Electrical brewing system guts.

I decided to go all electric with my brewery to allow for full indoor brewing. This is ideal for my locale, Oregon, as the weather from October until June is rain, rain, and more rain. So, I spent some time and put together a system that runs on a single 4,500 W hot water element for each keg that heats (i.e., the kettle and the HLT). The elements are cycled by a microprocessor-driven PID controller from Omega (model # CN76000). These are usually not cheap, ranging from about $40 to 100+ each on eBay, and over $400 when bought new. But if you want to do it right (a relative notion, of course), these are a good way to go. The PIDs push solid state relays (SSRs), that then cycle the power to the heater elements. My SSRs are made by Opto-22 and are set for AC output rated at 240 V and up to 45 A (model # 240D45). I know a 45 A SSR is overkill for a 20 A element, but I have no worry of it overheating or being a limiting factor.

The heart of the brewery is the electrical control shown schematically to the left. The diagram shows only one circuit, but two are present in the box to allow both the HLT and boil kettle to be fully operational at the same time. Both input lines (240 V and 110 V) are GFCI-protected. The 110 V line has a simple GFCI outlet that I can plug the PID directly into, or I can install an electrical timer to have the system start heating strike water before I wake up. For the 240 V power I have a 40 A Siemens GFCI circuit breaker installed in my load center (model # QF240).

Of course, EVERYTHING is grounded.

Additional bits that are included are a separate 30 A magnetic hydraulic circuit breaker on each line going to the heater. These are from NewarkInOne and are part numbers: 56F896. I use them as backup on/off switches. There is a DPST toggle for each element that controls the final power to the heaters. These are rated at 20 A at 240 V. Finally, the SSRs are mounted on an aluminum heatsink to dissipate the heat that can build up during a brew session.

The controls are shown to the right here, in action. There is a central toggle that controls the 110 V line for the PIDs and the toggles for the elements are to the right. The plugs for the electrical elements extend from the bottom. I used NEMA 6-20P plugs and outlets for the heaters with 10/3 SOOW electrical cord to tie it all together. The heaters are 4,500 W low density elements that pull about 19 amps at 240 V. In the image, the HLT is turned off after sparging (at 178 F) and the boil kettle is fully operational at 212 F. (It does help to calibrate the PIDs.)

The last image at the lower left shows the means by which the heaters are wired at the keg. I used two open metal work boxes screwed together and brought the wire in through the side to attach to the element. The boxes are affixed to the keg with J-B Weld. The whole keg is grounded through the wiring.