DIY RIMs tube and a new batch of Pumpkin Ale

As promised, here’s an update on our DIY brewing projects. Some improvements were just things we needed to buy; a false bottom for our lauter tun, some silicon tubing, etc. The major project this week was our DIY RIMs tube. For the uninitiated, a RIMs tube is a device that will pump liquid by a heating element, and measures the temperature. It is able to turn the heating element on and off to maintain a target temp. It can be used to sous vide in a pot, or to maintain exact temperatures for mashing, lautering, and basically the entire brewing process (we plan on using it for both).

We used plans from kegkits and after several online orders and trips to Home Depot we were ready to build.

First, we assembled the piping with the heating element inside. Next we needed to wire the 120 volt pump power source through a switch, and the 240 volt heating element power source through a relay. The relay is controlled by a PID controller that we are building when all the parts come. In the mean time, we have a $30 PID controller that we’re using. It will realize when the liquid temperature is where it needs to be and shut off the heating element via the relay. All the pieces starting to come together. You can now see the temperature gauge (the wire going in to the top of the metal tube) connected to the pid controller (the little black box to the left).

The finished product. The black pump wil pull liquid through that tubing and up into the metal tubing. The tubing will heat the liquid and measure the temperature, then it will flow out the tube in the top and back into the container it was pulled from.

The pump works great. We had some issues with the wiring to the heating element (read, good thing we grounded everything well). We have some ideas to fix it and I’ll post action shots whenever it’s fully functional.

We had planned to use the RIMs tube on a second batch of pumpkin ale, but since it wasn’t fully functional we used our usual methods. We used out new false bottom in the cooler. We also tried to be more patient with setting the grain bed in order to produce a clearer beer. Mike pulling out some wort, then pouring back in to set the grain bed. We used this handy tool to add the wort back in without upsetting the grain bed. The Pumpkin Ale should be ready just in time for our pig roast in November, of which there will be many pictures, That is our next DIY project.

Finally, a quick update on the chili brau, or tres Equis, or whatever we’re calling it now. We had a scare last week. Mike went down to check on it and it had turned black. The beer was black as night. We immediately started looking online for what turns fermenting beer black and if there was anything we could do about it. turns out, we just had an exceptionally clear brew, and light wasn’t reflecting off the inside. So while it looks pitch black in the carboy, it’s actually a nice amber color. We’ll keg it next week, and you’ll get some pictures and a review of how glorious it tastes.