Showing off my new indoor brewery

[user 204491]

Here is the link to the Danby 120 at Amazon Warehouse

Yep, that's the one! If you scroll down under purchase options you should see "used and new from..." and that'll take you to the scratch + dent ones.

Maybe this one on Amazon

That one looks identical except the motor is a little different. I'm sure it's basically the same thing.

 

[user 204491]

First brew day today, and everything went really well! The grain mill worked like a champ, except it's a little slow, so lesson learned to get it going early next time. Of course previously I was using a cordless drill and almost certainly going way to fast.

End to end on the Braumeister it was a 5 hour brew day, including cleanup which was an absolute breeze. Got 78% efficiency and a little more than I expected into the fermenter so will update my equipment profile in Brewer's Friend a little bit.

Unbelievable on the plate chiller, really have to watch the output from the pump. For a second the wort coming out of it got down to 60F!! I sped up the flow a bit and wound up at 72F in the fermenter overall. It took a little under 5 minutes and only 15 gallons of water, all of which I was able to reuse for cleaning!

Fermenter is in the fermentation chamber now, and the wort is right at 68F, which is what I like for US-05. Tilt hydrometer is connected to my iPad, and it's updating everything at Brewer's Friend. Their new integration is pretty slick. It'll sit at 68F for 5 days before I ramp it up to 75F for 2 more before dry hopping.

 

[Trevor Mack]

It's this Danby model from Amazon.

I've had issues with these coolers as they get shipped. Seems to not want to go colder than around 50 degrees inside, fiddling with the controller on the back and changing the regulator was the only way to actually get these units to get cold. Other than that these units work really well for me too.

 

[user 204491]

I've had issues with these coolers as they get shipped. Seems to not want to go colder than around 50 degrees inside, fiddling with the controller on the back and changing the regulator was the only way to actually get these units to get cold. Other than that these units work really well for me too.

Oh, same here, sorry for not mentioning it earlier, but yes, there's lots of mentions of this in the Amazon reviews. There's also instruction in the reviews on modifying the thermostat, which takes about 5 minutes and a screw driver. It was actually in the reviews where I saw people mentioning using them as kegerators which made me think they'd make good fermentation chambers as well.

 

[beernutz]

Very nice! How long is a typical brew day from start to end using the Speidel?

 

[user 204491]

Very nice! How long is a typical brew day from start to end using the Speidel?

Well so far I've just done the one, and it was right about 5 hours. I'm guessing you could speed it up a bit, but probably not too much as a lot of it is just waiting on things, and there's honestly not a lot of cleanup to be done after.

 

[Trevor Mack]

Are those custom made temperature controllers activating the reptile rope for heating and fridge compressor for cooling?

Have been looking at doing same, but was also intruiged by just buying a AnyConnect 211 (though nearly impossible to come across)

 

[user 204491]

Are those custom made temperature controllers activating the reptile rope for heating and fridge compressor for cooling?

Have been looking at doing same, but was also intruiged by just buying a AnyConnect 211 (though nearly impossible to come across)

Yeah, I built those a long time ago using STC-1000s as the controllers. A dual stage plug and play controller didn't exist at a reasonable cost back then.

Today I'd just use an Inkbird ITC-308. They are $35 on Amazon and just plug and play.

 

[Trevor Mack]

Oh yeah those squid controllers... Cheap, but I've liked the look of flat front display mounted controllers over them. That is why I've been looking so hard for anyconnects, but haven't had much luck. Thought probably just end up making a controller myself,doesn't take long and is super easy.

 

[user 204491]

Oh yeah those squid controllers... Cheap, but I've liked the look of flat front display mounted controllers over them. That is why I've been looking so hard for anyconnects, but haven't had much luck. Thought probably just end up making a controller myself,doesn't take long and is super easy.

Actually after thinking about it a bit more, I agree with you. The front display does look nice and I don't think there's a way you could use the squid controllers (nice name btw) and make it look clean.

I have one on my kegerator just because it was so cheap, but it's on the back, and I never have to adjust the temp.

 

[user 204491]

Doing my second brew day tomorrow (Munich Helles) and 3rd on Sunday (NEPA). I'll post some pics of what I rigged up to handle the moisture/condensation, as it did become a bit of an issue last time with the 75 minute boil. I think it should work though and was was less than $60 in parts.

 

[ITV]

I'm not sure about your local electrical codes but the surface mount wire way and the lack of a GFCI breaker near a water source would not be allowed where I live. Something to consider moving forward.

