My new beer brewing stand is getting so close I can almost taste the home brew.

All of the hard plumbing of the gas lines has been completed and tested. The gas valve and pilot light works as expected. After I tightened the pilot light compression fitting the brewing stand seems leak free!

I have completed the based for the top tier and secured it in place.

So… What’s left?  I need to complete the design for the easy dump top tier.  I am developing something a bit different than the tipsy dump. If all goes well, it will function a bit smoother.

I need to mount the pump and also intend on adding a longer propane “in” hose.

The propane banjo burner and propane jet burner have been plumbed. The main vertical tube is assembled using 1/2″ steel black pipe.  The Banjo burner has a 1/4″ ball valve assembled in-line.

This system is designed for 10 (or less) psi propane to enter the main black pipe assembly. From there, the propane will flow to the Banjo Burner and the Jet Burner. The Jet Burner has a 1/2 psi regulator prior to propane entering the gas valve. (Since the gas valve functions at 1/2 psi) The gas valve is part of the automation system.

It’s getting really close to being completed.

A friend of mine wanted me to assemble a temperature control box for his gas valve. He chose the Johnson Control A419 to be the heart of his system. The controller has a digital display with adjustable differential. It can be used to heat or cool and features a wide setpoint temperature range (-30° F to 220° F) and differential adjustment (1° F to 3° F). The temperature sensor is a 1.94 inch thermistor on an 8 foot cable. The purpose of this build is to control the gas valve which fires the burner for the hot liquor tank.

The challenges I faced building this control box was different voltages. The A419 he purchased runs on 120 or 240 volts but the gas valve functions on 24 volts. This means that I needed to power the A419 with 120 volts and power the switched side with 24 volts.

This system was also designed for future additions. The goal was to make any future upgrades as easy to complete as possible. The plan for this box will be to add an additional controller, switches, and LED lights to the front of the panel. The lower portion of the control box will someday house two separate outlets which will run brewing pumps.

This control box consists of the box, a 24 volt transformer, a Johnson Controls A419 120/240 volt controller, two terminal blocks, and wire. Cost of materials is estimated at around $120.

One of the main components of my mash process is the Tri Clover RIMS tube which I purchased from Brewers Hardware. The RIMS tube contains an electric water heater element and temperature sensor.  Liquid wort will be circulated through the RIMS tube. The BCS 460 will turn the heating element on and off based on input from the temperature sensor.

I have now completed the mounting of the RIMS Tube on my new brewing stand. The RIMS tube is mounted vertically using two electrical pipe clamps. Removal of RIMS Tube for cleaning only requires turning two wing nuts.

The water heater element will be mounted at the bottom of the RIMS Tube.

I also completed the brackets for the Hot Liquor Tank gas valve. The burner and gas valve have their own individual brackets to support their weight. The gas valve is protected by a heat and liquid drip shield.

Stay tuned for the results of the gas line and component plumbing.

With summer here, I have not had as much time to work on this brewing stand as I would have like. One thing I realize is that all the custom made brackets are taking up serious time. Thank goodness most are now completed.

As of this update, I have added the pump mount to the stand. The mount includes tapped threads. I have also completed the mounting of the high pressure banjo burner.

The low pressure jet burner has been mounted.  On my old Brutus Ten clone, the jet burner didn’t have any support brackets. They were simply supported by the black gas pipe. On this build, I want to make sure every component is securely fastened.  I will provide more detailed images once the stand goes to paint. This burner will eventually be connected to a propane gas valve. The mounts for the gas valve have been designed but still need to be installed.

It’s time once again for a new build. After all, building for me is as much fun as the brewing of beer. This brew stand has three tiers and is very similar to the Morebeer 1550 or 2050 brew sculptures.The entire stand is crafted out of 1″ x 2″  1/8″ steel. The brew stand features a boil kettle, mash tun, and hot liquor tank.

The mash tun will drain into the boil kettle via gravity. The water from the hot liquor tank is pumped into the mash tun by way of a March brand pump. Once the water is mixed with the grain, the mash will recirculate through a RIMS tube and back into the mash tun.

