Kingys herms Build Thread

[Kingy]

Better pic

 

[TheWiggman]

Needs more milk crates. It's also been argued this contributes to better beer.

 

[Kingy]

A bit of an update, moved the brewery to a better position, lowered the hex and mash tun and got a few more fittings to make the day easier and finally got a false bottom. No more bag raising anymore!! Full excitement.
Ive got a 3 way valve left over im going to add it to the mash tun so i can batch sparge by filling from the bottum of one side and drain and recirculate out of the other.
Few pics

 

[Kingy]

Been a while since I've updated this but I've ditched the fire extinguisher and got a hermit from nev at OBS. What a great bit of gear it is, I can't wait to get a 15amp plug installed to upgrade the element. I used a 5star element to keep the stainless housing. Got a bigger kettle to and just finished the stand.
Next on the list is another pump for the HLT recirculation. Not really needed for recirc but would look good and be good to have incase the other pump fails.
And another pot is on the cards. Still unsure whether to get another 100litre or get a bigger one so I can fill 4 cubes. I'm leaning more towards the 100litre to keep it all uniform and I like driving it so 3 cubes more often would suit me better.
Need to retire the aluminium mash tun, wish has served me for many years from the start as a biab'er when I get the new pot and move the inlet valve to the left side closer to the herms.
And also setup laels braudino to control the herms View attachment 85507

 

[Kingy]

Been a while since I've updated this but I've ditched the fire extinguisher and got a hermit from nev at OBS. What a great bit of gear it is, I can't wait to get a 15amp plug installed to upgrade the element. I used a 5star element to keep the stainless housing. Got a bigger kettle to and just finished the stand.
Next on the list is another pump for the HLT recirculation. Not really needed for recirc but would look good and be good to have incase the other pump fails.
And another pot is on the cards. Still unsure whether to get another 100litre or get a bigger one so I can fill 4 cubes. I'm leaning more towards the 100litre to keep it all uniform and I like driving it so 3 cubes more often would suit me better.
Need to retire the aluminium mash tun, wish has served me for many years from the start as a biab'er when I get the new pot and move the inlet valve to the left side closer to the herms.
And also setup laels braudino to control the herms

 

[Doogiechap]

Looks the goods bloke. I've drooled over Nevs Hermit's too and wouldn't mind doing an upgrade either. That said, the thing I have now works just fine so I'll bide my time and money

 

[Kingy]

Finally got around to setting up my brauduino after I pulled out of the bulk buy then changed my mind again and got back on board. Very happy with the purchase.
It's been a great project to study up and work on.
Built a little stand for it to tidy up the wiring (kids in the shed all the time.)
Still need to get another pump and some fittings.
And still undecided on weather to get another 100litre pot for the mash tun and keep doing doubles and triples. Or getting something bigger to use as a kettle and move the current kettle to the mash tun and do quad batches.
Leaning more towards the 100litre in case I want to make an electric kettle in the future.

 

[SBOB]

nice brauduino/stc1000 stand

 

[Benn]

Nice!
Are the STC's just temperature gauge's or are they running equipment? (skimmed through the thread but couldn't find anything)

 

[Kingy]

The stc on top of the brauduino used to run the herms but is now going to control the hlt. The stc under the hlt used to control the hlt but is now going to replace an old dei-105a controller on a ferm fridge that's been going for nearly 10 years now but has a 1° swing either side of set temp. Time for it to retire.

 

[Kingy]

So I went to buy another 100litre pot the same as the other 2 and was told by craftbrewer there not stocking them anymore [emoji107] What a bummer.

 

[MastersBrewery]

cheers guys - it was a JPEG file I was trying to upload.

Slimey - PM me your email and I'll email the pics tomorrow.

cheers - Richard.

have one stll in box where are you?

 

[MastersBrewery]

ok on the PC see your in Newy, I'm sorta heading that way middle of next month possibly by car, I recently moved to Victoria to need to Edit my location, If your interested Pm me and we should be able to sort something out.

MB

 

[lael]

That looks pro. Nice work!

 

[Kingy]

So after I took MB up on his generous offer and pulled out after getting head noise. I contemplated some more over many beers and decided to think about the future and purchased a bigger boiler. So I'm not hovering around when doing triple batches watching for a boil over. And the ability to fill 4 cubes of my fav recipes when needed.
Next up is another pump. Then I can look at upgrading the electricity to the shed so I can throw more power at it and upgrade/add more elements.

 

[Mr B]

What size did you go for?

150l?

 

[Kingy]

130litre from cheeky peak. Really good quality for the price. Sandwich base as well.

 

[Mr B]

Mmm ta, looks good indeed....

 

[Kingy]

Got another pump and some hose for me bday last week. So it's all finished except for a power upgrade down the track.
Brewed up a 92litre (4cubes) batch everything went great so decided to brew another one the same day and the element in my herms started tripping the power. Pretty sure it's blown. After a few tests and rewiring to another element to make sure it wasn't the controller im fairly confident of it being the element. So I've ordered a new one.
Was lucky it blew half way through mash recirc. Temp dropped 3 degrees towards the end (no drama) just batched sparged with hotter water to get to mash out.
Also it felt good to be able to use the adjustable regulater on the burner for once and open her up. Had 90mm of head space at start of boil so no chance (small) of a boilover either.
Edit: need a new project now.
Maybe a small single batch recirculation rig that I can use my controller with. Or maybe either a biab setup again.

 

[TheWiggman]

First I've heard of the 5 star elements tripping, no good.
I'm unqualified to say this but you know you've matured as a brewer when you have an equipment failure halfway through and instead of freaking out, think about where it's up to and make some adjustments to suit. Well done.