The Mallee Mash House
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cheers, Arnie
I am now on the hunt for an LPG solenoid so I can control the temp on my kettle and save on gas use. I would also like to add gas control to the HLT (currently has a 3.2kW element in it) so I can get the hot liquor upto temp at a faster rate, then switch to electric control for temperature holding.
This is definitely not my area of expertise, but would an old gas heater have parts suitable? During hard waste a month ago there were definitely throw-aways to be had for nothing. Any gas people know?
I really wanted something I can control using my PID temperature controllers ie switched by whatever voltage.
But due to the difficulty and the commonplace manual themostat versions I have started thinking that using one of these would be ok, especially for the kettle.
I could set the thermostat at its highest setting get the wort to a rolling boil and then turn the thermostat down until it turned off the gas.
I have seen this type of thing available quite a bit for gas hot water systems.
Kirk
But due to the difficulty and the commonplace manual themostat versions I have started thinking that using one of these would be ok, especially for the kettle.
I could set the thermostat at its highest setting get the wort to a rolling boil and then turn the thermostat down until it turned off the gas.
I have seen this type of thing available quite a bit for gas hot water systems.
Kirk
Not much progress on the brewery atm.
I went into work on a day off today and one of the enginering managers asked me about my brewery. I had previously spoken to him about getting some solenoids and a cheap PLC he said that he had a couple of PLCs that I could have. I asked about digital/analogue inputs and outputs and how many and he said more than you will need, so hopefully when he gets the specs that holds true.
I suppose it is lucky that there has been no plumbing progress as now I am going to rethink the design and put as much automation as I can into it.
It was worth working on my day off.
Kirk
I went into work on a day off today and one of the enginering managers asked me about my brewery. I had previously spoken to him about getting some solenoids and a cheap PLC he said that he had a couple of PLCs that I could have. I asked about digital/analogue inputs and outputs and how many and he said more than you will need, so hopefully when he gets the specs that holds true.
I suppose it is lucky that there has been no plumbing progress as now I am going to rethink the design and put as much automation as I can into it.
It was worth working on my day off.
Kirk
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Morning Kirem. Just been reading the posts on 2nd page of this thread. For an LPG solenoid why not try car parts ? Perhaps an automotive lpg fitter or even an auto wrecker.
I have sorted out something that will do the LPG job. I ended up ordering a gas ignition and control module. This basically takes care of igniting the flame and makes sure that if it doesn't light that the gas gets turned off etc etc. Made to control gas ovens. The solenoids are from a marine LPG gas detection and shutdown system commonly fitted to galleys.
I got a fair bit done today. I assembled the control box today, fitted it and test ran it. I asked it to heat the water in the HLT using a 3.6kW electric element. The PID parameters need some fine tuning but it worked better than expected. I still have to connect up the solenoids. This is not going to be easy.
I was given a few solenoids from work. I can't find any data sheets for them online and I think they are normally closed. I need a NO and NC solenoid or a normally closed SSR (5vdc as a control, switching 240vAC 70mA). Trying to find a NC SSR is proving to be very difficult.
Plenty to do yet, but it is probably capable of knocking out a brew now.
Kirk
I got a fair bit done today. I assembled the control box today, fitted it and test ran it. I asked it to heat the water in the HLT using a 3.6kW electric element. The PID parameters need some fine tuning but it worked better than expected. I still have to connect up the solenoids. This is not going to be easy.
I was given a few solenoids from work. I can't find any data sheets for them online and I think they are normally closed. I need a NO and NC solenoid or a normally closed SSR (5vdc as a control, switching 240vAC 70mA). Trying to find a NC SSR is proving to be very difficult.
Plenty to do yet, but it is probably capable of knocking out a brew now.
Kirk
IT LIVES!
A few things left to do. I want to insulate the vessels, I will get a stirrer made using a windscreen wiper motor for the HLT. The HLT also needs a thermowell welded in. I might put all the cabbling in conduit. Once the float switches get here I will add another control box for the switches for auto level sparging and auto fill of the HLT. The gas burner will need upgrading from a 2 ring, I am seriously thinking of going to an electric kettle. I will be spending most of the afternoon setting up the chiller with its recycled cooling water setup, then hopfully be ready for an early morning blast off. Good thing is I can set it to come on early in the morning and be ready for dough in, all I will need to do is crush the grain into the tun and away I go.
I need to search for the method of working out the thermal mass of my tun, so I can get the strike temperature working correctly in Promash.
Exciting brewing times ahead, I will probably tinker and improve on this design, but atleast it is at a working stage and the fun can begin.
