My Electric Brewery Build

[nigel_c]

Tiss a thing of beauty. So jealous. Putting together a HERMS system at the moment and so far not a patch on yours. Congrats. When do you expect to be up and running?

[Ozbrewer]

Thanks Nigel.

I would say I'm about a month away. Looks like wiring will recommence tomorrow, and I reckon we have about 3 or 4 more nights at that. I need to get the sub-board in for the electrics, get a fermentation fridge in place, finish off some minor wiring, finish counterflow chiller, tags for the panel and that's about it. So, hopefully within the next four weeks. But I think I've been saying the same thing for last three months.   :  It really does take longer than you think. I really want it done now, I just want the project out of the way and off my mind, and then I can get back to some serious brewing.

Start a build thread for what you are doing and post some pics. What do they say? Function over form? One of the reasons I went this way was because of the availability of the cheap Bergland pots. I was looking at kegs first, but because Bergland pots were so cheap for the sizes available it was a no brainer. Just keep at it, take your time and make sure it will function the way you want to brew.

[nigel_c]

Yeah might just do that. All the parts and coming together at the moment. Few more to be ordered and more in the post.

[JD]

Just one thing: change that zinc washer for a stainless steel one. The wort is acidic and your get zinc salts in your brew. These are not that good for you.
/JD

[Hop Bomb]

Nice build & thread Oz.

Those bergland pots aint so cheap anymore though. Id say yourself, myself & St.Fursey got the last of them before the UK lads got an exclusive deal with them & decided to charge a premium. Assh0les!

Ive a similar build. Two 80 litre thermopots & 100 litre stock pot. STC100 & 2 kettle elements for the HLT & blichmann burner for the boil kettle. Analogue temp dials. No electrics so a much cheaper build & suited to those who arent home owners or in a position to alter the fuse board in their house. Second chugger coming soon & Stainless table got for it all to sit on (will have to get the burner/table modified so the burner sits underneath & all the pots are pretty much level. Moving to a new gaf soon so once its all setup it'll stay up. Currently have to tear down after each brew day which is a PITA.




@Nigel - start on one pot at a time. I started mine last Oct & only last week had all three vessels for a brew day. Up til then I was heating the mash & sparge water in the BK. (Thermopot HLT was a total nightmare to seal up. In the end I broke 1 element & had to buy those stainless element shrouds from homebrewbuilder to get the elements to seal up against the inner skin)

[nigel_c]

For the moment I'm sticking with plastic. My plan is to keep my current size setup but be easily able to transfer into a bigger stainless setup when space allows. Currently living in an apartment so it can be a bit much at times even doing 23L batches.
We're thinking of moving somewhere within the next year or so so should be pretty easy to just undo everything and transplant into larger kegs or boiler. When I finally get my much needed brew space.
Until then it's 23L on plastic. Have the majority of my parts now so nearly ready to start construction. 

[Ozbrewer]

@Hop Bomb - thanks for the comments. Your kettles look awesome. I was going to go with the thermometer on the front - adjustable ones as well - but in the end I decided no due to costs. Maybe a future upgrade.

Pity also on the pots not being available anymore. I used shipito in the US to get stuff over to Ireland and I know they have a depot in Austria - maybe someone on here will eventually check out if they can sneak an order in and use the shipito address in Austria.

My setup will be semi-permanent. I have it on the deck, which is covered in and water proof. I have a large shed in the back yard that I need to eventually fix up to make it brewery capable. So for the moment I will leave the stand where it is, and after a brew day, clean the kettles and move them into the shed for storage. As for the control panel, hopefully I have it designed well enough that I can easily mount it and un-mount it for storage as well. Otherwise I will get a cover and leave it bolted to the wall on the rear deck - it'll remain waterproof and safe, but not really the solution I want long term.

[Ozbrewer]

Ok - more updates. A little progress on the wiring of the panel, but no pics for that. Should be finished wiring next week hopefully.

As part of the build, I decided I needed a fermentation fridge as well. I use to brew seasonally, and although that worked well enough, I just wanted more control and flexibility.

Two weeks ago I bought a larder fridge - €120.00 - It's a Beko 173cm tall fridge. Thought it was a good price and it's clean and in working condition. Pics below.

So, thought I would just write up the STC1000 controller build here as part of the overall build.

Equipment needed - STC1000 controller, a box to put it in, two trailing plugs, a standard plug, a power switch, press box, 10m of cable, 3 cable glands and terminal strip. All sourced from B&Q, except cable glands which I got from an electrical supplier in Ballymount - name escapes me.



I used this wiring diagram, which I believe was posted by LordEoin.



So, measure and cut holes.



Used a 13mm drill to make the holes, and made them bigger by moving the drill around. And managed to crack the plastic, but no drama though.



1st is to install cable glands - easily done.





Bring in mains, and through the press box to be mounted inside.



Wire up the main switch on the outside of the box.



Note the two earth wires in the earth receptacle - one earth from the main cable and the other back to the terminal strip.



Mains and neutral to the terminal strip.



Screw the press box in place with the main switch.





Bring in the other cables.



Screw all wires into the terminal strip as per wiring diagram.



Strip the cables to get the wires, and bring them through the hole for the STC. And wire neutrals and earths to the terminal strip - as per wiring diagram.



