Electric Bottom Draining, 3 keggle, 2 pump, E-HERMS

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jcc4507fly

jcc4507fly

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Well after a lot of planning and reading on this Forum, I finally got my Eletric EHERMS setup going. I'd like to thank everyone for their input. It's been fun building this up and many bumps along the way, as well as $$$$. However I couldn't be happier than I am with this setup. Shout out to Ebrewsupply.com , They put together my 50amp, 2 element panel and it turned out perfect. Great customer service over there if your looking for a complete panel, or a complete kit to put together yourself. Also the folks at Norcalbrewingsolutions.com , picked up my reverse hinge false bottom & level one stand for my mashtun & a Level 3 filter for my Boil kettle. Great peeps!!

Anyway on to the build....

Prepping to cut the 'tops' out of the kegs.
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Tops cut out of 2, prior to filing down the rough edges.
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Polishing the kegs, what a b*tch this was, but happy I did it.
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Drilling holes getting ready to weld fittings.
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Wiring new 240v service. Thanks to my electrician neighbor. Good thing he likes the beer I brew!
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Wort Chiller.
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The Control Panel:
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Under carriage hardware
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Pump caddy
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Thermometers from bayou classic.
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First brew:
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Wanted to get a couple brews through it. I have brewed 5 batches within the first month of 'finishing' it. Ironed out a couple of kinks. Last batch was a 6gal batch. Didn't preheat water and start to finish was 5 hours including cleanup. Think next time will easily be 4. Looking forward to drinking some of the beer that's come out of this thing. 1.5-2 weeks I'll tap my first off it.

Now I need to work on getting a storage shed built to make room around the Brewery. Also going to start focusing on the area around it. ie Brewtable, stainless or some sort of metal on the wall. Mount control panel. Maybe a vent hood, it's in the garage, & I live on the Gulf coast, so it's already humid as all hell. Hope to have more pics of the progress soon. Any ideas please pass them along.
 

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FuzzeWuzze said:
Im confused, why all the thermometers when your running a BCS system?
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I personally like the look. Plus I scored them for cheap.

But I agree once I get a TV monitor to display the BCS it will be a little repetitive, but that won't be for a while. Right now I'm running the BCS on my iPad.
 
I made it. After mash/sparge complete I clean out mash tun, put false bottom and filter back in the mash tun. Then I recirculate ice water. It is capable of bringing boiling wort down in the 60's, obviously colder than I need for most ales.
 
What made you go this route over BobbyM's bottom drain kit?
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30Bones said:
What made you go this route over BobbyM's bottom drain kit?
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I liked the idea of having space for extra wort that could collect upstream of the pump. Little did I know that once the false bottom was in the mash tun I had space for 1 gallon of wort below. I also wanted to keep my option of upgrading to all sanitary in the future.

I have no problems with flow during recirculating the mash or during sparge. I'm sure the kit Bobby sells would work just as well.
 
Awesome job! I made a fully insulated bottom draining Mash/Tun a while back and I was going to make a bottom draining BK as well but, I usually whirlpool to try and reduce the sediments in the BK before draining so I decided to purchase regular flat bottom kettles. How are you doing this or do you just drain the entire thing into your femrenter? Do you have a false bottom in the BK as well with smaller holes? If so, does it restrict flow as you near the end of draining?

Thanks!
 
I use a hop spider when making 10 gallon batches. When making 5 gallon batches I use a nylon mesh bag for the hops. I just loop the string of the bag over a clamp that is clipped onto the rim of the BK. I also use a stage 3 filter from Norcalbrewingsolutions.com. I have not had a problem with it restricting flow & it does a nice job filtering any hop pellets that creep through the hop sack. I don't not whirlpool for obvious reasons. I normally runoff about 8 gallons into BK preboil. During an hour boil this yields about 6 gallon to run into fermentor. I chill and am left with clear wort minus the cold break, which settles out during fermentation. I also stopped using a secondary fermentor, unless I plan on dry hopping. Beers are always very clear with no chill haze.

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dmcman73 said:
Awesome job! I made a fully insulated bottom draining Mash/Tun.

