Anatomy of an up-cycled Brew Stand

A couple of weeks ago I had a friend over for a brew session. He asked me some questions about my brew stand and about how much I have invested into it. I really had never added it up, but I figured it was much less than an off the shelf brew sculpture with similar specs.

There are a small number of commercially built brew stands out on the market. These come in various designs, but they are all pretty costly. They range from around $2,000 to $5,000. My favorite is probably Morebeers tippy dump system. In stainless with all the bells and whistles the price comes in at over $6,000 for the 20 gallon version.

I guess the main thing I would point out about my brew stand is that it is completely weldless. It is also pieced together out of a number of parts. The idea behind this post is to explain all of those parts, and try to put a price to them all.

The base of the entire stand is a heavy duty "Gorilla" rack from Costco. It was actually a gift, but I will list the price to include in the total. I use two shelfs, the bottom and top. For the third shelf I just run a single bar just below the level of the burners. It's maybe 7 holes up from the bottom of the rack. This is just to add some stability

The only real modification to the rack was a set of caster wheels I picked up for cheap at a local industrial surplus store.

For burners I used one Blichmann floor burner for the boil kettle. The burner and stand for both the HLT and MLT was originally a two burner cajun cooker cart. It was also found at a surplus store. The cart was actually two pieces. I basically discarded everything but the top section with the burners.


Here is what it looked like out of the box:

Everything else on the stand consists of gas piping, and 110v solenoids on the HLT and MLT. In addition there is a tankless water heater and three stage water filter bolted to the side of the rack.

Here is a good picture of the stand and the main components just discussed. The picture is a little old. At the time I was using a PID, and only the large boil kettle is still in use. In it you can see the blichmann and the remains of the cooking cart.

The burners are all hooked up to a single propane tank. The HLT and MLT also have standing pilots and needle valves to adjust the pilot size. Here is a close up look at this set up. You could forgo the main red valve since you have the normally closed solenoid, but I like it for a quick shut off ability.





My first attempt to add everything up I came in at just under $3,000 for everything except the computers (tablet, laptop) that I use to run the BCS since those things are not dedicated to the brewery. I also did not include my grain mill, fermenters, kegs, etc. It's just the items connected to the stand. This is not bad considering the size of the kettles and that it is completely digital.  It's half the price of Morebeers single tier digital 26 gallon set up.

Part	Price
Heavy duty rack	150
Blichmann floor burner	150
two burner cajun cook stand	60
Solenoids	65
Gas piping, valvles	120
Hose, cam locks	100
Morebeer 26 gallon HLT, MLT,  Kettle, sparge arm	1300
March Nanobrewery pump	350
Plate chiller	80
BCS 460	180
Wiring, temp probes	100
Water filters, parts	85
Tankless water filter	200
	$2,940

Tankless Water heater

Pretty much my current setup.

UPDATE: Here are some close up pictures of my favorite brew gadget, the LPG tankless water heater.

Gas Connection to heater

Gas connection at heater

Flexible pipe connection

Brewing Automation: Brewtroller DX1 Vs BCS 460

When deciding how to automate I had a choice to make between Open Source Control Systems Opentroller/Brewtroller DX1 and the BCS 460 from Embedded Control Concepts. I ended up going with the brewtroller for one main reason. The ability to measure volume. I was so geeked about that fact that I may have overlooked other pros and cons of both of these controllers.

I have now owned and used both of these controllers, and here are my thoughts.

Opentroller / Brewtroller DX1 I picked up the DX1 in late August 2012. We wired everything up, and used an old metal CD holder for the case. The DX1 is made up of a number of parts besides the main controller. Putting those parts together was no big deal. Getting outputs and temp sensors to work was more difficult. Accessing the code and setting up outputs is all done by hooking the DX1 to a computer and uploading them through software that can be found on the OSCS site. Getting everything functioning took a few trys and I had to seek out help online or from OSCS. Even then I had a number of things that just simply did not work. None were critical to actually brewing beer, but had these things worked I might still be using it. Con- The click wheel interface  It is at it's most annoying when you sit there inputting a recipe into the system using the click wheel when the temperature is very cold. It's just horrible. You get this awful lag in the LCD due to the freezing temps. Sure, it wouldn't be bad if I could upload a beer XML file, but I never got that to work. You still have the web interface, but I was never able to import from that interface either. Pro- Volume measurements I am marking this as a pro, but I never got to do it. Once I got the controller I had many other issues to deal with so I never got close to measuring volume. I had a number of issues that I cannot blame solely on the controller. Apparently the switch to the new controller and temperature sensors changed my system enough that I ruined a substantial amount of beer before I realized I had an overheating issue. I brewed over 50 gallons to fill a Bourbon barrel and all of that beer is most likely going to be dumped unless I can get rid of the tannin off flavor. I should have been more cautious but I just didn't think it would cause such a change in how the temperature was being read. I will say that after monitoring temps in a number of locations with multiple thermometers, I was able to get that issue resolved by moving the location for measuring mash temp. So not every batch I brewed with the DX1 was bad. The biggest gripe I had with the DX1 was access. I disliked the click wheel interface. There is the Brewtroller Live web interface but for me it only worked for basic monitoring, and even then temps refreshed really slowly. I was never able to get any of the commands to work or upload a recipe file using it. Lastly I had a random issue when brewing and trying to move to the next step in the brewing process where I would get an error "program failed to advance". After six months of brewing with the DX1, it was not living up to the picture of automation I had in my mind.

