I currently brew beer in my kitchen, but the mess, smells and dirty looks from my wife have taken some of the joy out of my brew day. I started looking into an electric brewing solution that would allow me to move to my garden shed and I need a little advice. I'm more than happy to drill holes in pots etc. but messing around with mains electricity is a little out of my comfort zone, so I'm looking for …
I've been doing some research into pre-built electric all-in-one brewing systems (Robobrew, Grainfather, etc) vs DIY electric systems. The prevailing sentiment is that a DIY 110v 1500 watt system is not enough to achieve a full rolling boil, however the descriptions for the Robobrew and Grainfather systems are claiming that a full rolling boil can be achieved with this wattage. I've seen many reviews backing this up as well. What are the fundamental differences between a pre-built system and what …
I do 5 gallon all grain batches using a 16 gallon Bayou BK, a 10 gallon water cooler mash tun, and a burner. Eventually I'd like to upgrade my equipment to electric with either a RIMS or HERMS setup, and make some sort of automated system. I've been researching a lot on controllers, but all the information out there is still somewhat fuzzy to me in terms of what they can or cannot do. For example: Can BrewPi (or something …
0 down vote favorite Full disclosure: Not an electrician, mostly clueless. Setting: Home Brewing Beer Short: 120v DC variable drive motor running full tilt when 240v AC 5500w element is connected to mash tun. Long: I have a 50 gallon brew kettle with a 240v 5500w AC heating element. The element has variable power supply. Recently I added a 120v DC variable speed motor to agitate the mash (stirring 50 gallons of mash by hand gets really old). The motor …
I am trying to find out if it's possible to have a PID controlled electric kettle style element in the base of the mash tun ( under a false bottom ); and just use the circulating pump for the purpose of getting a uniform temperature — instead of pumping the wort through a RIMS tube for heating. I haven't been able to find a system like this and I'm wondering why no one has done it; so I'm assuming I'm …
I have a 1-wire sensor which has the design I need and a hardware for working with PT100/PT1000 sensors. Can I turn the 1-wire sensor into a PT100/PT1000 sensor easily? Note: this question has been raised during planning an electrical HERMS.
I'm completely captivated by www.theelectricbrewery.com, love their directions, and have ordered the parts, so I'll have my experience soon, but what is your experience with selecting hot water heater elements for boiling/heating? Edit: For anyone looking at this considering a move to electric, use the directions in www.theelectricbrewery.com as much as you can afford to. They ended up spending upwards of $5k on their whole setup, but their directions are really good, and you can make do with some of …
It's starting to get cold out there but I still want to brew. I started looking into electric brew kettles (i am still new and only using extracts kits). Most of the stuff I read online is about adding a heatstick to your brew kettle. I no nothing about welding, so that intimidates me. I found this water bucket heater on Amazon that people in the comments talk about using it to supplement their stove top for boiling wort. Some …
I assembled an electric kettle with a 5500W CAMCO heating element. The element heats water significantly faster than my gas burner ever did but peaks out at 205-210 degrees. I can take 5 gallons from 60 to 210 in only 9 minutes but cannot get it to boiling. The circuit breaker is 30amp. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I have what I think is a GoldenGate style keg. It's got a bunghole, a tapped hole on top and another near the base. I want to mount a electric hot water heater element in the base hole. The base hole is 1.5" in diameter and the thread is 2" and ~.07" between threads. Optimally, I'd get a reducer bushing, but I can't even find a thread size that matches these dimensions. Suggestions?
I have an electrim mashing bin (the standard one of these) that I use as a boiler. This morning as I went to heat my liquor, the element started to cut out (water was around 60°C). When I left the power off for a while, the element turned back on, but then cut back out after a couple minutes. I tried this a couple more times then gave up on brewing. I figured the problem was scale build up on …
I'm planning to install a water heater element in my boiling kettle. I have been looking at the Reliance and Camco elements but since neither is easy to get by in Finland I really need to go for a sure bet. Unfortunately the product descriptions are not detailed enough. In special, which size of hole would I need to make on my kettle for those? I have an 44L aluminum kettle 40cm in diameter with walls about 6mm thick (yeah, …
I'm building an electric RIMS system from an old barrel-style keg. I picked up a 4500W 240V HWD element from Home Depot, and built a 1" copper tube housing around it to let wort flow by. My understanding from various homebrewing forums I browse is that if I run the element at 120V, I should reasonably expect to get about 1100W of heat from the element (1/2 the voltage equaling 1/4 the wattage), effectively making the element a ULWD type …
Are there any low cost (less than $150) solutions to add temperature control to an electric HLT? My setup is a keg with a 5500W water heater element. I love how quickly it brings 15 gallons to boiling (less than 1hr), but it's a bit of a hassle to get the temperature I want. I know I probably need to be re-circulating to make the temperature consistent, which I can do, but I'm curious if there are some options. I've …
What's your opinion on them? Have you ever used one? I was thinking of buying one (specially designed for brewing, even has a tap on). How is it different from the more traditional methods? Is it worth the cost?