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50A back to back HERMS setup for sale (Minnesota) - SOLD

 
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ajb




Joined: 07 Feb 2014
Posts: 59



PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:56 am    Post subject: 50A back to back HERMS setup for sale (Minnesota) - SOLD Reply with quote


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Update: SOLD - Thanks everyone. I'll be back in the game albeit downsized a bit soon.

Why would I ever do such a thing?! We are moving and need to seriously downsize due to space constraints. It pains me, but we don't see a time soon where the space and electrical requirements will be met for this 50 amp system.

The heart and soul of this setup is Kal's 50A back-to-back control panel. I can't say enough about how fool-proof and awesome this panel is. The inside is meticulous and awe-inspiring. Seriously Kal. I wish I didn't have to do this.

I designed my own manifold for controlling brew day using sanitary fittings. The goal was minimizing moving hoses/connections during brewing, essentially making it mostly closed, and make cleaning a snap. This is achieved by a system of two pumps and 3 way valves to direct traffic. It's super easy to heat to temp, mash in, recirculate, sparge, boil, whirlpool and more. While you are boiling you can be heating strike water for the next batch or cleaning water for the end of the day. You can clean/pbw/sanitize from right to left, without having to lift a single container. Get a fermenter on wheels, and you won't even have to lift that. We've repeatedly produced awesome beer from this setup, and you will too.

I've developed some easy procedures (for the differences in my system compared to Kal's) to prime pumps, and make brew day easy. The included sight-glass is the best part. It gives you a very accurate color representation of your finished beer. It's one of my favorite parts of the process: mash-in, re-start recirculation, and watch it clarify.

This sale is for the complete setup - 3 vessels, all sanitary fittings, heating elements, control panel, cords, temp probes, table, chiller, tubing, and other extras that you may want/need.

I'm keeping most of my fermenters, small tools, etc, as I'm swapping this out with a smaller one-vessel outdoor setup. If you are local - feel welcome to swing by and check it out still setup before we move. We can get some water through it, turn it on, etc. Moving in mid-August, so after that, I won't have it hooked up for inspection.

Attached is a parts list with pricing for reference. I'd like to get about $5,000 for it - but willing to entertain reasonable offers. The price includes everything in the picutres/list and inevitably a few things I left out. This is everything you need to brew beer minus ingredients, some wiring work, and a fermenter. Speaking of fermenters, I have a MoreBeer.com 14 gallon temp controlled conical fermenter I'm selling as well. Willing to negotiate a reasonable offer on that too. I have a few other odds and ends that I'm willing to part with as well when you come to pick up (some glass carboys, misc extra instruments, etc)

I'd like to sell the whole thing, but I am willing to entertain breaking certain pieces up. An example might be: you want the kettles, control panel and elements, but don't want the tables or sanitary fittings (you will need some as the kettles are all custom welded with sanitary fittings). I'd consider something like that but don't ask me to pull out the HERMS coil or something specific like that.

Separate offers on the temp controlled conical will certainly be entertained as well.[/quote]



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brewery.xlsx
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a mostly complete list of parts and sanitary fittings

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Last edited by ajb on Sun Jul 19, 2015 4:02 am; edited 3 times in total
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ajb




Joined: 07 Feb 2014
Posts: 59



PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 3:02 am    Post subject: Some more pics Reply with quote

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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry to hear you have to sell! Hopefully it'll move fast for you. Good luck!

Kal

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huaco




Joined: 05 Apr 2012
Posts: 1506
Location: Burleson Texas


PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where are you located?
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ajb




Joined: 07 Feb 2014
Posts: 59



PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Updated (mn)
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ShortTailBrewing




Joined: 11 Jul 2015
Posts: 1



PostLink    Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2015 2:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Are you interested in selling the lower manifold without pumps?
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Dick Stone




Joined: 28 Jul 2015
Posts: 1



PostLink    Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice system... I would like to build something like this one.
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MNDan




Joined: 21 Aug 2015
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 7:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Damn - I would have totally bought this! Let me know if the sale fell through... Smile

Dan (in MN)
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JBabot




Joined: 01 Sep 2015
Posts: 1
Location: Austin Texas


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Could the seller or buyer of this system tell me what type of tanks theses are and where you sourced the sanitary fittings and valves. I'd like to reproduce something like this setup.
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JB
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 2:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They're kettles/vessels from Stout Tanks.