The boil kettle is heated by a banjo high pressure propane burner. The hot liquor tank is heated by a low pressure propane burner. This burner is controlled by a gas valve.

As with my last brew system, this one will be monitored by the BCS460 brewing controller as well.

This build is in progress. Check back often for more pictures.

How do I connect my BCS-460 wirelessly to the internet? This seems to be one of the more common questions asked about the BCS-460 beer brewing controller.  It can also be one of the more confusing this to do… Until now…

The Universal WIFI Internet Adapter from NETGEAR makes this a simple task. You can plug your BCS460 Ethernet cable directly into the Universal WIFI Internet Adapter and have your BCS460 connect to your home network, wirelessly.  The directions in the box for the Netgear Universal WIFI Internet Adapter were easy to follow and took minimal programming to connect to my home network. I completed mine in less than 5 minutes.

As of 10/2010, I found the NETGEAR Universal Wifi Adapter at Walmart for $59.99.  The package comes with two options for power. You can use the supplied USB Cable connector or the Standard 120v plugin. Velco and an ethernet cable are included.

This stand alone device takes much less room than a concerted router and looks a lot cleaner for installation purposes.

What more could one ask for, a brewery with a view of the Pacific Ocean. Located in beautiful Pacific City, Oregon sits a true “gem” of a brewery. I’m talking about Pelican Pub and Brewery. My wife and I have had an opportunity to visit this brewery twice during the course of  last year while vacationing.

Pelican Pub & Brewery is located in Pacific City at Cape Kiwanda. Cape Kiwanda is part of the three capes scenic route. Kiwanda is the smallest of the three but the best to watch “wave action”. If the scenery isn’t enough to get your palate ready for beer tasting, I don’t know what will.

Pelican Pub & Brewery offers a wide variety of craft beer as well as a complete food menu. They serve breakfast, lunch,  dinner, dessert, and a kids menu.  I can speak highly of the tower of rings, clam chowder, and Mahi-Mahi tacos.  Both visits have provided consistent, quality food at a fair price.

Employees at the Pelican Pub & Brewery are very friendly and knowledgeable.  We were greeted and seated promptly when entering the Brewery with friendly staff. They were attentive to our needs and checked back often. One of the things we were most impressed with was the beer knowledge of the waitress. She knew the beer menu well and was also aware of what beers paired well with various menu items. This was impressive. She  also had a way of suggestion selling without being pushy. This was appreciated.  The worse part of our experience happened when we purchased a 22 oz bottle of IPA to go and left it in our hotel room at checkout. Sad, I know.

Now, for the main story. About the beers….. Pelican Pub & Brewery offers Kiwanda Cream Ale, Mac Pelicans Scottish Style Ale, Indian Pale Ale, Doryman’s Dark Ale, Tsunami Stout, and various other seasonal ales.  Pelican Pub & Brewery has some of the cleanest beers I have tasted.

If I were to pick only one of these beers to be my favorite Pelican flavor, it would be the Kiwanda Cream Ale. Winner of at least 15 various awards, Kiwanda Cream Ale was Inspired by one of America’s traditional 19th century beer styles. Kiwanda Cream Ale is pale gold with a fruity, floral hop aroma. A sweet malty flavor and a smooth dry finish round out this tasty, refreshing brew. This is for sure a “session”  beer.   Look towards the bottom of this article for ingredient list.

If you are a stout fan, be sure to try their Tsunami Stout. It’ll bowl you over with it’s midnight black color and rich dark-roasted aroma. Specially blended hops combine with flaked unmalted barley to give this brew a full body and a dense creamy head. All elements combine in a solid, lingering finish.

You will be pleased with a clean tasting craft beer from Pelican Pub and Brewery.

If you feel you’ve  had a bit too much Pelican Beer to be driving, the Cottages at Cape Kiwanda are located directly across the street. This is an easy walk and these rooms have an amazing view of the ocean and brewery. The picture at right was taken from our room at the Cottages.

Reward yourself with a vacation to Pacific City, Oregon and visit Pelican Pub & Brewery for an experience to remember.

