eHERMS, Some Day!

[Haole]

This past week I received my third 20-Gallon vessel that will eventually be punched out and outfitted as an electric brewery.

I'm pretty excited to learn more about appropriate element sizes and controller builds such as what Kal sells, then of course building and brewing with the setup. It’s fired by propane for now though I’m hoping to be able to invest in parts over the next four months.

Anybody want to chime in please feel free to contribute; I’m a skilled craftsman and fabricator though have only been making beer for a bit under two hundred gallons now. Always learning., and FWIW I typically brew in 6-12Gallon batch sizes.

Thanks!

 

[kevin58]

I really like the Blichmann boil coil as a heating element. I also ended up putting sight tubes on all my kettles. Bobby at brewhardware.com has a weldless flex sightglass that works really well...
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/flexsight-l.htm

Also get good pumps. I love my RipTide's. Easy to prime, quiet and easy to clean. (just don't lose the small thrust washer inside!)

 

[Haole]

I really like the Blichmann boil coil as a heating element. I also ended up putting sight tubes on all my kettles. Bobby at brewhardware.com has a weldless flex sightglass that works really well...
https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/flexsight-l.htm

Also get good pumps. I love my RipTide's. Easy to prime, quiet and easy to clean. (just don't lose the small thrust washer inside!)

Thanks for the thoughts, Kevin58. I was eyeballing the Blichmann coils a few days ago and like the idea of the massive surface area that they offer and the jbox on the outside is tidy.

as for pumps, I’m presently using one of the stainless head Chinese jobs found on Amazon. It works quite well though I’m not sure how well it will hold up over time, plus a grain clog would (will) require a bit of disassembly to free the impeller. It was $80 though so I can’t complain.

Not sure that I want sight glasses on my kettles. They look nice at a glance but that’s a lot more junctions, as well as parts to clean. I’m not ruling that out however simplicity in design is part of my approach.

Some constraints I would like to build to are as follows:

• 1/2BBL max batch size
• 12 Gallon standard batch size
• Elements in both boil kettle and HLT must be operable simultaneously
• I’d like to get a 16 Gallon boil rolling in twenty minutes if feasible on a single, 50A, 240V stove outlet
• I’m contemplating hard plumbing, though will start with silicone
• Tear down for cleaning, so unions on plumbing or quick disconnects on all points are desired
• Horizontal vessel arrangement: I’ll probably custom build a brew sculpture that’s lower than the stainless tables they’re presently on, though I may shorten the legs of the tables instead of building a bench in my shop. This puts three primary vessels on two 4’ stainless tables, and pumps, plus auxiliary kettles must be storable under. Presently that is a 10G and 6G vessel, so approximately 20” clearance needed to bottom of table surface.
• Control panel must articulate for ergonomics and storage

What else should I have on my radar?