Can I use an in-sink instant hot water dispenser for mash?

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kpr121

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The house I bought last year has one of those in(under)-sink instant hot water dispensers for making tea and such. I was wondering whether it would be useful to use this for my strike water? It is filtered before getting to the heater, so I shouldnt have much excess debris/chlorine.

My main concerns are that it will not be able to heat the volume of water needed for mash, and also whether it is more efficient doing this than just bringing water up to temp on my outdoor propane burner/stovetop.

I just started doing PM's and my big issue with going the route of AG is that it takes too long for a brewday when compared to extract. So I am trying to find anything I can to make my time more efficient. I have already started to multitask (bottle clean/fill/keg/transfer to secondary/play with the wife's dog/drink homebrew) while waiting for the mash and/or during the boil. That has done wonders for time management because previously I would have to do that kind of stuff either after the session or sometime during the week.

So does anyone think that the instant hot water dispenser will be worthwhile?
 
Nope. IIRC, they only produce a gallon or two at temp and you have no control over what that temp is. Maybe yours has an adjustment but it would take some trial and error to find the actual temp.

Might be great for small experimental batches, if you can get the temp low enough.
 
Yea, I was leaning away from it, but figured I would ask. It does have an adjustment on it, and I measured my cup of tea last night at 159 F (dial was turned about 4/5 the way up to hot). Maybe I'll run a test tonight to see how much water can be dispensed before going cold.
 
I think it would be fine, and even if you could only get a couple gallons at temp, it would start you out closer. What people DON'T want to do is use hot water from the water heater, because apparently they can have mineral buildup and throw off your water chemistry from what you expect.
 
I was going through my threads and noticed I never updated this one.

I was only able to get about a gallon of water at 165-170 before the heater basically went cold. So my particular model would not be a good candidate for 5 gallon batches.

It could maybe help for experimental batches, and I actually just used it for a starter (dissolved the dme in the 170 water before putting on the stove).
 
But even if it didn't heat the full 5 gallons, it would still get you to a faster start then going all cold from the tap.

Everyone seems to freak when I say this, but I use hot tap water after running it for a few minutes, it gets my mash water a head start. I have made some very good beers.
 
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