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my Bedroom Brewery build & brew log

 
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alphakry




Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Posts: 88



PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:21 pm    Post subject: my Bedroom Brewery build & brew log Reply with quote


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So I've spent the last few months building out my 1bbl brewery, located inside of my spare bedroom and aptly named the Bedroom Brewery!

I'll be updating this thread as a means of showcasing everything I've done and hope to get some of your feedback and participation as I venture into all grain brewing. I have about 8 years of extract brewing experience but only now am jumping into all grain! I will have plenty of questions and thank you all in advance for your expertise!! Smile

Equipment - Hot Side:

Hot Liquor Tank:
  • 50 gallon Spike+ V3 Kettle w/ Spike+ 50ft HERMS Coil
  • 2 x 5500W Electric Brewery Elements
  • 1 x Electric Brewery temp probe w/ SSBrewtech Micro Tee

Mash Tun:
  • 50 Gallon Spike+ V3 Kettle w/ Spike False Bottom
  • Loc-Line Coolant Hose Circle Flow Nozzle Kit for mash re-circulation
  • 1 x Electric Brewery Pre-Assembled Temp Probe w/ SSBrewtech Micro Tee

Boil Kettle:
  • 50 Gallon Spike+ V3 Kettle
  • 2 x 5500W Electric Brewery Elements
  • 1 Electric Brewery Temp Probe, placed in rear of kettle
  • Steamslayer Steam Condenser at top rear of BK

Control Panel:
  • Electric Brewery 50A Pre-Assembled Panel (big thanks to Mike & Spike Innovations for a killer job done!!)
  • Square D HOME250SPA Homeline 50-Amp GFCI Spa Panel tied into a GE 50A breaker taking up the last 2 slots

Other Equipment
  • Stout Stainless Steel Counterflow chiller
  • Blichmann Riptide Pumps for Wort & Water pumps


Equipment - Cold Side:
  • (3) Spike CF30 40 Gallon Conical Fermenters w/ TC100 Cooling Package
  • Custom Keezer Build, currently pulling double duty as my cold-water cooling source for the fermentor as well as my means of chilling and serving kegs once beer is complete
  • Motorized MaltMuncher Pro grain mill w/ motor and stand
  • (12) AIH 5 Gallon Ball-Lock Corney Kegs
  • SSBrewtech Kegwasher


PHOTOS COMING SOON

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alphakry




Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Posts: 88



PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

#post reserved for keezer build details#
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alphakry




Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Posts: 88



PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 5:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

BREW DAY # 001: Golden Ale
(as per Kal's recipe on TheElectricBrewery.com)

I have taken's Kal's recommendations and multiplied everything by 2 in order to produce double the amount of finished product:

Blonde Ale / Premium Lager

Size: 24.0 US gal (post-boil)

Ingredients:
36.0 lb Weyermann Pilsner Malt, milled to 0.05" gap
5.4 oz German Hallertau Hops (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
1 Whirlfloc Tablet (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
66 g Fermentis Safale US-05 dry yeast
( vs 48g recommended. 6 packs of dry yeast, not used to create a starter but instead pitched directly into the wort)

Notes:
Did not add 500mg potassium metabisulphite to 40 gallons water to remove chlorine/chloramine, as I am using RO water.

Ca=50, Mg=10, Na=16, Cl=70, S04=70 : Target Water Treatment Profile
Ca=00, Mg=00. Na=21, Cl=17, S04=00 : Values from Ward Labs test of RO water
Ca=50, Mg=10, Na=21, Cl=80, S04=80 : Values based on following Water Adjustment guide and adding the following:

3.65g Gypsum, 7.1g CaCl2, 6.0g Epson : Mash Additions added to Grain
5.00g Gypsum, 9.7g CaCl2, 8.2g Epson : Sparge Additions added to Boil


BREW LOG:
11:15AM: Start HLT element with 40 gallons of water, HLT PID set to 149F
11:56AM: Turned on H2O Pump for HLT Recirculation (also needed to measure temp due to external probe in tee)
11:58AM: Reached 149 Target

Strike Water calculation = 1.5 quarts/pound mash thickness:
Strike water = (Mash Thickness * Pounds of Grain / 4) + dead space under false bottom + liquid in HERMS + hoses
= (1.5 * 36 / 4) + 0.76 + 0.7 = 14.96 gallons

12:10PM: Transfer 14.96 gallons from HLT to MT
12:20PM: MT recirculating through HERMS to match HLT Recirculation @ 149F
Mash Tun seems to peak at 145F, jumping as low as 142F but never reaching 149F
12:31PM: MT still not hitting 149F, sitting around 147F with jumps down to as low as 143F
12:34PM: Seems to stay at 147F and i decide it may be something up with the temp probe so I proceed...

