Meet Thing 1. A 5Kw Induction All In One...

[Early8]

I am late too. Thing 1 looks pretty sweet to me. I am a huge fan of induction and simplicity, although I prefer to avoid pumps and anything other than an immersion chiller. Now I need to go back to the beginning and have read...

 

[brewman !]

although I prefer to avoid pumps

The only fluid that is moved manually when I brew is the sparge water that is hand ladled on top of the grain bed. 2-3 gallons of it, using a 2 quart pot as the ladle. All the other fluids either come out of the kitchen tap or are transferred by the pump.

One could run a hose from the sparge water kettle to Thing1's pump and pump the sparge water onto the mash, but it isn't worth it. It only takes a couple minutes to ladle the water from the stove top to the mash.

Fluid transfers during a brew session:
- rinse out brewing equipment (tap -> filter -> kettle, kettle-> pump-> kettle, kettle-> pump-> plate chiller-kettle, kettle-> pump-> kitchen sink drain)
- fill kettle with mash water (tap-> filter-> kettle)
- fill sparge water kettle on stove (tap-> filter -> kettle)
- recirculate mash (kettle-> pump -> top of mash)
- sparging, which is manual
- strain the wort (kettle-> pump-> grainbag in the kettle)
- sanitize the plate chiller (kettle->pump->plate chiller-> kettle)
- whirlpool (kettle -> pump-> plate chiller -> top of kettle)
- cool (kettle -> pump -> plate chiller -> fermenter)
- clean up (kettle-> pump -> plate chiller in reverse -> kettle)
- pump out (kettle -> kitchen sink drain)

 

[Early8]

Very nice indeed! Well thought out from my vantage point.

I have done some induction brewing on my 5 burner Bosch cooktop and the power and heat transfer is truly fantastic. I was concerned about weight on the glass and was given some stats, which I don't have on hand at the moment, that made me comfortable with 7 gallons on that big sheet of glass. I don't know if you are content or are still thinking about surfaces, but the glass that most of the big stove makers use is "Schott Ceran" which is a ceramic glass of some kind which I don't think is proprietary. I wonder if a glass shop might source it?

And regarding some of the discussion of efficiency, I wonder if increasing your water volume, like BIAB, might get your efficiency up? Although personally I don't get too worked up about that.

Great project! Thanks for sharing it!

 

[brewman !]

Very nice indeed! Well thought out from my vantage point.

Thanks !

I have done some induction brewing on my 5 burner Bosch cooktop and the power and heat transfer is truly fantastic. I was concerned about weight on the glass and was given some stats, which I don't have on hand at the moment, that made me comfortable with 7 gallons on that big sheet of glass.

There are usually some internal supports underneath the glass.

I don't know if you are content or are still thinking about surfaces, but the glass that most of the big stove makers use is "Schott Ceran" which is a ceramic glass of some kind which I don't think is proprietary. I wonder if a glass shop might source it?

Not that I am aware of. The only people that seem to use it are the radiant and induction stove top people. I thought about getting a used radiant stove top, but people told me it wouldn't be cuttable without breaking. I never did try though.

The plywood doesn't look great, but it works well. I should hunt down a recycled radiant stop top and see if it can be cut.

And regarding some of the discussion of efficiency, I wonder if increasing your water volume, like BIAB, might get your efficiency up?

~82% on our last brew session. I'm not complaining at all. I had some channeling going on for a bit. Now I put a performated pizza pan on top of the grain bed. That seems to really help.

Great project! Thanks for sharing it!

My pleasure to give something back to the community.

 

[brewman !]

Welp my third Grainfather melted it’s boiler plug. Busy doing the warranty thing and hoping they can send me the 220v NA version instead. Tired of the stupid 120v melting itself
...
Every time with this issue it’s been a full unit replacement. Plug to boiler is damage so whole thing is replaced. Also your warranty starts over from the new unit as well and I do in fact have that in writing from them.

And that is why you build an all in one instead of buying one. As well as several other issues.

 

[Civilian]

Just read this whole thread, great job!