# Husky's New 3V Brewery



## husky (9/3/14)

After more than 2 years design and build my new 3V brewery is finally nearing mechanical completion. I started with a simple single vessel RIMS brewery which I really enjoyed the simplicity of and the quality of the beer. After a couple of years BIAB I wanted a challenge and thought maybe a fully automated BIAB system. Then I added up the costs and thought bugger it I may as well just buy a Brau, but there was no challenge there. After coming to terms with spending those dollars on a Brau I had a brain wave. What I really like about brewing is the process so I decided to go 3V and build as close to a micro setup as I could while maintaining only 40L max volume. Most of my brews are only 20L as I really don't drink nearly as much as I used to. So I set about the design of my ideal brewery to suit 20-40L with the view of possibly expanding to 100+ litres one day.


*ENGINEERING*
Using AUTOCAD I designed every detail of what my brewery would be(well most of it). I drafted a P&ID then modeled the arrangement in 3D and then produced a full set of drawings to be sure the end product reflected what I had imagined. There are still items that I left out as I want to see how it operates in reality before making some final process decisions. 
The design:

70LHLT with 4400W electric heating on PID

80L(from memory) MT with insulating jacket - possible future rims setup to maintain water jacket temp. Bit of overkill but a nice mini project one day. 4" outlet on base to assist with grain removal. Various sparge arms yet to be designed. Has BSM fitting for not to connect on to.

60L Kettle with cooling water jacket and tangental inlet. Gas burner to provide heating. I prefer electric but want an empty vessel so I can whirlpool and chill at the same time with no element interference. I did look at having an over the top immersion made to suit however what I wanted was quite expensive. May do this one day to get rid of the burner. Kettle cooling jacket plumbed up to main water line for easy use with a diverge path to insert an ice bath or similar in line one day. I really dont like cleaning my plate chiller so Im hoping to get enough cooling through the jacket to bring temps down to 30 odd degrees recircing water only.

RIMS with 2200W element on PID has served me well in the past. Future upgrade to HERMS for indirect heating of the wort. Another mini project one day.

Brew frame designed to be universal with process lines hard piped yet able to accommodate larger tanks in future. Flow plate for sending wort to various places as I haded using flexi hose with my BIAB setup. May design flowplate swing bends so that no change over of pipes is required in future.
All conduits and water line built into the frame for neatness. 

*MECHANICAL*
Currently about 80% mechanically complete. Based on a skid/brew frame with fixed process pipework and ports in the top surface to form an almost sealed top and allow the flexibility of upgrading to larger vessels in the future.
Separate conduits for power and control which will make life easier if I upgrade to a PLC in future.
Process is almost complete just need to order another pump and complete some conduits and nice to have items.

*ELECTRICAL*
I am currently up to electrical design. Using "The electric brewery" as my design base I have started producing a set of electrical drawings modified to suit my setup. I will then have the drawings reviewed by an electrical engineer from work prior to starting the build. I have a reasonable sized cabinet installed so I should have a bit of flexibility as to what I install.
Will be running PID controllers for kettle and RIMS with a display only for MT and kettle. 
Have learned a fair bit about electrical stuff during my research so I have quite enjoyed this stage.

*PROCESS*
Basic operation:
Fill HLT via water line to pre set temp
Transfer to MT via dedicated HLT pump
Recirc through MT via RIMS for set time
Transfer to Kettle to start boil
Not decided on fly sparge or batch sparge as yet
Boil in kettle while intermittent recirc to sterilise lines.
Finish boil turn on cooling jacket and recirc via tangental inlet to drop out hot break and separate hops etc.
Transfer to fermenter - Not sure how I will do this yet. Hopefully gravity but can pump if need be.

Photo overload coming up. Overall pretty happy with how close the final product is compared to original design years ago. Its just a very slow and expensive process. More updates as I work through electrical works.

If anyone has some suggestions on how it could be improved from a process point of view please feel free to have some input. Failing that I think once I start brewing I will discover the various changes that will make brew day easier. 
My main future additions will be a bigger process pump to allow enough pressure to CIP the MT and kettle via sprayball. As well as any other changes that will make cleaning easier.


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## husky (9/3/14)




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## MastersBrewery (9/3/14)

only scrolled through, EPIC!!
Now to go back and have a good look at all that bling


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## manticle (9/3/14)

Looks amazing mate. Was almost wondering if you'd given up brewing. No excuses now.


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## lukiferj (9/3/14)

Wowzers. Looks amazing man.


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## spog (9/3/14)

WOW,that is one hell of a system,fan bloody tastic!
Cheers...spog...


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## Camo6 (9/3/14)

Absolutely amazing!


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## mckenry (9/3/14)

husky said:


> If anyone has some suggestions on how it could be improved from a process point of view please feel free to have some input.


