Home brewing in Japan

[tektonjp]

For those interested in the Wan Cup, it's been moved up this year to April. Get brewing!!

 

[Brew_JP]

Hi all, do someone know a good place to buy two row base malts for cheap ? I know that from basic Japanese homebrew stores it turn around 40 to 50¥ for 100 grams... Who know better ? Thanks in advance !

 

[EODtony]

I've ordered through both of the bulk vendors in Japan.

Asahi - they sell their malts that they use in house. The shipping and processing of orders happens really fast. They sell their bags of malts in 20kg bags if I remember correctly. Their "ale" malt is pretty much 2-Row.

http://www.asahibeermalt.co.jp/product/malt-hop/

Ohnishi Shoji - they import malts from all over. They have a really large selection available, as well they also some hops in bulk. The main problem my wife had when contacting them is that there is one guy who deals with all their shipments. He is very hard to get ahold of and doesn't like selling to homebrewers. My wife told him I was working on a school project and hoping to open a brewery next year to get him to process the order. It took her about 60 days of constant phone calls to get 9 - 25kg bags. I bought Weyermann malts through them.

http://www.ohnishishoji.co.jp/info/english.html

There is a good write up in this thread starting on page 5 about the process to order from both places. The best thing I can recommend is get someone that is fluent in Japanese to help you and be very patient. I'm all the way up in Aomori, so getting things up here is always a challenge. Lastly, of course to use either of these options you will need to have your own mill to crush the grains for brewing.

Tony

 

[OppamaBrendan]

Hey all, I am hosting a brewday at my place on Sunday the 15th.
Mash in should be 10 am.
The beer will be kegged and served at the Homebrew Hanami (whats that? - just the biggest homebrew event in Japan!) in early April! Details about this event will be posted soon with the sign up information and the disclaimers (like that it is a Private event, so homebrewers and their guests but no random strangers) Besides the ****-up you probably want to get your own brew on for this party!

We will be brewing a porter (robust or baltic or "Porter-ish") and if you want to throw some special ingredient in please feel free to bring it along and if everyone is in approval of it we will toss it in!
Base malt is 5kg of Pale Malt
At our disposal is an additional:
1.2kg Pale Malt
Carared: 400gm
C150: 500g
C75 170g
C40 1100g
C15 750g
Chocolate 2000g<
Flaked Barley 2000g<
Med liquid malt extract 750g ish (I will use some to make a starter prior to brewday)
Yeast US-05

Hops: Various frozen whole flower varieties, but it will not be a hop forward beer.
Dextrose, Lactose, irish moss, DAP, campden tablets ( I use in the brew water instead of sitting the water for 24 hours to clear chlorine)

Equipment:
20L mashtun (yeah this is a bit small but we can make it work with batch sparges)
33L cooler for hot liquor tank
50L brewkettle
immersion chiller
Bazooka screen/hop filter
Hydrometer
Refractometer
pH strips
Iodine
CO2

Location is in Oppama, south of Yokohama north of Yokosuka.
If you need directions, either check FB Tokyo homebrewers page or send me a PM if you are not on Facebook.

 

[snackson]

I have a question with regards to E-Brewing in Japan. Is 200 volt readily available in most homes? I know that 100 and 200 volt are available from some google research. I currently have a 3 vessel e-Herms that I am going to probably part out and sell or put into storage. I was thinking of getting a BREWHA BIAC, but not sure if I would have 200V available. I may end up just bringing my Brewhemoth Conical and using my 20ish gallon Bayou Classic kettle instead. At least then if I don't have the right electricity I could still fire it with propane.

 

[tektonjp]

I have a question with regards to E-Brewing in Japan. Is 200 volt readily available in most homes? I know that 100 and 200 volt are available from some google research. I currently have a 3 vessel e-Herms that I am going to probably part out and sell or put into storage. I was thinking of getting a BREWHA BIAC, but not sure if I would have 200V available. I may end up just bringing my Brewhemoth Conical and using my 20ish gallon Bayou Classic kettle instead. At least then if I don't have the right electricity I could still fire it with propane.

New (ish) homes should have 200v service. I can't speak for apartments, though. You will get a bit of a drop in wattage since it's 200 and not 240. I brew electric and love it. Very few electric brewers here.

