Electric brewery build

[BrewBeemer]

Joe,
how is that PVC bell box holding up mounted against your pots?
Before water hits boiling temp PVC pipe is like boiled spaghetti you can tie it in knot.

 

[ThickHead]

Still waiting for your first brewcast with this new e-rig. With winter setting in up there, I am certain you are properly motivated.

 

[nostalgia]

Finally starting some work on the stand. I had purchased some rolling carts rated to 500lbs per shelf, so I used that as the base. They were a little too narrow, so I'll be using bedframe steel to make the parts that the vessels sit on.

So here's the mockup. The wood crosspieces will be steel, either bolted or welded to the inside of the main beams.

Bottom of the boil kettle:

And the bottom of the HLT:

This is my first brewstand build, so input is most definitely welcome.

-Joe

 

[ScubaSteve]

I think it looks pretty good, but really, no need to have it so high! You could probably drop it 10" and adjust your butterfly valves to still be pretty reachable. Those kettles are kinda like the centerpiece...I think you could make a <relatively> compact rig by bringing everything closer together. For that matter, where is the top shelf? Will it support the weight? Could you bring the drums together and have the mashtun under them? You could still stir, plus you could add strike water and recirc by gravity.....still only needing 1 pump.

 

[nostalgia]

Thanks Steve. The height is just for the mockup. It's going to be substantially lower in the finished product.

The distances between things are because I'm planning on another of those stainless kettles in the middle. The space there is just about right for one to fit with insulation.

The top shelf is in my kitchen That's actually why we bought these - they were cheaper than stainless countertops, even with the legs and wheels. It's a solid stainless shelf, so I couldn't use it anyway with the bottom drains.

Since I'm batch sparging, I should still only need one pump, right?

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Ok, just about ready to brew! I decided to simplify and get rid of the cross rails entirely. Just the main beams, which works out beautifully.

The only issue is I had to mount them inside the tubes instead of putting the L on top. It should still be plenty strong enough. I did dips on the rails before adding the wood supports (to distribute the load to the bottom shelf) and they didn't even deflect with my 200# weight concentrated in the center.

If I find some time to plumb in the next few days, we may see first brew this weekend!

-Joe

 

[klyph]

What do you suppose your max batch size will be with those vessels and that mash tun? I think the mash tun will be your limiting factor.

 

[nostalgia]

Yeah, that MLT is only a temporary apparatus until I decide on something bigger. It's 50 quart, so according to my calculator here, I can max out at about 30lbs of grain, assuming 1.25qt of water per 1lb of grain and 1/2 gallon of deadspace.

So for an 11 gallon batch, that equates to a max of 1.075 at 75% efficiency. For a 16.5 gallon batch, 1.050. A 5.5 batch would net me 1.151

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

First brew on the new system right now! Click here to watch.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Well, the system performed flawlessly. I could keep a good boil in 7 gallons at 70% power, and having the PID controlled HLT was sooooooo nice!

-Joe

 

[Yooper]

Well, the system performed flawlessly. I could keep a good boil in 7 gallons at 70% power, and having the PID controlled HLT was sooooooo nice!

-Joe

Sorry I missed the inaugural brew! Glad to hear it went so well.

 

[Bobby_M]

I want to start my electric build so bad but I'm afraid I'd have to quit brewhardware first. Jealous!

 

[nostalgia]

You can come over and play with my rig any time No, that's not a clever euphemism.

One big difference I noticed is I didn't have to scrub the bottom of the kettle - no heat down there means nothing sticks to the bottom. Just a quick wipe of the hop line on the sides of the kettle and it was squeaky clean.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

I forgot that I had taken a couple pictures of the first brew! Here's the setup. I haven't mounted the control panel yet, so I used my little stainless work cart.

And here's the whirlpool - 4 ounces of pellet hops made a lovely cone. I can't say enough about how awesome having a bottom drain is, especially with the 1" butterfly valve. Just hose those hops right out the bottom into a 5-gallon bucket and the kettle's clean. I will never be able to go back to diptubes after this.

