Recent content by bneal

Please count me in.

Please count me in.

I agree with measuring. Set the coil inside your keggle and mark the top of the in and out ends of the coil. Measure to those marks and transfer to the the outside for drilling. Don't make the holes closer than the coil ends. Just remember to leave room below the coil for any valve or an...

Please count me in.

I second the warming and swirling method. The last tripel I brewed started at 1.084 and petered out around 1.020 at 68° and it tasted really sweet. Four days at 72° and it was down to 1.009 and had a much cleaner finish.

Enjoy the kettle... You're far enough away I can take the blame ;)

They are almost identical in diameter -- both are between 17-5/8 and 17-3/4. That's for the 15 gallon MoreBeer compared to the 20 gallon Blichmann. I don't know the diameter of the larger kettles from MoreBeer. The boil-off rate wouldn't be enough to sway me one way or the other.

I normally brew 12 gallons and I have two 20 gal Blichmanns for MT and Boil. I have the 15 gallon Morebeer for a HLT. 5-6 gallon batches don't hit the thermometer in the BK. Depending on grain bill sometimes in the MT. I prefer the Blichmann kettles -- I like how the lids hang on the handles...

Nice! Way more economical than the "massive" enclosures. How hard was it to get all of the wiring inside the box?

There's a lot to be said for easy. Certainly some time savings on the programming side.

I like your idea! I'm curious why you chose to use separate PID controllers instead of just programming the PLC and using an RTD or thermocouple card? It looks like the price difference between 4 port RTD card and individual PID is ~$10. Depending on your layout, you could add a 4th probe and...

I prefer the heat to the cold, but will admit that winter brewing in AZ is way more pleasant than during the summer. My mash temperature does hold a lot better in August than December though... 110+ degrees makes for a long brew day, but a nice 65 in February not so bad. I brewed earlier...

That will work fine.

I second the opinion on the water damage. You need to definitely seal the inside of the collar using poly or something similar. One note about poly, multiple coats can build up to kind of look like plastic-y so you might want to watch how many coats you use on the outside. If you are considering...

bornholtz, Below is the wiring diagram for multiple DS18B20's. With the onewire sensors, you can run 3 wires and insert a sensor wherever along the length and then continue the wires to the next sensor. If you are using a breadboard to prototype, you can just plug in an additional sensor in...