High gravity ebib 10 gallon

[stevedasleeve]

Hi all. I sold my three vessel cooler rig, quit my job and moved to Florida to fish and brew!

Just received the high gravity system. I know there will be idiosyncrasies... any tips from people who have this?

Cheers,
Steve

 

[zgja2]

I own the 220v 15 gal and love it. If you run it the way it comes it will not run in true PID mode (just a simple thermostat). and you will lower the element output with the knob to prevent overshoot during mashing.

This works ok. I use it in true PID mode and it works much better. You will have to change some settings but its easy. Check this page for a great overview http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/control-panel-setup Make sure you address probe calibration, the FILT setting, and of course auto tuning.

Where is your temp probe located?

 

[jculler82]

I have the SV controller 220, but paired it up with my own kettle, etc. so my comments relate to the controller only.

I love it, no wasted energy like with propane, no noise of a burner, and I can brew inside when it's cold. Like zgja2 said calibrate it to really make the most of it.

 

[steveoatley]

Hi all. I sold my three vessel cooler rig, quit my job and moved to Florida to fish and brew!

Just received the high gravity system. I know there will be idiosyncrasies... any tips from people who have this?

Cheers,
Steve

My new life goal - to be like Steve !

Congrates man - good luck !

very jealous right now ! ( stuck at work )



steve

 

[zgja2]

Also i swapped in a 5500W stainless element and enclosure from brew hardware. Highly recommend it!

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/element5500_ripple.htm

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/hotpod-ewl3.htm

 

[stevedasleeve]

Haven't opened the box yet, my new place has 2 kitchens so one is a brewery(!) and I have some set up yet to do. I hope to try this next week - 5 gallons as a test.

Water here is funky so I'll try carbon filtering the first brew & see how it tastes.

Anything I should watch out for with this system? I got their new "wart hog" controller. I'm dialing in 70% efficiency for my first which is right where I was with my 3 vessel rig...

 

[stevedasleeve]

Anyone have a BS equipment profile for this?

 

[madscientist451]

Water here is funky so I'll try carbon filtering the first brew & see how it tastes.

Up till this your plan looked pretty good. Since your life will be about brewing and fishing, I'd spend the money for a water report of your funky water. Meanwhile, just go buy spring water at the store or you can get RO water cheaper, and build up your water profile. Crappy water is going to cause issues with your beer. Buying spring water is going to increase your cost about $.20 a pint, which compared to buying commercial beer or pints at the pub, is not really a big deal.
You may want to consider putting in a RO water system at least a small one for your brewery.

 

[stevedasleeve]

I have treated filtered water in the main kitchen, funky win the brewery kitchen. I'm brewing this weekend two batches with the different water and I'll see how they turn out. Fwiw the funky water through a charcoal filter tasted good - and its way more convenient. After a few batches I'll get the water analyzed.

 

[Troxs]

You, sir, are my hero!

Anyway, get a sample of your water to Ward Labs -- $21 and about a weeks wait. It'll be the best $21 spent on brewing.

 

[stevedasleeve]

2 brew days using filtered well water so far. I don't want to wait to taste and evaluate so I broke down and ordered the Lamotte test kit. This system is loads of fun to brew with.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Both beers turned out surprisingly well. Weirdly. I tested the water and by the numbers it's unusable!

I got RO water and added salts for the third brew on this system. Let's see how Mosher's "ideal pale ale water" profile competes with the tap water I have that appears to be the opposite...

 

[TheMerkle]

QUOTE=zgja2;7840195]Also i swapped in a 5500W stainless element and enclosure from brew hardware. Highly recommend it!

Bobby's hot pod enclosures are the best. Just picked one up for my newest build and, man, does it simplify things!

 

[stevedasleeve]

Half a dozen 5 gallon brews so far. Efficiency is 62%. Pump is a little hard to prime but works fine. I just did my first 10 gallon batch: my biggest worry was lifting the bag but that was fine. I had to top up the kettle with water to get to my preboil volume. I initially calculated that 2 gallons would suffice but the mash filled the kettle so I had to remove some and add it to the mash later. Worked well enough but next time I'll mash thicker and add 3 gallons.

The rest went well - the boil coil easily handled the 14 gallons.

Efficiency was 71% for this batch but I expected better efficiency from a bigger batch like in my old 3 vessel rig.

Lessons learned! I'll do another 10 gallon batch in a couple of days using the info gleaned from this session. Good thing I have a weekly happy hour with a bunch of locals otherwise I'd have way more beer than I could drink myself!

Cheers