My Conversion to an Electric Brew System

[JacobChoate1990]

Hey how's it going everyone? I am a new user to this site but have been lurking around since I started home brewing almost 3 years ago. My friend and I have been looking into upgrading our current 5 gallon propane brewing system into a 10 gallon all electric brewing system. I thought it might be fun to tell our little story and show you guys our wins and mess ups along the way.
Some of the reasons why we are upgrading are because we currently brew in my friends detached garage, we also live in Michigan so brewing in the winter kind of sucks, in upgrading our system we will move it into his basement which will be a lot warmer. We also currently just use an igloo cooler for a mash tun and were looking to have more control over our mash temp and have the ability to do step mashing if we decide to. Also because we share the five gallon equipment when we brew only one of us gets that batch and then we switch off, so we also want a 10 gallon system to get around that problem.
The basic plan is to have all Blichmann G2 Boilermakers on a single tier, with two Chugger pumps to shift everything around, a HERMS coil for mash control and an Electric Brewery Control Panel. I already ordered the Chugger pumps and Boilermakers so pictures and updates will come soon!
If anyone has any questions I will be happy to do my best in answering it and if you see me doing something stupid please let me know, I'm not flying by the seat of my pants on this but I know there are plenty of you guys and gals that know a lot more about it than me. Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy.
Cheers!

 

[dogpoundbrewery]

Good luck in your build . I know the feeling of brewing outdoors I'm in buffalo I've set up an indoor brewery no my basement but due to issues with my control panel I'll be doing outdoor garage batch tomorrow before the temps drop below freezing again . My one recommendation is if possible built your own panel even if it's simple you can always upgrade it as you go . If you run into problems at least you can troubleshoot and fix it yourself . I'm in the process of building another less complicated controller that I can work on myself instead of the one I bought . Any problems or issues just ask there a lot of great people here on hbt .

 

[JacobChoate1990]

Good luck in your build . I know the feeling of brewing outdoors I'm in buffalo I've set up an indoor brewery no my basement but due to issues with my control panel I'll be doing outdoor garage batch tomorrow before the temps drop below freezing again . My one recommendation is if possible built your own panel even if it's simple you can always upgrade it as you go . If you run into problems at least you can troubleshoot and fix it yourself . I'm in the process of building another less complicated controller that I can work on myself instead of the one I bought . Any problems or issues just ask there a lot of great people here on hbt .

Hey thanks for commenting! My plan was to build my own panel based off of the Electric Brewery Panel, I was doing it to save cost but you raise a great point on troubleshooting any problems! Thank you for your advice. Have fun tomorrow!

 

[augiedoggy]

Good luck in your build . I know the feeling of brewing outdoors I'm in buffalo I've set up an indoor brewery no my basement but due to issues with my control panel I'll be doing outdoor garage batch tomorrow before the temps drop below freezing again . My one recommendation is if possible built your own panel even if it's simple you can always upgrade it as you go . If you run into problems at least you can troubleshoot and fix it yourself . I'm in the process of building another less complicated controller that I can work on myself instead of the one I bought . Any problems or issues just ask there a lot of great people here on hbt .

What kind of issues? Im in the Buffalo area too... Let me know its its anything I can help with. I built a couple panels now and mine has seen constant upgrades since inception a few years ago... but the electric brewery is a hobby of its own I find thats just as much fun as the brewing.

 

[TungstenBeer]

What kind of issues? Im in the Buffalo area too... Let me know its its anything I can help with. I built a couple panels now and mine has seen constant upgrades since inception a few years ago... but the electric brewery is a hobby of its own I find thats just as much fun as the brewing.

I'm also curious what kind of issues, I'm also from Buffalo, also have built a couple panels, and also agree that the electric brewery part of the hobby is just as fun as the actual brewing.

 

[dogpoundbrewery]

Yeah fun lol and frustrating . Last year I decided enough was enough lugging water from the house out to the garage during the winter . I welded up a new single tier brew stand for the basement sold my old stand and kettles and started on this great path of an indoor electric brewery . I gathered parts got new keggles and also a 15 gallon blichmann mlt . I started buying parts for a simple controller but as I went along I wanted to add more to the controller until it made more sense to just buy one prebuilt . My controller I bought after learning and programming the pids still won't fire the elements . The boil kettle is controlled by an interlock switch and a rotary dial for easy control but when switched to the on position the controll box buzzes and vibrates . Still waiting to hear back from the person who built it he emailed me he is out of the country which leaves me stuck with a complete electric brewery that I can't use . I drilled another keggle last night and my 25 gallon polarware pot so I could brew today while it's warm enough outside . 10 gallon IPA came out at about 1068 can't wait till it's ready .

