Electric Brewery

[Crusader-Rob]

Hi Everyone,

Its on my list of things to do, as I'm setting up a brewshed outthe back. (No I'm not building it, its essentially a garage, that wont fit a car in it, weird.)

anyways, it needs power so i can connect fridge and so on for fermentation, and I've been researching and thinking, that going all electric, would actually make sense, and I could become a bit more automated so to speak, less heavy lifting lugging things outside etc. its all in one place.... the list goes on.

My current setup is as follows:

- 50lt Cooler Mash Tun, fitted with Bazooke Screen
-50lt Stainless Steel Brew Pot, one of the cheaper thinner ones of trademe.
- Immersion Chiller
doing 19-23 litres batches mainly.
I also have a 30lt pot, from the days of partial boil extract as well.

 

So my thoughts were one of a couple of options... a couple of people are using Hot Water urns for E-BIAB, and thought maybe I could use 3 of these 40lt urns and turn them into a single tier 3-vessel system, as the taps apparantly come apart, and I can then fit  thermowells etc. in there and have the ballvalve installed, along with some of the ideas from www.theelectricbrewery.com, for probes and so on mainly.

But then I thought I could possibly make it myself, using the existing items I have:
30lt Pot as HLT
Current mashtun either improve insulation or fit a pump and HERMS through HLT for Mash temp Stability, I think I'd like to do it, as it tends to skip a step for vorlaufing as well and creates ne clear, repeatable beer
and 50lt boil kettle.

All fitted (apart from Mashtun) with Heating Elements, Temperature probes ball valves, and 1-2 pumps, possibly add another bazooka screen to the boil kettle to help filter out the trub?

Can anyone offer any advice, those who have E-Breweries, how does it work for you? what equipment do you have, and would what I'm saying actually work through the Cooler Tun?
If anyone has done anything similar, an idea of what parts. you name it I want the information.

[Crusader-Rob]

Thanks guy. Why a 3kW element? I think this is The way to do it. Mashtun is good so no need to change it at the moment.

Where do I find probes thermowells etc.

[Crusader-Rob]

Yeah, that what I was kinda thinking for thermowells etc.

Will one of those 2200W Brewing elements off Craftbrewer.com.au be ok, I think it'll take a bit of time to get going.

I think the plan is the do the HLT, then I can switch to BIAB for Small Batches as well.
Parts list for HLT:

Pot- already have a 30lt one.
2200W element
Ball Valve
Sight Glass
thermostat-?weldless dial or electronic dial.

Sound about right?

[Crusader-Rob]

good plan, those silicon washers come in handy. yeah head the TM one was a bit naff.
Think I'll go with 2200 for HLT and a 3kw for BK, that way I'll be able to get a boil going.

Anything else i need?

[mattd2]

Hey sorry for going off topic. Have you used one of those Sestos PIDs? I got one and am having troubles getting the control period down to 2-4 seconds. Other than that it's great.

[mattd2]

Thanks Guy, my actual problem is I think the Sestos (well at least mine) has an error in it's code that a control period under 10 seconds gives strange results. i.e. set it for 1 sec = 70 seconds!

I have only found 1 or 2 other sources on the internet that have had the same issue. One day I will sell the PID box and build myself a sweet micro controlled setup... one day...

Cheers!

[mattd2]

But if it is a choice between paying 2+ times the price and not being able to go less than 8s then the bottom line is going to win.

I know this is a reason for going with the Auber, but no one would know until someone tried. I hear what your saying for a RIMS tube but I am a fair bit away from that stage at the moment.

[Pat Fuller]

yea go for the 3kw in the kettle. I have 2.2kw in my kettle and hlt. its fine in the hlt but i have to also use gas under the kettle, especially with a 40ltr batch. the silicone washers are a bit crap,dont do them up to tight or they leak. I just ran everything in manual for a while while i waited for PID controllers to turn up. just a digital temp prob to start with. have fun. 

[Crusader-Rob]

Yeah I will do, next door to my work  can get insulation as well, so I'm going to grab some to insulate my HLT kettles aswell.

I've also been told to check TM for Hot water Cylinder Elements, might be worth a go, get some prices down.

[Crusader-Rob]

http://www.mcgibbondunne.co.nz/products/hermetic_elements/storage_w... 1500w and 2000w elements, no pricing though. based on what I've read on hbt.com the elements should be low watt density, to assist in not scorching the wort. maybe 4x 1500w elements might be in order, pricing may be an issue though, but we will see.

[Crusader-Rob]

The guys at glabalink have some, they sell through corys and ideal etc. they have 3kw and 2 kw, and some other odd sizes.

I think for the interim I'll be manually doing this, i take ittheres no issue with incoly elements running full tit for 60-90 mins? scorching etc.? or should there be a temp control situation on this one as well.

 

PID controls will come a bit later, once the money is there, but if anyone has any cheap ones they want to sell I'll be happy to have a look, any wiring diagrams out there btw?

 

[Peter Smith]

I have just seen PIDs that include timers on them, was thinking that I could setup the evening before a brewday and wake up with water at strike temp...   I like to brew from around 5am so I still have a day  left for familly stuff, anyone use one? here is a link

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-16-DIN-PID-Temperature-Controller-w-Timer...

[Sam]

I've just started testing my auber pid with my HLT, it seems to work quite well except the Present Value ends up floating 2 degrees above the set value, the present value also constantly jumps around within 0.5 degrees even if the temps not changing, does anyone know how to fix this? Cheers