My Two Vessel eBrewery Build

[mcgster]

I thought i would share a few pics of my brewery build on a budget. I did alot of reading trying to determine the most cost effective way to start brewing indoors and after toying with the idea of using a potentiometer / rheostat style turn dial i ended up deciding on a single PID system with a 5500W Camco element.The goal of this build was to be able to brew indoors, have accurate and stable mash temps, and increase my efficiency. I was also trying to avoid sinking money into anything that wasn't scalable, so if i move to a three vessel system i can reuse everything.

I ordered my parts from Amazon.com, brewhardware.com and Auber for the PID. I did a lot of reading on HBT, Kal's electric brewery site and various other sites before i tackled the ordering / wiring.

I was pretty happy with the parts from brewhardware.com, the 1.5" triclover element kit was top notch, although the silver soldering took me awhile to figure out. Once i figured out how to do it properly it went very well.

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Wiring in the 50A GFCI breaker took a lot more time then it should have, i had to move a ton of wires to get it to fit.

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I am very happy with how the panel is working so far, but i definitely have a few regrets. I used a small eaton power center and i definitely would have gone much larger, i wasn't able to fit my element switch and run lights on. I also didn't use terminal blocks for my wiring and i will for sure in the next iteration.

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[RubberToe]

Right on, keep posting pics! Are you using keggles?

I think about going 2 vessel all the time. I'm thinking what I have already plus a 20 gallon Stout bottom drain mash tun with RIMS.

Are you building a rig for outside or do you have a spot inside?



-Rob

[mcgster]

Thanks! I am using some old kegs, i had polished them up at one point but you can't tell anymore due to the propane burner flames coming up the sides.

I am just going to brew indoors from now on (i hope) i had a couple terrible brew days outside, minus 15, pouring rain and the propane line catching fire for my burner.... needless to say i'm looking forward to indoor brewing without propane!

[ajcarp]

Looks good.

I also would love to see some pics of the vessels and controller in action.

What was the total equipment cost for your build?

[mcgster]

Looks good.

I also would love to see some pics of the vessels and controller in action.

What was the total equipment cost for your build?

Thanks! I have to go through and do a final tally on everything. I bought all the parts over a few months to spread out the cost and a few of the parts I ended up not needing. I should have a total soon

[LiverDance]

I'm brewing 2 vessel electric as well. Just getting into it and figuring everything out. Can you walk me through your procedure on brewday?

[canuck]

Sweet setup, Mark!!! I'll have to drop by sometime soon to check it out!

[bluenose]

I didn't know those TC ports existed... I'm thinking of picking one up for my next project. Would anyone else be interested in getting one to save on shipping? I did a quick investigation and the best deal on shipping seams to be at 6 units until you get over 10 units. An order of 6 looks to work out to roughly $71 USD per unit with shipping.

I'll start a group buy thread if it looks like there's any other takers

[mcgster]

I didn't know those TC ports existed... I'm thinking of picking one up for my next project. Would anyone else be interested in getting one to save on shipping? I did a quick investigation and the best deal on shipping seams to be at 6 units until you get over 10 units. An order of 6 looks to work out to roughly $71 USD per unit with shipping.

I'll start a group buy thread if it looks like there's any other takers

I have ordered from brewhardware a few times, the first two i ordered to calais maine to save on shipping. This time with the TC i ordered it to my door because i didn't feel like driving to Calais in the ice storm and i was pretty happy with the timing.. and no duty.. it was 35$ for shipping but i think it was 20$ to calais and when i didn't have to pay duty it worked out being even.

I had a hard time finding silver solder in Saint John and the proper flux. I ended up getting MG Chemicals 3% silver solder and ruby flux on Amazon.com for about 20$ total. The difference in the product is night / day i went through a hole role of oatley silver solder and benzomatic silver solder and it was like rain drops on a windshield... with the 3% silver solder i could smash it with a hammer and not budge the TC

[mcgster]

THanks Shane!

I'll post some action shots this weekend, i plan on brewing Saturday and Sunday as long as everything goes ahead as planned with the parts.

[gm-]

Looks good Mark, look forward seeing some action shots.

[mcgster]

Thanks GM! Once i get it dialed in i'll have to try and replicate that barley wine you made it was great!

[mcgster]

I had to cut and resolder my dip tube to make it fit due to the size of the element, i wasn't expecting it to take up so much room, but i wanted to get it as low as possible. The dip tube is not as pretty as it was before but it still does the trick

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I never thought about a mount for my panel... but because letting it sit on my table next to 15 gallons of water didn't seem like the best idea i scrambed to find a place open to get a mount. All i could find was Wal-Mart so this shelf mount had to do the trick, I drilled a hole through the case and put in a 1/4" bolt with a wing nut and washer to hold it in place.

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It lives!

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[mcgster]

Put three batches through the setup this weekend and i had a few things to learn but all but one of the batches turned out great.

Getting ready for the mash

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My major issue with the setup is the 1/4" Stainless coil that i use for my recirculation, it restricts the flow so there is quite a bit of tweaking to get a stable mash temp.

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The boil going with my high end ventilation setup

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[AllanMar]

What are you running for a fan? Where did you get it?

[mcgster]

I'm using a ventech 240CFM fan i'll post some pic's. The ventilation is temporary but it has far exceeded my expectations it does a great job of pulling all of the moisture out.