Thanks!
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Care to share a pic? I've been wanting to explore insulating my MT. What did you use to insulate? Is it like a jacket that wraps around it that you can remove? Roughly how many degrees do you lose per hour? I remember when using an Igloo cooler for a MT I would only lose about 2* per hour, hoping for similar results. Thanks!
 
jcc4507fly said:
Care to share a pic? I've been wanting to explore insulating my MT. What did you use to insulate? Is it like a jacket that wraps around it that you can remove? Roughly how many degrees do you lose per hour? I remember when using an Igloo cooler for a MT I would only lose about 2* per hour, hoping for similar results. Thanks!
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Here is my build thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=528153
 
jcc4507fly said:
I use a hop spider when making 10 gallon batches. When making 5 gallon batches I use a nylon mesh bag for the hops. I just loop the string of the bag over a clamp that is clipped onto the rim of the BK. I also use a stage 3 filter from Norcalbrewingsolutions.com. I have not had a problem with it restricting flow & it does a nice job filtering any hop pellets that creep through the hop sack. I don't not whirlpool for obvious reasons. I normally runoff about 8 gallons into BK preboil. During an hour boil this yields about 6 gallon to run into fermentor. I chill and am left with clear wort minus the cold break, which settles out during fermentation. I also stopped using a secondary fermentor, unless I plan on dry hopping. Beers are always very clear with no chill haze.

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Ok, yeah I use a 19" Stainless Hop spider in my BK for my Hops and I also drain my MT into it to filter the wort before going into the kettle. I generally recirculate and whirlpool as I use Whirfloc on some brews to settle out anything in there.

Really nice build!!
 
Interesting, I planned on adding a whirlpool fitting in my bottom drain BK figuring the false bottom would still do a decent job and get away from hop bags. Am I wasting my money here? Should I stil lgo with a false bottom, no whirpool and still use hop bags?

I don't want it to take a hour to drain into my carboy or make it a PITA with my CFC
 
30Bones said:
Interesting, I planned on adding a whirlpool fitting in my bottom drain BK figuring the false bottom would still do a decent job and get away from hop bags. Am I wasting my money here? Should I stil lgo with a false bottom, no whirpool and still use hop bags?

I don't want it to take a hour to drain into my carboy or make it a PITA with my CFC
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No need for a whirlpool on a bottom drain if your using it to funnel sediments in the center, the false bottom will take care of all that. The only use I see a whirlpool in a bottom drain is of you were going to recirculate through a CFC or plate chiller to cool the whole kettle down, otherwise, your wasting your money if it's just for the sediments.
 
I will be whirlpooling because I have a CFC. Whether I whirlpool to get all the sediment into a "cone" I guess is pointless, but it should make it easier for the pumps to not cavitate in my mind. Maybe I am overthinking it and will just recirculate (not worry about the "whirlpool" action) by simply laying the return hose into the top of the keggle
 
I also use pellet. I do not have the false bottom in my BK. I do however use the stage 3 filter and for me if I do not use the hop bags I end up with a lot of hop in the fermentor.

dmcman73, do you use pellet or whole hop? Does the false bottom in the BK filter out majority of the hop material? Do you recirculate just at the end of the boil? Does the false bottom get plugged up and restrict the flow while you are cooling the wort? Do you use your hop spider every batch?
 
jcc4507fly said:
I also use pellet. I do not have the false bottom in my BK. I do however use the stage 3 filter and for me if I do not use the hop bags I end up with a lot of hop in the fermentor.

dmcman73, do you use pellet or whole hop? Does the false bottom in the BK filter out majority of the hop material? Do you recirculate just at the end of the boil? Does the false bottom get plugged up and restrict the flow while you are cooling the wort? Do you use your hop spider every batch?
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I talked to Jaybird about using just the level 3 filter and no false bottom and he said some have gone this route, he still recommends the full FB and level 3 for a bottom drain BK. It's only money right? :) And they are on sale now
 
jcc4507fly said:
I also use pellet. I do not have the false bottom in my BK. I do however use the stage 3 filter and for me if I do not use the hop bags I end up with a lot of hop in the fermentor.

dmcman73, do you use pellet or whole hop? Does the false bottom in the BK filter out majority of the hop material? Do you recirculate just at the end of the boil? Does the false bottom get plugged up and restrict the flow while you are cooling the wort? Do you use your hop spider every batch?
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I have a flat bottom kettle, not a bottom drain.