 

[tektonjp]

Speaking of electric, I have two items for sale from my brew house. I have a 20+liter 200v electric hot water heater with thermostat and thermometer built it. I'm asking 12,000 yen or best offer. Secondly, I have 35 liter igloo style mash tun with copper manifold and SS valve drain output. Asking 4000 for it. Pictures: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B2A2nSFMXw_eYVJ0NHdtRzZQc1E&usp=sharing
pm me if interested.

 

[Guzzibrew]

I also now brew electric. I started on an industrial gas ring, then migrated to the IH range in the new house, but it was underpowered. So then I bought an old industrial coffee maker off of Yahoo auctions, took it apart, rewired the heater from 3 phase to 2 phase and use that. I then took the remaining stainless steel from the coffee maker to the scrap yard and got more for the scrap than I paid for the coffee maker!

Tektonjp, how did you like that hot water heater as a brew kettle? I was wondering if one of those would work- we have one here at work I've been eyeing...

Why are you selling- is 20L too small?

On a similar topic...?

If anyone is interested I've got 5 gallon (might be 6?) all stainless steel super insulated, made in America, military grade, gently used water dispenser. (it's got a spout on the bottom and a big opening on top. It would make an awesome mash tun/ sparging tank. I was thinking about using it for a fermenter - just remove the pressure valve on top and install a blow-off tube.

I've been meaning to do it for ages, but work owns me:cross:

I'd take 15,000 Yen for it (or perhaps less with an interesting trade?).

I've added a representative picture. If anyone is interested I'll post a picture of the one at home. PM me if you are interested.

GB

 

[memustbefree]

So happy I found this thread, so much good info!
I live up in Niseko Hokkaido and just got my new all grain set up put together so will try it out this week with a Munich dunkel, Lagering temps starting to get perfect under my house now
I have order my grains from sakeland but always thought it was a bit pricey so I am so happy I found out that I can get it from Asahi and ohnishishoji for half price.
Will try out Asahi for next order, dont think I have the paitient for 60 days of constant phone calls.

 

[tektonjp]

Guzzibrew, after several years of doing 3v brewing, I'm moving back to BIAB to simplify my brew day. This water heater was used as my HLT. I usually did a single sparge, so it was the perfect size for a 5 gallon batch set up. Love the insulated tank. With the seal, one could do a pressurized fermentation.

 

[brewjabes]

Hey all,
Been lurking on here for a while but it's my first post!

I'm going to be brewing an American wheat in the next few weeks, I was thinking of including Matcha and Yuzu (or whatever citrus I can get my hands on).

I was wondering if anyone had experience using matcha in beer? I'm thinking of adding it to secondary after whisking some up. So far I've experimented with doing 1 gram of matcha in 25ml of off-boiling water with 100ml of kirin lager. It was an improvement on the base beer but still not quite what I'm looking for.

So anyone have experience brewing a beer with matcha? (or even sencha)

Thanks!

 

[sabotenfighter]

Picked up a CO2 tank and dual pressure regulator the other day. Wondering where everyone has sourced their gas lines? I've found the proper ones for server setups and what not (beer-server.com and YA), but they seem a bit overpriced at 350-390&#65509; per meter plus delivery.

 

[tektonjp]

Picked up a CO2 tank and dual pressure regulator the other day. Wondering where everyone has sourced their gas lines? I've found the proper ones for server setups and what not (beer-server.com and YA), but they seem a bit overpriced at 350-390&#65509; per meter plus delivery.

Gas lines? Most (not all) DIY stores will have 8mm high pressure air hose in the tool section. About half that price! It fits the QD perfectly.

 

[sabotenfighter]

Hey all,
Been lurking on here for a while but it's my first post!

I'm going to be brewing an American wheat in the next few weeks, I was thinking of including Matcha and Yuzu (or whatever citrus I can get my hands on).

I was wondering if anyone had experience using matcha in beer? I'm thinking of adding it to secondary after whisking some up. So far I've experimented with doing 1 gram of matcha in 25ml of off-boiling water with 100ml of kirin lager. It was an improvement on the base beer but still not quite what I'm looking for.

So anyone have experience brewing a beer with matcha? (or even sencha)

Thanks!

