Some questions on single tier brew sculpture

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blk94f150

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I'm tired of lifting 1/2 barrels full of wort and what not. It's time to step it up. My equipment consists of 2 keggles and a 10g plastic MLT with an SS braid. I plan to either convert my immersion chiller into a CFC or more likely just buy a plate chiller.

My main question is with lautering. Do you pump the wort out? How do you vorlauf? Other than that I think I'll only need one pump, plan on using tubing with quick disconnect connections, and propane for now. Any tips on connections/fittings?

As for sanitizing with chiller/tubing between, I can just circulate boiling wort right?

Mike
 
My main question is with lautering. Do you pump the wort out? How do you vorlauf? Other than that I think I'll only need one pump, plan on using tubing with quick disconnect connections, and propane for now. Any tips on connections/fittings?

I have a HERMS system, but the principle should be the same. I use the pump to recirculate the wort while mashing so it's already vorlaufed by the time I'm ready to drain the tun. Then I just move the lid from the MLT to my kettle (the return from the pump is in the lid of the MLT) and let the pump drain the tun. Works great and I get crystal clear wort into the kettle.
 
One pump + single tier = batch sparge.

1. Strike. Pump HLT to MLT.
2. Vorlauf. Pump MLT to MLT.
3. Runnings. Pump MLT to BK.
4. Sparge. Pump HLT to MLT.
repeat 2-4 as you wish.
5. Chill. Pump BK through chiller into fermenter.
 
Sweet, I batch sparge as it is and get 80s for efficiency last time I checked.

How about the best place for fittings? I'd like to add those tubes that dip down to the bottom of the HLT and one to whirlpool the BK while sanitizing my chiller. I'd also like to add thermometers to the HLT and MLT as well as sight glasses to the HLT and BK.

Mike
 
I mounted thermometers into my HLT and MLT with solid rubber stoppers that I drilled a tiny hole through:

03-HLT.jpg


03-Recirc%20Pump.jpg
 
Bobby_M- I read in your brewstand build thread that you would have liked to make the stand with the BK in the center and low so you can gravity feed from the MLT or fly sparge. Is that still your opinion? I'm very satisfied with batch sparging, but not being required to pump is nice and having options to fly in the future is nice as well.

Are there any other little things that you've noticed that you'd do differently or any unforseen PITAs that I can try to avoid?

Mike
 
I do currently have my BK in the middle and that was so that my HLT burner (a wild beast that it is) doesn't melt the insulation on my MLT. The reason I suggested having the BK down low is that there really is no good reason to have it up high and low keeps things flexible. You're already going to have a pump so gravity drain to a fermenter is unimportant. Retaining the ability to gravity drain the MLT is powerful because pumping MLT runnings is a good way to compact your grainbed. Some people gravity drain into a grant to avoid that so it might as well be the BK directly. If you think about it, the burner can almost sit below the bottom of the stand since the casters will provide clearance so the BK bottom only has to be like 6" off the ground. The only requirement is that the pump will have to be level or slightly below the BK ball valve.

So, ----____----- allows both fly and batch sparging. It doesn't require the HLT and MLT to be up very high at all. If I had to nit pick some cons, you'll have to bend over to open/close the BK valve and it's not a slick looking as having the 3 vessels in a row (but screw that as a con).


Fittings? www.buyfittingsonline.com
Sight glasses/thermos? Me. www.suebob.com/brew/sale
I have exactly 2 weldless kits left right now, more coming in a week or so.
 
Here's my 2 tier design that allows for both batch and fly sparging with one pump. I can still see into the mash tun on top and it takes up less space horizontally in my garage. Not a design for everyone, but it works well for me.

stand23.jpg
 
See, even on that sucker, the legs could have been 6-8" shorter. You could also integrate a small step so you can get up and stir the mash easier. I like it though, nice and compact.
 
Mine is definitely going to be a compact low boy. That's really the point. I'm tired of lifting and standing on things.

You got your QDs at McMaster Carr, right?

I'm interisted in your thermo/sight glass combo. Do you sell it w/o the weldless stuff. I'm not sure if I'm going to do weldless or not, but I'm leaning toward welded. I'd just need a 1/4 inch NPT coupling welded in right?

Why did you go with the 3 piece valves vs the 2 piece?

Possibly last edit: CFC or plate chiller? I have a 50ft 3/8 copper IC now. I don't think my ground water gets to 70F. Obviously the CFC will be cheaper, but will a Shirron be better? If not then how much better is a Therminator? I'm looking for compact and easy. I used a the paint strainer hop bag now and plan on using some sort of strainer on my BK siphon. Maybe a T with 2 bazooka tubes.

Mike
 
Mcmaster correct. I'm sure I have the part numbers on Equipment

I don't have the Tee for the sight/thermo combo but if you're going welded, I'd recommend mounting them in their own bulkheads. Having them together is a compromise I would only make for the purpose of only having one weldless connection. It's better to have the thermo up a few inches higher in the vessel while the sight bulkhead is best mounted as low as possible.

3-piece valve was found amazingly cheaply on ebay otherwise I would have bought the cheapest 2-piece full port valves I could find.

CFC is more tolerant of debris so your straining device can be more coarse and less of a pain in the butt. A bazooka tee would probably work ok for either if you use at least some whole hops. I think the Shirron is a fine chiller and more compact than a DIY CFC for about twice the price. This is really a spur of the moment judgment call thing.
 
