Ron Short • Riverside, Rhode Island

My New Electric Brewery

$<p> <style></style></p> <style> </style> <p class="\"MsoPlainText\"">The brew stand is half of a Gorilla Rack shelving unit. I put cork over the shelves in an effort to protect them from high temperatures and spills. The wire cage that is attached is formed from three wire display racks that are attached to the main rack. A fourth display rack holds the control panel and is very easily moved as needed. The system is vented to the outdoors using a low cost blower placed on top of the unit and passed through an inexpensive clear plastic storage container, then plumbed to the clothes dryer vent, which leads to the outdoors.</p>$

1-5

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<p class="MsoPlainText">Due to the limitations of the rental we moved into, using
a 240 volt/30 amp circuit was not possible, so I had to come up with a fast
plan as it was mid November when I started the project and it was getting
downright cold outside. I did a quick survey of the electrical panel in the
basement to find that the unit had ample 120 volt/20 amp breakers, which were
GFI protected. I would have to design the system to use that for its power
source. I also opted to construct three separate 1500-watt heatsticks for the
heat source, two of which are controlled by their own PID and the third one as
a "heat booster" used to ramp temperatures up quickly and to get the
wort to a boil in a hurry. That third heatstick is run on its own circuit
outside of the control panel and is controlled by a simple switch. Using
heatsticks means easy cleanup, easy portability and less holes to worry about
in the kettles. I just have to make sure they are fully submerged in liquid
before applying power! The upside to this electrical configuration is that it
is portable.</p>

2-4

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<p class="MsoPlainText">The control panel is powered by three separate 120-volt/
20-amp GFI-protected circuits. One for the main PID and one 1500-watt heating
element, one for a second PID and second 1500-watt heating element, and the
third circuit to power two Chugger pumps that I purchased on eBay (they work
great). The third PID is not used to control anything and that function is
disabled but is used for the remote temperature probe for verifying mash
temperatures and such.</p>

3-3

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<p class="MsoPlainText">There are 3 temperature probes, one mounted directly on
the boil kettle, one mounted to the return side of the mash tun and one more
for the remote temp probe that can be used to monitor temperatures anywhere in
the process.</p>
<p class="MsoPlainText"> </p>
<p class="MsoPlainText">There are also two on/off switches on the panel, which
act for a cutoff from the PID controlled heating elements in case we need to
turn them off in a hurry or interrupt the process at any time safely. Each pump
has it's own on/off switch and plug in to the panel.</p>
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<p class="MsoPlainText">The mash temperatures are maintained by use of a 30-plate
heat exchanger, and wort is circulated on itself while the hot liquor from the
boil kettle is circulated in the other side of the exchanger. It's a parallel
loop and works like a HERMS coil would. It is also used to chill the wort and
works great! It can chill 200 °F (93 °C) wort down to 50 °F (10 °C) in one
pass!</p>

4-3

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