Welcome to the group. Haven't used matcha, but I have used iyokan recently. I did 2kg in secondary and let it sit for several weeks. Took a taste when racking to my keg yesterday and mostly I got the sour notes from the fruit. Ill report back when its fully carbed and cool, but if I were to do it again I would probably throw a load of the peel in at the end of the boil and used less of the fruit in all.

Thanks for the tip tektonjp. I went to like 4 different DIY stores (konan, etc) around here and came up empty on any hoses that would fit properly, but finally found a place that had some proper reinforced air lines. Unfortunately, 300yen per meter, but saved me the shipping cost.

 

[mooh]

Hi all,

It took me a few days, but i finally got to the last post in this thread.
Honestly this is the first thread i am reading here on HBT.

I am a Belgian living in Kikuna, Yokohama, and had been looking for some new kind of hobby. When typing homebrewing and Japan into google i got straight to this thread. I am totally new to homebrewing, but i have been able to learn a lot reading this thread.

I have ordered myself a starter kit of brewland through rakuten, but it comes with an extract of australian lager. I was just wondering whether i will be needing any hops for this extract. When reading the explanation, it doesnt mention anything about it.

I also noticed you guys are joining several gatherings and events, if there is one coming up, i would love to join some time and learn from all of you experienced brewers. I cannot say that i have ever drunk something homebrewed, as homebrewing is hardly done in Belgium. But i would really like to try some of those craft beer pubs here in yokohama.

My ultimate goal would be to create a beer close to a "duvel" (i am sorry for not being able to classify this beer).

Best,
Wim

 

[tektonjp]

Hi all,

It took me a few days, but i finally got to the last post in this thread.
Honestly this is the first thread i am reading here on HBT.

I am a Belgian living in Kikuna, Yokohama, and had been looking for some new kind of hobby. When typing homebrewing and Japan into google i got straight to this thread. I am totally new to homebrewing, but i have been able to learn a lot reading this thread.

I have ordered myself a starter kit of brewland through rakuten, but it comes with an extract of australian lager. I was just wondering whether i will be needing any hops for this extract. When reading the explanation, it doesnt mention anything about it.

I also noticed you guys are joining several gatherings and events, if there is one coming up, i would love to join some time and learn from all of you experienced brewers. I cannot say that i have ever drunk something homebrewed, as homebrewing is hardly done in Belgium. But i would really like to try some of those craft beer pubs here in yokohama.

My ultimate goal would be to create a beer close to a "duvel" (i am sorry for not being able to classify this beer).
Best,
Wim

Welcome aboard!

Most of us started with extract kits. Some continue to use them. I have found several ways to get the most out of them for what they are.

1. If possible, get a better quality yeast. Often the yeast included is outdated. Name brand yeast will make a big difference (safale, muntons, etc).

2. Most kits will tell you to add several kilos of white sugar. Don't. It will make your brew taste like cider. Better option is just to use the extract from the can and the matching amount of water for that. Sure, you'll be brewing half the amount of beer the instructions say, but it will be much more flavorful.

3. You have picked a kit which is difficult to get right, for a beginner. Don't get your hopes up that it will taste like lager out of a can. Unless you use lager yeast (which I doubt is included; kits almost always send ale yeast) and ferment at lager temps (which might be possible for the next week or two), you going to end up with a very blond type of ale, not lager. But it should be drinkable. Just saying: don't set your taste on getting a crisp lager out of your bucket.

4. Extracts kits are pre-hopped. As you flex your brewing muscles, you can buy unhopped extract and brew your own recipe. And, of course, you can always add more hops to any kit if you desire. That's the beauty of it. It's your beer. If you want to make a raspberry bacon sour rye saison, well, go for it.

Cheers!

 

[Brew_JP]

Hi mooh !

I live in Yokohama and go very often to Thrash Zone located not so far from the Yokohama station north exit.

If you go to Bashamichi station you can find several craft beer pub's like Taproom from Baird Brewery or not so far the Yokohama Brewery where I tried a fantastic chocolate stout last time ....

Santé

 

[mooh]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

tektonjp, thanks a lot for the useful information. I will look into that yeast problem. I did read some comments on Rakuten about people not getting the desired result, so that might be a cause, but its probably not only that.
I think I am going to stick with only the extract for my first one. I will also keep that sugar-advice in mind.

