I agree with fasttalker, isolate by taking things out of the circuit. Also a NO estop is not really an estop if the contact fails you're in big trouble. Estop should be NC. Must likely something is shorting the circuit. Without power you could check for continuity for wires that shouldn't have...
Lots of people don't use PLC's because big brands are expensive on the hardware side and even more expensive on the software side. I probably wouldn't go with a Logix controller is just too much for a brewing system. AB has Micro800 or even old micrologix series would have been enough. Siempre...