The brewery is coming together

[Chockpish]

Hey chockpish, where did you get the twist lock plug receptacle that you have in your panel there?

I believe I got it from auberins.com. I know liteco carries some of these as well, so you may want to check them out.

[Chockpish]

First Power ON test carried out today on the controller; all good! Next up is the building of the MLT & Brew Kettle. I need to silver solder the spud for the element, which will reside in the BK. I got the Harris Stay Brite from brew hardware in the States.

Hoping to start brewing sometime soon, gettin' thirsty!!

[jeffsmith]

Control panel looks nice and neat. Well done!

[Chockpish]

Ok, so finally I got to brew on my new setup 2 days ago! I have tested a 19 gallon red ale (extract with some crystal malt steeping for 30 minutes). I used only the brew kettle, as there was no mashing involved so no need for the mash tun. The good side;

- controller works flawlessly, so does the chugger pump.
- oxygenation with new setup went well, though the bubbling action seemed a bit big from the .5 micron stone ( 1 litre/minute flow, with one minute duration). I will try another spare stone next time just in case mine was the bigger 2 micron for aeration in case it was mislabeled from purchase.
- I got high krausen after approx 24 hrs, quite vigorous at 20 deg Celsius.

The challenges;

- jammed plate chiller from the pellet hop debris. I was down to a trickle flow, and the cooling from boil to 25 deg Celsius took about 2 hours. I had previously installed a copper scrub wool at the bk outlet, but it clogged up and the pump was cavitating and had to yank it out - real fun with a 21 gallons boiling wort above it! I have a hop blocker from blichmann that I ll use next time.
- I got condensation from my hood dripping back into my bk during the boil. It s a fancy 30 inch stainless design hood pushing through 50 feet of 5 inch flex duct to the outside, and it's not sufficient. Getting an inline fan with 1702 cfm this weekend so I'll bypass the existing one. I figure if those are good enough for the grass growers then it should be fine for my honourable purposes!!

This was my first full worth boil ever, and it's a beer I have brewed a few times in the past. Looking fwd to taste whatever difference there might be!

Cheers!

[chalmers]

Awesome report! Sounds like the issues are fixable without too much trouble. Cheers!