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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 30
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:36 am: | 
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Ok guys, hope this post doesn't end up too long. There are a few requests popping up on the “Build my Own” thread and also my email account for specifics on my brewery so I'll post some details and pics of my system. I'll also give a few reasons why I did things this way and my requirements.
My first brewery was a three tier system with cooler MT, and they work great. I learnt the ropes on that and made good beer, it was nice and simple and fuss free. Gravity feed all the way to fermenter (so 4 tier I guess you'd say), using fly sparge because my cooler MT only held 19L and that’s what I knew. The downfalls for me were my frame was wooden and quite bulky (for one person to move around anyway), it had wheels and worked well at my old house but my new house really didn't support moving the frame easily as I live on a steep block of land and I have to store my gear under my house and brew up the top in the car port. So a new smaller, lighter brewery was in order.
My old brewery
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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 31
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:37 am: |
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I got a march pump on a 20% off sale at a brew shop so bought it with plans to later use it in my new brewery. I knew I wanted a lower, more compact system and wanted to use my pump to do it. I was sick of lifting things up (my full mash tun for example-I planned to dough in on the frame in place-but reality shows I never did it because it was awkward and a pain in the butt). I also suspected I’d drop a full bucket of grist one day. I mashed in on the ground and lifted it onto the stand. In my new system ladders were definitely out. Mashing in on your own is awkward enough handling a bucket of grist and the paddle to stir in let alone if your standing on a ladder or milk crate while doing it. If you’ve got a pump why climb were my thoughts.
So I played around with a few designs and pilfered a few ideas and designs off many kind people's websites and personal emails etc. The normal route, and this is what I came up with to suit me.
I was going to go for a two tier and gravity feed from MT to kettle (the idea of pumping from MT scared me a bit-I’d never used a pump before for brewing) but the problem was, if using kegs for all vessels it was still going to be a bit high for me to stand on the ground and mash in comfortably-seeing as I wanted to gravity feed into the fermenter. I could have done the kettle and MT on the bottom tier and the HLT on top, but I’d still be pumping from MT to kettle anyway so why do it that way? So I decided to go for the one tier and change to batch sparging. I resigned myself to pumping from the MT. Experience now shows pumping from MT to kettle is a lot simpler than I thought. I could have pumped from the kettle to fermenter but wanted to gravity feed, and anyway it makes everything around the right height.
The new brewery
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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 32
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:39 am: |
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The low height of a one tier was perfect, the frame was small light and compact, the system was neat and easy to operate and I liked the idea and looks. I used 50mm angle steel from old bed frames for the frame, it’s light, cheap as chips and strong and by it’s nature makes welding things square a lot easier than working with square section. The angle iron also makes a nice recess for the kegs to slot into.
My plans indicated if I put valves in the right places, kept pipes to a minimum and minimized any hooking up and disconnecting during the brew I could hook up all hoses at the start of the session, fill them with water before I start and then I would only have to move one/two pipes during the whole session and this wouldn’t effect the pump prime.
Disconnects are expensive too, so I planned to only need two female and 4 male. I used brass garden hose disconnects, they are cheap and reportedly worked. With only 2 females and 4 males if I had to upgrade to polysulfone ones down the track it wouldn’t cost me two arms and a leg. So far the brass ones have worked fine, and they don’t get that hot at all. The rest of the connections are barb and hose clamps (4 hose clamps in total, so not much to deal with). These are a small issue as when I set the brewery up, it takes me 2 mins to tighten the hose clamps and I don’t undo them until the end. 4 hose clamps is it (3 on pump, 1 on HLT valve).
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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 33
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:40 am: |
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The mash return valve. I had seen a lot of people put the throttling valve for flow control directly on their pump output-at the lowest point in the brewery. Sure this works, but how do you see how much flow you’ve got as you adjust the valve (important for setting the grain bed and recirculating)? I didn’t want to be bobbing up and down adjusting the valve, checking the flow, adjusting the valve, checking the flow until I got the right speed. Why not put the valve up the top where I can stand up straight, look into the mash tun and observe the flow rate while I had my hand on the valve? Having the valve up high like that serves a duel purpose when priming the pump. I can open the valve and hot water from the HLT will gravity over and fill that pipe up to the water level in the HLT. Helps expel air from the pump and lines very well. I mounted the valve into the side of the mash tun so it was solid and would allow me to turn the valve one handed, doesn’t mess with the lid set up and I don’t need a sparge manifold because I batch sparge. My sparge manifold is just a length of silicone hose. I might insulate the MT in the future but for the mean time I just use a hand help immersion element (like a heat stick but safe with no wires/connections below water level) to bump temp up when needed. I also just made my own manifold in the bottom of the tun using stainless mesh and copper T’••••• works great.