 

[augiedoggy]

I'm also curious what kind of issues, I'm also from Buffalo, also have built a couple panels, and also agree that the electric brewery part of the hobby is just as fun as the actual brewing.

I remember now from another post dogpoundbrewery made in another thread that he ordered his panel custom built from brumatic and it came with no directions for use and was buzzing when trying to use one of the pids or manual control.

 

[augiedoggy]

Yeah fun lol and frustrating . Last year I decided enough was enough lugging water from the house out to the garage during the winter . I welded up a new single tier brew stand for the basement sold my old stand and kettles and started on this great path of an indoor electric brewery . I gathered parts got new keggles and also a 15 gallon blichmann mlt . I started buying parts for a simple controller but as I went along I wanted to add more to the controller until it made more sense to just buy one prebuilt . My controller I bought after learning and programming the pids still won't fire the elements . The boil kettle is controlled by an interlock switch and a rotary dial for easy control but when switched to the on position the controll box buzzes and vibrates . Still waiting to hear back from the person who built it he emailed me he is out of the country which leaves me stuck with a complete electric brewery that I can't use . I drilled another keggle last night and my 25 gallon polarware pot so I could brew today while it's warm enough outside . 10 gallon IPA came out at about 1068 can't wait till it's ready .

you posted at the same time and beat me lol!

Its likely just loose or miswired switch... I would be glad to come by look at it if you want... Your call I understand either way..

 

[dogpoundbrewery]

That would be great maybe we can set something up for next week going away tomorrow for a little R/R . Just a question on the pids there copies of aubers syl 2364 . I programmed them for the correct temp sensors for use with heating and as SSR pid control and Fahrenheit when I put them into auto tune the auto light flashes on both pids but does power up the indicator lights or the elements . Is there anything I'm not setting properly for them to work ?

 

[dogpoundbrewery]

It doesn't power up damn auto correct

 

[augiedoggy]

That would be great maybe we can set something up for next week going away tomorrow for a little R/R . Just a question on the pids there copies of aubers syl 2364 . I programmed them for the correct temp sensors for use with heating and as SSR pid control and Fahrenheit when I put them into auto tune the auto light flashes on both pids but does power up the indicator lights or the elements . Is there anything I'm not setting properly for them to work ?

That is very strange... unfortunately I am not very familiar with the auber pids (I used the mypins) but im sure its just a step thats being left out if both pids behave the same way...

 

[JacobChoate1990]

Chugger pumps just came in!!!

 

[doug293cz]

That would be great maybe we can set something up for next week going away tomorrow for a little R/R . Just a question on the pids there copies of aubers syl 2364 . I programmed them for the correct temp sensors for use with heating and as SSR pid control and Fahrenheit when I put them into auto tune the auto light flashes on both pids but does power up the indicator lights or the elements . Is there anything I'm not setting properly for them to work ?

Is it possible that you have the polarity wrong on the connections from the PID's to the SSR's? If they are backwards, then the SSR's won't fire.

Brew on

 

[augiedoggy]

Is it possible that you have the polarity wrong on the connections from the PID's to the SSR's? If they are backwards, then the SSR's won't fire.

Brew on

That wouldnt explain the buzzing though would it?

 

[dogpoundbrewery]

I honestly think the SSR is fried . Alex had a problem with it when he built the controller . He fixed or changed it because it delayed the shipping by a couple days . The noise the controller makes sounds like when a electric pump or motor loses one leg of 110 it stalls and has that humming noise . Still waiting for Alex to get back he said he's out of the country and has crappy Internet . I see his eBay sales list Canada as country of origin and also Washington state so for now I'm just waiting on him . I've spent hours researching the pids so I'm sure there set right I know all functions for the now . I've learned quite a lot of information in the last week on here and through other sources .

