I love no sparge brewing... - Page 10

claude505 · 10-27-2009, 05:01 PM

Sacc - Two quick questions...
Have you tried brewing 10 gallons with this set up, yet?
Does your sparge "arm" just lay on top of the grain bed to distribute the circulating wort?

**Saccharomyces** · 10-27-2009, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baron ken

How much liquid is in the BK during recirc? 2 gallons? more? less? does it matter as long as there is some in there?

Meh, something like that.

Doesn't really matter as long as the kettle doesn't run dry causing the pump to lose prime.

If your MLT is big enough it helps to pump all the water up there because it just makes it that much easier to stir the mash. Then you can start running off to the kettle and begin recirculating. Doesn't really matter since all the liquid gets recirculated anyway.

**Saccharomyces** · 10-27-2009, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claude505

Sacc - Two quick questions...
Have you tried brewing 10 gallons with this set up, yet?
Does your sparge "arm" just lay on top of the grain bed to distribute the circulating wort?

I haven't converted my 15 gallon kettle and don't plan to since I plan on upgrading to a Blingmann 20 soon.

When I do that, I will be doing 10 gallon no-sparge batches and using the 10 gallon kettle in the pics to runoff and boil a 5 gallon partigyle beer. 15 gallons from every brew day, I'll be the most popular guy in the neighborhood...

The "sparge arm" is just to prevent disturbing the grain bed, doesn't really matter how you do it. I went with the tubing because it's easier than dealing with a manifold, and it does the job just as well.

**Saccharomyces** · 10-27-2009, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkarp

Here's the thread that started it all. Lots more detail than the BYO article.

As I mentioned a few posts back, that system was the inspiration for this one, minus the automated part, I had already done my first no-sparge brew when I read the BYO issue and recognized the setup in there.

jimba009 · 10-27-2009, 09:19 PM

Quote:

I haven't converted my 15 gallon kettle and don't plan to since I plan on upgrading to a Blingmann 20 soon

what is this Blingmann 20?

**Saccharomyces** · 10-27-2009, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimba009

what is this Blingmann 20?

The creme de la creme of brew pots.

http://www.blichmannengineering.com/boilermaker/boilermaker.html

Better sight glass, better heat retention, better valve, and almost no dead loss vs. the ~3 quarts of dead loss I have in my 10 gallon kettle which costs me 7% in brewhouse efficiency.

Speaking of efficiency, eff. to kettle seems to be around 72% and brewhouse is around 66%, consistently with 10-12# of grain. The efficiency dropoff is about 1% for every additional pound of grain over 10# so planning is very simple. This is very close to what jkarp is seeing on his countertop system.

Because recirculation of the mash seems to overcome having a suboptimal crush, I would not be surprised if some folks actually achieve BETTER yield with this setup than they get by doing a double batch sparge.

claude505 · 10-27-2009, 10:00 PM

So, how big of a cooler do you have and how many lbs can it handle? How many pounds of malt do you think you'll need for your partigyle set up?

I just did my first all grain batch this past Sunday. I found (accidentally, but luckily) that ~23 lbs is about the max for my system. (7.5 gallons + 23lbs = one FULL cooler - My MT is a 10gal Rubbermaid drink cooler). I guess I need to accept this as a limit to my brewery.

I am definitely intrigued by this method. Lifting 70+ lbs of hot water to the necessary height for the sparge gets a little sketchy. And, I'm really only a few fittings and a pump away.

**Saccharomyces** · 10-27-2009, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claude505

So, how big of a cooler do you have and how many lbs can it handle? How many pounds of malt do you think you'll need for your partigyle set up?

My cooler is a Coleman Xtreme 70. It can mash up to 35 pounds of grain which is enough for 10 gallons of a 1.100 beer if fly sparging.

I will have to post pics of the whole system in operation, but the general idea is:

- Mash in the main mash in the 70qt MLT
- Mash in a mini-mash in my 5 gallon cooler which will be used to "cap" the partigyle brew
- Recirc during the mash and runoff to the 20 gallon kettle
- Heat 6.5 gallons of water in the 10 gallon kettle and pump it over to the MLT for second runnings
- Runoff the second runnings through the 5 gallon cooler and runoff the 5 gallon cooler into the 10 gallon pot.

I have done this once before and it worked wonderfully. Porters and stouts make great partigyle beers because you can mash a few pounds of crystal and specialty grains along with a pound or two of two-row to boost the gravity of the second runnings... the dark grain will cover up what might otherwise be minor flaws in flavor or color you would notice in a paler partigyle brew.

claude505 · 10-28-2009, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saccharomyces

My cooler is a Coleman Xtreme 70. It can mash up to 35 pounds of grain which is enough for 10 gallons of a 1.100 beer if fly sparging.

I will have to post pics of the whole system in operation, but the general idea is:

- Mash in the main mash in the 70qt MLT
- Mash in a mini-mash in my 5 gallon cooler which will be used to "cap" the partigyle brew
- Recirc during the mash and runoff to the 20 gallon kettle
- Heat 6.5 gallons of water in the 10 gallon kettle and pump it over to the MLT for second runnings
- Runoff the second runnings through the 5 gallon cooler and runoff the 5 gallon cooler into the 10 gallon pot.

I have done this once before and it worked wonderfully. Porters and stouts make great partigyle beers because you can mash a few pounds of crystal and specialty grains along with a pound or two of two-row to boost the gravity of the second runnings... the dark grain will cover up what might otherwise be minor flaws in flavor or color you would notice in a paler partigyle brew.

That's awesome. Thanks for the run down. I think if I ever made that kind of step up, I would have to get another brewer to join me. I don't think I could drink that much!

**Saccharomyces** · 10-28-2009, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by claude505

That's awesome. Thanks for the run down. I think if I ever made that kind of step up, I would have to get another brewer to join me. I don't think I could drink that much!

Between friends, brew gatherings and competitions, I give away more than I drink by miles. I'm down to 6 kegs at the moment

so I'm gonna be putting about 30 gallons through this system in November to catch up!