See, even on that sucker, the legs could have been 6-8" shorter. You could also integrate a small step so you can get up and stir the mash easier. I like it though, nice and compact.

You are correct about the height and I've thought about moving everything down a few inches. That's the beauty of unistrut. No need for a step, I can see and stir the mash just fine now.
 
CFC is more tolerant of debris so your straining device can be more coarse and less of a pain in the butt. A bazooka tee would probably work ok for either if you use at least some whole hops. I think the Shirron is a fine chiller and more compact than a DIY CFC for about twice the price. This is really a spur of the moment judgment call thing.

I use pellet hops almost exclusively. Actually I've only used pellet hops, but I do use the 5 gallon paint strainer hop bag. Will this be a problem if I still use the hop bag and a bazooka?

I might just try the CFC since I already have 50ft of copper and I could still mount it out of the way.

Mike
 
I use pellet hops almost exclusively. Actually I've only used pellet hops, but I do use the 5 gallon paint strainer hop bag. Will this be a problem if I still use the hop bag and a bazooka?

I might just try the CFC since I already have 50ft of copper and I could still mount it out of the way.

Mike

I don't think you'll have too much of a problem. I use hop bags with pellet hops and usually whirlpool before running through my CFC. I just have a simple pickup tube running about three inches from the side of my keggle and I've never had a problem with the bags clogging the tube. I would think that you'd have less of a chance of clogging with the bazooka since there is more area that the wort is running through.
 
On the subject of burners I'd like to use natural gas. I'll only be using them on the BK and HLT. Those jet burners look pretty nice but I've seen what happens when you turn them down. About how low can they go before you get yellow flames? I'd like to not use a ton of gas and boil off 5 gallons of water from a 10 gallon batch.

Other than those, I've seen the Hurricane burners with the NG orifice but they are "only" 60K BTUs.

Mike
 
you have infinite control if you put a inline blower with a venturi upstream of the burner. I can't remember where this is on the forum, but the guy uses the top of a sankey keg to make essentailly a flame thrower. you could employ this same technique to adjust teh air fuel ratio on a jet burner so that you can turn it way down

edit: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/sanke-keg-top-burner-127059/
 
The reason I suggested having the BK down low is that there really is no good reason to have it up high and low keeps things flexible. You're already going to have a pump so gravity drain to a fermenter is unimportant. Retaining the ability to gravity drain the MLT is powerful because pumping MLT runnings is a good way to compact your grainbed.

I am currently designing my latest brewing configuration (so I don't have to lift heavy, boiling water). Currently I have one boil kettle, one burner, two orange coolers (1 HLT/1 MLT), a hopback, a plate chiller and one pump. The pump is mounted so the out valve is pointing up. Currently my burner is 22" high to allow for the use of the hopback with the pump.

I was originally considering making a one-tier stand for my MLT and HLT at about 24" so I can easily see into and stir the MLT. I originally thought that the pump might cause channeling or even stuck sparge. My MLT has a copper manifold and I currently get about 85% efficiency with gravity doing a double batch sparge.

So now to my questions: Is getting a stuck sparge via compaction a real concern with using a march pump? Is there a "fool proof" way to avoid it (i.e. running out of the pump very slowly)? Should I use my hopback as a grant? Should I build a taller stand for the MLT so I can just use gravity to drain my MLT?

All replies are greatly appreciated.


-Michael
 
I mounted thermometers into my HLT and MLT with solid rubber stoppers that I drilled a tiny hole through:

03-HLT.jpg


03-Recirc%20Pump.jpg

EvilGnome. I have a 10 gallon cooler MLT that I want to mount a digital probe thermo like you have done with the solid stopper. Any details that you could provide would be much appreciated. Step by step, maybe. Seems straight forward just don't want to miss something. In the pic it looks like you might have bent the probe down a bit, true? What size stopper did you use does it matter?.

You can PM me if this is to much off topic, don't want to high jack the thread.
 
EvilGnome. I have a 10 gallon cooler MLT that I want to mount a digital probe thermo like you have done with the solid stopper. Any details that you could provide would be much appreciated. Step by step, maybe. Seems straight forward just don't want to miss something. In the pic it looks like you might have bent the probe down a bit, true? What size stopper did you use does it matter?.

You can PM me if this is to much off topic, don't want to high jack the thread.

It was really pretty simple.

First I had to pick a spot where the probe was going to be located. There happens to be a plastic piece stuck on the side of the cooler (I think it's for a cup holder) and it's centered around the 4 gallon mark. I figured that would be good enough to be completely submerged, even with a small grain bill.

Then I used a small drill bit to drill all the way through the wall of the cooler. I just made sure that the hole was big enough to pass the probe and the wire through.

I don't remember what size the stopper is, but it's about 3/4 wide at the bigger end.

I then used a step bit to widen the hole on the inside of the cooler. Each time I widened it a step, I checked to see how far the stopper would go in the hole and called it good enough when the stopper fit in about halfway.

Once that was done, I drilled a hole through the center of the stopper using the smallest bit I could find.

The probe that comes with the thermometer is already bent at a 90 degree angle. I think most of them come this way.

Thermometer.jpg

Then I fed the probe through from the outside of the mash tun and put the stopper onto the probe. Getting the probe through the stopper was really hard at first. Then I lubed it up with some olive oil (just to make sure it was food safe) and it slid through with ease. Just make sure you have the skinny part of the stopper pointing towards the wire.

I pulled back the excess wire and jammed the stopper into the hole as hard as I could.

This has worked flawlessly for me so far.
 
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