Brew_JP, thanks! That bar looks awesome. Definitely going to try that one out someday in the near future! I have to admit, that I have hardly tried any craft beers in my life. I think as a Belgian, I tend to stick to the commercially available Belgian beers. I also got a pal working at Konishi, they import most of the Belgian beers in Japan, and sometimes can get them for cheap.

I was looking into some equipment I will be needing for the actual brew, and had a few questions. (Maybe this is not the right thread to be asking... so please forgive me in advance.)
1 - Should I go for a stainless steel kettle, or will aluminum work as well?
2 - I am thinking of getting a 25L-ish one. What do you guys recommend?
3 - What kind of thermometer do you guys use for checking temps during actual brewing/boiling?
4 - The container for fermenting in the pack is without airlock. The description says it should be fine as the gasses can escape from the sides of the lid. I guess this might not be very good since bacteria might make their way into the container too easily. I was thinking to keep this container for bottling since it has a faucet at the bottom. I have seen a lot of alternatives reading through this thread, but I think I might get another container for fermentation with an actual airlock from a home brew supplier here. Any recommendations here?
5 - Cleaning and sanitizing, I am not really familiar with the chemicals yet, but I read that starsan is a wonderful product everywhere. Is it true this is just for sanitizing? Should I use another product first to clean everything before sanitizing with starsan? (If I can find this somewhere online).
6 - Siphons, I have never worked with a siphon before. I am guessing I won't be really needing this for my starter extract kit, but probably will be needing it for transferring the beer from the fermenting container to the bottling container, do you guys have any recommendations here as well? I think I would prefer an auto-siphon, as I am totally not familiar with this.
7 - Bottle filler, same thing here as with the siphon.

I am sorry for all these beginner questions, but I am totally new to home brewing. Please tell me if I am out of my league for posting these questions in here...

Best,
Wim

 

[tektonjp]

Sorry if I'm the only one jumping in here.

1. -Should I go for a stainless steel kettle, or will aluminum work as well?
-Either one is fine. SS, of course, can be more expensive.

2. -I am thinking of getting a 25L-ish one. What do you guys recommend?
-What size batch do you anticipate brewing in the future? And what style if you ever move on from extract? Storage space? If you see yourself doing extract or extract with steeping grains for the long haul, then 25l is fine.

3 - What kind of thermometer do you guys use for checking temps during actual brewing/boiling?
-You can get a long glass one at the DIY store for pretty cheap. I use a digital cooking thermometer, about 2000 yen I think.

4 - The container for fermenting in the pack is without airlock. The description says it should be fine as the gasses can escape from the sides of the lid. I guess this might not be very good since bacteria might make their way into the container too easily.
-Basic rule of science, bacteria don't go uphill. You're fine. You read about people going nuts trying to get an airtight fermentation going. Not necessary. Just think about all the big breweries which do open tank fermentation.

4a. I was thinking to keep this container for bottling since it has a faucet at the bottom.
-A separate bottling bucket is handy.

5 - Cleaning and sanitizing, I am not really familiar with the chemicals yet, but I read that starsan is a wonderful product everywhere. Is it true this is just for sanitizing? Should I use another product first to clean everything before sanitizing with starsan? (If I can find this somewhere online).
-Starsan is not a cleaner. I use Oxyclean for cleaning and soaking. Starsan is not available in Japan and tough to find a store which will send it. Anyone here have any sources?

6 - Siphons, I have never worked with a siphon before. I am guessing I won't be really needing this for my starter extract kit, but probably will be needing it for transferring the beer from the fermenting container to the bottling container, do you guys have any recommendations here as well? I think I would prefer an auto-siphon, as I am totally not familiar with this.
-If you have a spigot on your fermenter, you are all set.

7 - Bottle filler, same thing here as with the siphon.
-When I bottle, the bottle filler is a good piece of kit.

cheers, Scott

 

[snow16]

StarSan IS available in Japan. You will, of course, pay far more for it than you would in the U.S. - but if you're careful, it lasts a long time and is by far the best sanitizer for our purposes in my opinion.

www.homebrewing-service.com

 

[Guzzibrew]

I second most of what tektonjp said with the following caveats:

1) Go for SS, but I recommend looking at Yahoo Auction for a cheap SS pot.

