20 gal 3 Vessel Stout Kettles eHERMs Basement Build

[thomasjr16]

After ordering my kettles last March and expecting to be fully operational for when they arrived in August, learning of and planning for the arrival of my baby boy (Finnley Kolsch... Can you tell my wife and I are beer fans???) chewed up build time and funding for the better part of the past year. At least my kettles were ordered and my wife was on board so I knew the project would be completed, just not as quickly as I anticipated. Now that he's here, the panel is just about wired, the kettles are setup on the brew stand counter (the base materials are in the basement and need to be constructed), the GFCI components are here, and only a few odds and ends are left that will be taken care of after one more visit to the LHBS and big box store.

My plan for the system was to have something that allowed 5.5 gal batches but could handle 12.5 gal (or slightly larger) batches if the need arrived as I have had more and more requests to make beer for family parties as my brewing career develops. The Stout kettles, while a little pricier up front than first planned, meet these requirements and have a few bells and whistles that I just liked (welded triclamp fittings, domed BK, raised bottom drain MT). I decided last March when I ordered my kettles that my next system needed to be electric and INSIDE as the temp was a lovely (20F) and I couldn't wipe things down fast enough before icing occurred during cleanup.

As for the control panel, I started with the pricier prebuilt PID and BCS panels and slowly worked back to a simple (and much much cheaper) single PID, single outlet, and single temperature sensor panel that would be built by me after I fully wrapped my head around the electrical components. I know that having to swap out the element plugs when moving from the the HLT to BK is an "extra step" but I wanted another guarantee that I wouldn't dry fire the BK without having to add and wire a float switch (plus I couldn't bring myself to drill a hole in my shinny new kettles).

More to come but here's pics of the progress so far, my panel was partially wired over the past two days with help from my brew master in training, the wood for my brew stand base is in location of the new brewery, and the 30 amp GFCI cord (which is a beast!!) is waiting for the plug and breaker to be installed off the main panel this week so I can hopefully test out the panel before heading back to work after the holiday break.

Once I'm done, I'll post a detailed part list and wiring diagram in case others can benefit from what I've put together / researched over the past year.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946369.286669.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946397.174671.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946451.782285.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946486.710604.jpg

The eagle eye view my little brewer, double checking my work as I progress...

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946636.206443.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946530.653702.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946554.126150.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946663.156918.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946698.755229.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946730.493906.jpg

I was planning on a spa panel for GFCI protection but stumbled upon and scored this GFCI cord while up with the newborn at 2:30am the other week. The cord is 15 feet long and the price was right as I've seen others that were very costly. I also saw that this cord is featured on electricbrewrey.com but couldn't find any available on eBay or Amazon.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1419946775.123011.jpg

 

[Hunlock]

Great Build! Looking forward to the updates!

 

[clockwise]

So this is for your home/personal use? Did I read correctly you're also starting a brewery?

I'm just making the switch to AG right now, but am going as simple as possible. Just need a bigger kettle at the moment, which you can hopefully help me out with.

 

[thomasjr16]

No brewery yet, just a larger scale homebrew system that could be used as a pilot one day if my wife and I venture down that path in a year or two.

For the time being its just our version of a "dream" system... That is until we find our next dream system 🍻

 

[Roadie]

Congrats on the birth of your son. We have the same kettles and overall are happy with them. Has Stout upsized the HERMS coil now or are they still using that little one? Good luck with everything!

 

[thomasjr16]

Nope, still using the smaller coil that I've read that other members have some "rate of exchange" issues with but I'm going to see how it works for me before changing things up. This was a sticking point during my research stage but love everything else Stout has to offer so I figured it's something replaceable if necessary.

 

[thomasjr16]

So after a successful install of the 30 amp outlet and breaker then initial firing of the panel, I blew the SSR when changing the set value on the PID due to wiring the element switch incorrectly. Kinda scary when you feel a slight shock, hear a loud pop, and immediately hear the GFCI protection kick in and kill power.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420379705.354134.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420379621.094593.jpg

After some help from a few members and some trouble shooting, everything is now wired correctly (checked continuity with my multimeter at all connections and switches, don't know why I didn't think of that before... I just checked ground continuity after finishing the build and didn't think to check switches). Just have to wait for another SSR and backup to arrive in a few days to fire everything up again and do my water test.