Uuuuuummmmmmmmmm No.


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## MastersBrewery (9/3/14)

I think a video of it's maiden brew may be a requirement :icon_drool2:


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## Doubleplugga (9/3/14)

Absolutely awesome job dude. Well done.


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## Hubert (9/3/14)

Wow. Just wow. 

Awesome job!!!


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## shaunous (9/3/14)

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Wow!!!! :beerbang:


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## MaltyHops (9/3/14)

Ok, think you might have won ... only by a whisker, mind! :blink:


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## Grainer (9/3/14)

holy shoat batman..did u win lotto?


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## MattyFin (9/3/14)

Awesome set up! Keen to see a madien brew video as well, if not a wet run would still be just as awesome!


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## husky (12/3/14)

Thanks for the comments guys. No lotto win here just fortunate to work in an industry where I have access to relevant trades etc. Will take a video of a brew when its up and running. Will take a while to sort out electrical, just started buying components and theyre not cheap.


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## djar007 (13/3/14)

Brew day at yours I think. Awesome build.


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## Spiesy (13/3/14)

Jesus H. Christ!

Wow. 

Looks AMAZING. Well done.

What did it set you back?


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## Truman42 (13/3/14)

Thats freakin awesome... Well done, great stuff.


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## yum beer (13/3/14)

Now thats just showing off.....no need, no freaking need.


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## r055c0 (13/3/14)

husky said:


> If anyone has some suggestions on how it could be improved from a process point of view please feel free to have some input.


Husky, the main problem I can see with your design is the location, it will never work there. If I were you I'd move that asap, there's a spot in my garage that would be perfect, I won't even charge you rent on the space.


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## tiprya (13/3/14)

Looks amazing mate. How will you clean all of the stainless tubing? Does it all detach for soaking?


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## Donske (13/3/14)

That is absolutely amazing, I wish I had the skills, time and money to even contemplate something like that.


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## sponge (13/3/14)

I need some tissues.


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## Fat Bastard (13/3/14)

Really nice work! Makes the one I'm building look like what it is, a scrap bin special!
I showed yours to a couple of the fitters at work that have been helping me with mine and they love it, and are already planning my next one for me!


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## gava (13/3/14)

SOOO much stainless steel!!!! i want i want!!


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## Cocko (13/3/14)

Holy shit!! Aaaannnd Uummph... Pant change.

Amazing Husky. Good to see you back! :super:


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## mahcann (13/3/14)

thats just amazing! great job man


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## Burt de Ernie (13/3/14)

I`ll give you a $1,000.00 bucks for it!


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## Crusty (13/3/14)

Wow! simply amazing husky.
What a great looking rig you have there mate.............. :beerbang:


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## JB (13/3/14)

Looks amazing husky, so shiny amazingly steampunk! 
:super:


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## mb-squared (13/3/14)

terrible. just shameful. you better let me take that off your hands.


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## breakbeer (13/3/14)

Holy Shitballs! 

Possibly the best brew rig I've ever seen

Congrats man.


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## CrookedFingers (13/3/14)

Thats some sweet setup dude !

Makes my shiny little urn feel humble.

Seriously great work, love the dedication.
I would think it mandatory to wear a white lab coat when operating.


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## grimpanda (13/3/14)

Sweet jesus. You certainly don't do things by halves...

Where did you get the vessels made? It's a bit hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like the welds on the inside between the cylinder and the base are just tigged and cleaned? Any worries about there being crevices for bacteria and nasties to hide?


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## Cocko (13/3/14)

We have:

Husky
V
Gava
V
Don Bourke
V
Jono
V
Browndog
V
XXXX
Anyone I have missed??

Its battle royale...


******* amazing, I have only looked at it 5 times...


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## djar007 (14/3/14)

You missed brewnut and andytork. Both awesome setups.


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## sponge (14/3/14)

And this Sponge fella I keep hearing about.. he's supposed to have a wicked rig.





h34r:


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## MastersBrewery (14/3/14)

great restraint being shown there Cocko I think I'm just going to print and frame some of the pic's SWMBO wants to use the computer sometimes......


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## OzPaleAle (14/3/14)

Probably even blows many micro brewery pilot rigs out of the water!


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## Donske (14/3/14)

OzPaleAle said:


> Probably even blows many micro brewery pilot rigs out of the water!



I'd say definitely, Husky's set up is a work of art.


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## gava (14/3/14)

Just notice you have Stainless Tubing to run your cables? Now thats just showing off 

Only thing that lets it down is the dual 2200watt kegking elements.. and THATS being picky.. 

makes my frame look like paper mache covered sh$t 

-Gav


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## booargy (14/3/14)

What you couldn't get a job in a brewery so you thought stuff you i'll build my own? 
good stuff, I like very much (except for position of rims heater)
Have just sent off drawings for 160l jacketed cone bottom kettle with tangent inlet to be built. It will be good to see how your jacket chills.