2) 25L is about perfect if you are using the kitchen stove- anything bigger than 30L and you are kind of over loading it (weight and power). However if you are considering going all grain (BIAB or 3 tier) then you'll need a bigger pot. Why not buy tektonjp's brew kettle- it's thermostatically controlled and electric which will making brewing a lot more pleasant. (just a suggestion- I am in no way affiliated with tektonjp ;-))

3) You won't need a thermometer for doing extract. Boil it, cool it until it is luke-warm (think baby bottle or bread).

4) Bucket*S* The more the merrier. I use a couple.

5) Oxiclean rocks- Costco has it I have used all the sterilizers. They all work, but I use the homemade no-rinse sanitizer the inventor of Star-san recommends:
5 (19L) gallons of water
6 tsp (2 tblsp) of bleach
MIX
6 tsp (2 tblsp) of vinegar

or for a smaller batch:

6.34 L water
2 tsp bleach
MIX
2tsp vinegar

Note: The proportions are critical.
DANGER NOTE: it is very important to mix the water and bleach together *BEFORE* adding the vinegar! If you mix the vinegar and bleach first I believe it creates chlorine gas. DANGER.

Making this is dead simple. I have a dedicated 8L bottle with a mark on it for 6.34L then I add the bleach, shake and then the vinegar. I have a very small measuring flask for getting the exact amounts. I've not had an infection yet. 40 batches and counting.

5) the lid is to keep stuff from falling in. An airtight lid would also stop bugs/ flies from getting in and the airlock will let you monitor fermentation, but I've brewed lots without an airtight lid- though I use one now.

6)I still just use a piece of tubing. I've been meaning to buy a syphon, but haven't yet.

7)See #6

It's a shame it came with a lager kit. I've never had much luck with lager- good thing I like ale better anyway.

As a belgian if you don't like the taste of this beer after it has fermented out and aged a bit- then throw some fruit into it and make a faux lambic. Yes I know lambics are usually a large percentage of wheat, but I'm sure it would be interesting all the same.

Have fun!

 

[mooh]

tektonjp, Guzzibrew, thank you very very much for all this wonderful information!

I will stick with the bucket delivered in the starter kit.
Also just got a new stainless steel 30L pot for 3800yen at yahoo auctions. I was a bit suspicious about the price since it was new... I will check it out once it gets here. I got this one.

For cleaning products, I think I am going to get that Oxiclean. It is about 2500 yen of rakuten, I guess it is cheaper at Costco, but I don't have a Costco card.
I am considering of getting Star san as sanitizer, but I will run to the home center this weekend to look for a container for it. (I am thinking something plastic garbage can-ish)

Guzzibrew, thanks for the tip if my first experiment fails!

One more question, do you guys check PH values often? I read a lot of stuff about checking PH values for the water you use, is this really a big factor in brewing? Or can I just assume that my tap water is good enough?

Best,
Wim

 

[snow16]

Sounds like you're off to a great start!

Water pH and mineral content are hugely important in brewing, but it's not something to worry about when using extract. As long as your tap water tastes good, it should work just fine.

Best of luck with everything!

 

[OppamaBrendan]

For the autosiphon, when you can get one I reccomend having one. Comes in handy for sampling, racking, and if your spigots get plugged you have a backup - one you will hugely appreciate having at that time

I don`t know about everyone else, in North America plenty of homebrewers mix a 5 gallon batch of starsan up and keep it in a bucket. Here, with space constraints, I have gotten in the habbit of mixing only 2-4 liters. I buy the long-shelf life emergency supply water in 2Liter bottles. The stuff I get has no mineral content so the starsan doesn`t go cloudy (it does if I use tapwater). After mixing and putting some in a spray bottle I keep the rest of the starsan in the waterbottles. Since it foams up and the foam is as effective as liquid for sanitizing, 2 liters and using a spray bottle really goes a long way. I use the autosiphon to pump sanitizer through my hoses before and after every use. It only takes 200 ml of sanitizer to do this, and I can pour it back into the bottle after I am done and re-use it another time.

 

[Fencdar]

Brendan, where did you get the autosiphon? I would like to get one for sampling and cleaning lines.

 

[Fencdar]

So then I bought an old industrial coffee maker off of Yahoo auctions, took it apart, rewired the heater from 3 phase to 2 phase and use that. I then took the remaining stainless steel from the coffee maker to the scrap yard and got more for the scrap than I paid for the coffee maker!

