins to get up there I think, though it depends on the amount of grain/water in the MLT and what the temp rise needs to be.

Also, do you raise the HLT temp to mash out temp, or higher to make the MLT temp rise go faster?

I set the HLT To 168F. 20-30 mins later the mash is at 168F.

Setting higher doesn't make it go any faster for me as the wort at the output of my HERMS coil is always at the same temp as the HLT water, and the HLT is heating as fast as possible (element on 100% until it gets close to the target temp).

Kal

 

[Rivenin]

i have mostly random ones... but here is one for ya

IMG_20151129_204843 by Noah Scott, on Flickr

 

[redtangent]

Also based on Kal's setup, been brewing on it for 9 months and love the setup.

 

[Rockn_M]

Here is one of my last brew day over the weekend.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454526289.598890.jpg

 

[jcav]

Looking good Redtangent and Rockn M, looking good!

John

 

[1MadScientist]

Brewday is quite a pleasure doing BIAB.

MS

 

[poptarts]

 

[JonyMac]

Wow! So many different ways to skin the same cat! Poptarts - I LOVE your control box - is that a washing machine door?!

 

[poptarts]

Wow! So many different ways to skin the same cat! Poptarts - I LOVE your control box - is that a washing machine door?!

haha, its just a massive control panel that everyone in my build thread decided needed a window. Link to thread is in sig if you want to see how everything is made.

 

[milldoggy]

For what it's worth, 95% of the beers I brew on my HERMS setup are single infusion mashes.


Kal

Built my Kal clone in 2011. 99% single infusion. The beauty is the set and forget it for the temp. Mash out is around 20 minutes, but I rarely do it anymore.

 

[dyqik]

This is my first attempt at brewing fully electric in the basement. I'm in the middle of mashing with the 10 gal cooler and RIMS tube, and heating sparge water in the electric kettle.

This is a very budget temporary build, so I've just built a kettle boil controller based on the Still Dragon kit, fitted a weldless triclover flange to my Bayou Classic kettle and installed one of Bobby's ripple elements. I'm kind of lucky, in that my designated brewing area already had a 30A 240V 4-wire dryer socket, a dedicated 15A circuit and a dedicated 20A circuit. 1 GFCI breaker and 2 GFCI outlets, and it's ready for brewing. Still need to get the utility sink plumbed in, but that's a an $800 job (and MA law requires a licensed pro do it).

 

[Anyhowe]

Here's some from my most recent brew done on my all electric setup: A German Pilsner (batch #195). Recipe here.

The malt (I love this stuff):

Strike water at temperature, just about the mash in:

Measuring out salt additions of gypsum, calcium chloride, and Epsom salt:

12 gallons of the finished German Pilsner chilling down to ~48F in Danby 45 bottle wine fridges used as fermenting fridges:

10 days in and fermentation is nearly complete so the temperature is raised ~10F to start the diacetyl rest until fermentation is done (3-7 days):

Fermentation done. Beer is racked into CO2 purged 5 gallon glass carboys. Gelatin added to clarify, then kegged ~2 days later:

Beer's now been in the conditioning fridge at ~32F for a week now. I'll leave it for a good month or two and then it should be perfect and look like the beer the recipe was modelled after:

Kal

I feel so unworthy.

 

[jcav]

Budget or not that is a very slick little rig you got there. It looks like a very effective way to go electric on a budget. Good job dyqik! Looks great!

John

 

[JonyMac]

Brewing a Citra Double IPA:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/959731/Brewery/Pickup%20Tube/IMG_2479.m4v

 

[kal]

My last brew day pics and videos (brewed Electric Hop Candy Jr - a New England style Pale Ale):


VIDEO: Making the yeast starter during one of the experimental batches (part 1: boiling water).


VIDEO: Making the yeast starter during one of the experimental batches (part 2: pitching yeast).


VIDEO: Making the yeast starter during one of the experimental batches (part 3: fermentation done).


VIDEO: Prepping to the brew day the night before.


VIDEO: Brew day!

Hops after active fermentation. Hops are added at high krausen to aid in biotransformation (basically a flavour 'unlocking' of hop glycosides that we don't normally taste in aromatic/flavour compound).

Electric Hop Candy Jr, the sessionable version of my New England style IPA.

Sunset and pints of Electric Hop Candy Jr.

Kal

 

[tofuguy]

Reviving an old thread! NEIPA Brew Day!!

Trying my best not to get a stuck sparge since I used a LHBS's Milk with an adjustable gap setting.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

Man, there's some brewing eye candy in this thread. Holy crap. My dream system isn't even as cool as some of the stuff in this thread!

Sure makes my patchwork cooler MLT rig in my garage look like a joke. Fortunately (as we all know), you can still make great beer on a simple rig. I will definitely be going electric sometime over the next year.

 

[oceanic_brew]

Finally got everything geared up!