I've Lost My Mind

[newguy]

Background:

Since moving into this house in 2005 I've brewed the same way. I've set up an electric HERMS in my basement and and I haul the wort outside to boil on a propane burner. I then haul it all back inside when I'm done. It works just great, but there are some aspects of my system that I've never liked. ...Like hauling ~60l of 75C wort up the stairs and outside. Tiring. And doing this in the winter is rather nerve wracking when it comes to stringing out garden hose to attach to my counterflow wort chiller as I'm always wary of having the system freeze up. And getting your hands wet when it's -40C isn't fun either. I've had my hand freeze to the doorknob more times than I can count.

So, at the end of January I brewed for the first time since last July. The day was uneventful until it came time to chill my wort at the end of the boil. A whole hop cone got sucked into my CFC and completely stopped the flow. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but suffice to say that that was the only time I poured out an entire batch. That got me angry, and thus began my odyssey.

Now my goal is a completely electric brewing system that is entirely contained in my basement. No more hauling wort outside only to haul it right back in. No propane to worry about (ventilation in an enclosed space).

I'm about 4-8 weeks away from having it complete (I hope), and as of yesterday all the expensive bits have been purchased. ....And that's why I'm officially insane. I've dropped almost $5,000 so far and I still have (optimistically) another $500 to go.

What did I spend $5,000 for? Glad you asked. I'm going to reuse the "chillzilla" CFC and March magnetic drive pump I already have (what a relief, that will save me sooo much - not). To make my system, I needed:
- an additional March pump, ~$200 delivered
- 4 stainless level switches and 3 stainless thermowells, ~$400
- various electronic things, such as solid state relays, ordinary relays, sensors, enclosures, connectors, etc, ~$1,100 (and I still have to do the PCB & processor & programming of said processor)
- 3 large SS pots, 2 x 82 qt (mash tun & kettle), 1 x 62 qt (HLT), $560 delivered
- A laundry sink which I'm going to install next to the unit, $200 for a combination sink/cabinet with faucet (and I still have to install it)
- 3 SS "asparagus steamers", $90 (they're really just a tall narrow pot). I need to weld 2 together to give me one really tall slender pot, which will house the almost 30cm long 4500W heating element and thus become my heat exchanger's heat source. The last asparagus steamer will become my grant.
- just shy of $1,000 on SS quick connects, ball valves, and various fittings I'll need. Every hose in the system will be a QD type.
- Approx $100 for the 240V electric dryer cord, which will power my system, and two appliance water inlet valves so that my controller can automatically fill my HLT and HE with water. If you're curious, I bought some spanky mass sensors and I'm going to use them to determine how much water is in my HLT (I'm not a fan of the measuring cup filling method I now employ).
- Approx $75 for two SS false bottoms (one for mash tun, one for kettle). They're actually frying pan spatter guards but they'll make awesome false bottoms.
- $130 for the 5 heating elements I'll need. 4500W + 3000W for lauter tun, 4500W + 3000W for kettle, and 4500W for HE.
- ~$450 for the touch screen. Yes, I'm going to have a touch screen control panel. Just because I can.
- And last but not least, almost $700 for the Lincoln MIG welder + fancy autodark mask I bought. I know several really good welders who have offered to TIG weld all the stainless things I need to be welded, but I still needed something to create the stand. That and I've always wanted to be able to do my own small welding projects. Now I can.

And all this because a freaking hop cone got stuck in my CFC. <_<

 

[ben_sa]

I recall last year a bloke who was talk talk talk and not much do do do...

You, on the other hand newguy, Have done the work before talking about it for 20 pages :-D a welcome relief!

Great work, cant wait to see it all complete!!!

 

[Ross]

Can't wait to see the pictures when it's all up & running, make sure you keep us all updated :icon_chickcheers:

 

[WarmBeer]

Be glad you live in the continental USA. Imagine what all that shiney, bling gear would cost you if you were living in a manufacturing backwater like Australia?

Mind you, I brewed Friday night wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Even mid winter it's not too unpleasant brewing outside

 

[raven19]

Definately keen to see this pupy once built Newguy.

You need to spend your $$$ on something, it may as well be a brewery upgrade.

Are you installing a ventilation / extraction fan to remove the vapours from the boil kettle?

 

[newguy]

Be glad you live in the continental USA.

