Modobrew's Electric Brewery Build

[modobrew]

Oh and modo I also meant to ask where did you end up buying your locknuts, orings and washers? I noticed ya said the Chinese locknuts and some aih ones didn't work.

Also are the nipples 1.125" ?

Thanks

No worries. I bought the locknuts and nipples from AiH. I bought the washers and orings from McMaster-Carr. The links are on Kal's parts list I believe.

The nipples are ~1.125" long if that is what you were asking.



The nipple on top is the original from Bargain Fittings. The one on bottom is the new one from AiH. You can see the difference in the middle of the nipple. Even though it doesn't look like it, they are the same length.

 

[modobrew]

A little more progress today. I got the electrical box wired up seeing some continuity issues as can be seen in the images below. It's not quite reading zero ohms, and tends to fluctuate some. Anyone care to chime in?









Also tried to set the ferrules on my HERMS coil. Waiting on dip tube and the HTL will be complete.

 

[highland_brewer]

Modo... They are king cooker models 15 gallon. Got them off amazon.. Can't complain they were under $100 each.

 

[thirstyutahn]

No worries. I bought the locknuts and nipples from AiH. I bought the washers and orings from McMaster-Carr. The links are on Kal's parts list I believe.

The nipples are ~1.125" long if that is what you were asking.

The nipple on top is the original from Bargain Fittings. The one on bottom is the new one from AiH. You can see the difference in the middle of the nipple. Even though it doesn't look like it, they are the same length.

Thanks man.

Ya I've had a couple issues in the past with parts from different places that didn't fit. From your pictures it looked like the nipples were long so i thought id ask. Interesting that those close nipples you originally got had a flat spot.

 

[modobrew]

No problem.


Yeah I'm not sure why they had that flat spot on them either. Pretty upset since I bought 10 of them and then had to replace them. Go with AiH and you should be good.

 

[kal]

A little more progress today. I got the electrical box wired up seeing some continuity issues as can be seen in the images below. It's not quite reading zero ohms, and tends to fluctuate some. Anyone care to chime in?

If it's only a fraction of an ohm you're likely reading the resistance of your test leads, and/or the meter's slightly off. Try holding one test lead against another and you'll likely see the same

0 ohms is basically not possible. Anything under an ohm or two is basically a short.

Kal

 

[modobrew]

If it's only a fraction of an ohm you're likely reading the resistance of your test leads, and/or the meter's slightly off. Try holding one test lead against another and you'll likely see the same

0 ohms is basically not possible. Anything under an ohm or two is basically a short.

Kal

Thanks Kal for the response. That's what I thought might be going on, I just wanted to make sure. It kept starting off reading above 1 ohm, but then would quickly jump down to the readings you saw above. I'm out of town for the week, but as soon as I get home, i will definitely test the the leads against one another.

Your site is amazing. The electronic copy was also great to have since I have been traveling a lot. It provided some reading material while on the plane!

 

[kal]

Let us know what you find when you get back, but it all sounds completely normal. Good luck!

Kal

 

[modobrew]

Small update for now. Finally home from traveling for work. Came home last week to see some goodies waiting on me. Hopstopper from Kal's site and sight glasses and thermometers from Bobby_M over at brewhardware.com. Excellent service from both and highly recommend!



I got around today to installing the sight glass and thermometer on my HLT. Have to say that I'm very pleased with the way everything is coming together on these kettles. Just waiting to order dip tubes and a recirc arm from Zach at Stainlessbrewing.com to finish the HLT.





I started punching some holes in another kettle to make my BK. I then realized I'm 5 washers short....off to McMaster-Carr.com I go. Oh well, guess I'll get back to it on Monday.





Cheers!

 

[kal]

Looks great! Thanks for sharing the pics - keep them coming! I've seen probably thousands of pictures of builds in progress and it never gets old.

Kal

 

[theknub]

modo,
it looks like this is your hlt. why not just recirc at the out port and back to the water in port?

 

[modobrew]

Kal,

Thanks for the great words. I've been really inspired by your build and hope that I can achieve similar results with this system. I've tried to model my setup almost identical to yours, with the exception of the Blingmanns! I have to save some costs somewhere and this is where I found the most cost savings. Be sure to check back periodically as I will try to update this with every update I have with my build.

modo,
it looks like this is your hlt. why not just recirc at the out port and back to the water in port?

I'm not sure if I follow you fully, but I believe what you ask is indeed what I plan to do. Looking at the images in my last post, i will have hose hooked up to the out (bottom center) running to a pump and back up to the recirc port on the upper right. I'm just missing some Stainless tubing to go in the recirc port. That's what I meant by "Just waiting to order dip tubes and a recirc arm from Zach at Stainlessbrewing.com to finish the HLT." The recirc arm just being a piece of 1/2" tubing to go into a compression fitting on the inside of the kettle. Let me know if this is what you meant.

 

[theknub]

10-4 buddy!

I thought you meant something like this http://morebeer.com/products/wort-chiller-recirculation-arm-option.html

 

[thirstyutahn]

Looking great man!

What are ya gonna do for a false bottom for your mash tun?

After seeing this build and doing some more thinking I've decided to sell my kegs and buy some of these pots instead.

Hard to beat the price and it seems like they would be perfect for electric. I also like the 20 gallon cap better than 15.