While I wait for the SSR shipment to arrive I was able to build the base of stand this morning with my 3 wk old son / brewer-in-training in his carrier. It's amazing what you can get done with the little guy sleeping and strapped onto your chest in the carrier from 5am to 9am.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420380254.674525.jpg

The top is left over 3/4" tongue and groove red oak and the bottom is just cheap pine. It's not done yet, I have to cut out the bottom shelves, add caster wheels (which will be done after this post), and also add some trim around the top edge to hide where the oak meets the the OSB backing.

 

[Hunlock]

Glad you didn't let too much of the magic smoke out of the system!

Looks really nice so far!

 

[thomasjr16]

Some updated pics of the system.

I was able to complete the brew stand and decided against mounting the pumps and chiller on the stand. I happen to have an extra cart available that I used to move hot kettles when brewing outside that I was able to repurpose into a control panel/pump/chiller caddy. I'll be positioning it in front of the mash tun while brewing so that the pumps are centrally located and the chiller is on the right, facing the BK.

Just waiting on the inline fan for ventilation to arrive. Tomorrow I'll be putting together my element enclosures and hope to autotune the PID this week.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420938325.474188.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420938365.216864.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420938392.635877.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420938434.826254.jpg

 

[HerkDriver]

Subscribed. Looks great! I'm waiting on a few more components for my own Stout build, so I can't wait to see what you end up with. I also get a fair bit of work done with the infant in the front pack.

 

[thomasjr16]

After ordering and receiving an inline fan last week that wouldn't spin, the seller sent out a replacement immediately and it arrived today.

It's a 6" Ventech inline fan that's rated for around 400cfm. I'll be attaching it to a Rubbermaid rectangular tub that will be my exhaust hood and then running about 6-8 ft of semi rigid exhaust vent to the outside wall of the basement

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421791930.847671.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421791959.414073.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1421792070.950720.jpg

 

[orangehero]

Why is the fan dressed in a jacket?

 

[thomasjr16]

Why is the fan dressed in a jacket?

The jacket is there to dampen the noise from the fan but with it on or off (I took it off when adding the mounting bracket), there isn't a noticeable difference.

You can easily talk over the fan and I'd say it's decibel rating would be equivalent to a cheapo box fan on high.

 

[kal]

I was planning on a spa panel for GFCI protection but stumbled upon and scored this GFCI cord while up with the newborn at 2:30am the other week. The cord is 15 feet long and the price was right as I've seen others that were very costly. I also saw that this cord is featured on electricbrewrey.com but couldn't find any available on eBay or Amazon.

View attachment 245366

Just for sake of clarity, I mention it at TheElectricBrewery.com only because it's a popular choice that brewers use that *isn't* to NEC code. It has a trip setting of 10mA which is above the United States NEC requirements of 5mA. That cord's original intent was to protect equipment, not life.

Kal

 

[thomasjr16]

So after a week or so of dry fitting the pvc element enclosures I put together and configuring a way to ground the kettles with the DIY enclosures, I went another direction as it just didn't look right on the kettles. I'm sure the pvc would have been functional but the SS enclosures from BH are going to look that much better hanging off the kettles and provide a much cleaner ground.

Placed my brewhardware.com order an hour ago for two of the 2" TC element housings, tubing, some NPT fittings, a TC fitting for the CFC, and an extra camlock I now need for the CFC as well.

Looks like everything is getting fired up and autotuned this weekend!!!

Almost a year from my initial Stout order and the system is about ready to get to work.

 

[BlueHemlock]

Admittedly I'm new to this electric brewing yet. I'm wondering why your BK seems smaller than the HLT & MLT. Do you have 2 20s and a 15?

Thanks and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[thomasjr16]

Admittedly I'm new to this electric brewing yet. I'm wondering why your BK seems smaller than the HLT & MLT. Do you have 2 20s and a 15?

Thanks and I look forward to seeing the finished product.

The shorter kettle (seen on the right in post #9) is the 20 gal HLT. Both the BK and MT are raised to accommodate the domed bottom of the BK and bottom outlet on the MT. The dome will help with trub collection after whirl pooling and the bottom outlet helps minimize losses after mashing.

If you look closely at the pics, I think you can make out the 3-4" SS skirt that is welded on the kettle bottoms.

