kal
Well-Known Member
I'm trying to decide what size Blichmann brew pots to get for 10 gal brewing sessions.
I'm torn between 15/15/20 gallon or a 20/20/20 gallon setup (HTL, MLT, BK).
My thoughts are to go 20/20/20 because:
- The HLT at 20 instead of 15 because I want to have a lot of hot water left over for cleaning. I understand that strike water heat time will take longer because of this but I'm all electric and may only have my BK or HLT plugged in at once so I can't heat more HLT water while I boil in the BK.
- The MLT at 20 instead of 15 to account for higher gravity brews that use a lot more grain ... "just in case".
- While I intend to brew 10 gal (post boil) batches in the 20 gal BK, I want to have the flexibility of doing some 15 gal batches too maybe (it may be close though most of the local guys I talk to say that a 20 gal BK is more than enough to do produce 15 gals of [final] wort).
- The price difference between the 15 and 20 pots isn't much.
- I just find that three pots of the same size on a single-tier brew brew sculpture look so much nicer.
So does this make sense? Are there any caveats I'm missing? The only one I can think of that with some very low gravity brews the thermometer in the MLT may be above the mash. Not really much of a big deal as I'll be using thermocouples/PIDs anyway so the Blichmann thermometers are just a backup.
Are there any other advantages that I've overlooked?
Kal
I'm torn between 15/15/20 gallon or a 20/20/20 gallon setup (HTL, MLT, BK).
My thoughts are to go 20/20/20 because:
- The HLT at 20 instead of 15 because I want to have a lot of hot water left over for cleaning. I understand that strike water heat time will take longer because of this but I'm all electric and may only have my BK or HLT plugged in at once so I can't heat more HLT water while I boil in the BK.
- The MLT at 20 instead of 15 to account for higher gravity brews that use a lot more grain ... "just in case".
- While I intend to brew 10 gal (post boil) batches in the 20 gal BK, I want to have the flexibility of doing some 15 gal batches too maybe (it may be close though most of the local guys I talk to say that a 20 gal BK is more than enough to do produce 15 gals of [final] wort).
- The price difference between the 15 and 20 pots isn't much.
- I just find that three pots of the same size on a single-tier brew brew sculpture look so much nicer.
So does this make sense? Are there any caveats I'm missing? The only one I can think of that with some very low gravity brews the thermometer in the MLT may be above the mash. Not really much of a big deal as I'll be using thermocouples/PIDs anyway so the Blichmann thermometers are just a backup.
Are there any other advantages that I've overlooked?
Kal