Wire the STC as per wiring diagram - check that your STC is the same.



STC in place in the box.





Run temp probe through one of the glands, and tighten all glands.



One completed STC controller box.





Power on.





And here is the fridge. Shelves still needed. Easily fits two 33 litre fermenters.





Pretty pleased with this, and a reasonably easy project to complete by yourself.

[mr hoppy]

That was almost idiot proof enough for me to understand! Thanks!

[Ozbrewer]

No more news on the panel wiring this week unfortunately. Hopefully back at it next week.

So, in place of the panel, I decided to finish off the counter flow chiller. Pics below as always.

If you go back a few posts I have photo's showing the copper coil and hosing being put together.

Next step was to complete all the plumbing. This is what was needed – Three 1/2" t-pieces (only showing 2 here), 1/2" coupling, 2 x 1/2" nipple, 2 x 1/2" to 3/4" adapters, 4 x 1/2" to 10mm compression fittings (only showing 3 here for some reason), 1 x 1/2" thermometer, 2 x Hozelock garden hose connectors, Hose clips to size down to 19mm and PTFE tape (not shown), 2 x 1/2" male disconnects (not shown also).



To get this to work, I needed to bore out the middle for 2 of the compression fittings. Pic shows a side by side comparison between a bored and non bored compression fitting. I used a 10mm drill bit, a hand drill and wrench to do it. Pretty easy, just make sure the battery on your drill is at full power and it will make short work of it.



First is to assemble the wort input and the water output on the chiller. Put the hose clip on the hose, screw in the nipple to the 1/2" tee and screw / push it into the hose.



PTFE tape the compression fitting.



Assemble the compression fitting olive and nut onto the copper pipe like this.



I added PTFE tape on the compression nut and olive before screwing together. I did this for both compression fittings that I had to bore through.



Screw it all into place.



Next is to attach the next compression fitting to the end of the pipe. Again, I wrapped all threads with PTFE, although not shown in the next photo.



Screw on the 1/2" coupling to the compression fitting and the 1/2" male disconnect.



Add hose connect as well. This completes one end of the counter flow chiller.



Start the other end of the chiller in the same fashion - this will be the wort output and the water input.



Close up of the compression fitting in place with the tee piece.



Add the hose connector as well.



Now you need to assemble the third tee piece - this include the thermometer, the compression fitting and the male disconnect. This is for the wort exit on the counter flow chiller.





Add the last compression fitting to the end of the copper pipe.



And then add the assembled tee piece, completing the build of the wort chiller.



And the counter flow chiller in place on the brew stand.



I wet tested the whole thing. I had a minor leak on one of the bored through compression fittings. It was leaking about 10 drops a minute. I'm just going to add sugru to the fitting to seal it. The water mains pressure isn't high and this solution will work. The compression fittings on the copper tube for the wort input and output are sealed fine with no leaks.

Hose clips and hose connectors from B&Q, thermometer from Stainless Brewing in the states (part of original fittings buy), male quick disconnects (see earlier posts), all other fittings purchased from PLI / BSS on South Circular Road Dublin.

The bored through compression fittings - the one that leaked wasn't as well wrapped in PTFE tape. Also, be careful not to over tighten the brass olives as they will crush the copper pipe. Overall though, easy build, and it looks like it will function really well. I'll report back on the results when I finally get to do the first brew.

Any questions, please ask.

[mr.drankin]

Have you noticed any rusting on the camco heating elements??

[Ozbrewer]

@mr.drankin

Yep - I noticed this as well. When I was wet testing the HLT and BK for leaks, I left water in overnight. Apparently not recommended. It's just a slight coating like that.

Apparently for some people - bar keepers friend or equivalent Cilit Bang Lime Scale and Rust will get rid of this.

Seems a bit of a mixed bag from what I can see in the forums - some people don't get any rust, some people have had that slight coating by leaving water in, but fixed it with no return of the problem, and then some people have had ongoing problems.

I'm not particularly worried about it as there are a number of easy and cheap solutions available. If you want the same power but full stainless, check out the elements on this website - www.brewmation.com - expensive at $60US but would sort the problem out.  Their website can be a bit temperamental but a lot of people seem to be using them in the US.

The other option is to install one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000701HEQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=theelectricbrewery-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B000701HEQ


Have a read through this thread.
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24644&highlight=rust+camco

[mr.drankin]

Yeah I done the same, leaving water in for leak testing and got rust.  Ive been researching all the same links you have posted and am not going to worry bout it.  Adding more holes to my pot etc probably do more harm than good

Apparently the rust isn't as bad when elements are in use.  I got a 2.4kw all stainless element from angel homebrew and it done exactly the same.

[Ozbrewer]

Yep - I've seen on a few threads that the Cilit Bang approach to clean up works and then when it is in use it hasn't come back.

I'm not so worried about another hole in the kettle but would be more annoyed / disappointed that I have to do it. I still have all the punches from the build so it's easy enough I guess. If things don't go the right way I will just add the anode into the kettle.

Let me know how you get on with it. I'll post here again after the first brew to see how it cleared up. 

[mr.drankin]

Hey, have you got a chance to power up the pids and timer?  I had a battle trying to figure them out yesterday.  Never really knew what they were capable of.  Programming them defiantly isn't as straight forward as I thought.