But, I use a stainless hop spider in my BK which is 6 inch in diameter and 19 inches tall in a 20 gallon kettle. I use it every time I brew and I use pellets. There is so much room in the hop spider that the hops move around freely in it with the boil.

I got it from here: http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php?gclid=CPePs-bD6scCFZcYHwodIAUErQ#6x14hopspider. The mesh is fine and I don't have any hop sediments in my wort in the fermentor. I would skip the false bottom unless your using whole leaf hops. The hop spider won't cause any clogs at all, it just hangs on the side.
 
dmcman73 said:
I have a flat bottom kettle, not a bottom drain.

But, I use a stainless hop spider in my BK which is 6 inch in diameter and 19 inches tall in a 20 gallon kettle. I use it every time I brew and I use pellets. There is so much room in the hop spider that the hops move around freely in it with the boil.

I got it from here: http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/brewingfilters.php?gclid=CPePs-bD6scCFZcYHwodIAUErQ#6x14hopspider. The mesh is fine and I don't have any hop sediments in my wort in the fermentor. I would skip the false bottom unless your using whole leaf hops. The hop spider won't cause any clogs at all, it just hangs on the side.
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I had one and sold it to a club member. I thought cleaning it out was a PITA. Plus I used an immersion chiller at the time and that made things more difficult. I might try that route this time though. CFC make my previous issue null. I would just need to create a better way to "hang" it from a keggle is all.

I did hate cleaning that damn thing out though. It was almost too fine, mine was 300 micron.
 
30Bones said:
I had one and sold it to a club member. I thought cleaning it out was a PITA. Plus I used an immersion chiller at the time and that made things more difficult. I might try that route this time though. CFC make my previous issue null. I would just need to create a better way to "hang" it from a keggle is all.

I did hate cleaning that damn thing out though. It was almost too fine, mine was 300 micron.
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really? Mine is a 300 micron as well and it isn't a pain to clean at all, probably the easiest thing to clean after a brew day.

I have a CFC as well, I generally let the hop spider drain out as I am cleaning everything else after a brew session. Once I'm done and it's the last thing to clean, the hops are clumped together and pretty dry. Turn it over a bag, give it a few taps on the stainless ring at the bottom (don't tap the screen) and it all comes out in one shot. Then I put it in the sink upside down and spray it with hot water to clear it out. I've had to use a long brush at times but not to scrub the hell out of it.

They sell two versions for a Keggle, check them out here: http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/...-bD6scCFZcYHwodIAUErQ#kegglefilteroutsidehook

They also have a 400 Micron option as well.
 
dmcman73 said:
really? Mine is a 300 micron as well and it isn't a pain to clean at all, probably the easiest thing to clean after a brew day.

I have a CFC as well, I generally let the hop spider drain out as I am cleaning everything else after a brew session. Once I'm done and it's the last thing to clean, the hops are clumped together and pretty dry. Turn it over a bag, give it a few taps on the stainless ring at the bottom (don't tap the screen) and it all comes out in one shot. Then I put it in the sink upside down and spray it with hot water to clear it out. I've had to use a long brush at times but not to scrub the hell out of it.

They sell two versions for a Keggle, check them out here: http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/...-bD6scCFZcYHwodIAUErQ#kegglefilteroutsidehook

They also have a 400 Micron option as well.
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Maybe I was jut having a bad brew day or just hate cleanup.....or both :p

I will keep these in mind, they are cheaper than a jaybird false bottom with all the filters. I am doing a ton of research before I buy things to outfit this build. No rush, I have my cooler MT and 10 gallon HLT/BK to use in the meantime.
 
Looks amazing. Nice job on polishing the kegs, they turned out great.

Any inside shots of the panel? You pretty much replicated the system I want to build after we move
 
Making the switch to having hard piped and doing away with silicon hoses. Hopefully the mess that goes with swapping out multiple hoses during any given brew day disappears also!

Front View:
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From below:
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The plan is to continue including more automation. But for now I will finish the task at hand. I'll post more once I continue with the build. Waiting on more parts.
 

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