Brew Kettle Design

[interplexr]

I'm going to convert a sanke keg to an electric brew kettle soon. I have the keg and a few ideas of what all I want in it but I would love to hear what you folks would recommend. What all bells and whistles would have you or would you put in yours?

I plan to have a thermowell and sight glass at the least with a 5500W heating element using a simple PWM circuit for control. I don't see the need for a PID control on this and would imagine you would get better control just with a PWM circuit. I plan to keep using my existing IC but use a pump to whirlpool. This would be new for me. Has anyone put any baffles or anything in their kettle to allow the wort to be pumped or gravity fed from the tap to the fermenter without disturbing the trub cone?

I'd love to hear and see what everyone else has done!

 

[jfkriege]

I have a drain valve located on the edge of the bottom, it works quite well. I also have a thermowell and two element holes with 1" NPS Nuts soldered on. Works well.

 

[Lamarkid7]

May I see some pictures of your thermowell? Im thinking about doing the same thing to mine.

 

[Dunerunner]

I know you've looked at these.....

 

[klyph]

Mine is simple. One weldless ball valve with dip tube going to the center, and a 5500W weldless element.

I do need to build some kind of whirlpool return on it.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Mine is simple. One weldless ball valve with dip tube going to the center, and a 5500W weldless element.

I do need to build some kind of whirlpool return on it.

If your dip tube goes to the center, why would you whirlpool? You'll be drawing right from the cone of concentrated plant matter and particulates.

TiberuseasidediptubeBrew

 

[klyph]

Well yes, I would make a different dip tube when I add the whirlpool setup.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Sweet.

 

[Tiber_Brew]

To OP: I'm going to be making HLT and boil kettle from sanke kegs as well. I'll keep an eye on this thread! Thanks for posting!

 

[Lamarkid7]

Nice so you have a thermowell connected to a thermocouple. What are you using to read your temperature and is your thermowell weldless? I have been looking for equipment to do the same thing.

 

[interplexr]

Has anyone ever tied their sight glass back into the kettle or do you just keep it open? Do you have any issues with it making a mess if kept open?

 

[Bobby_M]

The only reason to tie it back in is if you regularly overheat the crap out of the bottom fitting and cause a wild boil in the tube. This wouldn't happen in an electric kettle at all and it avoidable in a flame fired kettle with a heat shield.

 

[jfkriege]

May I see some pictures of your thermowell? Im thinking about doing the same thing to mine.

I guess it is technically not a thermowell, but I think I could make it one. It is the 1/4" NPT RTD from Auber. It is in the photos of the first post at the build thread below. If you have any questions, let me know.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/modular-electric-brewery-177852/

 

[interplexr]

If you have a heating element near the bottom of the kettle can you still do a whirlpool to get trub separation prior to transfering to primary? Will the heating element get in the way?

 

[jfkriege]

I have whirlpooled just fine. Whirlpooling is the reason that I have the port on the outside of the bottom. It will depend more on your pump than the heating elements.

 

[interplexr]

I've been looking at heating elements for the kettle and I can't decide if I want to do 240V or 120V. 240V comes with a lot of cost with the GFCI breaker. Would 2 2000W HD heating elements scorch the wort?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Would 2 2000W HD heating elements scorch the wort?

Not in my experience w/ 2 @ 2000w. 4000w is also a pretty reasonable wattage if you want to forego sophisticated control and just boil "full on".

 

[interplexr]

If I go the 240V route, does anyone have a suggestion of where to find a 30A GFCI 2 pole breaker? I saw one at Home Depot for $100 but that was a 50A.

 

[Maltose]

If you have a heating element near the bottom of the kettle can you still do a whirlpool to get trub separation prior to transfering to primary? Will the heating element get in the way?

What about a diptube in the center going through a full false bottom? The false bottom should offer a flat surface to establish a tighter trub pile and the false bottom should keep [most] of the trub away from the diptube. I haven't built this yet, just an idea.

 

[nostalgia]

If I may piggyback onto your thread with some related questions...

I'm also in the process of doing an electric build. I'm going to be doing bottom drains to eliminate the need for diptubes and to make clean-in-place easier.

Also I'd like to get away from using hop bags in the boil, so I'm thinking about methods to keep hop matter from clogging up the tubes during whirlpooling.

Does anyone know how the big guys do it? Or do their pumps just handle solid matter without too much issue?

I considered a false bottom, but it would be below the heating element. Would that gallon or so of wort not get properly boiled? Would a false bottom even be useful with the crud from pellet hops?

Blichmann's new hop stopper thingy is supposed to be good for pellets, but would it work with a bottom drain and no dip tube?

Thanks!

-Joe

 

[jfkriege]

I dont think that pellet hops will be a problem with your whirlpool. I have a bottom drain system that I whirlpool in, and it has not been any issue.

In order to keep the hops out of the fermenter, I have a side bottom drain away from the cone of the whirlpool). In addition, I am going to try having a large, nylon, fine-mesh straining bag on the outlet to the fermenter to catch anything that gets through. Others have stated this works well.

 

[nostalgia]

Can anyone else comment on unfiltered pellets when using a March pump? I'm concerned that even with a side bottom drain (which is what I planned) that the pellet hops will either plug the drain or foul the pump's impeller. Especially if I do a big IIPA.

Also, what if I want to do leaf hops? I *know* those will plug things up solid.

-Joe

 

[Rossnaree]

Not being much of a brewer (yet), I don't know so forgive me if these aren't useful for what you're asking:

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/MUSLIN_BOILING_BAGS_P145.cfm

I have 4 of them, I got them as part of a fairly huge pile of brewing stuff that I just recently acquired from a terrific guy who got out of the brewing life a short time ago...

Anyways, I hope it helps.

- Tim

 

[RegionalChaos]

The only reason to tie it back in is if you regularly overheat the crap out of the bottom fitting and cause a wild boil in the tube. This wouldn't happen in an electric kettle at all and it avoidable in a flame fired kettle with a heat shield.

Or maybe if you are using clear silicone tubing as the sight glass instead of a glass tube. I've seen setups where people have a port -> 90 degree piece -> hose barb -> silicone tubing -> hose barb -> 90 degree piece -> port. Having a more rigid top mount like that keeps the silicone tubing stretched straight.

 

[interplexr]

I have been pricing some 30A 240VAC GFI breakers and can't seem to find anything under $90 but then sitting right next to them on the shelf is a hot tub NEMA 3R box with a 50A GFI 240VAC breaker for $50.... Does anyone know the deal with this and how it's so much cheaper. There has to be something different.

 

[klyph]

I've heard of lots of people using "spa boxes", but I have no experience with them.

 

[SweetSounds]

I have been pricing some 30A 240VAC GFI breakers and can't seem to find anything under $90 but then sitting right next to them on the shelf is a hot tub NEMA 3R box with a 50A GFI 240VAC breaker for $50.... Does anyone know the deal with this and how it's so much cheaper. There has to be something different.

It'll work great - And if it's the same brand as your house panel, you can take the breaker out of the spa panel and install it directly into the main panel. It's just a normal GFCI breaker, inside a tiny little breaker panel.

This is exactly what I did - Had a Square D spa panel on the side of the house - Installed a SquareD sub panel in the garage, put the GFCI breaker from the spa panel in that, and tossed the spa panel.