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Hmmm, the switching of sparge/HERMS is an interesting idea. I'll have to play around with that. I like the thinking, i'll have to put a gantt chart together and see how the phases would link up. I'd been planning on largely hard piping, but what I may do until it's settled is use the same...

Well, 2 MLTs starts to look like 2 HERMS systems, etc. and the complexity does go up quite a lot with two completely parallel pipelines in that sense I think. And to be honest, yes I'm interested in experimenting with the variations around combined mashing/lautering and separating things. You...

Hah, you're right, it isn't far shy of 6V, but I think this way, when treating it is a 5V system, the individual stages and vessels stay relatively simple. I'm not sure my brain is up to fully parallel running! But it's definitely something to think about, particularly if my planned...

Oh, and just a note on size - right now the whole brew system, excluding the control system, fits in to a bounding box against a wall 1.6m high, 0.8m wide, and 0.3m deep. So basically the size of a medium bookcase.

Hi folks, I've been posting a few threads here and there picking up tips, but thought I'd start to put a thread together on what I'm trying to do... In essence, I'm trying to build a very tiny, but very flexible brew system, to help me experiment with all kinds of approaches and techniques -...

In designing my little brew project, I've got a few places in the pipework, where there's effectively an alternate way junction (an input from the top, gravity fed, and then the output being either right or left - or right or down, depending on orientation of piping). The obvious answer is a...

Additional note to myself as much as anything - the relays on the Pi should also be SSRs (or MOSFETs), not mechanical, otherwise obviously the problem with timing/useful life will crop up when doing anything PID like. So, both SSRs! (This note prompted by plugging in and testing a module I...

Hi folks, Just looking for a quick sanity check. I'm planning on building a system which has (to start with) two 3kw heating elements (HLT and BK - they're only little). Being in the UK, that means 12.5A per element, so 240V/12.5A to switch. I'm also planning on using a Raspberry Pi as the core...

Yes - I'm not planning on recirculating solids anyway, the HERMS circulation should be the other side of a filter/false bottom which will keep any significant chunks out. I'll start with a couple of small DC pumps (Topsflo TS5s most likely) and see how it goes. Can always modify things there...

Yes, the plan is HERMS, so it'll definitely need to be carefully flow limited to avoid a stuck mash. To some extent I suppose that's going to be a function of the size/depth of the grain bed that forms (ideally the grain will be circulating not forming a bed, but not sure that's possible with...

Yes, that's a fair point - at the full 12l/min, it would be recycling the whole batch twice per minute, which probably isn't needed (although would it do any harm? Not sure...) Ideally, in a way, you'd want to scale pipe size directly to batch size, but then you'd be looking at pipes and pumps...

I'm hoping that particular problem might not surface, as I'm designing all of the vessels to be bottom draining (with some filters inline for certain phases). So with any luck it'll stay reasonably well filled. I might need to up the pump capacity though with 3/4" fittings. (The rationale here...

I guess I'm trying to work out what would go wrong if I used 3/4" fittings and pipes/tubes throughout! And possibly larger for some intakes/drains, etc.

Hello! I'm designing a tiny 3V system (about 5-7.5l batches) and am looking at pumps and piping. At the moment I'm thinking that a fairly small pump (something like a Topsflo TS5, or a similar non-branded equiv) would do (about 12l/min), combined with 12mm (OD) piping/valves, etc. By my...

That's one of the options I've considered, it's a good idea. The problems I've found are all around the fact that you can't then modify those vessels, so you're left trying to do everything externally (and also that they max out at about 5000ml for all practical purposes). So you're restricted...

I could keep it simple but... where's the fun in that?! Slightly more seriously, for me the fun is experimentation, creation, of both beer and brewery - I have a toddler and fairly sporty hobby, so I actually don't drink a great deal! Having more beer for the same effort doesn't actually help me...

Excellent point. Yes, that's very much what I'm finding. Beyond a certain point, even things like taking a stock pot and modifying it become a nightmare because nothing really fits. Heating elements, HERMs coils, etc. are all problematic, and even putting bulkhead fittings in to something that...

Hi folks, I'm planning on experimenting with doing some very small batch brewing, and I wondered if there is a theoretical minimum volume beyond which brewing simply... won't work. As far as I can tell, as long as things are proportionally correct (water to grain to sugars, sugars to yeast...

Yes, that makes sense - I suppose they got mixed up a bit with top and bottom there...

Thanks both, that confirms my intuition! Such a weird error to make though, it even goes in to detail about the "gently extracting" the wort from the top. It's pretty reasonable except for that!