The MaxOut Brew Station

[chrislzh]

Thanks woody. Inspired by your work and hope to have a corner of my new place like yours. Thanks.

 

[MaxOut]

MaxOut Brewers Cart

In an effort to streamline my processes and equipment I created what I call the MaxOut Brewers Cart. It started with wanting an-line oxygen infuser and grew from their. I built an In-Line Oxygen/CO2 infusion device here-

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=plcp&v=cvL-EJD7EH0

I tried this on my last brew and the yeast really took off running. I also plan to use it with CO2 for carbonating in the brite tank. I've been trying to organize some of my other brewing gadgets and ultimately evolved into the MaxOut Brewers Cart. I have all my hardware for brewing getting scattered around and decided to consolidate it on a handy cart. It consists of a Chugger pump, 4" X 18" stainless filter, Infusion device with 6" X 2 micron stainless stone, 1.5" X 6" sight glass, 20 LB CO2 tank with dual regulator, M60 Oxygen tank with dual gage regulator and flow meter, three way valve and hand truck.

Applications-
Helper/Transfer Pump
In-Line oxygen infusion with or without filtration
In-Line carbonation with or without filtration
Filter
Cool & Oxygenate
Pressure Transfers

It took a long time to figure out the plumbing and how to get the most of of the configuration with as few hoses and changes as possible. I put together a few small hoses with camlock connectors and used camlocks on the valves to the Chugger pump to keep the cart compact.

Here is a few shots of the MaxOut Brewers Cart





Plate chiller on wing nut mount made out of a strap of stainless. Chugger mounted on custom made stainless mount. (still need a splash shield for the pump)




Plumbing with three way valve on top, Infusion stone has air quick disconnect on bottom, filter to right, and sight glass in the middle. All the plumbing is mounted with two U-bolts wrapped with silicone tubing and held to cart with wing nuts.





Gas - CO2 Tank on Right, O2 tank on left, O2 Regulator and flow meter on right, CO2 regulator on top and lighted power switch on top right.

 

[bucfanmike]

top notch, as usual.

 

[Layne]

Dude, that rocks!

 

[cascadia]

Great looking system!

Where did you get the filter housing? What kind of media does it use? Micron rating?

 

[MaxOut]

Great looking system!

Where did you get the filter housing? What kind of media does it use? Micron rating?

I got the filter from Glacier Tanks and it has a 1/16" primary and a 150 micron secondary both stainless steel. Here-http://www.glaciertanks.com/TriClamp_Strainers-TriClamp_Strainer_1_1_2.html

 

[jcav]

Amazing!

 

[MaxOut]

With the new 1BBL configuration I’m running I repurposed the pump I was using and decided I need a stir motor in my HLT to help with stratifications and heat transfer on the HERMS coil. I butchered a 12VDC gate operator and salvaged two gear motors that look like they were up for the task. I decided I wanted to use the existing keggle lid instead of fabricating another solution from scratch. I also wanted t be able to remove the stir motor from the lid if needed so no welding to the lid. After scratching my head for a while I came up with this idea and started work. I used as many parts I had lying around from my previous builds to keep the cost down and maintain the “all stainless” quality of my brew system.
I started with the blades for the stir motor. I had a few stainless strips of 16 gage stainless left over from my volume guides I made for my kettles and decided they were rigid enough to work. I bent them on a vise at apposing angles to create the blades and decided on a piece of 3/8” stainless rod as the shaft.

Here are a few pictures of it coming together-

 

[MaxOut]

Next I needed a way to attach it to the lid and let it spin free. I all ready had a ½” coupler welded to the lid so I drilled two 1/2” plugs so the 3/8” shaft would slip through it. Now the hard part how to rig the motor to the lid? I had some 1” X 1/8” strap leftover from a project that fit perfect in the channel of the keg fitting. I bent the strap around the fitting and the bent tabs back I could drill through. Kind of made a clamp to go around it. Then I took some 1” X 1/8” tubing and made a bracket for the motor.

Here is a few pictures-

 

[MaxOut]

Here is a shot of the motor temporarily in place -

 

[MaxOut]

I didn’t like the motor exposed and needed a way to pick it up and remove it from the keggle so I had a friend bend me a box to cover the motor and to attach a handle to. He made it out of 16 gage stainless sheet, I TIG welded it, cleaned the welds and added a granite handle left over from another project.
Here is the box coming together-

 

[MaxOut]

Here is a shot of the almost finished project. I am building PWM power supply I will use to control the speed but have it set up temporarily on a 50 amp 12VDC Astron (major overkill) supply to use on my last brew.

 

[MaxOut]

A few more shots -

 

[MaxOut]

Here is a short video of my last 1BBL brew of 444 Tripel Lager during the mash with the motor in action.

 

[Oldskooler]

I just found this and you have done a superb job, and I'm sure more than one of us envious.

 

[rvklein]

While cool, did you think about the possibility of adding a recirculation fitting to the top of the HLT instead? I do this with a 90 degree bend which creates a whirpool in the HLT.

 

[MaxOut]

While cool, did you think about the possibility of adding a recirculation fitting to the top of the HLT instead? I do this with a 90 degree bend which creates a whirpool in the HLT.