This January, six months after I bought the Brewtroller, I went back and checked out the BCS product again. I saw that Derrin over at Brewers Hardware had bought EBC, the company that was producing the BCS. I liked the investment, direction, and the focus that it seemed he was putting into it. Once again the only drawback I was seeing was the lack of volume measurement. But seeing where I was at with the Brewtroller after six months, I no longer cared. I wanted to make the switch. So I did.

EBC BCS 460 We purchased the controller, two temperature sensors, and some SSRs to replace our relays. We had everything wired up quickly. We immediately brewed 15 gallons of Black IPA. We payed extra close attention to temps because of our previous experience, but everything seemed to go really well. We started to play around with the process control functions, but ran everything in manual mode. Pro- Plug and Play When originally deciding which system to go with, I did not even really think about this as a deciding factor. I knew the BCS was simpler and the DX1 more complex. So it wasn't until after working with the DX1 and then the BCS that I can now say without a doubt that simple wins hands down. We could have had this thing up and running in an hour but we found our relay switches from the DX1 would not operate with the BCS. We had to wait a little longer as we ordered SSRs. We quickly finished the system set up as soon as they arrived. Pro- Interface It looks great, it works great, and the refresh rate is super fast. Therefore the BCS kills it in this area. I already mentioned that the default click wheel input on the DX1 was one of the things I disliked about it the most. With the BCS the default interface is from a browser. At first glance it might seem confusing, but it is pretty straight forward. You can assign all your inputs and outputs from it. No need to edit and upload config files to it. Yes, you need some other device to interface with the BCS. For me that meant putting an old mac mini and 23 inch LCD monitor into my garage. The nice thing was I already had this stuff lying around unused. The only thing I had to purchase was a swing arm style mount for the LCD. I put the computer in the garage for the BCS, but I now love having it out there. We are using it for a bunch of other things than just displaying the BCS control page. Pro- Use it how you like Want to just control HLT, MLT temps? You don't need to build processes to do that. Just pull up the manual control page, enter temps, and off you go. Ready for more complex events and automation? It can do that too. Just start creating processes to do multiple steps. With the DX1, you can define your system set-up. So number of vessels, capacity, that type of thing. However when it comes to the event of brewing, you have to go through every part in a linear step by step approach. But what if I don't do mash outs? You cannot remove it. When it gets to that step you can use click wheel, open the menu and step past it. But I shouldn't have to worry about doing that if I don't mash out. It is probably possible to change this in the software code itself, but that is something I would rather do from a simple interface. The BCS lets you build processes that match your brewing routine. So it is truly customized to you. Con- No volume measurement I need to put this down as a con since I originally saw this function as the deciding factor in a home brewery automation control system. I have heard around the inter-webs that EBC is working on adding volume measurements. If it happens that will be great and I will look to add it quickly. I only have two brew sessions with the BCS so far, but those brew days went smoothly. I am really looking forward to building some more complex processes. I am also already thinking about adding more automation, rather than trying to fix functionality that's not working correctly.

Here is a quick glance at some of my thoughts on how these two compare

Final Thoughts

While it is obvious after reading this that the BCS is the right hardware for me, I have nothing but good things to say about the people over at Brewtroller. They were always there to help me when I was encountering issues. Some of which were undoubtedly created by myself.

I felt ready and willing to take on a system that I knew was way more DIY than plug and play. Looking back it seems that although I was able to work through issues and get the thing functioning, I was underwhelmed with what I had. To improve it, to make it work as expected, was probably over my head and too time consuming for me. So in the end I made the switch to something simpler in many ways, but also very powerful and complex if you want it to be.

*** Update *** 9/4/2013

I have now been using the BCS setup for 9 months and have brewed -ahem- a lot of beer with it. I can say without a doubt that I have made the right decision. I will note that we did have one issue that bugged me for a while. The temp would bounce or fluctuate quite a bit. This would take place during mashing. The jumps were completely illogical, and could not be real. Example: No heat source on, 38 pounds of grain, and 15 gallons of water recirculating in the mash tun and the temp would jump up or down up to 7 degrees at a time. Then it would jump back.

That issue seems to have resolved itself. We first looked at it as a electrical shielding issue. We reconfigured our set up by moving things into a much larger control box. Then we updated the firmware on the BCS. The last couple of brew sessions have been very stable and I feel the issue is now resolved.