A few things left to do. I want to insulate the vessels, I will get a stirrer made using a windscreen wiper motor for the HLT. The HLT also needs a thermowell welded in. I might put all the cabbling in conduit. Once the float switches get here I will add another control box for the switches for auto level sparging and auto fill of the HLT. The gas burner will need upgrading from a 2 ring, I am seriously thinking of going to an electric kettle. I will be spending most of the afternoon setting up the chiller with its recycled cooling water setup, then hopfully be ready for an early morning blast off. Good thing is I can set it to come on early in the morning and be ready for dough in, all I will need to do is crush the grain into the tun and away I go.
I need to search for the method of working out the thermal mass of my tun, so I can get the strike temperature working correctly in Promash.
Exciting brewing times ahead, I will probably tinker and improve on this design, but atleast it is at a working stage and the fun can begin.
fine tuned the P, I and D. The HLT and mash temp are now rock solid and step mashing should work.
Hooked up the gas, plate chiller and the cooling water recycle system. I put some containers of water in the freezer, hopefully they will be frozen by chilling time tomorrow.
Maiden Brew is an english pale ale.
18L
3.5kg of GP
0.5kg of munich
5g simcoe for 60min
23g each of EKG, Styrian goldings and fuggles for 15min and again as dry hops into secondary ferment.
nottingham yeast, 1/2 teaspoon of calcium chloride.
shooting for 1052 and 32 IBU, working on 75% efficency.
If all goes well I might do the barley wine I am working on, it's a copy of SN Bigfoot.
any thoughts, ideas or questions please ask.
Wish me luck.
Kirk
Hooked up the gas, plate chiller and the cooling water recycle system. I put some containers of water in the freezer, hopefully they will be frozen by chilling time tomorrow.
Maiden Brew is an english pale ale.
18L
3.5kg of GP
0.5kg of munich
5g simcoe for 60min
23g each of EKG, Styrian goldings and fuggles for 15min and again as dry hops into secondary ferment.
nottingham yeast, 1/2 teaspoon of calcium chloride.
shooting for 1052 and 32 IBU, working on 75% efficency.
If all goes well I might do the barley wine I am working on, it's a copy of SN Bigfoot.
any thoughts, ideas or questions please ask.
Wish me luck.
Kirk
Off to a good start. First brew is in the kettle. The burner is producing a lot of soot, I need to adjust it down a bit after it has cooled. Already looking at a couple of changes to make brew day easier and quicker.
Now for the American Barley Wine.
18L
8kg of GP
1.25kg of munich
140gms of Nugget
30gms each of Simcoe and Cascade at flame out
30gms each of Simcoe and Cascade dry hop
OG of 1130 and 105 IBU
Nottingham yeast and EC1118 if the ferment gets stuck or slows down.
Great thing about this setup is that while one brew is in the kettle I can start another.
Kirk
Now for the American Barley Wine.
18L
8kg of GP
1.25kg of munich
140gms of Nugget
30gms each of Simcoe and Cascade at flame out
30gms each of Simcoe and Cascade dry hop
OG of 1130 and 105 IBU
Nottingham yeast and EC1118 if the ferment gets stuck or slows down.
Great thing about this setup is that while one brew is in the kettle I can start another.
Kirk
Both brews in the fridge
The English Pale Ale is at 14 degC and has had the yeast pitched. I missed the OG, wanted 1.052 and got 1.049.
The American Barley Wine is still cooling, I ran out of ice and could only drag it down to 39 DegC, not too bad, but I know the recycle cooling water system is capable of better. I got an OG of 1.075 on this one, I was shooting for 1130. I was trying to flush the plate chiller into the fermenter with water and missed the cut and ended up flushing a couple of liters of water in as well. I might freeze some water out of this beer when it has finished secondary to try and up the alc.
I am happy with my setup, the by-pass solenoid needs review, it doesn't seem to always by-pass, may need a clean-out and rebuild. I have some insulation from Clarke's rubber now so I will insulate the vessels. I should be able to get a HLT stirrer made up in the next couple of weeks. I am also seriously thinking of going electric on the kettle as well. The removable shut for the mill needs a redesign as it shakes loose when the mill is running. My greatest challenge is the sparge arm, it worked well for the first mash and kept coming loose with the second. I need to look at how I can fit a drain to the kettle to remove the break easily after I have finished collecting the wort. If I go electric this will be easy. I will fix the tape from a tape measure to the inside of the mash tun and the kettle and then create some dip charts.
The HLT temp was rock solid and changed very quickly when asked. The mash tun tipper setup is great, very easy to empty and start another brew whilst the first one is in the kettle. The hop sock worked very well, once I weighed it down. The chiller & recycling system worked very well, better than I expected, I just need to have more ice on had if I want to do more than one brew in a day.
All in all a great start, some things to work on and I look forward to my next brewday when all the changes have been made.
Cheers,
Kirk
The English Pale Ale is at 14 degC and has had the yeast pitched. I missed the OG, wanted 1.052 and got 1.049.
