Wolfys Stainless Steel Brewery Build Log (picture intensive)

[Wolfy]

loved the hopback! Does using all pellets clog it or affects the flow rate?

I've not tried using it with all pellets (I have enough home-grown hops that I always have more whole hops to throw in there), but given how the filter-inserts work, I think it would be fine (most of the pellet-hop-debris seems to get 'stuck' on the filters anyway).

[haz66]

I love the engraving idea. Just dont think I could bring myself to scratch my shiny pots =[

In that case why not source a strip of stainless sheet and etch that, or buy a stainless steel ruler and etch the reverse side of it

[haz66]

Wolfy that is one fantastic build and a great how to for other budding builds, you should be really proud of what you have assembled there, my hat goes off to ya

[Cazamodo]

I love the engraving idea. Just dont think I could bring myself to scratch my shiny pots =[

In that case why not source a strip of stainless sheet and etch that, or buy a stainless steel ruler and etch the reverse side of it

I saw that idea suggested, and I now use a stainless ruler! And it already came with markings haha

[Wolfy]

Wolfy that is one fantastic build and a great how to for other budding builds, you should be really proud of what you have assembled there, my hat goes off to ya

Thanks, but not happy till it's finished. Stuff is still sitting on milk-crates and the like:

... so a brew-stand is next which should almost complete it
... maybe then I'll be happy.

[Wolfy]

Kaixin Pumps

Before I build the brew-stand I'm trialing using 2x Kaixin Pumps for the brewery setup.
As detailed here, Kaixin Pumps are 240v Food Grade Magnetic Drive Pumps. The advantage is they cost AUD$30-40 (when purchased in bulk to save on shipping), but the disadvantage is they are not rated to work with 100degC liquids.

To recirculate the mash, the wort is drained from the mash-tun into the pump then through the HEX-coil and back into the mash (via the temperature probe):


The second pump is use to fly-sparge from a single-level system, one pump to sparge water into the mash, and the other to drain the mash into the kettle:

(Should look better once I build the brew-stand, but as proof of concept it works fine).

After the boil (for beers with no 0min, hop-back hop additions) the wort is drained from the kettle into the into the pump and through the plate-cooler and into the fermentor:


After a 75min mash, and then draining the mash-tun slowly (approx 1L/min) the pump gets warm to touch, but has worked without problem so far. Each time the kettle has been drained (Kaixin pumps have only been used for 2 batches of beer so far), the pump has pumped the boiling wort without issue for long enough to fill the fermentor. The only issue is that the threaded inlet port is not sized as well as the outlet, so I cross-threaded the plastic thread with the stainless camlock on one of the pumps and so now I need to take some care to 'repair' the thread-malfunction.

[Wolfy]

Control Box #2
More details on Blog here.

The (free) plastic fuse-box was a little cramped - inside and out - having to position the PID and HLT controller on the sides of the box made it more difficult to use and and I couldn't work out any brew-stand-design that included that 'feature' in the design. So, I moved everything into a new steel-box:, using solder-less fittings, clips and plugs. The bigger box allowed for a neater and easier to use lay-out both inside and out.

Note: Don't DIY 240V, it's dangerous and likely not legal where you live (and likely different in the UK to Australia anyway)!.

The first step was to make the cut-outs needed for the PID, HLT controller, LED-lights and switches:


From the inside:


Since I need to run 2x 2400W elements at the same time, but are limited to standard domestic 10A circuits with no RCD (Safety Switches), the Control Box has two circuits (left and right side of the box) - each connected to a different house-circuit - and the input connections run directly into the RCDs:


Then the power is split to two double-pole switches, one single throw switch for a pump on each circuit:


... one double throw (center-off) switch on each circuit that runs either a kettle-element or the PID/SSR (on one circuit) or the HLT-controller (on the other).
It's all quite logical and well spaced-out.


In use, while recirculating a step-mash:

The top-red-LED's indicate that both circuits are provided with power, one pump is switched on to recirculate the mash (bottom left), the PID is stepping the temperature up to 63C, and the HLT-controller is heating the sparge water.

[Wolfy]

The DIY mash tun false-bottom works well, even when the mill-gap is set for a fine crush (0.8mm with rice hulls, 0.88mm no rice hulls).
However, the weight of the mash did deform the thinner perforated stainless where it rests on the center-drain stand-off.
To fix the problem I placed a washer above the stand-off and below the false-bottom so that the weight is spread over a wider area than just the edge of the stand-off:

(Looks like this when the mash-tun is drained ready for cleaning).