-Joe

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Congrats on your first brew on the new system, Joe! Looks like you'll have a nice setup. Let us know how the beer turns out.

TB

 

[nostalgia]

Congrats on your first brew on the new system, Joe! Looks like you'll have a nice setup. Let us know how the beer turns out.

Other than all over my floor, you mean?

Thanks I couldn't have done it without everyone's help.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Happy new year, everyone. Finally got a little more time to play with the rig. I was trying to figure out how to mount the control panel for a few days when a light bulb finally went off - a $20 CRT TV wall mount! Good for up to 66 lbs.

-Joe

 

[Maltose]

Great idea on the TV wall mount

 

[Layne]

Good thinkin Lincoln!

 

[stevehaun]

Nice build!

 

[nostalgia]

Did another batch on the rig today. It was awesome

Tomorrow we're planning to punish the rig with a 15 gallon batch! We'll see how she holds up.

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

I have done several 10-gallon batches since the last post. The rig continues to make me happy The only issue I have is with changing over fittings when pumping liquids in various directions. That's all going to change...

-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Pump manifold in the works.



-Joe

 

[nostalgia]

Some more details on the new pump setup. I didn't like the idea of all that weight hanging off the output fitting on the head, especially with the tri-clamp fitting. I put the pump on my stainless worktable and stared at it, waiting for a solution to come to me.

Then I remembered the *other* stainless table that I shortened. Did I save the cutoff? Of course I did! Who throws out perfectly good stainless sheet?

After some work with a jigsaw and a carbide blade, I had my blank cut out. Then I rounded the edges on my belt grinder.

Next I had to bend it in an L. That's where the poor-man's bending brake comes in. A Craftsman Workmate and a block of wood.



Next was drilling the holes to mount the 3-piece ball valve. In case anyone's wondering, those are 5 millimeter bolt holes.



And here's a front view of the whole setup.



I bolted the whole mess to my brewstand. Next I think I'll make up some covers for them to try to keep stray splashes out of the motors.

-Joe

 

[DiNap44]

Nice lookin' pump.

 

[nostalgia]

I timed how long it takes to heat my strike water today, for those who are curious.

To heat 15 gallons of 56F water to 180F on a 75F day in an uninsulated stainless vessel with a single, 5500 watt element took 1 hour 10 minutes.

According to my calculator, that's 59% efficient. I'm planning to insulate the tuns at some point. It'll be interesting to see how much that improves things.

-Joe

 

[Ranger9913]

That seems like a very long time. My experience is around 30 mins to heat 12 gallon from 65-70 degrees to 185 degrees. Like you, I have one 5500w element and an uninsulated keggle.

 

[Yooper]

I timed how long it takes to heat my strike water today, for those who are curious.

To heat 15 gallons of 56F water to 180F on a 75F day in an uninsulated stainless vessel with a single, 5500 watt element took 1 hour 10 minutes.

According to my calculator, that's 59% efficient. I'm planning to insulate the tuns at some point. It'll be interesting to see how much that improves things.

-Joe

That seems like a very long time. It doesn't take nearly that long for my system. I never timed it though.

Can you look up what it's "supposed" to be, and check it against your real life experiment? My brew room is quite cool all year round (50s in the winter) and I"m sure it's faster than that. The most I've ever heated at once was 14 gallons though (that's all that will fit!) and my tap water starts at 45 degrees.

 

[nostalgia]

At 100% efficiency it should be 49 minutes. So 30 minutes is either bending the laws of physics, or someone's timing is off.

I'll see if I can find another online calculator to vet my formulas.

-Joe

EDIT: 49, not 59 minutes.

 

[nostalgia]

This calculator, while in metric units, also comes up with 50 minutes.

I'm still looking for others, but seems like I'm in the ballpark.

-Joe