The kettles are all from Stout conical fermenter and thanks for checking out my thread!

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

After ordering and receiving an inline fan last week that wouldn't spin, the seller sent out a replacement immediately and it arrived today.

It's a 6" Ventech inline fan that's rated for around 400cfm. I'll be attaching it to a Rubbermaid rectangular tub that will be my exhaust hood and then running about 6-8 ft of semi rigid exhaust vent to the outside wall of the basement

View attachment 250188
View attachment 250189
View attachment 250190

Just a word of cautionary advice on this fan... I bought the same one. And it accumulates water and leaks out of some screw holes in it. I would highly recommend going around and sealing and joints and screw holes... Mine leaks like a sieve.

 

[thomasjr16]

Just a word of cautionary advice on this fan... I bought the same one. And it accumulates water and leaks out of some screw holes in it. I would highly recommend going around and sealing and joints and screw holes... Mine leaks like a sieve.

Do you have the fan up against the hood or down line a bit? I was thinking of putting the fan against the hood to push as much steam through as possible so it has less of a chance condense. I was thinking of removing a screw on the housing and placing a drip tube on it to direct water away and not just falling on the floor

 

[sboyajian]

That fan is very similar to the original fan I bought for the cigar lounge I built in the basement. I ended up replacing it with a 780 CFM. Hadn't considered it but I guess I could connect the old one to a hood for when I build my eHerms.

 

[thomasjr16]

Completed a water test last night and auto tuned the PID. Besides a small hiccup, everything went smoothly and DAMN do I like being inside when it's 16 F outside!!

When heating the water from 55 to 142 to check for a temp offset and then start the auto tune, the heating element didn't shut down and took the water 10 degrees past the set value before I cut power to the element using the switch. Once I turned the system off for 10-15 mins and let the water settle back down to 142 F, the auto tune procedure worked flawlessly, turning the element on and off accordingly to hone everything in.

Im using a cheap Fotek SSR (might be a knockoff as it was a 2 for 18.50 ebay deal) to control the element without a contactor and run the hot leads thru a 30A DPST switch before the element outlet... won't know if the problem persists until I breq this wknd

 

[LandoLincoln]

Just a word of cautionary advice on this fan... I bought the same one. And it accumulates water and leaks out of some screw holes in it. I would highly recommend going around and sealing and joints and screw holes... Mine leaks like a sieve.

It might be better to have it leak instead of keeping that water trapped in the housing.

 

[thomasjr16]

It might be better to have it leak instead of keeping that water trapped in the housing.

That's what I read on the electricbrewery website. I think Kal removed a screw from the housing of his vortex fan to allow any condensation to leak out. He also suggested putting silicone in the hole between the fan housing and the attached electrical box wiring to keep moisture out of that location.

So far, this is what I've got setup above the kettles. Flex duct will go between the hood and fan then rigid duct from the fan to the wall vent.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1423527678.384007.jpg

 

[dcbw]

Do you have the fan up against the hood or down line a bit? I was thinking of putting the fan against the hood to push as much steam through as possible so it has less of a chance condense. I was thinking of removing a screw on the housing and placing a drip tube on it to direct water away and not just falling on the floor

I have this problem on both of my fans on my hood. Before I found out I could hear the fan blades sloshing the worty condensate in the fan, there was that much. I removed a screw from the housing and mounted a funnel onto which a drip line is connected, because the pressure will spatter the liquid out the screw hole. It doesn't drop out nicely. Also make sure your drip line has a nice vertical slope so the nasty water doesn't stay in it and start molding.

 

[kal]

Keep the air as warm as possible to minimize condensing. Do it by insulating it/wrapping it.

I get less condensation on my setup now which is enclosed/insulated, but still some. About a cup's worth with an hour of boiling.

Kal

 

[thomasjr16]

Look what arrived today... my new 15 gal fermenter!!! Placed an order last weekend for the conical and fittings with a shipping date of 8-10wks straight from the manufacturer. Welcomed surprise that 8-10 wks turned into 5 days.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1423881462.803990.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1423881477.673242.jpg

 

[thomasjr16]

After spending the day putting the finishing touches on the brewery, I now have a complete 20 gal electric single tier system, exhaust hood, and 15 gal fermenter. The system and stand are done for now, the exhaust hood will have a temporary outlet through foam board that I'll put in the doorway until I'm sure everything is in the right spot and working effectively, and the fermenter is waiting for a new valve as I was sent the wrong model.