Guzz, I'm planning on doing something similar. Could you take some pics of your setup, and the modifications you made to the heater?

 

[sabotenfighter]

Welcome to the forum Wim.
This is Collin, pretty sure we met in Nagoya about a year ago.
I've got that same stainless 30L pot or one much like it. The welds on the handle are kinda ****ty and the material is a bit thin, BUT it works fine for my BIAB brew days and is plenty big enough.

As for keeping star san, I picked up an airtight HDPE water container from Konan for 650&#65509; that works just fine for that. Probably better than a trash can too as it limits the air exposure plenty.

An autosiphon is a nice thing to have if you get one that works. The ones on AliExpress are crap and wont seal right. Also reek of cheap plastic, so I dont suggest getting one of those. If you move on to having buckets and other stuff without a spigot, a siphon or racking cane will be necessary. Speaking of racking canes, if anyone wants a 304 Stainless Steel racking cane (6mm ID I think, can't remember the exact size I was using), I can bend one to your preferred length (within reason) and ship it out in exchange for a couple bottles of beer.

One thing people haven't touched on here as regards to going lidless or having a non-airtight fermentation tank, it will lead to slightly more estery/phenolic brew. For a weizen/wit this is a good thing, other cleaner styles this may be a problem. Though I heard this is only really true if you go totally open. This is due to the yeast not being stressed, allowing them to basically go wild. This could cause some hell for temperature control as well (though probably not this time of year).

Lastly, Homebrewing-service Seems to be out of business or just doesn't care about fulfilling orders anymore. I ordered some Iodophor about 9 months ago and never got more than a couple automated emails.

If you are ever back in Nag, hit me up on Facebook, we could get a brew session in or exchange some beers. Speaking of FB, Ill invite you to the Tokyo Homebrewer's group.

 

[mooh]

Hey all, thanks a lot for the wonderful advice!

It seems my starter kit got delayed so I am thinking of cancelling the order and skim the yahoo auctions site for some stuff. Maybe get a different kit.

OppamaBrendan, if you have any info on how to obtain an auto siphon here in Japan, could you please share? I do not really see any auto siphon on AB and sakeland.

Collin! Thanks for the many many tips. I had been wanting to PM you on FB after checking all your pics. I'd love to check you brewing some day. Might help me a lot with my own.
About homebrew services, I ordered starsan of their site yesterday. Got an auto reply confirming the order, but just now I got a mail saying my shipment was in stock and they will ship it tomorrow. (Is this also an auto-mail? Seems to be about 24 hours after the other auto-mail...)
edit: they just send me an email that it has been shipped with a tracking number!
edit2: Star San arrived safely today! Within 3 days after placing my order.

Best,
Wim

 

[Guzzibrew]

Fencdar,

I can take some photos, but the setup is pretty ghetto. A simple solution is to buy a 200v water heater element off of Amazon.com (which is what I did for my bigger 60L brew kettle. Shipping is a bit silly but it works almost as well as the heater element from the coffee maker. Another solution is to use a couple of the 100V 1000W immersion heaters that plasters use here in Japan. You can pick them up at any larger home center. They look like a huge version of a travel immersion heater that you use to make tea in your hotel room.

Converting 3 phase elements to 2 phase is pretty simple for things like toasters and heaters, but you'll need to be sure that your breaker box has enough amperage and if you don't have a 200V outlet you'll need one. I believe that the heating element will draw more current on 2 phase compared to 3 phase. I've got a 50 Amp service at my house and my kettle occasionally kicks my breaker. I want to upgrade to 75 Amps.

You could also wire the element up for 100V but it won't get nearly as hot and it will draw more amperage (at least I think that is what I read).

The way the 3 phase 3 element water heater was originally wired was each wire supplied half of the power to each element. So what I did was i just connected one leg of each element to a single wire and the other side of each element to a single wire. The ground wire (very important to have anything electric well grounded). A ground fault breaker would be even better but I have yet to find one with enough capacity. People in North America usually use a hot tub heater ground fault breaker, but there are few of those it Japan.

