Living in the Phoenix area prompted me to design a brewery that I could use indoors during the summer heat. That meant that it had to be electric, small, portable, and able to run off 120V. The largest 120V heating element is 2000 W, which meant that I could boil no more than 5 gallons max - no problem since I like the process as brewing almost as much as the end product. Here’s what I came up with - the Brewkart! I end up with 4 gallons into the fermenter, which is just fine by me. It’s all stainless and copper, PID controlled, and fully portable for the occasional brewout. It’s also a 2 vessel (Brutus 20 style - I still mange to get 70 - 72% effeciency) HERMS system that utilizes the coil for both mash temperature control as well as chilling. All I need to do is clean out the mash tun during the boil, and fill it with ice water that gets pumped through the coil to chill. Along with a constant recirculation of the wort, I can chill 4 gallons to pitching temp very quickly. Also, no hoses need to be moved while brewing (limits the possibility of indoor messes). Lastly, many props go out to the folks on homebrewtalk.com who inspired and helped me along the way!
I don’t see why they’d have a problem with it… I’m a paid member, credit them in this post, and am somewhat active over there. Really though, I’m just lazy… already had the pics uploaded on their site… If I hear that from anyone there that they don’t want me linking to them, I’ll re-do it…
If you want anyone here to be able to see the pics, then you need to re-do it. You might be able to see them since they’re yours but nobody else can. We just get lots of images saying “no hotlinking”
With a full 5 gallons (pre-boil) in the kettle, it probably takes about 20 min to get to boil from mash-out temps, though this is a guess as I don’t have that info documented.
Step temps are quicker, as I only have about 3 gal in the kettle when it’s acting as HLT. I get about 2 deg/min rise in mash temp.
1 - Looks great! And is a lot like the idea I’ve been wanting to build in the basement. (Although I’m looking at 10 gallons, so I’m looking at using two 3500w 120v on two different breakers for my setup.)
2 - was the largest element you could find the 2000? I’ve seen as high as 5500 on a 120 line. Was it a question of size or concern over power usage, or caramelization of the wort?
Sweet! I am not sure what I like better; the brew cart, the home office set up complete with a library, or the fact that you have an oak barrel. Oh, okay, I love it all.
Great job on the build. I like the compact design too.