The fermenter wasn't going to be used for tomorrow's batch anyway since its a citra saison using farmhouse ale yeast (half Brett) and I'm not dedicating a whole 15 gal fermenter to Brett yet. I'll be splitting the batch between buckets and next weeks session will hopefully go into the conical if the parts arrive.

Fingers crossed, all goes well tmr and my first electric batch doesn't have too many (if any) hiccups.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1423966521.819580.jpg

 

[branman]

Lookin gooood!

 

[thomasjr16]

Well......

Brew session = 5 hrs (no problems)

Chill = 1.5 hrs (problems, see below for explanation)

Cleanup = 1.5 hrs (need to better plan out next time

Brew Session Recap

That was awesome! The HLT herms did an amazing job of maintaining temps once I figured out the offset between my dial MT thermometer and the PID controlled HLT (I used my trusty pocket digital therm to determine the offset). I was able to recirculate at full throttle after setting the grain bed and fly sparging went flawlessly the first time around. I hit my efficient numbers of 88% and set the PID to manual mode during the boil with a power setting of 60%. I had a boil off rate of 11.5% and my vent system didn't leave an ounce of condensation in the room (humidity gauge was 45% from start to finish). The fan housing is the only spot that leaked water, maybe a 1/2 cup worth max (seen in the last pic). I disassembled the duct work to see if any water was trapped in the system and it was bone dry from the fan to the exit point. Couldn't be happier with the day.... But then came the chill

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054486.091423.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054506.191561.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054538.691313.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054571.637528.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054610.906061.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054626.121186.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424054663.438147.jpg

Chill Session

Let's start out by saying that I bought a used SS CFC with brass fittings from a forum member several months ago and never had the ability to test it out as I was still finishing my system. I paid $75 for an almost $200 chiller and thought I got the deal of a lifetime until I found a crack in a 1/2 brass NPT fitting during my water test. After some JB weld on the fitting, I thought the problem was solved and ready for today only to discover a second crack in the other 1/2" NPT fitting. Now, I'll never really know if the cracks were from either my hand tightening the SS connectors on, a shipping issue, or the seller deeply discounting his chiller due to the problem without letting anyone know. Either way, I'll be taking it to a SS welder and having the connectors I use welded on and the brass fittings removed altogether. I tried to electrical tape the cracked fittings but had to resort to holding the chiller in a slightly elevated position so that the wort that leaked would all fall in the fermenter (def not brewing again until this issue is cleared up)

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424055897.387554.jpg

Cleanup

Wow, cleanup kinda sucks when you can't easily lift the pots and take them into the yard for a good hosing. The HLT and MT were quick and easy but the domed bottom of the BK leaves about a gal or so of liquid in the bottom (along with the hop sludge) that isn't easy to remove without performing a balancing act between tilting and rinsing. After a rinse with warm water, PBW wash, and another cool water rinse, everything was finally done and away. I'll have to plan out a better way to clean up next time as my method was very taxing.

 

[millsbrew]

Great write up about the struggles of going eHERMS. You find a better way to clean the tanks yet? Also, did your Stout tanks come pre-assembled for the tubes and heating elements or did you have to assemble it?

 

[thomasjr16]

Great write up about the struggles of going eHERMS. You find a better way to clean the tanks yet? Also, did your Stout tanks come pre-assembled for the tubes and heating elements or did you have to assemble it?

The solution to my cleaning frustrations was sitting next to me the whole time. My shop vac was champ, removing grain, water in the HERMS coil, and cleaning the domed bottom perfectly (just don't forget to remove the filter). I had so much fun cleaning that I filled the 10 gal reservoir and couldn't lift it. Much easier problem to solve [emoji16]

As for the tanks, they came with welded 2" Triclamp ferrules and I put the elements together using element housings from Bobby_M that clamp on. By tubes, are u ref the sight glasses? If so, they were included. Just needed to be clamped on

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Love using my little shop vac for my mash tun... I scoop out what i can and any remaining amount I suck up with the vac. The only thing is that you have to be somewhat diligent with cleaning out the vac or else you could end up with some rancid stuff in there...