Beer Forum

I have been trying to find a way to brew in my basement and the only way I can see it happening is to go electric. I would like to be able to brew 10 gallon batches but I think it might be tough to bring that much liquid to a boil. Some one suggested using this http://millerharness.com/product.asp?pn ... ap=X4-4758 I like the fact that its simple but I dont think it would be any where near strong enough for 10 gallons. Anyone have any suggestions to make this work?

any help is appreciated.

A 1000W heater like that would take 61 minutes to take 170F wort to 212F, assuming no thermal losses. There are plenty of loss opportunities. If the losses are significant enough, it never will get it there.

1500W would take 41 minutes for the same temps and volume. Again, assuming no thermal losses.

If you had 240V available you could use a 4500W element, and the time drops to about 14 minutes.

All of this does not address wort scorching, proper electrical safety, etc.

For the HLT, 1000W, 13 gallons from 55F to 173F is 225 minutes, and at 4500W, it is 50 minutes (all assuming no losses).

thanks code

I am totally clueless about this kind of thing so I will have an electrician I know wire this up. I do have access to a 240V (unplug the dryer) where can I find some plans for this?

check out www.wortomatic.com for Carl's Electric HLT. I just built an electric HERMS following this design. Just my HLT is electric though, I still use propane for my boil.

Yeah, you can use that bucket heater to maintain your HLT, but for a boil you're going to need more watts. 240V can make life easy. Other people use multiple 120V circuits and heating elements, typically three for a boil.

Here's the system I use http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=2351&idcategory=276
I've done over 100 brews on it along with a boil keggle sold by the same place. Works great, creates a lot of steam for indoors, and I would consider adding a float switch.

If you're at wortomatic.com, check out my system. It's all electric and I use 240v so there's a lot of current to work with....

highgravity looks like they might carry what Im looking for, Im thinking that their weldless set up looks pretty simple https://www.highgravitybrew.com/product ... oduct=2652