Syracuse, ny - round 7 group grain buy

[jbsengineer]

45 minutes into the boil for Celebration #2. Trying out the new hopstopper from Kal today. Will be interesting to see how it does with 5.75 ounces of pellets. Up next is Denny's Wry Smile. Have a good day guys.

How did the hopstopper work?

 

[Smashing]

So I am thinking about adding a hood to my setup, but trying to figure out the best way to do it. It's little more difficult since I have to deal with not only steam, but a lot more heat than a E-Brewery due to the mega burner I own. Any ideas? Wood box lined with 1/4" tile board? Rather not spend a ton of money on the design.

I like the inverted rubbermaid tote idea.

 

[rustbucket]

What recipe are you using for your barleywine?

my own recipe that i have been toying with....

 

[CBK]

How did the hopstopper work?

Yeah it worked pretty well. I came up 1 quart short (left in the pot) although I drained with the valve wide open. Thinking if I restrict the flow it might do better. The wort was really clear. Been checking out your build. The stand and hood look really awesome. Did you buy Kal's control box kit?

 

[CidahMastah]

Check out this link (posts 536 and on)

The ebuild control panel is complete (at least for today )

 

[jeffb418]

Thats one sexy control panel. Super jealous!

 

[copyright1997]

Hey cidah, can you build me one of those?
Maybe we could do a group buy on parts and have Cidah assemble them!

 

[CidahMastah]

Hey cidah, can you build me one of those?
Maybe we could do a group buy on parts and have Cidah assemble them!

Thanks guys

haha - I actually really enjoyed the wiring part. the fabrication is the trickiest. As my dad says,... measure twice, cut once.

How come we couldn;t have done the group buy on parts BEFORE I did my build haha!

 

[CidahMastah]

Jeff do you know how hot your hood are gets when you brew? Have you temped it? Was thinking you want to be sure to go with something that will stand up to that heat. I would be wary of using anything plastic unless it has heat ratings

 

[jeffb418]

Jeff do you know how hot your hood are gets when you brew? Have you temped it? Was thinking you want to be sure to go with something that will stand up to that heat. I would be wary of using anything plastic unless it has heat ratings

I abandoned the hood idea. I have no easy way to vent it outside due to how my garage is built (cinder-block walls). So I am just going to get some more hardibacker tile board to line the ceiling area above my brew pot then use some galvanized sheet metal on top of that to make it look nice. Lowes sells 3ft by 4 ft sheets of it in the heater/ducting area for like $9 a sheet. Then I'll just use a fan to circulate air in and out of my garage.

 

[CidahMastah]

I abandoned the hood idea. I have no easy way to vent it outside due to how my garage is built (cinder-block walls). So I am just going to get some more hardibacker tile board to line the ceiling area above my brew pot then use some galvanized sheet metal on top of that to make it look nice. Lowes sells 3ft by 4 ft sheets of it in the heater/ducting area for like $9 a sheet. Then I'll just use a fan to circulate air in and out of my garage.

I wish I could find it, but short of going a full hood a guy was using an expander off of one of those hydroponic vent fans and it worked well according to him. So expander, length of 6'' ducting and then an inline blower with more ducting to vent out of the space. He kept the expander close to, but not over the pot. It created enough suction to pull the water vapor into the vent tubing withing having to go the full hood route.

I may do something similar because I want to be able to brew outside and in. If I can make something compact like that I can attach or detach to the brew rig depending on if I need it or not. Winter or rain I would use the vent. Good weather = no vent and rig wheeled out of my walk out basement.

 

[copyright1997]

I abandoned the hood idea. I have no easy way to vent it outside due to how my garage is built (cinder-block walls). So I am just going to get some more hardibacker tile board to line the ceiling area above my brew pot then use some galvanized sheet metal on top of that to make it look nice. Lowes sells 3ft by 4 ft sheets of it in the heater/ducting area for like $9 a sheet. Then I'll just use a fan to circulate air in and out of my garage.