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## husky (14/3/14)

Spiesy said:


> Jesus H. Christ!
> 
> Wow.
> 
> ...


Too scared to add up. Spread out over a couple of years and lots of favours.


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## husky (14/3/14)

tiprya said:


> Looks amazing mate. How will you clean all of the stainless tubing? Does it all detach for soaking?


Some is removable however I have hard piped the pipework in the skid to avoid any flexi lines which is a positive. Negative is it is harder to clean. Nothing a 2% caustic recirculation for 15 minutes will not solve. Also expecting to blow the lines out with compressed air after a clean to completely dry the pump head which is not free draining as the outlet if facing upwards.


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## husky (14/3/14)

Burt de Ernie said:


> I`ll give you a $1,000.00 bucks for it!


You just want the frame?


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## Doubleplugga (14/3/14)

And I thought I had some nice stainless bling! That rig will be awesome when fired up mate.


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## husky (14/3/14)

Gabe said:


> Sweet jesus. You certainly don't do things by halves...
> 
> Where did you get the vessels made? It's a bit hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like the welds on the inside between the cylinder and the base are just tigged and cleaned? Any worries about there being crevices for bacteria and nasties to hide?


Never been one to do something by halves. The drawback is a lot of down time getting things right. 
HLT and kettle are tig welded (as laid). These are sterile environments so not worried. One day will polish but its low priority. 
Mash tun is polished and a really good finish. As bit reluctant to polish the kettle as with the jacket is will undergo a bit of stress when chilling so the more weld the better as far as im concerned. Will see how it goes, definitely looks better polished but its a good half day to do properly. 
Nothing bad enough for bug growth.


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## husky (14/3/14)

gava said:


> Just notice you have Stainless Tubing to run your cables? Now thats just showing off
> 
> Only thing that lets it down is the dual 2200watt kegking elements.. and THATS being picky..
> 
> ...


Yep, S/S conduits for power and control cables. Standard issue in any food manufacturing facility.
Keg king elements have served me well for the price. Only one has gone bang and I think I was sent a replacement. On the long term to do list to get some low density units but now they're only on water heating duties I'm not worried. They used to be used on my single vessel RIMS and performed well.


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## Grainer (14/3/14)

Lol my brews may be $30 a bottle at the moment but Im guessing yours are at about $120 a longneck...given your rig !!! Its all for the love of it !!


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## husky (14/3/14)

booargy said:


> What you couldn't get a job in a brewery so you thought stuff you i'll build my own?
> good stuff, I like very much (except for position of rims heater)
> Have just sent off drawings for 160l jacketed cone bottom kettle with tangent inlet to be built. It will be good to see how your jacket chills.


More to the point I don't think I want to work in a brewery as It may become less fun. Maybe a small 500L brewery one day would be alright as long as you could only brew when you wanted to. I certainly enjoy the process more than the drinking these days.


What's your thoughts on the RIMS heater? When the rest of the system is finished I will be going HERMS. That might be a year off though.

Jacketed cone = expensive. I went a slight cone to assist in collecting whirl pool garbage and jacketed the straight wall only. If I were to jacket the cone I would go dimple plate. Starts to get expensive though. I am also interested to see how it performs. As long as It will cool within 30 mins or so I will be happy. Really once its below 70 or so I'm happy to transfer to fermenter and stick in the fridge.


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## husky (14/3/14)

Grainer said:


> Lol my brews may be $30 a bottle at the moment but Im guessing yours are at about $120 a longneck...given your rig !!! Its all for the love of it !!


Funny, when I started the hobby I justified it to the missus by saying it would save us money. Brewing K&K could get a few slabs for a measly 15-20 bux. Definitely more expensive than just buying beer now but where's the fun in that. Maybe not though as every visit to Dan's to pick up a dozen or so randoms costs a good 60 bux.


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## booargy (14/3/14)

husky said:


> What's your thoughts on the RIMS heater? When the rest of the system is finished I will be going HERMS. That might be a year off though.


I started with the heater in that position. then in the middle of the mash tun laying on its side. eventually laying on its side under the base. I found there is less chance of running dry but also I think with a bit of back pressure in the heater the temp is more stable. There is the relationship between flow/pressure and heating power. I can't explain it but from doing.
Here good sized one. although not food grade.





I have got a bit of a thing for heat exchangers and heat pumps at the moment.