Lots of people have them, a lot of people like them, a lot of people seem to be saying you roll the dice when you purchase from them and it's one of the reasons I didn't consider them when I first built my setup. 4-5 years later it seems that the same risks/issues may still exist. A couple of recent examples:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Homebrewing/comments/38b1kx/psa_stout_tanks_standard_policy_makes_defects_and/

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=504336

In the second link the guy got some bad kettles and it took a year to partially resolve but he’s still not happy and just gave up. This sort of stuff seems to have been going on for years which is why I chose to go with Blichmann back in 2008. YMMV.

That said, there also seem to be very many happy customers. Both Blichmann and Stout will make great beer once you get what you paid for. Nobody will be able to tell the difference – it’s really more about how you like to cleanup/brew, and both work great with our electrical controls.

One thing I would give anyone a heads up on is that many Stout Tank users seem unhappy with their 3/8” OD HERMS coil though I don't know if they still make it (I recommend 1/2” OD - the seller here seems to have used our HERMS coil). Example: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27051

I did look at tri-clover (sanitary fittings) back when I was originally designing my setup but I found them considerably harder to use (you need to use 2 hands) than the quick disconnects I chose to use in the end. Tri-clover make a lot of sense on the cold side of the brewing process because the fittings can be cleaned very well. The cold side is everything after chilling, fermentation, and packaging. On the hot side (wort creation) there's little benefit to tri-clover (sanitary) fittings as we are boiling everything for 60+ minutes so everything comes out sanitary. The exception may be the chiller output - it's one spot where tri-clamp fittings may be of benefit but I've never had issues after many years of use.

See the video at the bottom of this page for how easy the QD’s I use are to connect: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/brew-day-step-by-step?page=3

By comparison I find tri-clamp fairly fidgety to use and they require two hands.

I know a lot of brewers love tri-clover. They look very nice and are used by large breweries, but that’s mostly because they have larger diameter hoses and really don't have a choice but to go tri-clamp. For my setup with 1/2" ID hoses I find that the QDs I use work well. You may build your brewery any way you like of course - I just thought I'd throw out my 2 cents as I did indeed consider tri-clamps when I was originally designing my setup. I would most certainly use them for anything on the fermentation/packaging (cold side) if I had need for pumps/hoses/fittings.

Good luck!

Kal

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MNDan




Joined: 21 Aug 2015
Posts: 7



PostLink    Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As long as you were going quick disconnect, is there a reason you didn't go polysulfone over stainless? I'm just curious when polysulfone went out of favor - I've had them on my gas system for 15 years and they've never failed and are never hot to grab...
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kal
Forum Administrator



Joined: 12 Dec 2010
Posts: 11116
Location: Ottawa, Canada

Drinking: Pub Ale, Electric Creamsicle, Mild, Pliny the Younger, Belgian Dark Strong, Weizen, Russian Imperial Stout, Black Butte Porter


PostLink    Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MNDan wrote:
As long as you were going quick disconnect, is there a reason you didn't go polysulfone over stainless? I'm just curious when polysulfone went out of favor - I've had them on my gas system for 15 years and they've never failed and are never hot to grab...

I prefer not to have any plastics on my setup. Polysulfone is also fairly brittle. Not a good idea to connect polysulfone fittings to stainless ones. I know many a brewer who's broken the polysulfone heads on their pumps from having tightened too much.

Kal

_________________
Our new shop with over 150 new products: shop.TheElectricBrewery.com
We ship worldwide and support our products and customers for life.
Purchasing through our affiliate links helps support our site at no extra cost to you. We thank you!
My basement/bar/brewery build 2.0
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