What else is needed in an upgrade?

[Scout]

@Scout

Regarding the hop spider, I don't know what you mean by mesh screen? Do you have a mesh screen on your BK out valve perhaps or something else at the bottom? I just have a pickup tube on my BK out so I would put my hops either in a bag attached to the spoked spider or in the mesh hop spider. Something to keep hop bits out of the therminator is a good idea. I ended up preferring the mesh one because when I am done brewing, I pump PBW from the BK through the Therminator and HERMS coil and return it back to the BK through the hop spider. I back flush the Therminator separately first. It's a small amount really, hence "bits".

Here's a picture of the inside of the bk and the screen i was talking about. Yeah thats rust, these kettles were assembled before stainless elements were available, so I'll have to swap those out.

Ah that's a closer pic of the panel. Mine's a little more bare bones, just 2 PIDs and a boil controller, no timer, a multimeter instead of the amps and volts. The box is smaller. I bought it half finished, it was already laid out but I had to wire it. Couldn't tell you how involved it might be to upgrade it. Looking at their site however, the 30 and 50 amp panels are only slightly different in the second row. They add in a dial so that the power is on/off for the HLT and BK separately vs the dial for power to be one of off, HLT, or BK. That's a $400 difference on the pre-assembled 30 and 50 amp panels but only $100 on the DIYs. I guess drilling that extra hole really pisses them off! The box is the same size though.

I had to assemble my panel. Im sure if I wanted to upgrade to 50a I could replace the yellow indicator lights with lighted switches and avoid drilling another hole.

Looks like you are ready to go and any little changes you can make as needed. I'll make this post even longer... Point is, the temp probe is on the outflow and can be grossly off if not recirculating.

You can't calibrate your MT temp directly to the HLT temp because there will be a temperature differential, your mash tun loses heat and the heat source is in the HLT. It's equipment driven. If you keep the room environment stable, once you know the differential, it may be relatively constant and you can account for that in your PID settings. This is another place where the instant read is useful, you can calibrate the MT PID and dial thermometer to it. My apologies in advance if you knew most of that.

Good point about circulating.
I think Kal on his website says something about having the HLT warmer than the MT due to heat losses.

The last time I brewed was at my old house on a half ass single vessel electric system and I had so much water vapor it was condensing on the ceiling and dripping back down onto the counter, even though I had both garage doors and the window open. I understand how much it can build up without a fan.

 

[Deadalus]

Ok I've seen a bottom strainer like that. That's probably better actually because it wouldn't interfere with whirlpooling. I can whirlpool decently (hops) but it does sit towards the side as it fits in the crook of my element so it is slowed down but the stream is directed into it. It does go round but suspect I would need to remove it to whirlpool the trub to the middle. I never want to wait the 20 minutes though. A plus to the mesh spider is that if you want to whirlpool hops, you can dump your bittering hops out easily. You could do that with a mesh bag though if your recipe called for it. My mesh spider may be a little finer(?) but on the bottom that might clog. You'd get a fuller hop utilization without the spider from what other people have reported. If I brew something and it's not hoppy enough I tweak the recipe a little next time. Pros and cons but that will definitely keep bits out.

Good idea on not needing another hole if you decided to upgrade. I can wire these things and put the parts together but I have to constantly reread to retain what it is each component is doing and how it all goes together. I'm like a kindergardner trying to read when it comes to wiring diagrams. I can sound it out!

 

[doug293cz]

Should you need any help with what is required to upgrade your panel, let me know. I have designed multiple variations of electric brew control panels. You can find them scattered throughout the "Electric Brewing" forum, or if you are looking for something specific, ask me and I'll send a copy if I have something similar.

Brew on

 

[madscientist451]

You should consider if you need to use the KISS principle. You'll have quite a few things happen you never thought of. The simpler and more basic you keep everything the less frustrated you will be on your first few brew days with all grain.

Too late for that, the OP's got a 3 vessel system using pumps and a bunch of other stuff. No way KISS will ever apply to that rig.
But back to the OP's question, since your LHBS is 90 minutes away, you should get a simple scale, a 2 roller mill and grain in bulk if you can, or 10 lb lots from More Beer. With current gas prices and the time savings, you'll get your $ back on those items quickly. Some plastic buckets to store your grain and you're almost there. As someone already noted, a BIAB bag in your mash tun can solve a bunch of problems and make clean up faster, yeah you need a mash paddle. I've been brewing for years without a PH meter, but get one if you are going to brew often.

 

[Scout]

Too late for that, the OP's got a 3 vessel system using pumps and a bunch of other stuff. No way KISS will ever apply to that rig.
But back to the OP's question, since your LHBS is 90 minutes away, you should get a simple scale, a 2 roller mill and grain in bulk if you can, or 10 lb lots from More Beer. I've been brewing for years without a PH meter, but get one if you are going to brew often.

I've been wondering where o order grain hops and yeast from, I dont mind the drive (road trip) but if I'm going im goingnto spend a lot. I just don't know how often I'm going to brew yet. Before I moved, I only had two cases of bottles and couldn't brew until they were empty. I dont know how many cases I have now, plus 7 kegs and a 4 tap keezer. (One tap and keg are devoted to water)

 

[madscientist451]

Check with your LHBS first and see if they'll sell you whole sacks and at what price, then buy your specialty malts in 10 lb lots from More Beer. I hunt around for hops on sale by the pound, there are many suppliers.

