Show us your brewrig

[Drekavac]

Made my first post after years of lurking around on here so thought I'd share my new rig which is almost complete (pending a thermocouple issue).

 

[Judanero]

Very nice mate! Are those fermentors underneath wrapped in insulation for your fermentation or something else?

 

[mb-squared]

nice looking setup Drekavac. You'll have to post a 'brew day process' at some point so we can get a better idea of how you've plumbed it up. There are not many hard-plumbed systems around here so it'd be cool to see/learn how you did yours. Cheers,

 

[Drekavac]

Very nice mate! Are those fermentors underneath wrapped in insulation for your fermentation or something else?

Sure are. I'm working on a glycol system using a HERMS coil in the fermenter and a few peltier devices controlled with an arduino to control the temperatures. Entirely experimental, not sure if it's going to work yet.

 

[Drekavac]

nice looking setup Drekavac. You'll have to post a 'brew day process' at some point so we can get a better idea of how you've plumbed it up. There are not many hard-plumbed systems around here so it'd be cool to see/learn how you did yours. Cheers,

Thanks! I was thinking about posting some info about it to help out anyone else doing something similar.

 

[husky]

Finally got the new creation up and running. It's designed as a single vessel brewery that can brew up to 40L although will generally only be used for 20L.
Some info:

• Utilises a small Allen Bradley PLC and panel view for ultimate flexibility and endless fun factor designing new programs. Currently has programs for pre heating, mashing using a ramp hold program as well as a boil program.
• 5000W low power density heater. Runs on PID control for pre heat and mash and runs a % power for the boil to achieve desired boil off rate).
• Cooling water jacket for chilling to around 30 degrees post boil. Gets down below 80 degrees in a couple of minutes to stop isomerisation.
• Tangental in/outlets to give a good whirlpool
• Super easy to clean!

There are three temperature transmitters measuring mash temperature. The mash runs on PID control and will hold a mash temp within .05 of a degree through the whole system by using a fast recirc back to the top of the grain bed as well as across the heater.

The main aims were to achieve excellent mash temperature control, utilise a PLC for endless mini projects and to be easy to clean. After putting down the first brew on Friday it definitely does all of the above! Very happy

 

[spog]

My BiABasket rig.




Complete with a salvaged wall oven for home roasting grains,it's on swivel castors so I can wheel it out of the way when required .
In pic # 2 you can see my mash paddle,a $ 7:00 potatoe masher from Coles.
The trolley was made from builders salvage.
100X 50 Jarrah base slats that the castors are fixed to then 300X 75 Oregon slabs for the base,170X32 Oregon for the walls and the same for the top then edged with hardwood .
The doors are Oregon frames with Cedar inserts.
The whole setup holds all my brewing gear from a big tub that the immersion chiller is stored in,the nest of stock pots,grain bucket,scales paper towels and the small SPC fruit cups that I put my hops into on brew day.

 

[goid]

My brewrig 98% complete. No more lifting and moving pots full of water/wort. WooHoo!

 

[antiphile]

Relax, guys. It's obviously just a setup for some photospread. Way too tidy to be a working brewery. I'm waiting for baarney to show us the pics of the real space his missus lets him use for brewing!

 

[Milk-lizard84]

So after months of cobbling together bits I have got my rig to a working order.
It has a 50l hlt with a 2400w 5 star element with a sight glass and pick up tube.
The mashtun is a 75l insulated esky with a beer belly rectangular false bottom. Had some trouble initially with the tap fittings but they are solid as a rock now.
The boil kettle is a heavy duty 70l stainless pot with a gas burner.
Run in through it's paces last week with good results. Still have to tweak a few things and get some form of controller for the herms unit I'm getting soon.
Looking forward to the next brew.

 

[Tahoose]

Looking good, you'll love the herms.

 

[Curly79]

Been making a little stand for a Keggle BIAB setup to try to brush up on my Arc Welding skills. Havnt welded since trade school 16 years ago![emoji15]. Gunna put a Mongolian burner in underneath there. More pics to follow. Cheers Lads[emoji106]

 

[Mr B]

Been making a little stand for a Keggle BIAB setup to try to brush up on my Arc Welding skills. Havnt welded since trade school 16 years ago![emoji15]. Gunna put a Mongolian burner in underneath there. More pics to follow. Cheers Lads[emoji106]

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Nice work there

Not sure if it would really be an issue or if it is a completely sealed piece, however do you have a pinhole for pressure equalization in the top frame?

Cheers

 

[Curly79]

Pretty sure there's more than a pin hole there somewhere mate. My welding skills are pretty ordinary at the moment. They did get better as the day went on luckily. [emoji12]

 

[Mr B]

Pretty sure there's more than a pin hole there somewhere mate. My welding skills are pretty ordinary at the moment. They did get better as the day went on luckily. [emoji12]

Hehe, think we are on roughly the same skill level

It all holds but...

Cheers

 

[Ruger]

A question for those with a 3v unit made from kegs, how big of a batch do you brew?

 

[hooper80]

A question for those with a 3v unit made from kegs, how big of a batch do you brew?

I aim for 44 lt every brew. But I have also had a quarter of another keg welded onto of my kettle to allow for boil over.

 

[Weizguy]

Bought a new brew fridge yesterday, and when I say bought, I mean it was an old vaccine fridge at a pharmacy and was available for free.
Picked it up with a brew-mate, Troy, with his car and trailer. Took it back to his house for examination and testing, as it's still difficult to get to my brew area due to flooding/storm runoff water.


Being technically adept with refrigeration equipment (which is an admirable quality and much encouraged), he quickly determined which component was causing the fridge to function abnormally, and had it up and running in about 20 minutes, or it felt like about that short a time. I hope he'll correct me if I'm way off the mark.

edit: A Goggle search has this to say about this fridge model: "Vestfrost VF-FKG410 all the way from Denmark is regarded within the industry as one of the most reliable refrigerators of all time, truly an A1 buy."
True dat!

Tested the fridge for fermentor fit (the clamp/ring for the conical's lid seemed to be the widest point), and the fridge was not deep enough, so Troy suggested a wooden collar, like a keezer might have, and an offer of having a look at it later.
Later that evening, he sent me pics of his work, with the now spacious fridge and the lid clamp fitting well in the unit.



Great job, Troy. Thought I'd show some respect here for your work. [ A+, exceeds expectations.]

 

[Curly79]

Nice one. Those hops shouldn't need watering until next summer by the way. Where abouts are you Les?

 

[Ruger]

I aim for 44 lt every brew. But I have also had a quarter of another keg welded onto of my kettle to allow for boil over.

Cheers mate

What heating elements do you use?