Tsunami Stout Ingrediants -

2-Row Premium Malt Flaked Barley Roasted Barley Black Patent Malt Chocolate Malt

Willamette Hops Magnum Hops Pure Local Water

Kiwanda Cream Ale ingrediants -

Premium Two-Row Malt Flaked Barley Mount Hood Hops

Carapils Malt Pure Local Water Pure Ale Yeast

My newly added RIMS Tube for brewing beer makes provides another notch in my “gadgetry” belt. In fact, I think I enjoy gadgets just as much as I like the results (beer).

A few months back, I purchased the RIMS Tube for brewing beer from brewershardware.com. I’ve finally had a chance to brew a few batches of beer using this RIMS Tube.

The first challenge was finding a way to mount the rims tube to my current brew stand. I wanted easy access to the RIMS tube but didn’t want it to be in my way. It also needed to be out of the way of my propane burners and pumps. So, I created a horizontal bracket and mounted it just above the pumps. (See Picture)

The second challenge I had was determining what I was going to do for a power source. My home is newer but does not have a 220 volt circuit wired in the garage. My garage circuits are all 15 amps. I decided to use a 120v water heater element with the brewing Rims Tube.  This also forced me to purchase a heavier gauge extension cord. During my first test with water, I discovered that a 16 gauge cord didn’t handle the current very well. The extension cord was warm to the touch. I changed this out a 12 gauge cord and eliminated the issue.

Lastly, I had to create the BCS-460 connections. The connections were for the temperature probe and relay for the heater element. I purchased an additional relay and heatsink. Since I had already wired several other relays and probes to the system this was an easy process. I created a separate outlet box specifically for plugging in the water heater element (brewing RIMS Tube). It’s as simple as it gets.

The old – Prior to the RIMS Tube used for brewing, I recirculated during the entire mash process. My temperature probe was installed in the area nearest the “mash return” to the kettle. Temperature was regulated by means of a burner which received propane from a  Honeywell  brand gas valve.  My mash kettle has a false bottom and I don’t worry about scorching the grain. With this process, I am/was able to control the temperature of the mash +- 1 degree.

The new – Wort is drained from the mash tun under the false bottom into the pump. The pump pushes the wort into the RIMS Tube and past the temperature probe and heating element. Wort is passed back into the mash tun nearest the top of the kettle where it passes by another temperature probe.

After brewing several batches of beer using the RIMS Tube, I feel like I still need to tweak “something”. I am not sure exactly what “something”  is but the temperature stability is not as consistent as it was on my propane system. During my last batch of beer, I was wanting to maintain a temperature of 154 degrees during mash.  The BCS460 was set for +- 2 degrees of this setting but I saw swings as high as 158 degrees and as low as 150 degrees. It also took a bit longer to “Ramp” the temperature to 168 degrees for mash out. Perhaps this is being caused by my using a 120 volt water heater element instead of making this a 220 volt system. I will continue to work out my issues for precision temperature control.

Cleaning of the RIMS Tube after brewing beer is simple. I use a carboy brush on the main tube and a line cleaning brush on the ports. It is easy to rinse and disassemble. The water heater element usually is coated with proteins and such. A simple scrub or soak on the element and all seems to be well.

Overall, I am enjoying the RIMS Tube for brewing beer and will continue to tweak my system settings until it gives me the precision that I am after.

Today I received my RIMS Tube from Derrin over at Brewers Hardware. The item was shipped via USPS priority mail. Needless to say, I opened the package and was excited about all the sparkle from the stainless steel.  The items inside the package matched exactly what was described on Derrin’s website. 

For those who may not know what a RIMS Tube is…. R.I.M.S. stands for Recirculating Infusion Mash System. Simply put, during the mash process,  the wort is recirculated through the RIMS Tube to maintain the temperature of the wort. Inside the RIMS Tube is a hot water heater element. The heater element is usually controlled (on and off) by some sort of PID and temperature probe which would be installed in the RIMS Tube. 

The RIMS Tube from  brewershardware.com includes the following:

A water heater element and temperature controller are required but not included. Your system will also require a pump.

This well designed RIMS Tube is 16 inches in overall length and is designed as two pieces.  The two piece design allows you to rotate the inlet and outlet tubes into a most favorable position.

I am looking forward to using the RIMS Tube for the first time. Check back soon for updates!

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