 

[user 204491]

I'm not sure about your local electrical codes but the surface mount wire way and the lack of a GFCI breaker near a water source would not be allowed where I live. Something to consider moving forward.

Thanks for the advice! FWIW I had my electrician that did a bunch of work when we first bought the place come out to do the work originally. It was actually his idea to go the surface mount route. He was going to do the job but then got busy with other stuff, and it looked so simple that I did it myself. It ties in to a spa panel which already has the GFCI in my workshop. The previous owners were going to put a sauna in there. I'm glad they didn't go through with it for whatever reason and left me with a workshop and 220V electrical for my brewery.

So there is GFCI just about 40' away. Not sure if that's up to code or not.

 

[user 204491]

Second brew day went awesome today. Hit all my volumes dead on and got 80% efficiency this time, when I was shooting for 75% so I'll adjust my profile again before brew #3.

Here's what I rigged up to deal with the moisture/condensation, and it worked like a champ:

It's a bilge fan with aluminum dryer duct on both sides. The 4" fits perfectly on the Braumeister dome. I mounted it to a little project box with the power supply and a speed controller inside. It only needed about 25% speed or so to pull all the steam and vent it out the small opening in the window.

 

[ITV]

Thanks for the advice! FWIW I had my electrician that did a bunch of work when we first bought the place come out to do the work originally. It was actually his idea to go the surface mount route. He was going to do the job but then got busy with other stuff, and it looked so simple that I did it myself. It ties in to a spa panel which already has the GFCI in my workshop. The previous owners were going to put a sauna in there. I'm glad they didn't go through with it for whatever reason and left me with a workshop and 220V electrical for my brewery.

So there is GFCI just about 40' away. Not sure if that's up to code or not.

Glad to know that you have a GFCI breaker which will prevent against electric shock.

I do not have an electric brew system but I like the looks of the Braumeister, with the copper hood it looks like a still.

 

[user 204491]

Just realized I hadn't updated this thread in a bit. So far I've finished 4 brew days in my new brewery and will be doing the 5th on Sunday.

So far I've done a simple pale ale, Munich Helles, NEPA, and a west coast IPA. This weekend I'll be doing a no boil dry hop golden sour made with probiotics (previously won 1st place American Sour Ale + Best of Show with this one).

I've also done 20 gallons of cider thus far.

I'm averaging 77% efficiency (brew house) on brew day and have dialed in all my numbers and volumes perfectly. My brew days are averaging about 4 hours end-to-end (including cleanup), and I'm using just a little less than 10 gallons of water to chill down to pitching, which then gets re-purposed for cleaning.

I just last night tapped the first beer I made in my new brewery, and it was excellent. Currently this is the most pleased I've been with any brewing setup I've had.

 

[movet22]

First of all, looks amazing!

I'm just getting back into the hobby after a few years off, and am trying to make sure i have all of my ducks in a row-- I also run eBIAB and steam is my nemesis.

I love the idea of the copper top with the vent fan, but for the sake of budget, do you think I could get similar results by using the same ducting set up and cutting a hole centrally in the kettle lid? Or is the funnel-aspect a necessity?

Also, does this negatively impact boil-off?

Thanks!

 

[user 204491]

First of all, looks amazing!

I'm just getting back into the hobby after a few years off, and am trying to make sure i have all of my ducks in a row-- I also run eBIAB and steam is my nemesis.

I love the idea of the copper top with the vent fan, but for the sake of budget, do you think I could get similar results by using the same ducting set up and cutting a hole centrally in the kettle lid? Or is the funnel-aspect a necessity?

Also, does this negatively impact boil-off?

Thanks!

Thanks for the kind words! The copper top is actually a Speidel accessory for the Braumeister. They make a cheaper stainless steel version as well, but it doesn't look as classy as the copper one.

It is supposed to be used to help keep a more rigorous boil with the electric heating element vs. boiling with the lid off.

I don't really know about cutting a hole in the kettle lid, but I suppose that could work. Seems to more or less be equivalent.

You might also look into the Steam Slayer. It's another way of dealing with the problem. I didn't see it until after I rigged up my fan, and to me it seems to be a brew day complication (which was one of the things I was looking to avoid with my setup).

This setup does not negatively impact boil-off. In fact, it's the opposite - I get more boil off now. I suspect this might be because previously some of the steam would condense on the inside of the copper top and then fall back down into the kettle, while more of it is being sucked up and out now. That's just my hunch.