I am the same as you with kettle design jacketed walls only. I was thinking some sort of baffle plate just tacked in the jacket but then again is it needed? also 4 inch tri-clamp in base as it will have legs so eventually 4inch butterfly above a drain. I plan on using the jacket to drop the initial temp down and heat cleaning water. then through plate chiller with chilled water to ferment tank.
seeing yours gave me a horn :wub: :wacko:


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## husky (15/3/14)

booargy said:


> I started with the heater in that position. then in the middle of the mash tun laying on its side. eventually laying on its side under the base. I found there is less chance of running dry but also I think with a bit of back pressure in the heater the temp is more stable. There is the relationship between flow/pressure and heating power. I can't explain it but from doing.
> Here good sized one. although not food grade.
> 
> I have got a bit of a thing for heat exchangers and heat pumps at the moment.
> ...


Depending on batch size the tip of the element should still be under liquid level in the MT to ensure its always flooded. I have electrically interlocked the RIMS element so that it cant be powered unless the pump is running. Still requires the flow plate to be connected correctly. 

I put a baffle in half way up that forces the cooling liquid to travel around the entire circumference in the lower half, then up and around a full circumference again in the top half. Not sure if it is necessary however but does allow a longer contact time and should prevent the cooling medium short cutting through the jacket. You will also need a vertical divider for this to work. On my kettle I left a section un insulated so I have access to some bare wall for probes etc in future and provides this divider.

I like the 4" triclamp idea. I put one in the base of the MT for grain removal. I had one in the kettle however I ended up cutting it out when I wend for a gas burner. This will make it harder to drain as my kettle outlet is on the side so it doesn't suck up the trubb cone when whirlpooling.


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## husky (6/5/14)

Well nearly 2 months on and not much has changed. Slowly working away on a basic electrical design and buying the odd bit of electrical kit every now and again is all I have been doing. I have an initial wiring sketch(see attached) that I have based on the electric brewery and modified to suit what I want.

A couple of things I need to sort out still:
1 - Do I want the alarms and buzzers etc? I have not used them in the past but they may be handy in the future. A lot more wiring though
2 - How do I get the power into the unit. Looks like I need around 32amps. I have a 15 amp supply maybe I need a second 15 amp off the meter box. Question is then how would I wire this in the control box? Other option that has been suggested is a 3 phase supply and pick up 240V of each of the phases. Anyone know how this might work?

I'm currently working with an electrical engineer so will have him review my dodgy diagram before I go any further.

Anyone here electrically minded able to critique the attached and comment on how it may be powered?

View attachment 20140505 - Control Box Wiring Diagram Layout.pdf


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## OzPaleAle (7/5/14)

Not sure how you would go with a 3 phase supply, depends if its available on the street.
Also I believe you are meant to balance the phases so if you are say running one element off each phase but only one or two elements are running at a time however. I'm not 100% sure of the theory behind it so don't want to elaborate with incorrect info but worth investigating with your electrical engineer.


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## djar007 (7/5/14)

Sigh. Every time this thread pops up I am forced to relook at the pictures. And i cry A little.


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## 431neb (7/5/14)

Holy shit! First time I've seen this.

Talk about your classic - "Expensive way to make cheap beer". You're gonna have to outpace CUB to get your $/litre average down!!

Seriously awesome work. This is the best I've seen. I feel sorta empty inside now. Is that what jealousy is like?

Edit to add - Only 8 likes for the Original Post? Just the length and detail of that post deserves more likes. Give him some sugar FFS!


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## bazfletch3 (7/5/14)

Hey Husky

I'll preface my comments by saying that Im electronic (NOT electricaly) qualified; and its been a while since I waded through wiring diagrams on a daily basis. So please take my comments as food for thought only, and certainly not gospel 

I ran through your wiring diagram and noticed a couple of things (first 2 are just being picky):

The MLT PID is missing the 240V hot supply line
The Volt meter would also need a 5Vdc supply (I would presume)
The power keyswitch looks to me to be switching a voltage from the wrong side of the power relay; creating a vicious circle whereby you wont be able to power the system up! (someone feel free to chime in here and point out the obvious if Im missing something!  ) You look to be sending the 24Vdc negative feed from the DC powersupply through the keyswitch to fire the 240V power relay - problem being the DC powersupply is itself powered from the output of the same 240V Power relay. My suggestion would be to change out the power relay for one with a 240V AC coil and loop the hot 240V input through the keyswitch and back to the coil as well (there is a wiring update on the Electric Brewery forum for 240V wiring which shows this).
In terms of your Power Supply question, you should have plenty of power coming into your house/switchboard, presuming you only have 1 switchboard (I think 80A is typical for a single phase feed to a house?....Any sparkies?????), you would just need a dedicated 32A socket and breaker wired from your switchboard to your brewery location. You would want a "single" feed into your control box, trying to use 2 separate 15A circuits is going to get messy (and dangerous). 