12:35PM: Added 60% grains & water treatment salts (not 100% due to only having 1 bucket to catch and transfer)
12:42PM: Added remaining 40% of grains and mixed well
12:51PM: Testing PH using the Milwaukee Instruments MW102 PH and Temperature Meter, I am hitting much higher numbers then expected. Brew day instructions say to aim for a PH of 5.2 - 5.4. I am seeing PH 5.82-5.84@58.1C on first test. I re-calibrate and test again with similar results. I begin to add 88% lactic acid half a milliliter (mL) at a time using a 1mL (1 cc) syringe and see the following results:
5.79@57.8C
5.63@57.4C
5.54@57.2C
5.50@57.6C
At this stage, I have added quite a few 1mL full syringes of lactic acid and decide there may be a calibration problem and don't want to overdue it. I stop here.

1:15PM: MT recirculation of mash through HERMS. Mash Tun: 136-138 degrees while HLT is 149-152. The large variance between MT and HLT seems consistent and I start to worry about the accuracy of my temp probes.

1:16PM: I start timer for 90 minute mash. Due to sitting almost 40 minutes while I played with the PH, i decide to aim for less time.

1:18PM: Mash Tun temp still not raising much above 138, so i raise HLT first to 155 then 158
1:35PM: Noticed mash tun spike to 155 and then 30 seconds later down to 148. Seems the temp probe has been all over the place and wondering about probes and if setting the MT temp does anything at all, since it's the HLT with the elements in it.

1:50PM: set HTL and MT to 149
2:01PM: they now both hover between 152-155
2:11PM: added additional lactic acid to HLT to hit 5.6-5.8 PH goal for sparge water

2:25PM: raise MT to 168 for mash out. seems setting HLT to 172 works best for this... maybe
2:55PM: start sparging. Fill BK until 29.8 gallons

Liquid lost to grain absorption = Pounds of grain * 12%
= 36 * 0.12 = 4.32 gallons
Sparge water = Pre-boil kettle volume + Liquid lost to grain absorption - Strike water
= 29.8 + 4.32 - 14.96 = 19.16 gallons. Not sure why i measured this since I will just be fly sparging...)

4:01PM: BK Filled to 29.8 gallons. PH Test: 54.8 @ 47C
(66 minutes to complete, water level during sparge was 1-3 inches above grains most of the time with a few exceptions fixed by adjusting and matching the rates. This was especially different at the end with close to 6" above the grains, woops!)

4:08PM: BK Flame On, Gravity measurement taken using Hanna HI 96811 Digital Refractometer, i am hitting brix numbers that I believe translate to a very high OG. Brix: 18.5 @ 29.9C translates to an OG of 1.076-1.077.
4:30PM: I double check again, recalibrating the refractormeter using RO water
18.6 at 28.8C. It's higher!! I question my methods of converting BRIX to gravity and decide to continue on...

4:40PM: Boil Achieved. lots of hot break and foam build noticed
4:51PM: I lower the BK elements to 75% and put lid on BK, allowing the steam slayer to do its thing (using 9GPH sprayer)
4:52PM: BOIL-OVER!!
4:54PM: Lower BK elements to 50% and wait
4:55PM: Boil is not as vigorous as goal so place lid back on
4:59PM: BOIL-OVER!! Lower elements to 40%
5:05PM: lift lid to check and notice foam building and tempting a boil over. my opening it calms this
5:16PM: 5.4oz HOPS ADDED, lid kept off to monitor. Some fresh water sprays to help calm foam
5:21PM: BK element lowered to 38%, lid put back on since Hops seemed to have settle down
5:52PM: BOIL-OVER! ****** the steamslayer till i understand what's going wrong. Element set to 73%
6:11PM: FLAME OUT