Thems fightin' words to a Canadian.

Are you installing a ventilation / extraction fan to remove the vapours from the boil kettle?

Yup. Fortunately that shouldn't cost much though.

 

[pimpsqueak]

Wow. Can't wait to see the finished product in full swing.
I hope you had that rogue hop cone framed and mounted somewhere

 

[newguy]

I hope you had that rogue hop cone framed and mounted somewhere

I'm pretty sure I heard it hit the house from the garage. After about 90 minutes of screwing around I got pissed off and hooked up my air compressor. 90 psi got rid of the blockage but by that time my chilling water hose was frozen solid.

That puts it in perspective though. A single hop cone cost me $5k.



That is sooooo depressing.

 

[WarmBeer]

Thems fightin' words to a Canadian.

I apologise (with an 's', not a 'z') for any perceived insult

Just meant to include you as being on the same continent as the US, so delivery costs are gonna be a whole lot cheaper than sending it via sea freight.

 

[~MikE]

....And that's why I'm officially insane. I've dropped almost $5,000 so far and I still have (optimistically) another $500 to go.

...

- ~$450 for the touch screen. Yes, I'm going to have a touch screen control panel. Just because I can.

i may have an idea what the problem might be...

 

[proudscum]

A 50l Braumeister woulld have been easier and cheaper but thats just because i now have a Braumeister to play with after not mashing for 5 yrs.

My 2c

 

[mje1980]

Wish i'd lost my mind that bad!.

 

[Goofinder]

You could have just used pellets instead.

 

[kevo]

You could have just used pellets instead.

Beat me to it - I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Whiteferret]

You could have just used pellets instead.

why would you if you grow your own? :icon_cheers:

 

[browndog]

Newguy, you must be either single or have a very understanding wife mate. Good luck with the build it sounds like an awesome rig.

cheers

Browndog

 

[bconnery]

Admit it. It took you ages to get that hop cone nice and wedged didn't it?

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

Sounds like a nice looking rig you have on the go there, cant wait till mine is up-and-running! When the usual work/family backs off the usual time/money usage i'll get stuck in to the rest of my build...........

Question: What kinda power is it gonna take to run your rig? I have been tossing up weather to go fully electric or just go electric for the 75L HLT & HERMS and go Gas for the 100L Kettle.

 

[newguy]

Question: What kinda power is it gonna take to run your rig? I have been tossing up weather to go fully electric or just go electric for the 75L HLT & HERMS and go Gas for the 100L Kettle.

Our standard home voltage/current here is 120V/15A, or 1800W load. Larger appliances like electric ovens or dryers are 240V/30A, or 7200W load. Since my brew rig is going in our laundry/furnace/freezer room, I'm just going to power it from the the dryer's outlet since it's very close to where the brew rig is going to be situated.

My present rig uses two 1500W/120V elements, one in the HE, on in the HLT. I brew 10 gal batches with it and while it performs fine for mashing/step mashing, I doubt that a 1500W heater (or even 2 of them) has the grunt to be able to bring the works to a boil. I had a friend, years ago, who had a fully electric 10 gal brewery in his basement, and his kettle had two 4-something kW heaters in it. He would turn both of them on until it started to boil (which he claimed would take 10 minutes max), then turn one off to maintain the boil.

I have a feeling that my choice of elements will be severe overkill, but better to have too much power and not need it rather than be stuck with not enough and wanting more.

For the gas burner, at present I have a 170,000 BTU propane unit and it can bring ~60l of wort to a good rolling boil even outdoors @-30C with a howling wind. Given your climate, something with 100-120k BTU should be fine.

And there was a suggestion that I should use pellets instead of whole hops.....I'd love to, but I grow my own hops. I doubt that my wife would let me buy the pelletizing equipment.

 

[Zizzle]

Sounds great. Any project that justifies the purchase of new toys... err I mean tools is a winner.

As for the power needed... I'm sure you will have plenty. I'm using our 240V/30A circuit for the brewbot and a 4500W low density incalloy element.

Only running 70% duty cycle when heating 3 gallons of water sees the temp rise at over 4 degrees C/min.

Maybe you should also by some stainless steel mesh off amazon (<$10) and make up a little screen on your outlet to stop the hops clogging the chiller anyway.

Oh and post some pics!