I have also created processes for most of the brew day. I use these processes to maintain HTL temps, mashing, including multi-step mash profiles, as well as the boil with alarms for every hop addition.

Overall I am very happy with the controller.

Brewtroller conquered?

This past weekend we brewed up a Belgian style Dubbel using the Brewtroller for a second time.



Massive cold break!

The good news is that we had no real issues with the setup. We were able to get it to successfully control both the HLT and the MLT. We were still a little nervous about leaving things unattended for too long, but the remote viewing of the process does ease some concerns.

We do have a couple of outputs on the Brewtroller board that are shorted out. This is what caused some of the issues we have had the past week or so. Once we hooked up a voltage meter we were able to diagnose these problems and move outputs around.

So far the guys at Open Source Control Systems have been great to work with. They said we can send back the board and they will fix the shorted outputs.

Next up we will be attempting to add volume sensors to the HLT and Kettle.

As for the beer we brewed, we followed the water volumes that the Brewtroller provided, but I think we had a little more sparge water than we were supposed to. We ended up with an OG that was just a little under the expected value. Hopefully we can easily measure out things like 15.75 gallons easily after the volume sensors are in place.

Belgian Dubbel

Batch Size: 17.00 gal	Style: Belgian Dubbel (18B)
Boil Size: 18.18 gal	Style Guide: BJCP 2008
Color: 17.5 SRM	Equipment: 15 My Equipment
Bitterness: 22.4 IBUs	Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.066 (16.0° P)	Mash Profile: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Est FG: 1.007 SG (1.7° P)	Fermentation: Ale, Single Stage
ABV: 7.8%	Taste Rating: 30.0

Ingredients

Amount	Name	Type	#
30 lbs	Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM)	Grain	1
1 lbs 6.0 oz	Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)	Grain	2
6.0 oz	Special B Malt (180.0 SRM)	Grain	3
2 lbs	Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM)	Grain	4
2 lbs	Turbinado (10.0 SRM)	Grain	5
2.0 oz	Northern Brewer [8.5%] - Boil 60 min	Hops	6
2.0 oz	Styrian Goldings [5.4%] - Boil 15 min	Hops	7
2 lbs	Candi Syrup, Dark [Boil for 15 min] (180.0 SRM)	Grain	8
5 pkgs	Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522)	Yeast	9

Birthday brew session and 1st Brewtroller attempt

Yesterday I brewed up a British Mild. This is the lowest gravity version of the English Brown ale style. I wanted a relativity small and easy beer to brew as I was trying out the new Brewtroller setup.

The good news: I loaded my recipe and used the strike volume suggested by the Brewtroller, and I hit my OG. So it seems like I have the equipment set up in the system correctly. Things started off pretty good, and my HLT heated up to the desired temp and turned off.


The bad news: I doughed in and started recirculating the mash. I had my Sacch rest set for 156. 156 came and went and my burner stayed on. I had it set up correctly from what I could tell, but it just did not work. I ended up having to switch the temp probes and wiring around to make the system think my MLT was my HLT so it would maintain my setpoint.

So all was not lost, the session turned out fine, but there is still work to do to get the software to work as I desire.

Here is the recipe I brewed up for anyone that's interested.

Birthday Brown (mild ale style)
	Style: Mild	OG: 1.044
	Type: All Grain	FG: 1.010
	Rating: 0.0	ABV: 4.3 %
	Calories: 134	IBU's: 17.49
	Efficiency: 75 %	Boil Size: 11.04 Gal
	Color: 19.3 SRM	Batch Size: 10.00 Gal
	Preboil OG: 1.039	Boil Time: 60 minutes

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount	Percentage		Name	Time	Gravity
12.50 lbs	76.92 %		Golden Promise (UK)	60 mins	1.038
1.50 lbs	9.23 %		Simpsons Medium (UK)	60 mins	1.035
0.75 lbs	4.62 %		Briess Caramel 120L	60 mins	1.032
0.50 lbs	3.08 %		Chocolate Malt (UK)	60 mins	1.034
0.50 lbs	3.08 %		Brown Malt (UK)	60 mins	1.032
0.50 lbs	3.08 %		Naked Oats (UK)	60 mins	1.046

Hops
Amount	IBU's		Name	Time	AA %
2.00 ozs	17.49		Goldings, East Kent	45 mins	5.00

Yeasts
Amount	Name	Laboratory / ID
2.00 pkg	Safale S-04	Fermentis S-04

Additions

(none)

Mash Profile

Full Body Infusion In 60 min @ 156.0°F

Add 19.69 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 170.0°F

New Opentroller Dx1 ordered - what have I done!

Well I have been thinking a lot about upgrading the brewery to run on new Opentroller (Brewtroller) platform. I am a geek at heart so it should be a cool project for me. 

This morning they had a few in stock so I pulled the trigger.

The first step will be to add my HLT and MLT. In the future I plan to add volume measurement and maybe some other automation.

Let the journey begin!

Basic set up I will be working on. I will not automate the kettle... at least not for a while.