Electric brewing.

What it is:
Using hot water heating elements as a heat source for brewing (opposed to
direct fire or electric range top).
Why you might want to consider it: (opposed to direct fire or an electric range top)

Safety: less chance of unintentional fires, no poisonous gases, extremely

predictable.

Precise control: even without any automation electric brewing can be more
predictable. With automation it is extremely predictable making repeatability
simple. Its easier to prevent a boil over from happening

Higher efficiency: A 5500w element will produce 20K BTU none of which are
lost in to the environment. An 80K propane or natural gas burner can loose in to
the environment between 50 to 80% of those BTU in to the environment
depending on conditions (wind and burner type).

Cheaper fuel source: I estimate my last 10 gallon batch cost $3.75 in fuel verse
$10-12 it cost before with propane.

More comfort/less stress: Brewing in doors or out, brewing silence; the only
sound is the whirl of a pump and/or the bubbling of wort! No fear or a burner
blowing out. Its easier to prevent a boil over from happening.

Draw back

Set up cost are higher and/or take longer: If you are just starting out and (or just
moving to all grain) are a little handy then a picnic cooler plus plumbing parts
($25) and a turkey fryer setup ($75) and youre off and running. There are a few
off the shelf electric brewing controllers the most basic starting at $300 plus the
cost of the heating element and enclosures
Less mobile: you need to be in reach of a power source, you cant just pull your
gear out of you ride, set it up and start brewing.

What I did:
Attached are the wiring diagram and a spread sheet of my major purchase. I retrofitted
my Propane set-up so I had the kettles, pumps, hoses w/ camlocks and all the other
pluming parts like ball valves so keep that in mind when applying it to your build (also
needed is away to recalculate and the maintain the mash temp). It took me 7 months from
when I started my research until my first brew day. If I were to guess Id say it about 1520 hours of hands on work and the rest on R and D to determine what I want, mine
system is 100% custom and hand made by me (just like my beer).

Quick details/terms:
Ground Fault circuit interrupter (GFCI): When ever electricity is used near water
there must be a GFCI between the supply and the load and brewing is no exception, DO
NOT SKIP or OVER LOOK GFCI protection in your build!!!

Heat stick: A quick and easy way to supply supplementary heat to any brewing set up:
stove top, heating strike/sparge water directly on a cooler. It is a heating element mounted
on a stick (plumbing parts) that is then plugged in to a GFIC protected outlet to heat
liquid.
PWM: Pulse-width modulation; simply put its like a lamp dimmer switch (but not) for
your heating element.

PID: Proportional, Integral, Derivative. These controllers are designed to eliminate the
need for continuous operator attention. Its like cruise control in a car but for brewing it is
used to maintain temps instead of M.P.H.
RIMS: Recirculating Infusion Mash System. An electric, non-direct fire way to maintain
mash temps. (Can be use with non- electric set ups)
HERMS: Heat Exchanged Recirculating Mash System Another non-direct fire way to
maintain mash temps. (Doesnt have to be electric)
In the back there is a page that I found and cut and pasted to my this I didnt write in and
I dont know if it helps or makes RIMS and HERMS confusing
Resources:
http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/
Start here and dont let it over whelm you!! He also sells almost turnkey deluxe ebrewery products.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/
This forum is where I did just about all my R & D. Use the search function because just
about every question you will have has been asked and answered.
http://www.ebrewsupply.com/
One stop shopping for just about every thing youll need, he has kits for a few different ebrewing configurations.
Me: noah.m.pearce@gmail I will help you in anyway I can and I also have a very good
welder that lives around the corner!
http://westchesterhomebrewers.org/ Your Club!!!! Besides myself there are other in this
club that have built e-breweries and we are more then willing to help you

Parts to make a heat stick

Heat assembled.

RIMS and HERMS explained

What does RIMS mean?
RIMS stands for Recirculating Infusion Mash System. After
mashing (adding the milled grain to the water), we let it rest for a
while at a certain temperature. The enzymes from the grain convert
the starch into sugars. In a RIMS brewing setup, the water is
circulated continuously through the grain. This explains the
'recirculating' in RIMS.
A pump is therefore an essential component of a RIMS system. In
the bottom of the Mash / Lauter Tun (MLT), there is a manifold or a
false bottom that keeps the grain in the MLT when the (sugar) water
is drawn out. The (sugar) water is then pumped back on top of the
grain bed. During recirculation, the water can be heated to
compensate for heat losses.
RIMS home-brewers use an electric heating element that is controlled by a PID
controller. This controller controls the temperature in a tube by controlling the amount of
heat.
Another way of heating is by placing a burner under the MLT. But this is not really
preferred once the grain is added to the MLT since you might scorch the grain (gives a
bitter taste).

What does HERMS

mean?

HERMS stands for Heat

Exchanged Recirculating
Mash System. It is a
certain type of a RIMS
system. Besides the MLT,
we also have a Hot Liquid
Tun (HLT), which
contains the sparging
water.

If you add a heat

exchanger to the HLT (a
long spiral tubing), you
can then circulate the mash through the heat exchanger. So by heating the HLT,
you also heat the mash.
In fact you can say that a HERMS system is a RIMS system where heating is
done by the heat exchanger in the HLT. By raising the temperature in the HLT,
you can increase the MLT temperature.