Jeff,
Check out this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/ventless-condensation-hood-297089/ where they are doing a DYI condensation system similar to what commercial breweries use. The general idea is you spray (cold) water on the steam and collect it and let it run out a drain (or put to some other use).

 

[CidahMastah]

Jeff,
Check out this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/ventless-condensation-hood-297089/ where they are doing a DYI condensation system similar to what commercial breweries use. The general idea is you spray (cold) water on the steam and collect it and let it run out a drain (or put to some other use).

yeah cool concept - had read this. on a well it simply would use too much water for me

 

[jeffb418]

Jeff,
Check out this thread: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/ventless-condensation-hood-297089/ where they are doing a DYI condensation system similar to what commercial breweries use. The general idea is you spray (cold) water on the steam and collect it and let it run out a drain (or put to some other use).

Yeah I saw that. Neat Idea. I'm not as concerned with the steam but more of the heat. In the winter its not bad, but the garage does get warm. I'm worried that in the summer my garage is gonna be COOKING when I get my banjo burner going inside, even with the doors open all the way.

 

[CidahMastah]

Yeah I saw that. Neat Idea. I'm not as concerned with the steam but more of the heat. In the winter its not bad, but the garage does get warm. I'm worried that in the summer my garage is gonna be COOKING when I get my banjo burner going inside, even with the doors open all the way.

Holy monkey yeah. The banjo burners have really high btus. I know with my burner it is 180K btus. That is why I would never use it in contact with anything but concrete or pavement (mine sounds like a jet engine ). If we use our burner to direct fire something for a 5-10 minutes the legs for the burner get hotter than a $2 pistol. That was why we really started to push into the eherms concept lately to maintain the mash temps vs. our original plan to direct fire the MT if needed during a mash.

You still get the heat with an eherms but it is less apparent because the heat is all going into the wort and not glancing off the pot and acting like a space heater. If you aren't concerned about steam you have a lot of options with even standard box fans strategically placed to induce airflow in the summer. Cheaper than those vortex fans and... will certainly work.

 

[jeffb418]

Holy monkey yeah. The banjo burners have really high btus. I know with my burner it is 180K btus. That is why I would never use it in contact with anything but concrete or pavement (mine sounds like a jet engine ). If we use our burner to direct fire something for a 5-10 minutes the legs for the burner get hotter than a $2 pistol. That was why we really started to push into the eherms concept lately to maintain the mash temps vs. our original plan to direct fire the MT if needed during a mash.

You still get the heat with an eherms but it is less apparent because the heat is all going into the wort and not glancing off the pot and acting like a space heater. If you aren't concerned about steam you have a lot of options with even standard box fans strategically placed to induce airflow in the summer. Cheaper than those vortex fans and... will certainly work.

Yeah I'm using a vortex right now. Those things are awesome!

 

[CidahMastah]

Yeah I'm using a vortex right now. Those things are awesome!

what size are you using? I have been debating between the 6'' one and the 8'' one with 747cfm

 

[jeffb418]

http://www.vornado.com/product.aspx?CategoryID=b848619d-9ef4-4cd1-bdbc-9abe00b4a9ee

Thats the one I have, it works but I'd go bigger if you could.

Go for this one:
http://www.vornado.com/product.aspx?CategoryID=cd82b796-86f3-4a7c-942f-9abd010468e0

 

[CidahMastah]

http://www.vornado.com/product.aspx?CategoryID=b848619d-9ef4-4cd1-bdbc-9abe00b4a9ee

Thats the one I have, it works but I'd go bigger if you could.

Go for this one:
http://www.vornado.com/product.aspx?CategoryID=cd82b796-86f3-4a7c-942f-9abd010468e0

Oh we are talking about a different style of fan (I am talking about the hydroponic fans). I am going to be looking at the inline fans with a duct set up of some kind. But that can wait until next fall... I have a few more pressing fish to fry!

I do have a gable vent fan 15'' that I plan on putting in the garage for rainy brew days. that thing is a ripper!

