ArdBir (formally BrewPi Spark) Herms Build

[armedcor]

Fair enough! They're definitely G2G though! The holes I've made for bulkheads etc were no problem, the bigger size for my elements were pretty tough though.

[molc]

I'm planning to use the qmax cutter in the kegs as well. Sure if it doesn't work I can try something else and at the least all the bits will be fitted to plastic buckets before that anyway, so the kit will be usable. Planning on doing the boil kettle tomorrow and then rigging it all up for a wet test over the weekend.

[Leann ull]

Let us know how you get on!

[molc]

Boil kettle is mostly complete. Just need to get some proper wiring for the element and I can finish mounting that tomorrow. The rest of the fittings are in place. The filter is too big for the bucket but should be just right in the final keg.
This time, some in progress pics to show the hole making

[molc]

Did the mash tun today and also the wet test.  Also made all the piping for the pumps but I can't fit them onto the old solar without doing a Hodge of a thinner pipe into a thicker. It works but I'll need to get more camlock fittings soon to replace these soon.
Marked off the liquid levels on the hlt and boil kettle. Everything was flying until I switched on the element and after a minute it tripped the circuit. Checked the fitting and sure enough, a drop of water was coming out through the cable gland. Never a good sign. Really happy everything was earthed!

Anyway spent the next hour tightening the fitting (nicked it a bit with the vice grips but nothing magor since its in the hot side) until I realised the leak was water working its way through the threading of the element. Some ptfe tape later and the boil test is running.

The other thing is if I fill over the whirlpool arm, the water flows out as of course it's under the level. In the final build, I'll put valves in all outputs as its a real pain when it leaks when you don't expect it. Also my solar pump is pathetic at driving a whirlpool, it's more like a lazy spin.

Last thing to note is all the fitting are shedding little flakes of stainless steel, so everything will need a good clean before used for a real batch.

So into the pics!

[Leann ull]

Use the fernox lsx for your threads it's wras approved
Yep solar is not going to cut it
How long do element take to get up to temp?

[molc]

Cool will pick up fernox for the final build. Its still heating, about 80C after 50 mins.
It's a 2.5kw element. The hlt has 2 2kw elements which I can run at the same time on one 20A circuit and the BK can run on another one from the other room. If I want to push it, thinking of heating the strike water in the BK, the sparge in the hlt, so I can go straight to herms after mash in.
All this will get a full test on a simple batch of cal common in about 2 weeks

[armedcor]

Damn man looks awesome!

[Leann ull]

Is the plan for a couple of those elements?
Wrap duck tape a few times around your fitting it will allow you tighten without damaging with the vice grips or a pipe grips

[molc]

Nice tip with the duck tape. Obvious when you think about it.

So water us finally boiling. 1 hour 25 minutes from 15 to 100C, so it isn't fast, though on brew day, I'll just need to get from 70 to 100.
Planning on just the one element in each vessel, but going to get 5.5kW elements once I upgrade the power in the house.
The brew room actually has a cooker I could disconnect and the use the 30A circuit, so that might be what I end up doing if the boil takes too long on a brew day.

[Will_D]

Colm, Where did you get the coiled hop blocker from?

I think the grainfather could use one!

[molc]

Brewpi sell them. It's called a hauterhexe and it's made by a German company. Note you want to shorten it usually so it's just a single coil around the edge, as the turns open the coil and will probably leave hops through. The one I got is sized for a keg. Shortening is not a big deal though. Just pick your length, cut and rescrew into the fitting.

[molc]

So the first brew with the new kit was yesterday. All in all it took 6 hours start to finish so nothing disasterous happened.
Running all 3 elements at the same time isn't a great idea as I tripped the power. The hlt will get a single 2.8kw element and Ill just wait in future.
To start, I put 20L in the BK and HLT, with the BK going to the mash tun and the hot for the herms and sparge.
At this point I overshot my target 66 mash, as I forgot to account for the lag in temp change with a probe at the bottom. Started watching another probe at the end of the herms the and was dialled in after 15 mins.
To bring the temp down there was some furious stirring which led to the next issue, a 10% effeciency increase! Had to take out 4L and dillute with 3L to get my target og pre boil.
While sparging, I ran the element in the BK, which is just the business. Was almost at boil temp by the time the sparge was complete.
After that it was all plain sailing. My slow whirlpool did feck all and I couldn't seem to drain using the tap, so just used my auto siphon. The hauterhexe was nicely cracked in hop material though, so it seemed to do its job.

Next step is to build the brew table once the chugged pumps arrive. The keg in the back is marking the position for this table. This means no more hot liquid moving which will rock.
Also the hlt fitting should be on the left side for connecting everything up. Having the build in plastic like this is great for figuring out changes like this.

[armedcor]

Impressive work so far! Is that whirlpool arm also from brewpi? Any idea yet what you're dead space will be with the hauterhex in the keggle?

[molc]

Yeah whirlpool is brewpi. They just got in pumps, elements and motorised valves too, so they really have everything you need now.

No idea on the dead space. Once I get the lids cut out of them, I'll be popping the hauter into Tue base of one and doing a water test to see. I'm guessing about 2L, which is my hop loss rate already.