 

[modobrew]

Looking great man!

What are ya gonna do for a false bottom for your mash tun?

After seeing this build and doing some more thinking I've decided to sell my kegs and buy some of these pots instead.

Hard to beat the price and it seems like they would be perfect for electric. I also like the 20 gallon cap better than 15.

Thanks! I'm doing the same thing, I'll be scrapping/selling 2 keggles and a cooler for this setup. Still using propane until this is ready.

I'm going to most likely use a custom false bottom from Jay (Jaybird on here I believe), Nor Cal Brewing.

The price is great and the kettles are pretty nice, def not Blichmann quality but great for the price. Good luck with your build and let me know if you have questions.

 

[lorglath]

This is very close to my current build! Any current pictures?

 

[Jaybird]

Thanks for the link modobrew your system looks KILLER! Your custom built false bottom is on a FED EX truck headed your way brotha' I cant wait to see picts of it IN your system all covered in grain!

Cheers
Jay

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Thanks! I'm doing the same thing, I'll be scrapping/selling 2 keggles and a cooler for this setup. Still using propane until this is ready.

I'm going to most likely use a custom false bottom from Jay (Jaybird on here I believe), Nor Cal Brewing.

The price is great and the kettles are pretty nice, def not Blichmann quality but great for the price. Good luck with your build and let me know if you have questions.

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but this is basically what im trying to do(Stainless coil in Concord 80Qt Pot)

How did it come out with the 14" radius? I am going to have welded couplers put in my pot and be flush with the outside of the pot for the HERMS coil(nothing sticking inside) which i planned to screw my 1/2" NPT to 1/2" Compression fitting and then the coil into that. I dont see how it couldnt fit, but would like to verify if anyone can!

 

[modobrew]

Well I'm finally back at it again after a super long hiatus. I received my panel from Kal and Spike Innovations and can't say enough good things about the quality of this panel.

I finally got all of my weldless fittings installed and now have 1 or 2 really small leaks I'm chasing. I plan to fix those this weekend. I've tested the heating elements and everything is functioning properly. I now just need to get the PIDs tuned so they read accurately.

My next step is to build a brew stand that is similar to Kal's original design, but with some updates that I think would make the rig function better for me. Here are a couple of sketchup images of the rig I think I am going to build. Let me know if you see something that may not work or something you see that I might could do differently based on experience.

How it will be stored

How I plan to use it on brew day

I plan for both the mash tun and HLT to tip for easy dumping and cleaning.

That's it for now. I hope to be more active on this forum now that I am getting back into brewing. Cheers!

 

[jcav]

Nice! Kal's control box is top notch all the way! I love mine, got mine a little over 5 years ago now. Brew on it every month and get two full five gallon kegs of finished product. Batch # 63 is coming up soon! Good luck!

John

 

[kal]

Glad to hear you're liking the panel modobrew! Any questions at all please reach out!

Kal

 

[modobrew]

Glad to hear you're liking the panel modobrew! Any questions at all please reach out!

Kal

Oh you know I will be reaching out at some point! I'm chomping at the bit to get brewing with this thing!

 

[modobrew]

A small update on the brew stands. Frames are complete. Hopefully going to start on the top and shelf tomorrow. These things are sturdy as hell!

 

[jcav]

Nice Job!

John

 

[modobrew]

Well I had one day of sunny weather this weekend. I was able to get the top and casters mounted on the little table. I also test fitted the control panel. I’m really happy with the way it’s turned out so far. Still need to install shelves on the bottom and then either paint or stain them. I did a quick location fitment in the garage to see how everything would work together. I think I’m really going to enjoy this setup. I’m just ready to be done with it so I can get back to brewing!

 

[jcav]

You will love brewing on it! I know, I have one too! It's the best!

John

 

[RufusBrewer]

I plan for both the mash tun and HLT to tip for easy dumping and cleaning.
View attachment 714524

That's it for now. I hope to be more active on this forum now that I am getting back into brewing. Cheers!

With the tippy dump, how do you hold the kettle in place?

 

[modobrew]

With the tippy dump, how do you hold the kettle in place?

I haven't added the tippy dump to this version yet. I wanted to just get a structure built so that I can actually get back to brewing. As for holding things in place, I believe I will use a combination of SS hooks and turnbuckles to grab ahold of the handles and then have some type of wooden lip at the front of the pot to keep it from sliding forward when tipping. Stay tuned, as that may be something I implement if I end up hating cleaning out the mash as it is right now.

 

[modobrew]

More progress on the brew stands. I’m really ready to get these finished so I can get the brewery set up for a test run. Need a couple of more coats of paint and then some poly.

 

[modobrew]

A quick update to the status of my brewery. I've finally finished the brew sculptures. I'm now in the process of finalizing where I want to place the pump shelf; centered or over to the right on the sculpture. I've run into a problem in that my chugger pump cords aren't long enough to reach my control panel so I'm going to make some extension cords for them this weekend. I'm also having some issues getting my HERMS coil to seat properly on the compression fittings. I hope to have this resolved this weekend as well. I still need to add volume labels to my sight glasses (which I'm waiting on my decals to come in from MI which is currently buried in snow). Anyways, below are pictures of the sculptures as they currently stand.