 

[jeffb418]

Oh yeah... my bad! Vortex... Vornado... lol both start with a V =)

 

[CidahMastah]

Oh yeah... my bad! Vortex... Vornado... lol both start with a V =)

I wish they made an inline vornado! It would probably be MUCH cheaper that the vortex

I have reached the point in my build again where the next steps are big hardware or series of many hardware pieces = at least $100 in one shot to completed... That is except for the mechanical stirrer for the HLT. Ordered the motor today!

 

[CidahMastah]

Thinking of all my recent upgrades has me looking at my 15 gallon HLT and thinking... I should sell this and buy a 25 gallon HLT to match my 25G BK. Then convert that to another ePot!


argh... get me a sanity check please .... anyone interested?! haha

 

[nvr2low]

Thinking of all my recent upgrades has me looking at my 15 gallon HLT and thinking... I should sell this and buy a 25 gallon HLT to match my 25G BK. Then convert that to another ePot!


argh... get me a sanity check please .... anyone interested?! haha

interested in a 15 gallon HLT? I could be!

 

[copyright1997]

Thinking of all my recent upgrades has me looking at my 15 gallon HLT and thinking... I should sell this and buy a 25 gallon HLT to match my 25G BK. Then convert that to another ePot!


argh... get me a sanity check please .... anyone interested?! haha

If you want to go the group buy route on 25 gallon, check this out: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/100qt-180qt-stock-pot-bulk-buy-306149/. Scranton isn't all that far from Syracuse. I'm going for 2 20 gallon pots (at this point, trying to figure out if I should go for the 25 gallon ones, or even the 45 gallons ones! ).

 

[CidahMastah]

interested in a 15 gallon HLT? I could be!

if you are serious I might me too! It is an electric kettle though (basically the same design as Kals with the junction box and all). Not sure if you are in the market for one. You could either got direct plug in for 5500w to a wall, or start your own crazy build like several of us and control it with a PID.

Here is a picture of it.

I have replaced the element in it because I thing it screwed up. Turns out I had a bad SSR. Sounded like you were joking, but let me know if there is any seriousness to it

 

[CidahMastah]

If you want to go the group buy route on 25 gallon, check this out: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f16/100qt-180qt-stock-pot-bulk-buy-306149/. Scranton isn't all that far from Syracuse. I'm going for 2 20 gallon pots (at this point, trying to figure out if I should go for the 25 gallon ones, or even the 45 gallons ones! ).

Thanks for the link and idea - but I am sticking to megapot. They are top of the line quality IMO. Better build quality than blichmann (if you don't need the blichmann tun features).

I would go for 25g for a bk, 25 is insane for an HLT, but I want it to match my BK now, so I would give a good price on my electric 15g HLT

 

[nvr2low]

i might be interested, especially since I am going electric. I am in AZ for two more weeks but when I get back, depending on how much i have to put into my brew kettle I may be interested in this too.

 

[CidahMastah]

i might be interested, especially since I am going electric. I am in AZ for two more weeks but when I get back, depending on how much i have to put into my brew kettle I may be interested in this too.

let me know and I can get you some more details and pics as needed. it has a 3piece stainless ball valve installed too with reflectix wrap and a nice long cord (15 feet or so I think). The megapots are rock solid kettles, thick stainless.

 

[DBush20]

Hey I was wondering if we could get the 50# bags of dme from the group buy. I don't see why we couldn't but I just wanted to make sure.

 

[Mparsons327]

Cidah, I'm not sure if I will end up getting 5 full sacks on this order. I just bought out a ton of 2 row from a local brewer getting out of the hobby. If not could I possibly throw it on your order and pick it up at your place? I probably won't be getting any splits because it would be really hard to coordinate that with however many people and I have to drive 2+ hours. I picked my stuff up from twogunz parents place this morning btw. Could you also shoot me a pm with a price for the electric hlt? I planned on doing an electric build next winter so this would be a good start!