New Brutus with mods

[joelireland]

Hey insp79 - that is one very cool and impressive build. Well done. I hope it is giving you the quality brews you deserve! As I sit here finishing a Little Creatures Pale Ale clone, I raise my glass to you! CHEERS!

 

[insp79]

Hey insp79 - that is one very cool and impressive build. Well done. I hope it is giving you the quality brews you deserve! As I sit here finishing a Little Creatures Pale Ale clone, I raise my glass to you! CHEERS!

Thank you sir! I am actually tweaking the finishing touches on this machine. Adjusting the burners, calculating dead space etc.
I appreciate all of the helpful advice and attaboys from HBT forums. First brewday will be 12/17.

 

[insp79]

Testing burner height and calculating dead space.

 

[R35P3CT]

this is an awesome build!

 

[OneHoppyGuy]

Very Nice

 

[insp79]

I finally brewed on the new brew stand today. Everything went well. We brewed the Lagunita's IPA clone. It took approximately 5 hours to brew 6 gallon batch.
I have been trying to plug data into Beer Smith 2.0. Not sure about our BH efficiency.
The dual HERMES coils worked great. From boil to ferment temp in 10 minutes.
Very excited. cant wait to have some homebrew on tap again.

 

[insp79]

The only problem we had was the boil kettle drain got clogged by a hop sock. It took a while to pull it out.
I definitely need to build a hop spider.

 

[bluecarpetsample]

Hey, congrats man. I love this thread and plan on implementing some of your ideas in my upcoming brew stand design and construction. I'm glad everything went smoothly on your first brew day.

Great job!

 

[insp79]

Hey, congrats man. I love this thread and plan on implementing some of your ideas in my upcoming brew stand design and construction. I'm glad everything went smoothly on your first brew day.

Great job!

Thank you, So far I have enjoyed brewing three batches. I have made a few improvements from each batch. I have yet to taste any yet.
If you have any questions, I will be glad to answer, if I can.
Good luck on your build.

 

[drkwoods]

what have you discovered about the Auber PID's and the cycling of the burners on/off? what parameters if any did you need to adjust from the way they came? love this build BTW!!

 

[insp79]

what have you discovered about the Auber PID's and the cycling of the burners on/off? what parameters if any did you need to adjust from the way they came? love this build BTW!!

The Auber's are easy to program. I can change the temp setting in just a few seconds. I have found that they turn the burner on when the measured temperature drops 4 degrees.
It is accurate enough for what I use it for.

So far I have brewed 30 gallons of beer. (5 gallon batches) everything works great. The HERMES system is very accurate for controlling the mash tun.
I have not quite nailed my efficiency. The beer is good, but has room for improvements.
Happy brewing!

 

[Junkster]

Very well thought out & nicely executed build - great job!!!!!

 

[drkwoods]

4 degrees? What is Hy set at? I ask cause Auber claims it will hold to .5 degree

 

[insp79]

4 degrees? What is Hy set at? I ask cause Auber claims it will hold to .5 degree

I haven't messed with the 0089 settings much. Hy is currently set at 003.0.
There are other issues, I have been trying to work on, so I haven't fine tuned the PIDs much.
The 0001 settings are easy to access, and adjust for different temperature settings.
I would recommend the Auber PIDs for controlling Honeywell gas valves.
The LOVE controllers are great for fermenters, and keezers. IMHO.

 

[drkwoods]

I haven't messed with the 0089 settings much. Hy is currently set at 003.0.
There are other issues, I have been trying to work on, so I haven't fine tuned the PIDs much.
The 0001 settings are easy to access, and adjust for different temperature settings.
I would recommend the Auber PIDs for controlling Honeywell gas valves.
The LOVE controllers are great for fermenters, and keezers. IMHO.

not sure what you mean by 0089 or 0001.. It looks like you have Auber Syl-2362's? let me know.. the Hy band is easy to change and will immed tighten up your temperature drift if you lower it to 1.

 

[insp79]

not sure what you mean by 0089 or 0001.. It looks like you have Auber Syl-2362's? let me know.. the Hy band is easy to change and will immed tighten up your temperature drift if you lower it to 1.

0089 is the code used to get into the parameters such as Hy. I haven't adjusted any of these settings. Thank you for letting me know.
Yes I have the Syl-2362 from Auber.
I will lower it for my next brew tomorrow.
0001 is the code to enter the temperature settings. It is easy to change this setting on the fly.
You have forced me to read the owners manual.
Doh!!
Thanks Drkwoods.

 

[insp79]

So far I have brewed 30 gallons in 5 gallon batches.
The best mash efficiency I have achieved is 68%.
I need advice how to work my new brewery.

Should I account for Mash tun dead space, and the amount of water inside the HERMs coil when determining the quantity of water in the mash?
If I add the extra water does it dilute the Mash?
If I have a recipe that requires, say, a 1.25 qt water per lb. of grain. I strike with the required quantity of water. Then as the temperature begins to drop, I utilize the Herms coil, by circulating water through the coil in the HLT. The water level in the mash is depleted, and constantly replenished.

I have been infusing extra water to Mash out at higher temp (168 F)
Then completely drain the mash tun, and add new spare water at 168 F to Sparge.

 

[drkwoods]

Yes you should account for mash tun dead space. You need to know everywhere you lose liquid because of your system design and account for it in all calculations. As far as the HERMS coil. No worries just make sure it's full of water already as you heat up the HLT. That way what it contributes to the mash is simply replenished during recirculating and the net effect on mash dilution is zero.

 

[drkwoods]

Also alteration in the mash dilution is negligible. Some people run 1qt/lb and as high as 2qt/lb or higher. And there are differences but not to worry about. HERMS systems are generally better 1.25 and up because of recirculating etc. Your low efficiency is most likely due to your sparge method and how slowly you accomplish the sparge. Some people even do No sparge but account for the lower efficiency in advance and save an hour off a brew day at the expense of slightly more grain. Remember efficiency will generally go down as original gravity goes up.

 

[Snake10]

B,
I still can't wait to see your system in person. Your efficiency sure is low for what you built. 1.25 quarts/lb is what I use and then 2 quarts/lb for sparge water amount. Your system should have around 2 qts of dead space max. To get your efficiency up, try mixing/stirring the mash every ten minutes or so before ramp up (168)to sparge out.. Also, adding rice hulls (creates voids in the mash)will allow the recirc and sparge to flow better. By doing that you can up the pump velocity a little bit sucking more of the sugars from the grains. Most people add rice hulls when they have flaked ingredients but you can add them anytime. Since you have brewed a few times now, do you have any entries for the bluebonnet? Also, how are your heat shields working?
Bartman

 

[scarnera]

I ordered the mash tun false bottom from JayBird. I cannot wait for it to arrive.
NorCal Brewing Solutions can make about anything you need for a false bottom in the Mash Tun.
Here is a pic of the design:

KBCB Bros,

Ran across this again today and still love this build. More impressive in person.

How many qrts did you end up with deadspace? Let me know the next time you brew.

Getting close to my Phase 3 being complete.

Seve

 

[insp79]

The pickup tube in the mash tun picks up from the side of the tun, and is positioned 3/8" from the bottom. If you were to drain the mashtun, it would leave approx 6 oz. of liquid behind. However, the deadspace does not come into play, because we typically fly sparge. We are brewing this weekend.