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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 34
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:42 am: |
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I use an immersion chiller. I’ve lately been using my pump to recirculate the boiling wort while chilling in a whirlpool fashion. This has been discussed lately on the board here, it works quite well and I get very similar cooling times to if I stirred while chilling. The benefit is I don’t have to manually stir it and I can leave the lid on. The pic shows my practice run using this technique; I’ll now add a return valve like my MT to do the job on the kettle itself rather than running a pipe over to the kettle from the MT like in the picture.
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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 35
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:45 am: |
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My HLT is electric. It’s cheap, easy to use and makes it easy to control when I finally get a thermostat on it. The sight glass is made of polycarbonate tubing and I use a 90* Legris push in fitting on the bottom. It’s plastic and rated food grade to 80*C. I wouldn’t use a plastic one over a propane burner but I think SS ones are available. If you use gas build a heat shield as well. No probs with electric though. I used a strip of aluminium under the tube and marked the volumes on it with permanent marker. The graduations are necessary to work out mash in volumes, batch sparge additions accurately etc.
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JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 36
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:47 am: |
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A final one showing the system on the diagonal. I will add a control panel under the HLT with switched for the HLT elements, pump and hand held immersion element (like a heat stick) so I don't have to play with plugs. I may add a separate heat exchanger in the future and a PID controller but that will be more a gadget and toy just to entertain myself. I really shouldn’t make a simple easy to use system more complicated. But I do love gadgets and things.
Hope it helps answer a few questions and hopefully provide some ideas for others.
Cheers, JD |
JD
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 37
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 01:52 am: |
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The only thing I think I will change at this stage is to shift the pump about 4" to the left, on the otherside of the down brace. I placed it in the current position initially then ended up putting my valves on the mash tun off centre to accomodate the large thermometer dial-it ended up putting the pump in the drip path of the mash tun valves. No big deal really but it means the pump gets a few sticky drips on it. |
XO
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 54
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 04:31 am: |
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Ok, it's been a while since I posted this but I've now made a few new additions so thought I would add them here.
I have recently built my control panel finally and also added a seperate heat exchanger for maintaining temps during the mash. No intensions to step mash, only there to maintain the temp and ramp to a mash out because it's easy. I moved the pump to the left, but still haven't added that return valve onto the kettle. That's the next addition.
The heat exchanger was made from a laboratory water bath heater and a 5L pressure cooker. The waterbath heater is ideal for a small heat exchanger like this. It has stirring and has it's own thermostat which means I can turn it on and it will automatically heat the exchange water to the right temp while I'm doughing/setting up and it wont over heat the water. It's only 4L so heats up quick, once it's up to temp and I'm mashed in the mash tun temp controller takes over the heating of the heat exchange water. |
Jerry Hays
Junior Member
Username: Jlh8643
Post Number: 58
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 01:59 pm: |
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Quite a nice rig you built for yourself! |
Belly Buster Bob
Senior Member
Username: Canman
Post Number: 2868
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, August 16, 2007 - 05:49 pm: |
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YES!!!!! we have another external heat exchanger.
Well done on your new rig, now if I can just find the time to complete my own
Bellybuster Bob
www.bellybuster.netfirms.com
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Steve Funk
Intermediate Member
Username: Tundra45
Post Number: 381
Registered: 06-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 17, 2007 - 06:49 pm: |
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Nice upgrades. So, how much beer have you brewed on this thing since building it? |
Ron La Borde
New Member
Username: Pivoron
Post Number: 2
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 04:59 am: |
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Very nice brewing rig.
My setup is similar in many ways, but is all electric!
Ron's Home Page |
XO
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 55
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 03:56 am: |
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Thanks for the comments guys. Was nice to get it to this stage finally and use all the little bits and pieces I have aquired for it over the last year or so. The control panel has been sitting there in pieces for quite a while. The controllers are great, because they have a memory for the set points I can put the whole rig on a timered switch and it will come on automatically and preheat my water so its ready to go when I wake up. Thats a great bonus. I'll add more pics as I can and add more info.
How many brews have I done on it? Quite a few in the single tier configuration as it is set up in the top pics(would have to check the promash records), with the latest additions of control panel and HERMS I've only done an ordinary bitter and have a Helles planned in the next day or two (yeast depending). It worked great and I was very happy with the outcome. No probs with pump priming or flow rates etc. All ran very smoothly. I've also insulated my mash tun and HLT too finally, which of course just helps the whole situation as well.
Hi Ron, I can change my system to all electric too with the use of a hand held element for the boil. I have found 2400W off 240V is adequate to boil up to 40L or so. Very handy if you run out of gas mid boil at 10pm (which I've done before  ).  |
XO
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 56
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - 12:04 am: |
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Here's a close up of the heat exchanger.
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XO
Junior Member
Username: Tasbrewer
Post Number: 57
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - 12:21 am: |
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Here is the mash tun with insulation on it. It has two layer of camping mat all wrapped up in duct tape. I've done the HLT in the same style.
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