Im currently working on a poor mans version of the Electric brewery (a staged version so I can get it through the ministry of finance) where I plan to do just that though (do as I say, not as I do!). But in my case Im building separate control boxes for each PID and element (3500W), which will run neatly of separate 15A powerpoints.

Good luck with the build; Im as envious as everyone else!

Cheers

Baz


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## husky (26/7/14)

Still ticking along slowly with this build. It time consuming and expensive accumulating all the electrical components.
Progress made:
Purchased and plumbed up second march pump
Ordered gear tray for the back of the control panel
Ordered approx. 80% of the control panel components
Ordered a new laser cut panel door with all the holes etc required for the switches, lights and PIDs

Today after getting motivated seeing some of the other builds running currently I did a water run using my old control box. I wanted to see how all the transfers would operate. Heated some water in the HLT, transferred to the MT, recirculated using RIMS to various temperatures, transferred to kettle(no gas yet), chilled using the kettle cooling jacket.
All went very well, there are some minor changes that I will make in time but overall happy with how it ran. The cooling jacket was able to cool from 75 degrees down to 40 degrees in around 10 minutes. I was also whirlpooling while cooling and did a test with some food dye and bits of dirt to see that it accumulated in the centre. All seemed good but the ultimate test will be first brew day.

Panel wiring to come next, just need a few more of the nick nack little bits such as cable, crimp connectors and some screws to mount everything. Hopefully its only a few weeks before the next update!


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## husky (26/7/14)

For anyone interested I have also had a chance to update the process drawing. Still need to incorporate some kind of flexible hose during kettle whirlpool that will also be load out to fermenter.

View attachment 00000-5000-P02-40L Brewery Model (1).pdf


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## Crouch (27/7/14)

Well ... I _was _feeling pretty good about my build. Thanks.

Off to get beer from my fridge, and think about my plans ... hrmmm.

Bloody awesome looking setup mate, very jealous!


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## husky (9/8/14)

Bit of progress. Didn't like the idea of drilling all the holes in the control panel so I cheated and laser cut a new one. Most equipment has arrived just finalising wiring diagram.


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## husky (10/8/14)

bazfletch3 said:


> Hey Husky
> 
> I'll preface my comments by saying that Im electronic (NOT electricaly) qualified; and its been a while since I waded through wiring diagrams on a daily basis. So please take my comments as food for thought only, and certainly not gospel
> 
> ...


Thanks for the input, corrected the issues mentioned. The volt meter apparently does not require a 5v input, will see how it goes. Easy enough to add another converter if required. Have an electrical engineer looking over the drawing this week so hopefully start the wiring next weekend. Ill put a final electrical drawing up once it has been given the ok.


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## TheWiggman (10/8/14)

bazfletch3 said:


> The power keyswitch looks to me to be switching a voltage from the wrong side of the power relay; creating a vicious circle whereby you wont be able to power the system up! (someone feel free to chime in here and point out the obvious if Im missing something!  ) You look to be sending the 24Vdc negative feed from the DC powersupply through the keyswitch to fire the 240V power relay - problem being the DC powersupply is itself powered from the output of the same 240V Power relay. My suggestion would be to change out the power relay for one with a 240V AC coil and loop the hot 240V input through the keyswitch and back to the coil as well (there is a wiring update on the Electric Brewery forum for 240V wiring which shows this).


I noticed this too. I deliberately did this on my MAME cabinet and had a bypass between the incoming active and the 24V (5V in my case) power supply. To switch the system on, I need to press a small button on the back which enables the power supply, activates the relay and puts the system in standby. 
I have a two microswitches running in series with the 5V line to the relay which are mounted on the back doors. That way if an inquisitive kid/Wiggman opens a door the system shuts down and everything's dead.

In your case you could consider having a similar hidden switch to stop unauthorised turning on (i.e. you'd need to depress the switch and then turn on the power to fire it up). But if you're using a key anyway, you're most of the way there.

First class system by the way. I had to wade through a lot of "awesome"s to find updates. Looks like an unreal project, first brew will be a monumental occasion indeed. With some automated valves in there and a grain mill, Bandito would would swear he's looking into his future.


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## bazfletch3 (11/8/14)

TheWiggman said:


> I noticed this too. I deliberately did this on my MAME cabinet and had a bypass between the incoming active and the 24V (5V in my case) power supply. To switch the system on, I need to press a small button on the back which enables the power supply, activates the relay and puts the system in standby.
> I have a two microswitches running in series with the 5V line to the relay which are mounted on the back doors. That way if an inquisitive kid/Wiggman opens a door the system shuts down and everything's dead.
> 
> In your case you could consider having a similar hidden switch to stop unauthorised turning on (i.e. you'd need to depress the switch and then turn on the power to fire it up). But if you're using a key anyway, you're most of the way there.
> ...


