My Electric Build...Finally....

[hammis]

ok so some more progress was made yesterday. i finished drilling the last 2 holes, one for the whirlpool port on the BK and the second on the MLT so i can attach my sparge arm (i think my harbour freight step bits are ready for retirement, 6 keggles to date). Once that was done i plumbed the whirlpool port (brass for now, will be replaced with SS soon, ya know, keep it all BLING! lol), and attached the sparge arm. I also wrapped the MLT in armaflex to increase heat retention. Now all thats left to do is JB weld the elements into their respective PVC couplers and then test the system out to make sure everything works (unlike last time). I will be reusing my old control panel so no need to do ant work there. Hopefully i will be brewing on Monday

 

[hammis]

I did some more work this weekend. JB welded the 2 elements (just have to screw them in and test them now). I rolled my HERMS coil (i used 3/8" copper) around my CO2 tank, so its a nice tight coil, have to finish that off today and attach it. i'm hoping to finish everything off today and do a test run to make sure everything works and there are no leaks, and the hopefully if everything is ok i will be able to brew next weekend

 

[hammis]

ok so here is the most recent update:

i changed the mash braid so it's looped, this way it will pick up better. I also finished the sight glass, the weldless fitting is from bargain fittings, the glass itself is from mcmaster (borosilicate) and the guarding is made from an old keg spear (i cut the gap in it with my dremel)

 

[hammis]

hmm not sure why the second pic showed up sideways, its right way up in my picture viewer on my screen, oh well you guys get the idea.

I also installed my HERMS coil, not 100% straight but it will do for now. I also decided to use JB weld to fasten the 1" locknut right to my kettle. The reason for this is since the hole i cut for the element is too big. I used a knockout metal punch set from harbour freight and low and behold the hole is a 1/4" too big. So JB welding the locknut right on fixed the situation (says it holds to 300F, and i'll only be at 215F or so, we'll see tomorrow).

 

[hammis]

ok last picture of the night, i fixed up my whirlpool diptube since the original looked like it was bent by a monkey, lol.

ok time for bed since it's Brew day Tomorrow!!!! I'm as excited as a kid on Christmas eve, lol:rockin:

 

[orangehero]

I would not trust the JB weld. It doesn't hold that well to flat surfaces and it can start to flake. Take a look at the soldering threads (1, 2)...that's the way I would attach the element locknut.

Since the hole is too big, you can solder the locknut to a washer and then the washer to the keg.

 

[hammis]

Ok so my brewday went fairly smooth. Everything worked with only a few small leaks which can be fixed fairly easily I think. The only issue I had was with keeping the mash temp where it should be, I mashed in at 165F, the ambient temp was 60F outside. When the mash temp stabilized it was 140F (low). When I sparged (i batch sparged) I did so at 200F, even then my mash temp only got up to 145F. Odd. Any thoughts?

Orangehero: the JB weld held for now, I think I will eventually solder it.

 

[hammis]

a couple pictures from my brewday:

 

[hammis]

While checking my fermenter (corny) yesterday i realized i may have made a big mistake when i bought/stored my yeast vials. When i brought then home a week ago i stored them in the freezer and thought nothing of it. I then let them come to room temp mid afternoon on my brew day. I THINK I KILLED MY YEASTIES!!!!! sh$t!! i realized this yesterday (24 hrs post pitching) and there was zero activity in my fermenter, no krausen on top or anything. So i pitched a second vial last night in hopes that it would have some yeasties which had survived my stupidity. This morning i took a peek again and it looks like there is a little something happening. I have to head to the LHBS today and grab some more yeast (they only carry generic ale or lager stuff) and worst case pitch again before the wort gets infected or turns. Chalk one up to being an idiot....

 

[klyph]

Ah well, brew and learn. Nice system! Very similar to mine, but half size. I like it.