Here are the before and after layouts of the heater element:

Originally:
L1Black--------Heater element 1--------- L3White--------Heater element 3---- &#8739;
L1Black--------Heater element 2----------L2Red ---------------------------------&#8739;


Now:
&#8739; -----Heater element 1 -- &#8739;
L1Black------- &#8739; -----Heater element 2 -- &#8739; --------- L2 White
&#8739; -----Heater element 3 -- &#8739;

I hope this makes sense, because showing a picture of the connection box doesn't help much- you can't tell where the wires are going- but here are the pictures:

To mount the heater I put it on the bottom of the pot- this was the only flat place to mount the flat flange (it came out of a square tank). I had to cut a pretty big hole- about 10 cm in diameter. I used my dremel tool and about twenty of those little disks that fly apart if you look at them funny.


For a gasket I used a silicone pot holder from Daiso. These flat pot holders make excellent gasket material. Food grade (if you trust Daiso) and high temperature.

If I was going to do it again I would mount the heating element on the side of the pot, but it would require a bit more work- maybe some metal pounding and a lot more gasket to get it to seal to the round side of the pot.

It works pretty well, but I want to get a couple of relays and wire it up to a temperature control unit so it will maintain a constant temperature when used as a mash tun.

I'll try and take a couple of pictures for you tomorrow.

GB

 

[tektonjp]

Fencdar,

I can take some photos, but the setup is pretty ghetto. A simple solution is to buy a 200v water heater element off of Amazon.com (which is what I did for my bigger 60L brew kettle. Shipping is a bit silly but it works almost as well as the heater element from the coffee maker. Another solution is to use a couple of the 100V 1000W immersion heaters that plasters use here in Japan. You can pick them up at any larger home center. They look like a huge version of a travel immersion heater that you use to make tea in your hotel room.

Converting 3 phase elements to 2 phase is pretty simple for things like toasters and heaters, but you'll need to be sure that your breaker box has enough amperage and if you don't have a 200V outlet you'll need one. I believe that the heating element will draw more current on 2 phase compared to 3 phase. I've got a 50 Amp service at my house and my kettle occasionally kicks my breaker. I want to upgrade to 75 Amps.

You could also wire the element up for 100V but it won't get nearly as hot and it will draw more amperage (at least I think that is what I read).

The way the 3 phase 3 element water heater was originally wired was each wire supplied half of the power to each element. So what I did was i just connected one leg of each element to a single wire and the other side of each element to a single wire. The ground wire (very important to have anything electric well grounded). A ground fault breaker would be even better but I have yet to find one with enough capacity. People in North America usually use a hot tub heater ground fault breaker, but there are few of those it Japan.

Here are the before and after layouts of the heater element:

Originally:
L1Black--------Heater element 1--------- L3White--------Heater element 3---- &#8739;
L1Black--------Heater element 2----------L2Red ---------------------------------&#8739;


Now:
&#8739; -----Heater element 1 -- &#8739;
L1Black------- &#8739; -----Heater element 2 -- &#8739; --------- L2 White
&#8739; -----Heater element 3 -- &#8739;

I hope this makes sense, because showing a picture of the connection box doesn't help much- you can't tell where the wires are going- but here are the pictures:

To mount the heater I put it on the bottom of the pot- this was the only flat place to mount the flat flange (it came out of a square tank). I had to cut a pretty big hole- about 10 cm in diameter. I used my dremel tool and about twenty of those little disks that fly apart if you look at them funny.


For a gasket I used a silicone pot holder from Daiso. These flat pot holders make excellent gasket material. Food grade (if you trust Daiso) and high temperature.

If I was going to do it again I would mount the heating element on the side of the pot, but it would require a bit more work- maybe some metal pounding and a lot more gasket to get it to seal to the round side of the pot.

It works pretty well, but I want to get a couple of relays and wire it up to a temperature control unit so it will maintain a constant temperature when used as a mash tun.

I'll try and take a couple of pictures for you tomorrow.

GB

I'm not sure I follow much of this, especially how you go from 3 phase to 2 phase. What are you calling 2 phase? It's usually 3 phase or single phase. Getting confused in this area can get you injured or killed. No reason to buy a 3 phase element (industrial level electricity used in big machines) and rewiring it if you are planning to use it in a residential system. Buy a standard 240 volt element on amazon international shipping (cheap shipping) and when you install in on 200v you'll get quite a bit of drop but it will work. My 4400 watt element puts out about 3300 watts and it is plenty for a 20 liter batch system.