 

[Kampenken]

... My friend and I have been looking into upgrading our current 5 gallon propane brewing system into a 10 gallon all electric brewing system. ...Some of the reasons why we are upgrading ...brewing in the winter kind of sucks, in upgrading our system we will move it into his basement which will be a lot warmer. We also currently just use an igloo cooler for a mash tun and were looking to have more control over our mash temp and have the ability to do step mashing if we decide to. Also because we share the five gallon equipment when we brew only one of us gets that batch and then we switch off, so we also want a 10 gallon system to get around that problem.
The basic plan is to have all Blichmann G2 Boilermakers on a single tier, with two Chugger pumps to shift everything around, a HERMS coil for mash control and an Electric Brewery Control Panel. I already ordered the Chugger pumps and Boilermakers so pictures and updates will come soon!
If anyone has any questions I will be happy to do my best in answering it and if you see me doing something stupid please let me know, I'm not flying by the seat of my pants on this but I know there are plenty of you guys and gals that know a lot more about it than me. Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy.
Cheers!

Hi Jacob, I just found your thread here and have some comments / questions. Based on wishing to brew inside and wanting a 5g batch for each, I wonder if you've considered the Grainfather, or something similar? This would meet your requirements at a much cheaper price even with both of you owning one! I don't know your financial situation, but sharing the costs of what could be easily a 6k or more (and higher if mods to the basement are required- 220v line, plumbing etc..) could put a strain on a friendship, especially if one of you were to move.Downside I see is a lack of enjoyment and satisfaction building your own brewing system. Those were my initial thoughts.

Having said that, I do wish you all the best on your build, and enjoy watching these here. I too was very enthused by Kal's electric brewery, but ultimately the prep work to my basement (and the low ceiling heights there) changed my mind for at least this house.

Cheers!

 

[doug293cz]

That wouldnt explain the buzzing though would it?

No, I don't think so. An SSR shouldn't make any noise, even if it's failed. One thing that can cause buzzing is if somehow a DC coil relay or contactor has AC applied to the coil. A component mislabeled by a supplier could lead to this.

Brew on

 

[augiedoggy]

No, I don't think so. An SSR shouldn't make any noise, even if it's failed. One thing that can cause buzzing is if somehow a DC coil relay or contactor has AC applied to the coil. A component mislabeled by a supplier could lead to this.

Brew on

I suspect your right.

 

[JacobChoate1990]

Hi Jacob, I just found your thread here and have some comments / questions. Based on wishing to brew inside and wanting a 5g batch for each, I wonder if you've considered the Grainfather, or something similar? This would meet your requirements at a much cheaper price even with both of you owning one! I don't know your financial situation, but sharing the costs of what could be easily a 6k or more (and higher if mods to the basement are required- 220v line, plumbing etc..) could put a strain on a friendship, especially if one of you were to move.Downside I see is a lack of enjoyment and satisfaction building your own brewing system. Those were my initial thoughts.

Having said that, I do wish you all the best on your build, and enjoy watching these here. I too was very enthused by Kal's electric brewery, but ultimately the prep work to my basement (and the low ceiling heights there) changed my mind for at least this house.

Cheers!

Hey thanks for your thoughts! We did look into the grainfather as well as the blichmann breweasy but we decided to go with the full system for basically the reason you described, just the fun and adventure of building your own ultra nano brewery basically. The financial aspect was something to think about but we saved up for this project for some time. And looking at our spreadsheets it will right around $5000 without any modifications to my friends basement. That is another aspect of this project we haven't figured out is whether or not we would section off and finish a portion of his basement. If we do go that way I will post our pprogress with that too.

 

[Kampenken]

Yeah I figured the fun of the build can not be discounted! Enjoy, and I hope to see some pics!

 

[JacobChoate1990]

First you start with allllllll this....

 

[JacobChoate1990]

Then *POOF* all gone. But......

 

[JacobChoate1990]

You get these bad boys!!!! I loosely went off of what the Blichmann website told me for sizing. For a 10 gallon batch they recommended 15 gallon on the HLT, 15 gallon on the MLT, and 20 gallons on the boil kettle. When looking at the grain to water ratios that blichmann was giving for the 15 gallon MLT I decided to go up a size to the 20 gallon in case I wanted to make some really big Russian Imperial Stout or Barleywine in the future. Then once I had 20 gallons on two of the pots then my OCD kicked in so we decided go with 20's all the way Haha.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

Where the heck is the drool emoji...