6:18PM: Whirlpool Start
6:28PM: Whirlpool Stop
6:38PM: Transfer to conical in one pass through counterflow. Wort output temp probe stays around 89F during most of transfer
7:24PM: Finished transferring wort, conical temp = 88.6F, Keezer Cold Water Loop = 57.7F

8:26PM: Most cleaning is done except BK which i'll soak with PBW for 48 hours. Conical has dropped to 83F and cooling water is 74.9F. I immediately can tell this keezer cold water reservoir isn't going to work well given my ambient temps and the size of this conical. I start to research glycol chillers...
Total KW brew day usage: 33.94KW = $12.73

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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: Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting!

One thing caught my eye:

alphakry wrote:
Total KW brew day usage: 33.94KW = $12.73

How did you calculate the KW used? Where are you located? What is your electrical rate? The US average national rate is about $0.12/kWh so about $4 not $12. Even $4 seems high. I only do about 13-14 KWh to brew 10 gallons so $1.60 in electricity to brew 10 gallons.

More info and my math here: https://shop.theelectricbrewery.com/pages/faq#What_are_the_electrical_costs_to_brew_with_electricity_

Kal

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alphakry




Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Posts: 88



PostLink    Posted: Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh i wish I was wrong. I'm on a tiny island in the Caribbean that gets all it's energy from big diesel generators - we're considered some of the most expensive commercial electricity there is... so sadly my math on KW is the one thing i'm confident on.

To measure, we use pre-paid keypad meters so I monitored and recorded energy usage through out the entire day. What's even more concerning is the fact that I used another 70KW in the 10-12 days since transferring to the fermenter to keep things cool. Seems the glycol chiller is absolutely my next purchase...

something i had still meant to add above is my Tilt hydrometer log, which helps show an OG far closer to what I expected to see. So i still need to figure out that Refractometer and BRIX conversion...

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Last edited by alphakry on Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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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: Mon Mar 11, 2019 11:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok! Just wanted to make sure. That's some expensive electricity but given the context it makes perfect sense. You're going to have to make sure you enjoy those beers. Wink

Kal

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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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blazinlow86




Joined: 15 Jan 2017
Posts: 104
Location: vancouver bc


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 5:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

i believe your need to run a much lower power setting with the steam slayer. closer to the 40% range would probably be a good starting point from what ive read. also when you say you added alot of acid do you know specifically how much? i would **guess** you could need 10+ml to get down to the 5.2 range at room temp at the end of your mash. also keep in mind the ph generally raises thru out the mash also. cheers
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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: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While opinions vary on this, one of the many things that I believe gives my beer good long term stability is a very hard/vigorous boil. I wouldn't go too low. I like to boil the snot out of my wort, and I don't seem to be the only one when I read comments over at probrewer. My hop forward beers seem to keep their flavour/aroma longer than expected and I've had other brewers comment on this when trying things like my Electric Hop Candy Jr - they think I just kegged it a week ago when in fact it's sometimes 3-6+ months old but still has that hop flavour/aroma punch when new.

(My 2 cents)

Kal

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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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blazinlow86




Joined: 15 Jan 2017
Posts: 104
Location: vancouver bc


PostLink    Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree and also boil aggressively. I was only speaking about using the steam slayer which keeps the kettle sealed up therefore requires considerably less power to avoid boiling over from what I've read. Cheers
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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: Fri Mar 29, 2019 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gotcha! Sorry about that.

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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SkunkFunkk




Joined: 09 May 2019
Posts: 1
Location: montreal


PostLink    Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 3:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice setup ,

Will you upload pictures soon ?

Thx
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alphakry




Joined: 27 Oct 2018
Posts: 88



PostLink    Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yes, sorry for the delay in my log updates and photos. I've been fine tuning things a bit and getting used to the system generally - so everything is a bit messy and not "photo ready" just yet! Smile (Plus I've been making it messier as I spend any free time I do have actually making beer!)

Stay tuned!!!

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