Brew Tree Valve Setup

Finally got a mixture of single and three way valves ordered and enough triclamps and fittings to start working on fitting routing for my two pumps to perma-mount all the brew valves to allow me to not have to swap hoses during brew, and cross pump everywhere I want. This includes incorporation of a RIMS assist heating element for HLT and strike water temp boost heating and ability to heat strike water in boil kettle while bringing the HLT up to temp as well then cross transfer into mashtun. Finally, ability to pump boil through counter flow chiller and back into boil kettle to get temp to a hop stand for aroma hop additions, followed by diverting to fermenter.

Building a Brew Valve Tree

This thread on homebrewtalk.com about valve tree setups and automation is amazing! In all my years brewing on my frame, as complex and automated as I've gotten it, I've always thought making a hard plumbed setup like the pro brew systems would be cool. Well, some of the hardware is getting cheap enough these days and I thought I would have a go at how I would layout my setup with 3-way valves in T port form...

Adding a Simple 240v 30A Switch Box

With the completion of the upgrades to the kettles to have 240v electric elements in the HLT and BK, I now needed to just put in a 30A GFCI breaker and an L14-30R 4 prong outlet (I needed neutral to be able to supply the 120v break out for my Ranco controllers and the pumps).  This would then wire via a typical L14-30 generator cord to a breakout/switch box on the brew frame (with proper ground) that would allow me to switch on a 3 prong L6-30 cord that I would plug into either the HLT or the BK, depending on need.