Spike 240v eBIAB build on an oldschool AV cart

[staticfritz]

I found posts like these super helpful when i was planning this thing, so thought I'd share.
Was doing a sloppy kettle/cooler mash tun/immersion chiller setup for the past several years and wanted to upgrade to something leaner, faster, easier to wash and store, and more reproducible without taking over half the kitchen for 6-7hrs at a time

First step, a real nice kettle

Custom_Romie

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Spike 15 gal. 2" TC for the element, 1.5" TCs for output and temp/whirlpool, NPT for recirculation.

Dernod 5500W 2" TC element (came with housing, added an appliance whip)
Bent it so that it would sit closer to the bottom of the spike kettle

Inkettle

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Kettle3

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Wanted to go all TC, but realized it wasn't practical, nor affordable, but wanted the kettle to be easily upgradable in the future, so I then used the brewhardware TC-NPT adapters for the rest of the fittings

Kettle4

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

fitting angled up to minimize drips with connect/disconnect
I found an 18" servers platter to act as a drip tray

Thermometer T piece that I can move around as needed for recirc during mash, whirlpool during boil, and then after the CFC during cooling

Tadapter

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Stainless chugger pump I found on craigslist

Pump

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

I was originally going to go with a basket, but cost and clearance issues....figured I'd go bag first, upgrade later if needed. Made a false bottom out of a stainless drain tray that came with the kitchen sink i bought a few years ago. Wilser bag. will hoist from a bolt in the garage ceiling

Kettle2

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Fb

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Kettle1

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Plan is to recirculate during mash, switch to the whirlpool for boil, and into the fermentor through the counterflow wort chiller

Brew stand was something I spent way to much time on and then randomly found this old enameled steel AV cart from an old school projector setup for like $30 on Craigslist (Win!)

Brewstand

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Underneath goes the pump, water filter and counterflow wort chiller
Once I hoist the bag, I can just roll the cart away from under it.

The counterflow chiller is 30' of 5/8" rubber hose with 3/8" copper inside

CFC

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

I have a separate post-chiller i'm working on that I'll add later (and connect the missing water in/out hoses)

All this is controlled through the panel I built

Panel1

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

(thread about that part HERE)

Couldn't have done it without this guy's expertise:

Beer Assitant

• staticfritz
• Dec 8, 2017

Happy to answer any questions about it. I saved all my costs and links for the parts I used. I spent a foolish amount of time trying to find the best possible price combinations on a lot of this stuff

 

[staticfritz]

first trial run will probably be next week, just double checking everything at this stage with minimal free time (i'm a resident and have a 2yo...)

 

[peoples22]

Hey static, were you able to give it a trial run yet? I'm wanting to upgrade to a custom spike 20 gal very similar to your layout. Are you using the 6" tc port for whirlpool?

 

[staticfritz]

I took it through a trial with hot soapy water, everything is pretty good, but the 30' of counterflow chiller provides too much resistance to be inline with the whirlpool port and generate enough flow to whirlpool, so I think I'm adding to the pump outflow to help switch back without too much dripping.
Had a few leaks to deal with too and some work, so didnt get to it this week. can't wait though!

 

[staticfritz]

trialing a brew right, basic IPA
I'm definitely not using the ezbouil to its full potential (just to manage mash temp and boil for now, it will be interesting to see how my usage of that progresses

Tinkering revealed that I need to add a "rinse" water line, and having a bucket and rags nearby is clutch

built a stainless steel strainer/bag holder to help sparge the BIAB, and it actually worked pretty well! not bad for $2 at goodwill, combo with squeezing and about a gallon of cold sparge water seemed to work well. will upload pics later.