Nice score man! Those are freaking awesome!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Not sure why Blichmann would suggest a 15 gallon pot for HLT for 10 gallon batches for HERMS. It just makes it that much harder to keep your HERMS coil submerged. I always fill my pot up to 20 gallons even if im only doing a 5 gallon batch, having 5-7 gallons of hot water at the end of a brew day is great for cleaning.

 

[steveoatley]

Then *POOF* all gone. But......

Yup - Poof !!!
My wife does not know how much $$ is really in the basement


S

 

[steveoatley]

Not sure why Blichmann would suggest a 15 gallon pot for HLT for 10 gallon batches for HERMS. It just makes it that much harder to keep your HERMS coil submerged. I always fill my pot up to 20 gallons even if im only doing a 5 gallon batch, having 5-7 gallons of hot water at the end of a brew day is great for cleaning.

10 gallon pots - doesn't hold 10 gallons of water - once you have installed your HERMS Coil



S

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

10 gallon pots - doesn't hold 10 gallons of water - once you have installed your HERMS Coil



S

True i lose about a gallon with my 50' HERMS coil from StainlessBrewing in my 20 gallon pot.

 

[steveoatley]

The 10 gallon Po i purchase - not going to name names -
was 10 gallons - to the LIP - Absolutely FULL - at 10 gal

So with a 25 ft 3/5 Herms coil - i'm really at 9.5 max water

NO way I could boil 9.5 gal of wort

I can boil 7 gal easy - no problem - i have not tried any higher.....

Wish i had bought a 12 gallon pot

my 2 cents

S

 

[JacobChoate1990]

Hey guys and gals, just a quick update. Our tables, HERMS Coil and all the plumbing fittings came in. We cleared a section of his basement out and set up some wire rack shelves for equipment and cellaring. We aren't positive this is where the brewery is going to end up but we just wanted to get an idea. Dustin is still trying to figure out if he wants to finish his basement and how everything is going to fit into his new basement design. I think our very next step will be drilling out the pots for the recirculation and whirlpool tubes and plumb everything together. I will keep you posted as we keep going!

 

[JacobChoate1990]

Hey guys and gals! I apologize for the laps in time since my last post. We have made some progress on our project but not as much as I would for in a 5 month gap haha. Here are some updated pictures. We have most of the plumbing for the kettles done except for the HERMS Coil where we have run into a bit of a snag and we finally got the plate chiller we ordered months ago another snag. We also decided to swap the tables and the wire shelves for running drainage and electrical are easier. We have started to work on the control panel, I won't be going into much detail on the panel because Kal explains it a lot better than I could on his website but I will still throw up some pictures.

 

[mpmccann]

Looking good so far... :rockin:

 

[dmcman73]

Yeah fun lol and frustrating . Last year I decided enough was enough lugging water from the house out to the garage during the winter . I welded up a new single tier brew stand for the basement sold my old stand and kettles and started on this great path of an indoor electric brewery . I gathered parts got new keggles and also a 15 gallon blichmann mlt . I started buying parts for a simple controller but as I went along I wanted to add more to the controller until it made more sense to just buy one prebuilt . My controller I bought after learning and programming the pids still won't fire the elements . The boil kettle is controlled by an interlock switch and a rotary dial for easy control but when switched to the on position the controll box buzzes and vibrates . Still waiting to hear back from the person who built it he emailed me he is out of the country which leaves me stuck with a complete electric brewery that I can't use . I drilled another keggle last night and my 25 gallon polarware pot so I could brew today while it's warm enough outside . 10 gallon IPA came out at about 1068 can't wait till it's ready .

I had the same issue with vibrating when turning it on when I built mine, turned out to be the interlock safety relay was defective. I pulled the interlock relay out, rewired to by pass it and never had an issue.

 

[Kampenken]

Hey guys and gals! I apologize for the laps in time since my last post. We have made some progress on our project but not as much as I would for in a 5 month gap haha. Here are some updated pictures. We have most of the plumbing for the kettles done except for the HERMS Coil where we have run into a bit of a snag and we finally got the plate chiller we ordered months ago another snag. We also decided to swap the tables and the wire shelves for running drainage and electrical are easier. We have started to work on the control panel, I won't be going into much detail on the panel because Kal explains it a lot better than I could on his website but I will still throw up some pictures.

Uh, ok, looking good, but now its been 6 months since the above post! How about some more pics??! It looked nice last time, now want to hear about how the brews are going. Cheers!