RubberToe Electric Brewery - BIAB to 2 Vessel HERMS

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Thu May 17, 2012 12:35 pm

LOL, that's my homemade grappling dummy for practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by bluenose » Thu May 17, 2012 1:59 pm

I thought it was a sock monkey for hops

... or a sock hop monkey


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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by John G » Thu May 17, 2012 6:41 pm

Are you going to run a fan through it? I notice you have your heat sink inside the enclosure.

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Thu May 17, 2012 8:08 pm

John G wrote:Are you going to run a fan through it? I notice you have your heat sink inside the enclosure.
That's going to be a wait and see kind of decision. If it gets too hot I'll put a fan on top or the side there with exhaust hole.
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Wed May 23, 2012 7:13 am

It's taking me longer than anticipated but the control panel is mostly wired up. I'll finish it once it's mounted on the wall. I'm running out of beer so I'd better finish this up!

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Panel Wired by Hot Pepper Daddy, on Flickr
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by jeffsmith » Wed May 23, 2012 9:10 am

Very neat work, nice job! :headbang:

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Sun May 27, 2012 11:23 pm

Thanks guys, this thing is a lot of work, gotta be persistent with it. I got a decent amount done this weekend. I got conduit and wire run from the GFCI to the panel, the panel mounted, the fan, lights, pump, and kettle wired up. I got everything cleaned up, and ready for the first power up.

Holy shit, everything in the control panel worked first shot. Booya, fuckin A, so happy with that.

I put about 5 gallons of water in the kettle for a leak and recirculation test with the pump. It worked awesome, this is a great pump (march 809 centre inlet polysulphone head). However, after returning to the room from soldering a temp probe connection I discovered a leak with the heating element housing and the kettle. Ahh well, my first go at it was with the gasket that came with the element on the outside, locknut on the inside, tightened like a bitch. I really didn't think it was going to leak, lol.

Here are some more pics. Now I have to think more about the element seal.

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Control Panel by Hot Pepper Daddy, on Flickr

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Ready to Test by Hot Pepper Daddy, on Flickr

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Testing Pump by Hot Pepper Daddy, on Flickr
Electric Brewery Build
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Sometimes on a Sunday Belgian Dubbel, Oaked Old Ale, Ordinary Bitter

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by mr x » Mon May 28, 2012 1:12 am

1'' elements can be a PITA to get to seal. Overcranking can push out the rubber seal, but it's a fine line. I went with layers of gasket material.
At Alexander Keith's we follow the recipes first developed by the great brewmaster to the absolute letter. :wtf:

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Mon May 28, 2012 11:54 pm

Ok I think I got the element sealed using a silicon o-ring on the inside. It held water for a couple of hours, no leaks, although the element wasn't on.

On another note if you order temperature probes from China, or anywhere for that matter, make sure you test them with a multimeter before wasting a crap ton of time soldering ends for it and dicking around trying to get it to work. It looks like I have a bad pt100 probe. I guess that's the quality control you get for $5 a piece, and why I ordered extra.
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by homebrewcrew » Tue May 29, 2012 12:00 am

Looking good
JUST BREW IT

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Tue May 29, 2012 10:49 pm

I fixed up another temp probe cable and boiled water for the first time tonight. The probe was off by about 6 degrees C! The PID has an offset for that though so hopefully it's not a problem. Tomorrow I'll do some plumbing for the chiller and maybe make up the other probe for the chiller output. I need a lid for the kettle and a false bottom to go _over_ the element so the bag doesn't sit on it. I should be brewing soon!
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by chalmers » Tue May 29, 2012 10:53 pm

RubberToe wrote:I fixed up another temp probe cable and boiled water for the first time tonight. The probe was off by about 6 degrees C! The PID has an offset for that though so hopefully it's not a problem. Tomorrow I'll do some plumbing for the chiller and maybe make up the other probe for the chiller output. I need a lid for the kettle and a false bottom to go _over_ the element so the bag doesn't sit on it. I should be brewing soon!
Any PID worth its salt should be calibratable, so glad that this one is.

Glad to read/hear it is progressing nicely!

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Fri Jun 08, 2012 11:18 pm

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First brew! Amarillo Pale Ale. Keeping it simple for the first one.

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by GAM » Sat Jun 09, 2012 8:33 am

Love it.

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by Stoker » Sat Jun 09, 2012 11:16 pm

Looking good. Well done.

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by Stoker » Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:15 pm

How long does the kettle take to come to a rolling boil.

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Mon Jun 18, 2012 10:51 pm

To heat 32L of cold tap water to 70 degrees C took 30 mins (overshot temp a bit too). I didn't record how long it took me to get to boil from after the mash out but it must have been about 15 mins.

My whole brew day until clean up was 4.5 hours... still working out the kinks and finding my groove. I'd love to get close to 3 hours.
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Sun Jun 24, 2012 8:38 am

I did brew #3 on this yesterday. 4.2 kg of grain, 32L of strike water. I ended up mashing for 90 minutes because I was tired as hell and decided to have a shower and a nap! The temps dropped a few degrees but I don't really care right now. I have plans for a false bottom (large holes) to keep the bag off the element so I can maintain temps and recirculate the mash.

I did NOT do a mash out step either. I think I'll save that for high gravity brews where I may need a boost in efficiency. Eliminating this saved time.

My efficiency into the fermenter was 81% and I'm really happy with that. I would not want any higher than that either. My other two brews were 77% & 75%.
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by thirdeye » Sun Jun 24, 2012 1:28 pm

You got 81% from BIAB? wow, what's your trick?

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by LeafMan66_67 » Sun Jun 24, 2012 2:05 pm

thirdeye wrote:You got 81% from BIAB? wow, what's your trick?
My first two have been 64% and 65% ... if there's a trick, I'm gonna need it! :cheers:
"He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:09 pm

This brew had 4.2 kg of malt, usually I have around 5 so it was a thinner mash. Full volume mash (32l). I stir the mash well and stir again about 30 minutes in.

This one was a 90 minute mash and low at 150F.

With BIAB you can get away with a finer crush wish should lead to better efficiency. You don't have to worry about stuck sparge but stir well.

I haven't used a finer crush since I've been using Sleepyjamie's mill but I have been crushing slow, probably at about 100 rpm. The crush looked great.

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My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by LeafMan66_67 » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:35 pm

What are you using to filter out your break / hop material?
"He was a wise man who invented beer." - Plato

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by Jimmy » Sun Jun 24, 2012 3:47 pm

I normally use a hop spider for the hops, but have found it doesn't drain that well. I didn't use it on my last boil, but think I might go back to it, only this time with a coarser bag.

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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by sleepyjamie » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:22 pm

LeafMan66_67 wrote:
thirdeye wrote:You got 81% from BIAB? wow, what's your trick?
My first two have been 64% and 65% ... if there's a trick, I'm gonna need it! :cheers:
I've been getting 63-65% as well and Rob's been using my grain miller so I'm not sure how he's getting in the high 70s/80s.
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Re: My Single Vessel Electric Brewery Build

Post by RubberToe » Sun Jun 24, 2012 5:30 pm

LeafMan66_67 wrote:What are you using to filter out your break / hop material?
Nothing. I use pellet hops and recirculate through my CFC. I get a lot of break material as well.

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