I need to add a tee to my outlet so I can cut around the chiller to increase pump output (i think) in order to really generate a whirlpool, we'll see. i'm getting rotation as is, but it's quite slow (maybe that's good) with all the resistance of 30' of 3/8 copper

 

[staticfritz]

ok, not bad! just about 4.5 hrs from heating strike water to clean equipment

i think my boil-off rate was a bit high, but ended up with 5.5 gal of 1.054 wort for an efficiency of ~73%
I think my crush could have been finer too (double crushed at local shop)

My sparge plan worked great! only had to squeeze lightly

Sparge Basket

• staticfritz
• Dec 29, 2017

Sparge Basket2

• staticfritz
• Dec 29, 2017

Whirlpool actually worked pretty ok as is, even with all the flow loss from running through the CFC first:

Whirlpool trub

• staticfritz
• Dec 29, 2017

the CFC is super efficient. Boiling to 58 deg in one pass! direct from kettle to the fermenter

Into fermenter

• staticfritz
• Dec 29, 2017

at the end, chased the wort through the CFC with fresh water and stopped it as soon as it started to clear to minimize losses

ran 3 gal of hot starsan through when i was done and then another gallon or two of clean water
dried out all the tubing with my air compressor

Still need: splash guard for the pump, splash guard for the side of my control panel facing the kettle, rinse line, an additional tee for the whirlpool (maybe won't need it), maybe a 2nd thermocouple, one for the kettle, one for the CFC outflow, better hose setup for the recirculation (worked ok with just some hose dangling in)


Also, we'll see how the beer turns out!
10 lbs. 2-Row, 1 lb. Caramel 40
7.7 gal carbon filtered seattle tap water +8g gypsum, +2g salt, +1ml lactic acid
Strike temp 155, Mash temp 150 for 60min mash
1 gal cold water sparge w squeezing during sparge, drip dry while coming to a boil
Boil 60 min.
Hops: 15g simcoe:60min, 30g simcoe:10min, plus 30g simcoe for 10 after boil, and chilled to 150
whirlpool, run through CFC directly into fermenter, safale US-05
OG 1.054 - 5.5 gal = 73% efficiency
Will dry hop with about 6oz of mostly dried, then vacuum sealed and frozen homegrown hops

 

[peoples22]

Awesome looks like it was a good brew day! I also experience some flow loss running through my CFC but I'm going up to my re circulation port vs the tangential port you have. Custom spike 20 gal is going to be my project for 2018. Thanks for sharing your build, love the setup!

I've got a 3 way valve I use to switch between my recirc hose and the CFC. Works good for me and I have a bleed off valve to drain line wort when I have to swap hoses (I didn't have the CFC hose connected in the pic).

 

[dnye]

@staticfritz did you get the dip tube from spike as well? It looks like it's a TC connection, but I don't see anything like that on their site.

 

[staticfritz]

i used the spike diptube with the TC to NPT converter from brewhardware.com
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15f12npt.htm

I also considered this guy, but it was a little less flexible for me
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/tc15pressfitdiptube.htm

 

[dnye]

Hey @staticfritz, thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, is your ball valve and diptube both screwed into the same TC to NPT converter? or how are you making that connection? I'm assuming the connector is place with the TC towards the brew kettle right? so (BallValve) -| (dipTube).

Last question (for now), looks like you're doing ~5 gallon batches, do you feel you need the 15 gallon kettle? I was planning on doing 5gallon BIAB and was planning 10 gallon kettle. Do you think the extra 5 gallons of head space is needed?

Sorry to pester you, you just seem to have a very similar kettle to what I was planning.

 

[staticfritz]

Yeah, that adapter is fully threaded so the dip is started from the inside and the ball valve is threaded from the outside. I spent a long time going back and forth on the 10 vs 15. I figure this way I can do light 10-gallon batches if I ever want to and never have to worry about boil over when doing full volume mash for heavy 5-gallon batches. Honestly I usually do six to six and a half gallon batches so that I can keg 5 and still have a half dozen bombers.

 

[dnye]

That's a great idea. I haven't found a dip tube option that I've liked yet. I think this is the solution.

You mention having to bend the element to get closer to the bottom. Would you get the TC put lower if you could redo it?

 

[staticfritz]

That's the lowest they will install it. It wasn't that big of a deal to bend just put a little piece of wood between the two rods and work slowly with soft edges like against a wood edge instead of something metal to scratch it

 

[dnye]

Makes sense. Thanks for all your information! I think I've got my plan now.

 

[staticfritz]

updated brew day! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/...l-240v-panel-ebiab-build.641155/#post-8267719