Hello, all my keggle's have fittings in the side at the top and the HLT has a whirlpool tube on the inside. Brewing 6 gallon batches with the three keggle set up during mash I use the HLT fitting on pump 1 to recirulate water in the HLT from bottom to top through the whirlpool tube. Pump 2 is used to recirulate wort from the MLT out through the HERMS coil and back through the top lid fitting in the MLT.

When I’m brewing 1 BBL the HLT & BK keggle’s are used as HLT’s and HERMS with the help of the Rinnai tank less water heater. I recirulate water in the BK out on pump 2 through the jacket on the 40 Gal MLT and back to BK top side input through whirlpool tube. Pump 1 recirculates wort from the 40 Gal MLT through the HERMS in the HLT and back to the lid fitting on the 40 gal MLT. With this configuration the water in the HLT was not being circulated and when I decided to build the stir motor. Originally I just used the HLT for HERMS and for the jacket on the 40 Gal MLT but I have more capacity by using the keggle BK on the jacket. With the automation during mash I hold the BK to 190 degrees and the automation controls the pump off/on to heat jacket as needed to assist in step mashing and maintaining mash temps. Using a combination of both the HLT/HERMS on the wort and the BK on the jacket of the 40 Gal MLT gives me quicker steps and greater control. Hope that makes sense? I am building diagrams to illustrate my processes and will post them once they are complete. I have them for the 6 gallon keggle configuration and will post them soon.

I’ve discovered through testing that the stir motor is much more effective than whirl pooling with the pump was. I think it’s due to the blades moving more water directly against the coil the entire depth. The blades run inside the HERMS and are angled to move water from the bottom to the top over the coil. I would highly suggest this configuration over a pump.

Here is a picture of the HLT with side top whirlpool return -

 

[rvklein]

Understood!

 

[MaxOut]

Here are a few diagrams to illustrate the hose configurations I use. The colors represent the colored bands I have on my hoses to simplify changes.

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Excellent work once again!

 

[DrPhilGood]

Do you notice a difference if you put the output of the mash into the bottom part of the herms compared with starting at the top of the coil?

 

[MaxOut]

Do you notice a difference if you put the output of the mash into the bottom part of the herms compared with starting at the top of the coil?

Yes, the coil is nearly 45'. Through testing I found going in the top reduces the head pressure and increases flow through the coil.

 

[DrPhilGood]

Yes, the coil is nearly 45'. Through testing I found going in the top reduces the head pressure and increases flow through the coil.

thanks. I have been doing the opposite, like kal, but I always thought top down made more sense.

 

[MaxOut]

thanks. I have been doing the opposite, like kal, but I always thought top down made more sense.

I think it makes better sense for two reasons-

1. In my case coming in the bottom adds another 45' uphill climb for the pump.
2. I heat from the bottom up so from an efficiency stand point it makes sense to add wort from the top down. Kinda like a counter flow chiller.

 

[chrislzh]

Hi Max. May I ask where did you get the 3 boiling kettles?

 

[MaxOut]

Hi Max. May I ask where did you get the 3 boiling kettles?

Are you referring to the keggles?

 

[chrislzh]

Yes Max. Trying to find something like that but no luck.

 

[MaxOut]

Yes Max. Trying to find something like that but no luck.

Used kegs are getting hard to come by around here. It took a while to get these together gathering the parts and getting the couplers TIG welded in. Most of the hardware can be found at vendors here on this site. I've seen kegs on eBay with tops cut, valves, sight glass etc. Nice thing about a keggle is they are heavy duty and can take a serious beating.

 

[chrislzh]

Thanks Max.

 

[MaxOut]

I’ve made some changes recently and thought I would update this thread. First I had been working on finding a good way to cool both of my new fermenters and planned on using a Perlick line chiller I have with immersion coils and a manifold. I had Glacier Tanks manufacture custom lids and added additional 4” tri-clamp openings to accommodate the coils and also make it easier to dry hop and knock out. While I was waiting for the lids I came across two, True GDM-26 refrigerated coolers with glass doors. I found them on Craigslist and they were listed as inoperable but in good condition. I made a low ball offer because I was not sure they would fit and the guy passed. I got to thinking about using the immersion coils and the fact that my shop where the fermenters would be is not conditioned all the time. I decided I would look into building a custom walk in box and use the Perlick chiller. In the meantime the Craigslist guy called me and said he was moving that day and if I wanted the coolers come and get them out of his garage. I dropped what I was doing and went to get the coolers and the guy thankfully accepted $200.00 for them. I was happy but a little worried the fermenters were not going to fit. First thing after unloading from the truck we measured them and…they fit! Next I started digging into them to see what was wrong with them. I plugged them in and the circulation fans worked but neither compressor would run. They were apart a little hacked and parts were missing. Thinking the worse I decided I would abandon the compressor/condenser and use the Perlick line chiller to pump antifreeze through the existing evaporator coils to cool the fermenters and abandon the condenser/compressor in the GDM-26’s. My HVAC buddy stopped buy a few nights later and over a few brews while talking about the coolers and decided to play around with them. Long story short I got both units operating and set up on 5” casters for another $300.00 total. This was less than the cost of two immersion coils, associated manifold and plumbing so it was a home run. So I could get brewing I tied the True cooler to my BCS automation. I wrote a few processes for the coolers on the BCS and I have multi stage fermentation schedules for ales and lagers. Glad to share my BCS process programming if anyone is interested. Here are a couple shots of the coolers and test fitting.
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