Nice little touch! I never thought of that


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## husky (21/12/14)

Geez time gets away, motivation seems to come in waves and it turns out its much more time consuming than I anticipated. Hours of just sitting in the shed changing my mind 100 times before settling on a minor detail!. Getting closer so time for some updates anyway. Progress since last post:

Electrical design finalised. Sourcing cable hopefully wiring up over Christmas holiday
Conduits complete. Should be a full washdown brewery, tried to use IP rated instruments and sealed all cables. Gas burner will be only non washable and im regretting going gas already so may convert to electric at some stage
New flow plate valve arrangement

Plans over Christmas:

Wire panel
make pump shrouds
Design HERMS heat exchanger to replace the RIMS
Source electrical junction box's to wire heating elements
Re think how I get water into HLT
Design some means of CIP. Thinking separate pump and spray ball mounted to removable lid
Make spent grain tray to aid removal from base of mash tun
Put down first brew. Ha....... not likely!
I have also managed to score a half descent PLC so contemplating making a second control panel in the future and learning some ladder logic. Will see how the brewery works first.


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## MastersBrewery (21/12/14)

Getting close now! It's not that I want one the same, but I'd love to brew on it, just once! Can see the thought, work and quality that's gone into this.


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## Mardoo (22/12/14)

Looking at your build I have only just now realized how tiny my dick is 

Extraordinary work. I've never even realized one could do something like you have. My hat's off to you.

If you're building that system you'd WANT to dither endlessly about details. In your case that seems a virtue.


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## Yob (22/12/14)

out of interest Husky, what do you do for a crust?


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## Mardoo (22/12/14)

Fitter and turner comes to mind


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## TheWiggman (22/12/14)

I'm thinking male gigolo. Just one of those bastards where all facets of his life every male is envious of.


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## husky (22/12/14)

Yob said:


> out of interest Husky, what do you do for a crust?


Process/Mechanical engineer. I design, build and install process in food and dairy on a daily basis. Usually on a much bigger scale, it's turned out to be quite challenging converting all the same practices and standards to such a small scale. Would be a piece of cake to design the same brewery for 20,000L compared to 20L.


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## husky (22/12/14)

Ok so im in the shed tonight playing with gas for the first time. Some thinks ive noticed:

Its going to heat the work quicker than my electric elements thets for sure
Very distinctive smell of gas in the air. Hope this is normal
Shame I cut a hole in the bench for the heater as to maintain a blue flame at the pot it needs to be a lot closer than I anticipated. Could be because I have the gas cranked right down so the flame is not rolling out past the shroud that I put on the base of the kettle
Not as noisy as I was expecting either.
Just running a test to see how long it will take to boil then going to run the water jacket to see how long it will take to cool.


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## lael (22/12/14)

Is that actually just a 20l system?


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## husky (22/12/14)

lael said:


> Is that actually just a 20l system?


If I say yes are you going to tell me its overkill? 
Its designed to do 20 or 40 batches. Since these days I enjoy brewing it more than I drink it, the size suits me well.
I'm more likely to do lots of different small brews than large volume keg filling brews.

Chilling testing underway:
5 mins tap water @25 degrees through kettle jacket gets me below 80 degrees in 5 mins which I'm happy with, I believe its around here that isomerisation should stop. Its been going nearly 20 mins now and I'm down to 45 degrees. Will take a while to drop from here with tap water so currently investigating a chilled water or ice bath set up. Overall very happy with tonight's testing!


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## lael (22/12/14)

haha, if it looks *that* good, how could it possibly be overkill?


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## husky (22/12/14)

Stopped water chilling at 40 mins with the kettle down to 35 degrees and only exchanging 1.3kW by this stage(186lph cooling water at 22 degrees into jacket and 28 degrees out). The 2mm stainless steel wall is very limited in terms of heat transfer. Still way better than the old 19L Big W pot in an ice bath for hours on end to chill since I can now recirculate during cooling to maintain uniform temp.
Using gas I noticed all the kettle surrounds, legs shroud and jacket gets bloody hot when boiling. 30 seconds into chilling and all surfaces can be touched again. 
Played around with flowrates through the chilling but all up to get from 100 degrees to 35 only used around 150L chilling water that all went on the garden. Will likely be used for cleaning on brew day.


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## djar007 (23/12/14)

That seems like a while to cool husky. What is the temp of the water going into the jacket? Beautiful pics btw.


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## DU99 (23/12/14)

:icon_offtopic: Should get a pressure washer with the auto syphon feature....


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## husky (23/12/14)

djar007 said:


> That seems like a while to cool husky. What is the temp of the water going into the jacket? Beautiful pics btw.


