I just upgraded my brew rig from an electric 5 gallon batch rig (had 10 gallon kettles and a 10 gallon orange Home Depot cooler as a mashtun) to this electric 10 gallon batch rig. I learned a lot from brewing on my 5 gallon rig and added the "I wish I had" to these custom 20 gallon Spike Brewing kettles.
The temp probe for my BK in my old rig was high up, almost in the center of the 10 gallon kettle so on my 20 gallon kettles, I had them moved down to the bottom so that I can still do 5 gallon batches when I want too.
Also on my old rig, the electrical elements were attached on via weldless fittings. I could move the kettle around to easy as the cord to the elements were wrapped up. On these new kettles I had Spike add 2 inch TC ports on them so that I can remove the elements and easily bring the kettles over to the sink to wash out.
I have two SS Brewtech Chronicals (a 7 gallon for my 5 gallon batches and a 14 gallon for my 10 gallon batches) both fitted with their FTSS temp controller. The temp controllers are hooked up to a cooler full of water and the water in the cooler is chilled using an aquarium chiller, no ice packs needed.
I keg all of my brews and store them in a dorm room fridge Kegerator I made, it has room for two 5 gallon corny kegs and has a dual faucet tower.
Boiling Equipment:
- A 20 Gallon custom Spike Brewing Kettle with Triclover mounted 5500 ULWD electric element using a Still dragon Triclover element housing (I added a 90 degree cable restraint, it came with a straight one).
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- A 20 Gallon custom Spike Brewing HLT with Glass sight glass and Triclover mounted 5500 ULWD electrical element using a Still dragon Triclover element housing (I also added a 90 degree cable restraint to the HLT, it came with a straight one as well).
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- Custom hand built electrical control panel with some guidance from Kal's site at http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/. I mounted the panel on a television wall mount swing arm so that I can swing it in when not in use (above the brew kettle" and then swing it out before use to keep everything nice and compact.
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- My own custom hand built bottom draining Mashtun from an old 15.5 gallon keg, lots of foam insulation and wood! (Check out the thread here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=52815 3)
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- A compact brew stand I built that I could fit in my basement kitchen.
Beer Bottling Gear: Keg
Fermentation Vessels and Equipment: Ss Brewtech 14 Gallon Chronical with their FTSS
Wort Chillers: Stainless Steal CFC
Plumbing, Pumps, and Hardware: Camlocks, Silicone hoses, Stainless chugger pumps
Measuring, Testing,& Stirring Devices: Digital refractometer and Hydrometer
Yeast Equipment: DIY Stir plate
Cleansers and Sanitizers: PBW and Starsan