 

[Quaffer]

While checking my fermenter (corny) yesterday i realized i may have made a big mistake when i bought/stored my yeast vials. When i brought then home a week ago i stored them in the freezer and thought nothing of it. I then let them come to room temp mid afternoon on my brew day. I THINK I KILLED MY YEASTIES!!!!! sh$t!! i realized this yesterday (24 hrs post pitching) and there was zero activity in my fermenter, no krausen on top or anything. So i pitched a second vial last night in hopes that it would have some yeasties which had survived my stupidity. This morning i took a peek again and it looks like there is a little something happening. I have to head to the LHBS today and grab some more yeast (they only carry generic ale or lager stuff) and worst case pitch again before the wort gets infected or turns. Chalk one up to being an idiot....

A similar thing happened to me recently. I ordered liquid yeast online and added a cold pack to ensure that the yeast did not get too warm. Well, the cold pack worked too well and chilled the yeast to death. The cold pack probably came out of their freezer way too cold for the yeast. It was still cold when I opened the package. I had to re-pitch a fresh vial from a LHBS.

 

[hammis]

Wow, just went to the LHBS to see if they had any yeast (this is a place that only carries kits). I ask the guy behind the counter if they have any beer yeast, he gives me a nondescript packet, I ask if it's ale or lager yeast, he replies..... It doesn't matter. I almost fell over....

 

[hammis]

ok, checked my fermenter (corny keg) today and took a sample to check the gravity, the OG was 1.041 last wednesday and today the specific gravity is 1.010. So it seems like not all my yeasties were dead. I also tasted it to see how it turned out, very light body with a nice hop finish, and almost fully carbonated (i think i could/should have got a higher OG if my mashtun was better insulated). I think it will turn into a very nice summer beer, ideal for a very hot sunny day. Going to transfer it to corny #2 probably on tuesday or wednesday and then let it age for another week before bottling.

 

[hammis]

ok quick update; checked my final gravity last night = 1.006. I also transfered the beer from one corny to a second, filtered in between to remove yeast (filtered with 1.0 micron filter). Tastes pretty good as of yesterday, a little heavy on the cascade but i think this will mellow out over the next few weeks.

 

[hammis]

alright quick update:

1) bottled the IPA, flavour wise it turned out awesome. Though had a slight issue with one of my cornies. I have a slightly shorter and fatter corny, and the liquid dip tube in it doesnt sit quite perfectly (a little wobbly). So while i was bottling i think i was picking up CO2 from the headspace and ended up foaming the crap outta my beer. I'll have to look at fixing this asap.

2) orangehero was right, JB weld does NOT hold well on flat surfaces, especially if they heat up ie. kettle at full boil. I was in the middle of a brew day yesterday and had a slight accident. I had just finished transfering all the wort from the MT to the kettle and it had started to boil (5 gal of hot wort). I was peering over the side of the kettle (from the front) and my boss who was helping me brew was looking into the kettle from the other side (back). The JB weld let go at that point and a 1" stream of hot wort came gushing out and hit him in the arm. Luckily we didnt need to bring him to the hospital (though he did go later on to get some pain medication). This was a good reminder that even though we try to be careful and do everything right, sometime accidents can still happen. I'm going to have the locknut in question welded to the kettle this week so that i can brew again this weekend. Unfortunately we didnt save the wort in time and it all ended up on the lawn. However, to my boss's credit when this all happened, his first priority was to save the beer, he didnt even think twice about the super hot liquid which had just hit him in the arm.

So just a warning to anyone else planning on or already using JB weld to fasten something to a hot flat surface...DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

 

[lschiavo]

So just a warning to anyone else planning on or already using JB weld to fasten something to a hot flat surface...DON'T DO IT!!!!!!

IMO, JB Weld is brewers duct tape

 

[IrregularPulse]

They have water proof JBWeld. I used it on my aluminum kettle because I just don't trust weldless fittings.

 

[klyph]

Honestly I question my soldered fittings, I've seen JB fail under too many circumstances to trust it with boiling hot liquids.

 

[lschiavo]

Honestly I question my soldered fittings, I've seen JB fail under too many circumstances to trust it with boiling hot liquids.

Why question the solder?

