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Quercus · 02-27-2008, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freyguy

I have one burner and a 9gal pot. I heat up my mash water in my pot, then add it in the cooler with the grains. As it is sitting for 60min, I heat my batch sparge water in the pot. Normally it's about 5gal of water because I need 7gal pre boil for a 5gal finish (I guess my boils really roll). I normally go up just a bit past 180. Then through my spigot in the pot, I transfer the water to two smaller pots. They are about 2.75-3 gal pots that my wife had. I split my sparge up into two for better effeciency anyway, so it's not bad. Then I can put my first runnings into the brewpot, and add any heat needed to the first batch of sparge water. Then during the 10min rest, I add heat to the second batch of sparge water as needed. It's alot easier to pour water from the smaller pots, but normally I use my 2qt container (the one I use to volurf) to pour the water over the grains until the pot is almost empty, then I pour.

Yeah, I could operate in a similar fashion; I have a couple of 2-gallon stock pots that could hold almost all my sparge water.

But to me, the real benefit of collecting runnings directly into the boil kettle is being able to start the boil as soon as you drain the mash, and this requires either a cooler as a hlt or another burner.

Quercus · 02-27-2008, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBBaron

+1 on the software.

I heat my strike and sparge water on my stove using a 20qt canner. It is large enough for all the sparge water for a 5gal batch. If I do a mashout I use a smaller stock pot to bring some water to a boil.

I think a turkey fryer would be an excellent investment for a HLT. Then a stand to make the system 3 tiers becomes the next major upgrade. I don't have room to store the stand and even a second turkey fryer is going to push space but I can dream.
Craig

Yeah, I'm already thinking about the best way to use gravity...I have a patio table that I can use for the 'middle level' of a gravity system, but I'm already thinking about a better solution. The short term will probably be a couple of sawhorses from Harbor Freight and some planks from HD.

Regardless, it will be awhile before I have a permanent or semi-permanent 3-tier system. When I brew, I have to schlep all the stuff out of the garage, and put it all back when I'm done.

I was listening to a Brewing Network podcast a few weeks back where Chris from MoreBeer was talking about their 3-tier sculptures, and how nice it is to have everything already set up when you are ready to brew. Just add water, light flame, add grain, and brew. That does sound nice!

**ajf** · 02-28-2008, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quercus

OK, ajf...so what temp is your sparge water when you add it to your cooler? What sort of temperature drop do you see there?

For batch sparging, the water in the HLT cooler is 172 F, and gets drained through a short length of tubing into the MLT.
Before starting the sparge, I add near boiling water to the mash which raises the temperature up to 168 - 170 F.
After draining the first runniings, I do two equal sized batch sparges, and the temperature of the grain stays between 165 and 170 F.

-a,

TheDom · 02-28-2008, 01:59 AM

As my sig says, I'm a filthy college student, which means I'm a cheap bastard most of the time. I use two or three stock pots on the kitchen stove for my mash/sparge water and do all my mashing/sparging in the kitchen. All the runnings go directly into the keggle, whicn I stumble out the door with and put on the burner.

Rock on,
D

idkid · 02-28-2008, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDom

As my sig says, I'm a filthy college student, which means I'm a cheap bastard most of the time. I use two or three stock pots on the kitchen stove for my mash/sparge water and do all my mashing/sparging in the kitchen. All the runnings go directly into the keggle, whicn I stumble out the door with and put on the burner.

Rock on,
D

I'm in the same boat as far as being a cheap (and poor) grad student. But I never thought of using my stove to do the mash and sparge. I live in married housing (meaning I thankfully don't pay for the gas to run my stove) so it would be incredible to be able to do these steps inside and then do my actual "brewing" outside. And as cold as it is in Northern Indiana right now (I'm from the South) I'd happily put off going out there as long as possible. Thanks for the simple, yet brilliant, idea.