Time flies, and I just looked back here to see that it has been over a year since my last post. A year ago, I switched from my regular Google account to a Google Apps account, and it has taken me this long to even start thinking about how to migrate all my picasa photos and blog posts.
The last picture on the blog (below) shows the system unfinished. At that time the electrical conduit had not been installed, and the main control panel had not been connected to the 5 satellite electrical enclosures. That was completed in June or so, and I brewed my first two test batches in August.
I tried to use the system to its full capabilities and brewing two batches simultaneously on that very first brew day, and I ran into all sorts of problems. I didn't have the BCS-462 programmed properly, and even if I had, some of the flow and circulation dynamics didn't work the way I was expecting. I was able to finish everything manually.
For the next two batches in October, I decided to just start with the very basics and wait until later to work my way up to greater capabilities a little at a time in subsequent batches. Well, I guess they weren't the most basic brews, because they were both high gravity and potentially very sticky mashes: a Wheatwine and a Belgian Pumpkin Ale. I batch sparged both, and thankfully, the runoffs didn't get stuck.
The next brewday was in early February, and I decided to focus on the RIMS functionality. These were very big mashes with about 140 lbs of grain each, so I had to lower the water to grain ratio to 1 quart per pound. Recirculation worked fine for about 5 or 10 minutes before I started having problems. I think it was a combination of the mashes being too thick, the recirculation being too fast, and the grain bed compacting too much. Next time, I think I'll use less grain, up the ratio to 2 quarts per pound and see what happens during recirculation.
Next brewday is in March, and more pictures to come as soon as I decide how I'm going to transfer all these photos and drawings and redo the links.