 

[Dland]

I've been wondering where o order grain hops and yeast from, I dont mind the drive (road trip) but if I'm going im goingnto spend a lot. I just don't know how often I'm going to brew yet. Before I moved, I only had two cases of bottles and couldn't brew until they were empty. I dont know how many cases I have now, plus 7 kegs and a 4 tap keezer. (One tap and keg are devoted to water)

I get most of my ingredients from morebeer, they have plenty of brew accessories too, if one wants a mostly one stop shop. If one needs advice getting set up with major gear and want to buy, maybe try Bobby_M, a vendor on this forum.

More fun to shop in person, but if you have to drive a long way, or maybe take a boat & then drive, perhaps call ahead & make sure they got what you want.

 

[IslandLizard]

I've been wondering where o order grain hops and yeast from [...]

Do you have a (semi) local homebrew store? If so, ask for pricing, per pound and if they sell per sack, get prices on those too.
Pricing on malt/grain has gone up the past few months to a year, so be prepared for some sticker shock right now.

For reference, at our group grain buy, the last one 3 years ago (damn, time flies!), we would pay $50-65 per sack of regular base malts, Briess, Rahr, Weyermann, etc. British malts, such as Golden Promise or Maris Otter, $5-10 more.

I'd start with 5 gallon batches. At least until you get used to your system and AG brewing. You may use a "simplified sub-system," not using all 3 vessels until you brew larger batches. Batch sparging is fast, easy and there's no sin doing that.

You'll use around 12 pounds of malt/grain for a 5-5.5 gallon batch of around 1.060.
For most ales 60-80% or more, will be some base malt or a mix of base malts. The rest adjuncts, crystal/caramel/specialty malts, and/or dark malts depending on what style you're brewing.
A 50# or 55# sack of base malt would be enough for 5-8 5-gallon batches.

So get at least 1 or 2 sacks of base malts. The farther you need to drive the more you want to buy per trip.

You also need hops. Bulk hops, e.g., HopsDirect or Yakima Valley Hops. Best if they have some sale going on. There are others.

And you need yeast.

 

[khannon]

You also need hops. Bulk hops, e.g., HopsDirect or Yakima Valley Hops. Best if they have some sale going on. There are others.

This is how you end up with a "hops freezer" with 35-50 lbs of hops that you "Hope to get through".. You see you favorite hops on sale for ~$11.99/lb, and say to yourself "That's a great deal, I should order 2 or 3 to mitigate shipping". On that note, another "upgrade" that isn't super expensive is a vacuum sealer for re-packaging bulk hops.

 

[RM-MN]

I just don't know how often I'm going to brew yet.

I've been wondering where o order grain hops and yeast from

Do an order online for what you think you will need in the next 2-3 weeks. After you have brewed a few batches you will have a better idea of how often you will brew and can then decide if bulk hops and yeast are for you. My thought are that if I happen to pass by the 90 mile away LHBS, I can buy a few hops and packets of dry yeast and some base malts because the cost of shipping base malts gets expensive where I live. After that I will order hops and yeasts online as I need them.

 

[Scout]

This is how you end up with a "hops freezer" with 35-50 lbs of hops that you "Hope to get through".. You see you favorite hops on sale for ~$11.99/lb, and say to yourself "That's a great deal, I should order 2 or 3 to mitigate shipping". On that note, another "upgrade" that isn't super expensive is a vacuum sealer for re-packaging bulk hops.

I already have a vacuum sealer and a stand up freezer with space in it. The issue with that is the possibility of brewing more than I drink. My brother in law owns a bar and offered to open a tap for me, but thats a whole new can of worms.

 

[RM-MN]

My brother in law owns a bar and offered to open a tap for me, but thats a whole new can of worms.

You might find after looking into the rules that that can of worms is actually a keg full of rattlesnakes.

 

[Deadalus]

I've been wondering where o order grain hops and yeast from, I dont mind the drive (road trip) but if I'm going im goingnto spend a lot. I just don't know how often I'm going to brew yet. Before I moved, I only had two cases of bottles and couldn't brew until they were empty. I dont know how many cases I have now, plus 7 kegs and a 4 tap keezer. (One tap and keg are devoted to water)

Ritebrew.com is in your geographic area. They have a $0.20 discount for grains if you order more than 10 lbs. They are quick to ship too when I have ordered from them.

 

[Scout]

Should you need any help with what is required to upgrade your panel, let me know. I have designed multiple variations of electric brew control panels. You can find them scattered throughout the "Electric Brewing" forum, or if you are looking for something specific, ask me and I'll send a copy if I have something similar.

Brew on

Im kinda half thinking about building a panel for my old 10 gallon brew pot. I'll have to look up some of your posts.

 

[Scout]

You might find after looking into the rules that that can of worms is actually a keg full of rattlesnakes.

It would be cool to see my beer sold in a bar, but I dont want to risk my house or his bar.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Going from extract to all grain, and I have all the big pieces I believe I need. What I don't know is what about the small things, like a mash paddle, ph meter, maybe a scale for hops or something. So let's hear it, what small bits of equipment will I need?

Two self priming pumps and counter flow chiller. Game changers. Though that might be for later down the road.