The American Barley Wine is still cooling, I ran out of ice and could only drag it down to 39 DegC, not too bad, but I know the recycle cooling water system is capable of better. I got an OG of 1.075 on this one, I was shooting for 1130. I was trying to flush the plate chiller into the fermenter with water and missed the cut and ended up flushing a couple of liters of water in as well. I might freeze some water out of this beer when it has finished secondary to try and up the alc.
I am happy with my setup, the by-pass solenoid needs review, it doesn't seem to always by-pass, may need a clean-out and rebuild. I have some insulation from Clarke's rubber now so I will insulate the vessels. I should be able to get a HLT stirrer made up in the next couple of weeks. I am also seriously thinking of going electric on the kettle as well. The removable shut for the mill needs a redesign as it shakes loose when the mill is running. My greatest challenge is the sparge arm, it worked well for the first mash and kept coming loose with the second. I need to look at how I can fit a drain to the kettle to remove the break easily after I have finished collecting the wort. If I go electric this will be easy. I will fix the tape from a tape measure to the inside of the mash tun and the kettle and then create some dip charts.
The HLT temp was rock solid and changed very quickly when asked. The mash tun tipper setup is great, very easy to empty and start another brew whilst the first one is in the kettle. The hop sock worked very well, once I weighed it down. The chiller & recycling system worked very well, better than I expected, I just need to have more ice on had if I want to do more than one brew in a day.
All in all a great start, some things to work on and I look forward to my next brewday when all the changes have been made.
Cheers,
Kirk
Back to work last Wednesday has slowed things down a bit. We start crushing on Monday so that will slow things down even more.
The float switches turned up on Thursday evening. http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...=&SUBCATID=
I got three. One is for the HLT, no more need to stand on a ladder and watch the HLT fill up and manually turn the water off.
One is for auto dough in/sparge levels on the mash tun for running fly sparges and the other as a spare.
The idea is to weld a 40mm wide by couple of mm thick piece of SS to the bottom of the tun so it sticks up vertically. This 'rule' will have a track cut out so I can slide the float level up and down to suit batch size. The slide will basically be a rule with graduations to calculate the stricke water volume.
Umm does this make sense?
I have got some insulation from Clarkes for the mash tun and the HLT that I will fit this weekend, work out the solenoid issue and fit the float switches and that should do me for the weekend.
Kirk
The float switches turned up on Thursday evening. http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?I...=&SUBCATID=
I got three. One is for the HLT, no more need to stand on a ladder and watch the HLT fill up and manually turn the water off.
One is for auto dough in/sparge levels on the mash tun for running fly sparges and the other as a spare.
The idea is to weld a 40mm wide by couple of mm thick piece of SS to the bottom of the tun so it sticks up vertically. This 'rule' will have a track cut out so I can slide the float level up and down to suit batch size. The slide will basically be a rule with graduations to calculate the stricke water volume.
Umm does this make sense?
I have got some insulation from Clarkes for the mash tun and the HLT that I will fit this weekend, work out the solenoid issue and fit the float switches and that should do me for the weekend.
Kirk
Fabulous Kirk, you are making perfect sense to me - and it sounds like a great way to do the job.
I'd not noticed the float switches from Jaycar before - and it's got me thinking now - must say I like them.
All the best with your project, pity that work has to get in the way.
cheers, Arnie
Kirk,
My experience says you will never reach 1130 efficiency from a mash. The best I have ever done is about 1.085. I am unsure for the reason for this but I suspect that it is because you need a certain amount of water to flush the sugars out no matter how heavy the grain bill. Unfortunately, the only way to get to that OG is to boil for 3+ hours. Be careful you don't burn it too.
I would also recommend bittering the bejezzus out of it because it will be a long time before it is drinkable. Low hop levels now will result in a sweet barleywine in two years time (at its peak).
cheers
Darren
Yeah I've access to an enormous amount of dry ice, both snow and bricks. I might give that a go. I use it to transport frozen food like quail from Mildura to Adelaide quite a bit and it works very well. If anyone is thinking of doing this I need to add that the esky must not be in cabin of the vehicle or you run the risk of displacing oxygen.
I have started to look at the techni-ice that mashmaster has. I like the idea that it slowly releases its 'cooling ability'. I thought if I basically fill the esky up with sheets of the techni-ice and then run the minimum amount of water through the cooling system, that may work well.
Darren,
I aimed for 105 IBUs with this recipe.
cheers,
Kirk
Howdy Kirk,
Most important thing to remember with dry ice is not to put it into a sealed container :huh: .
I witnessed a fridge with its door blown not only off but also half way across the room. It was caused by dry-ice in a sealed coffee-jar sized container (no I was not responsible!!!!, mine have all been controlled in open places).
It does some damage if allowed to
Obviously, large quantities in cellar-type settings would be instantly lethal from carbon dioxide asphyxiation.
As for the barlewine, anything over 1.100 is going to be very difficult and possibly not worth the effort.
cheers
Darren
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