There are three things working against good cooling
- Stainless steel not a good conductor of heat
- 2mm thick wall of the pot
- 22 degree cooling water temp(the bottom gauge in the attached pic)

Getting below 80 degrees is my main priority, it gets here quickly as the temp difference between wort and cooling water is high. I will play around with other cooling methods to get to pitching temp quicker. I like the fact its only a tap that I need to turn on and it will sit there recirculate and cool all in the same sterile environment. No heat exchangers to clean just drain water from the jacket at the end of the run.


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## husky (27/12/14)

Possibly the best day brewery building ever today. Boxing day test on in the shed, drinking beers, wiring up control panel. Really enjoyed the electrical side of this project, always good to learn something new. Turns out my father in law is awesome at electrical design. I drafted what I wanted and he went away and modified it to be more 'industrial'. Got rid of all my ebay cheapie components and replaced with good quality parts and changed everything to 24VDC, just need to sort out some 24V PID controllers as I am currently re using my old 240V versions.
Pics of todays progress. Hopefully finished wiring tomorrow with some minor tidy up items to be done at a later stage.


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## brewermp (27/12/14)

husky said:


> Possibly the best day brewery building ever today. Boxing day test on in the shed, drinking beers, wiring up control panel. Really enjoyed the electrical side of this project, always good to learn something new. Turns out my father in law is awesome at electrical design. I drafted what I wanted and he went away and modified it to be more 'industrial'. Got rid of all my ebay cheapie components and replaced with good quality parts and changed everything to 24VDC, just need to sort out some 24V PID controllers as I am currently re using my old 240V versions.
> Pics of todays progress. Hopefully finished wiring tomorrow with some minor tidy up items to be done at a later stage.


That is a pimping setup!


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## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_ (27/12/14)

Great work Husky!


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## husky (29/12/14)

Temporarily powered up for testing, waiting on a new 40A power supply to the shed which should be a couple of days away. Still need to tidy a few things up and order some junction boxes but 99% complete. I told the father in law I enjoyed building it and would likely do another to replace this at some stage and he says he will help me wire it 'properly' LOL, I was super happy with how this turned out but apparently can be done better somehow!


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## husky (2/1/15)

It's Alive!!!!
Spent the day yesterday heating and cooling water testing thinks and calculating heating rates etc before I decided to crush some old grains and make a mock batch to use for starter wort.
To start the day I had a Keg King element go bang! so only running one element in the HLT made the heat up a bit slower. I will be looking to get some similar ones made that are a better quality. This is the second one that has gone on me and you can see why from the pics!
Summary points below:

3kg JW ale 1kg JW light crystal 1 kg JW wheat milled up and thrown in mash tun using 0.9mm roller gap. These are old grains maybe 2-3 years old. Also threw in 40g cascade @50 to test out hop spider
Figured out the auber ramp soak PID controller which made mashing easy. Dis 50 degrees 30 mins 67 degrees 45 mins 75 degrees 10 mins. Really happy with the controller
Need a better wort return system which was already on the to do list
Had a crack at fly sparging. Basically sparged until I reached target volume in kettle, seems the best way to do it
Only got 63 % end of boil efficiency - 23L @ 1.042 end of boil from 5kg grains. Much lower than the 80% I used to get from BIAB. Suspecy poor sparge efficiency due to no sparge arm.
Boiled off 5.8L and started with 29L in the boil. This is a 20% boil off rate per hour. Too high as I was aiming for around 12%. Much harder to regulate gas, electric elements used to give very consistent results. May change to electric kettle in future
60 minute boil at this rate used 1.5kg LPG ~ 73MJ. To evaporate 5.8L water should require 13MJ. This means only 17% of the gas energy goes into the boil! Seems low
Ended up with 23L wort which I used for starters to revitalise some very old wyeast packs. Still had 15L left in a cube so I threw in an old pack of US05 to see what happens. The grain bill was derived around old grain I had lying around so I don't think it will be tasty but it forced me to get the fermenting fridge up and running again.
Hop spider did not work as expected. A lot of hop escaped. Needs a rethink
Recirc at end of cooling was not as effective as I had hoped, need to review the outlet design to stop it from sucking debris into the pump
Clean up took longer than BIAB as there is an extra vessel however being hose down made it easy enough with a hose and a scourer. Dismantled some pipework and water flushed others, should be ample but time will tell.
RIMS worked really well with no burn on
Overall very happy just need to sort some minor issues and keep using it to dial in the numbers to some brewing software. I was targeting 1.053 gravity based on what I had entered into beersmith and only got 1.042 so I need to do some research there. I have only ever done BIAB previously so Im sure there are some volume figures that need adjusting somewhere.

Took some video too but will need to find somewhere to host them first and then link here.