 

[hammis]

i would trust soldered over JB anyday, especially after last weekend. All my other fittings are weldless and are sturdy as hell. The one which broke off is currently being welded by my guys at work, so that should prevent any future inicidents.

p.s. i was looking at the JB website and the underwater stuff is only rated to 300F, so if the stuff i used was good to 500F there is no way in hell i would use the other stuff (my 2 cents)

 

[Rivenin]

great build!

 

[hammis]

thanks Rivenin!

 

[hammis]

So after last weekends accident (dont worry my boss is ok) i had the guys at work take a look at my kettle. They decided it would be easier to weld in a 1/2" coupler instead of welding on the 1/2" lock nut. That got completed and water tested on thursday night.

To celebrate Canada day properly yesterday, i decided that after a solid round of golf i should brew some beer. I wasnt in the mood to brew a porter again like last weekend so i decided to go way off the charts and try my hand at creating a belgian pale ale (BPA). This is the recipe i created:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: White Labs Abbey Ale (1 vial) + White Labs Trappist Ale (1 vial)
Batch Size (Gallons): 3
IBU: 66
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 days @ 68f
Additional Fermentation: 14 days keg conditioned while force carbing

Mash at 154 for 60min. I had 70%eff
2 and 6 row Pale blend (50/50): 6.9 lbs
Crystal 20: 0.6 lbs
Light Munich: 0.45 lbs
Carapils: 0.45 lbs
Flaked Wheat: 0.25 lbs
Chocolate Malt:

Nugget (Pellet) 0.7 oz 30min
Cascade (Pellet) 0.7 oz 30min
Williamette (Pellet) 1 oz 15min
Cascade (Pellet) 1 oz 15min
Williamette (Pellet) 1oz 5min

in a few weeks we'll see how it turned out. Right now its bubbling away furiously.

 

[hammis]

Got another batch going last saturday, tried the porter again. Here's the recipe:

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: White Labs Burton Ale (1 vial) + White Labs English Ale (1 vial)
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
IBU: 40
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 8 days @ 68f
Additional Fermentation: 14 days keg conditioned while force carbing

Mash at 158 for 60min. I had 70%eff
2 and 6 row Pale blend (50/50): 4.88 lbs
Crystal 60: 0.52 lbs
Chocolate: 0.72
Flaked Wheat: 0.4 lbs


Nugget (Pellet) 0.3 oz 80min
Cascade (Pellet) 0.35 oz 80min
Cascade (Pellet) 0.25 oz 15min
Cascade (Pellet) 0.25 oz 15min

 

[Coldies]

I have noticed you like to blend your yeast. Do you skip the starter since you pitch 2 vials? BTW love the set up, i'm in the process of building a little brother for my RIMS system and it will be all electric.

looks like a nice hoppy session porter too. Cheers!

 

[hammis]

Coldies, thanks for the compliment! I do skip the starter since i pitch 2 vials. SWMBO is ok with me storing yeast vials in the fridge but not ok with me having a full flask of starter sitting around, lol. I also like the dual flavour characteristics the 2 types give to the beer, though i try to keep the yeast strains relatively similar. If i were to pitch 2 very differnt yeast strains they would "compete" and one would "win" during the growth phase negating the other and basically wasting the 2nd vial. I'm looking forwards to the first tasting of this porter, its an adaptation of a recipe a brewmaster shared with me at his brewpub, i'm thinking i'll probably name it in his honour.

Good luck with your new build.

 

[Coldies]

Let me know how that porter turns out too. Looks tempting to make. I have a lot of cascade in the freezer to use up and I love a good porter.

The build should be fun for me, since I only really need to make a EBK. I already have the control panel and everything else from his big brother.

 

[hammis]

I filtered the porter yesterday and transfered it to secondary, i think i'll let it sit for about a week or so before bottling. I tasted some at the end of filtration and it definitely had great flavour. We will see how it ages

 

[Coldies]

I filtered the porter yesterday and transfered it to secondary, i think i'll let it sit for about a week or so before bottling. I tasted some at the end of filtration and it definitely had great flavour. We will see how it ages

You get this bottled yet?

 

[hammis]

No unfortunately not yet, ran out of time last week and have been in Chicago all this past week visiting the inlaws. I'm hoping to get both bottled next weekend.