How to learn about advanced homebrewing systems?

[PhillyBrewer]

I'd like to start planning my brew sculpture or at least do research on exactly what I'd like mine to be like. I'm at least a year or two off from actually making this happen as I have to move first.

The most advanced AG system I've brewed on is the common cooler setup so "RIMS", "HERMS", "SMART", etc. are just buzz words. I'm a DIY kind of guy so I'll probably turn this into an opportunity to learn how to weld and make the sculpture myself.

How did those with advanced systems learn about them and what they wanted? As a tactile learner, I'll try to find a brewer with such a system in my area for me to check out an actual brew day on one of these rigs. I also found this B3 manual. What other resources are there out there for me to learn more about these advanced systems?

[JohnF]

I'd like to start planning my brew sculpture or at least do research on exactly what I'd like mine to be like. I'm at least a year or two off from actually making this happen as I have to move first.

The most advanced AG system I've brewed on is the common cooler setup so "RIMS", "HERMS", "SMART", etc. are just buzz words. I'm a DIY kind of guy so I'll probably turn this into an opportunity to learn how to weld and make the sculpture myself.

How did those with advanced systems learn about them and what they wanted? As a tactile learner, I'll try to find a brewer with such a system in my area for me to check out an actual brew day on one of these rigs. I also found this B3 manual. What other resources are there out there for me to learn more about these advanced systems?

A number of people who have designed system's like Lonnie Mac's Brutus Ten and Kal's Electric Brewery have published detailed plans.

I think HERMS and RIMS were just clever ways to deal with the problem of holding (or increasing) mash temperature. SMART is just a HERMS implementation. All of the automated type systems seem to rely on recirculating the mash (the liquid part) the question is how do you heat it (electricity, direct heat, HLT coil) and what are you controlling with your controller (pump, firing of an element, burner under HLT, burner under mash).

[captain carrot]

Check out this thread.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1061
Lot's of great systems.

[PhillyBrewer]

Thanks. I've seen most of that brewing pr0n before.

So I suppose I could focus on a brew stand without any digital, etc. controls but that would be nicer than coolers and kettles strewn all over the place OR I could pursue one of these ridiculous controlled systems. Is the only real difference that the latter is more about pushing buttons to control things (and control them much more closely)? A single-tier rig with pumps would be a large step up from my cooler setup and I suppose I need to decide whether I want to stick with just that or to go balls to the wall with a controlled system...

[snowcapt]

Thats about what I got out of it, too. I think that the set-up I have righht now, will work for me indefinitely. I have the ol' cooler(white) and a burner and 2 pots. Works for me and I enjoy the beers that come out of it. Maybe in the future, when my back gives out, I just get lazy, or win the damn lottery, I will upgrade to a push button system. Maybe I will even just get a guy to boss around and do my bidding.
I do like the hands on approach (not on the guy, damnit!), thats why I got into this, after all.
And not to mention, I am completely dumb-founded and absolutley confused when I look at some of these set-ups. I wouldnt even know where to begin with those things. Maybe after I graduate from college, I will be able to wrap my mind around some of those things.
Kudos to those who have 'em, and kudos to those who dont.

[krizwit]

Ideally the best thing to do would be to see the systems in action. Not only the "brewing' part, but also the cleaning. I have changed my system up throughout the last 5 years of brewing. Started out with extract for 2 months, then all-grain in a cooler, got a pump and drained the wort into a kettle which I heated and then added the wort back to a kettle, later I got a kettle for a MT and did a RIMS recircing the wort in the kettle, now I have HERMS on a ghetto wood stnad that I made and love where I use a bucket heater or two to raise the temp with two controllers and a control panel that I made with 4 switches. I enjoy figuring out ways to "improve" my system. There are pros and cons to every system. You have to figure out what works best for you. A no sparge with my old cooler MT for a 5g batch is great..... Saves time and easy to clean. I do recommend building a stand if you have room for it. I wish I would have made one years ago.

[aleguy]

I strongly recommend a single tier, two pump system with at least three propane burners. (Burners are cheap.) You can go all electric, But I like my propane system. I designed my system after seeing at least five RIMS in action in my LHBC. I stole ideas from all of them and incorporated some new ones myself. A few rule of thumb: 1) Keep the burner tops 18"-24" from the ground. That allows you to stir the mash and BK comfortably. 2) Always point the outflow of your pump straight up. That prevents air bubbles from getting caught and stopping your flow. 3) As much as possible, put all your controls in one place. Pump switches, needle valves, temp controllers, etc. (Believe it or not, I've seen stands with gas valves on both the front and back of the stand. Some easily reachable, others placed so you would scorch your hand trying to reach them.)
As far as automating. It is a lot easier to brew when you don't have to worry about watching your thermometers and relighting the burners. I've collected several links that builders may find useful for getting parts. (I got 1/4" 8262 Asco Red hat valves from ebay for cheap. ~$5 each. you can still find them for less than $15 each including shipping.)
http://www.deadyeast.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=458

[Cliff]

Advanced?
What do you mean by that?
You want to build a Brutus, a gravity system, a pumped two or three tank system HERMS, RIMS, HOT ROCK, or maybe a custom GISELE BUNDCHEN (I named my brewery after Gisele).
Microprocessor controller or arduino or PIDS?
Electric or gas?

Ya gotta narrow the thing down a little bit and for that I suggest a few hours of good old fashioned internet-S research