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## Dan Pratt (2/1/15)

That's an impressive rig, cant believe its not electric


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## husky (2/1/15)

Pratty1 said:


> That's an impressive rig, cant believe its not electric


It will be as soon as I can find an immersion element that I'm happy with. Don't want permanent elements since I want to be able to whirlpool. The control panel is wired to allow 4400W in the kettle one day.


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## jonnir (2/1/15)

When you find a suitable one be sure to let us know! I'm keeping my eye out as well!


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## husky (2/1/15)

A quick vid of mashing recirc


[media]

http://youtu.be/ksxHOm3aoJs
[/media]


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## Camo6 (2/1/15)

A true thing of beauty...until you get to that wort return! :lol: 

Seriously mate, that rig is something else. Well done.


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## husky (2/1/15)

Camo6 said:


> A true thing of beauty...until you get to that wort return! :lol:
> 
> Seriously mate, that rig is something else. Well done.


Thanks mate, its been a hard slog over a couple of years but its not far off now. Funny though, after being back on the brew forums a bit it seems a lot of people are going from 3V back to 1V systems just as I have finally gone the other way. The more equipment the better I rekon! Not like it takes that much longer to clean.


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## husky (2/1/15)

Just downloaded bsmith 2 and set up an equipment profile which predicts 1.043 for the gravity and I got 1.042 so efficiency is back to 75% into fermenter which is equal to my BIAB days!

Short clip of my attempted fly sparging below. I like this method!

[media]http://youtu.be/IF-uMqAylXo[/media]


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## Dan Pratt (2/1/15)

husky said:


> It will be as soon as I can find an immersion element that I'm happy with. Don't want permanent elements since I want to be able to whirlpool. The control panel is wired to allow 4400W in the kettle one day.


Blichman boil coils? Look them up, I was going to suggest Kal and the Electric Brewery but you have checked that out already.

Also, why was there a return hose into the mash tun during the sparge/lauter??


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## razz (2/1/15)

It looks like it went ok at the end of the sparge mate, but the early part of it looked like it was all going down the left hand side. Why the recirced wort when sparging from HLT?


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## husky (2/1/15)

edit: deleted duplicate post


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## husky (2/1/15)

razz said:


> It looks like it went ok at the end of the sparge mate, but the early part of it looked like it was all going down the left hand side. Why the recirced wort when sparging from HLT?





Pratty1 said:


> Blichman boil coils? Look them up, I was going to suggest Kal and the Electric Brewery but you have checked that out already.
> 
> Also, why was there a return hose into the mash tun during the sparge/lauter??



Forgot to close the valve to the RIMS at the start of the sparge hence at the start there was a bit of recirc back from the rims and through the silocone wort return line. You can see as soon as I realised that the wort flow into the kettle has stopped and was going to the MT I changed the valve over. There was a lot going on and trying to video it as well! There are a lot of procedural differences I need to get used to since BIAB days but its a lot more fun!

Razz, just looking up that old vienna lager recipe too. Missus has been asking for it for a couple of years now!


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## husky (18/5/15)

Bit of an update, have upgraded the HLT(LHS vessel) with the longer term plan to make this suitable for larger batches(60L +). I have started a new 1V brewery for regular small batches. The new HLT is 100L jacketed and has a level switch to only allow power to the heater elements once covered with water. I have also grown sick of blowing the standard KK 2200W elements so I had some made, they are the same 2200W but 50% longer to reduce power density a bit. 
Have also had an element rolled up for the kettle to go all electric!


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## Crusty (18/5/15)

Lost for words husky. A very nice setup mate.... :beerbang:


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## husky (20/5/15)

Have been asked by a few for some more detail on the controller so here it is, hopefully it makes sense and can help out some others. I know it took me a god six months studying the electric brewery and other websites to get my head around all things electrical. Turns out its quite simple but does take some time to understand what's going on. Mine is loosely based on the electric brewery however simplified where possible as I did not want alarms or to switch between different heating elements.

Wiring diagram - This was my take on the electric brewery to perform all the functions that I wanted. I gave this to my father in law to review as he is good with all things electrical.

View attachment 20141210 - Control Box Wiring Diagram Layout 240V Coils.pdf


The following drawings were generated by my father in law after making some changes. I also went with 24V everywhere possible. They make sense to me now but I had to get up to speed with wiring diagrams pretty quick. These are what I used to wire my controller

View attachment 1000-4002_A01 - Control Panel Control Circuits.pdf


View attachment 1000-4001_A01 - Control Panel Power Circuits.pdf


Soon to be updated with a level switch in the HLT to ensure there is water over elements before power can be applied as well as an electric element in the kettle(bye bye gas) and some form of controller to regulate the amount of power sent to the element.


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