Search results

In the garage, I take a 5 gallon bucket and drill 2 holes across from each other near the top. Find a large pill bottle and drill a 1/4 hole in the top and the bottom. Take a metal wire clothes hanger and clip off the straight part along the bottom and place it through the pill bottle and make...

I really appreciate the thought you put into that, but I'm afraid that's outside my comfort zone. I guess I'll just try a different brand and cross my fingers. It's entirely feasible I just got a bad one. The first one burning out was totally my fault (I let it run dry), so it may have lasted...

Thanks, I'll take a look.

After all the black flaked off it left the very shiny copper and it was VERY easy to bend. It was not puffed up at all.

I would, but I don't have access to 240v in the kitchen. I'm not sure I could run it at 120v and still get the power to boil that I need. Do they make 8000kw elements? I'd do the test, but I really don't want to try to dig the screw terminals out of the epoxy just to figure it out. Is it...

PM sent. But, yeah, it's me. :mug:

There was no smoke. :) Menards. I'm going to try the one at HD or ACE this week. It worked perfectly in all 3 of my test runs and auto tuning sessions.

I have built the countertop Brutus system that jkarp has so graciously outlined here. Yesterday while brewing a stout, the element burnt out in the middle of the boil. I turned the PID down to 95 in manual mode and it quit on me. Luckily I could finish on the stove, but the boil was not as...

I wish I had thought of that. Maybe I'll get a bigger box and redo mine. That heat sink sticking out is the one thing I really don't like about my system. It looks a bit clunky for my taste.

Makes sense. I'm really new to this and didn't want to miss anything. Great videos. Very helpful.

I noticed several times during the videos that the amounts were "close enough." How close is close enough? Is there some sort of guideline or just whatever the brewer finds acceptable? If one is going through the trouble of making the adjustments, how close should he try to get?

This is the one I use. It's got a lid.I don't really know the dimensions off the top of my head and I'm not where I can measure it, but it seems to work fine. I don't know if the height makes a difference other than a wider pot will boil off a little more. My system recirculates and heats up...

I got a 12AWG outdoor extension cord at Harbor Freight for about $5-$6 for the element. Cut off the female end and it's ready to go. I used a clothes dryer extension cord for the control box. It's also 12AWG, but it's not very flexible.

Yes, go with the 4". I got the 2" and it doesn't protrude into the BK at all and it's a little slow and inaccurate by a degree or 2. The 4" is on my list of things to get in the future.

I just wasn't paying close enough attention when heating the MLT and let the water get too low in the kettle. Unfortunately, I didn't realize my mistake until the mash was under way and the kettle was not heating the rest of my water. At that point I figured there's no turning back without...

This is pretty much a direct clone of jkarp's system with the exception of the chiller. I'm going no chill for now until I get a chance to get a chiller in the bucket. I was just too anxious to get through that first brew. I really want to publicly thank him for all of his help. Because of him...

That's certainly food for thought. Thanks for the info. :mug:

Are you recirculating through the plate chiller? I though about using one, but I'm worried about clogging. It's the last part of the system I need to put together.

I enjoyed the parts I watched a great deal. Since I'm in the process of building a copy of your system, seeing it in action was very helpful. Great job!

Repeated earlier message. Sorry, I'm not used to moderation of comments.