Cheap assed 3 tier system....

Awhile back I made this out of the lid for my bottling bucket thinking it would make a good difuser for fly sparging, but it turned out to be more of a pain in the ass than it's worth.



Then, today I got to thinking that I could cut it down some, flip it over and use it for a false bottom instead of the wire braid I'm using now... Then I was thinking about what I could use for a HLT and came to realize that I could just use my bottling bucket and a simple system to hook up to one of these cheap ass lawn sprinklers from Lowes.


I figure I could come up with a simple way to suspend the sprinkler upside down over the top of my 5 gallon Rubbermade MLT and gravity feed my sparge water from my bottling bucket. I may even end up getting some kind of gate valve to control the flow out of the HLT, or possibly plug off some of the holes in the sprinkler to match the output from the MLT.

Whaddya think?

Seems like a perfectly workable system!

Jason

I've seen other brewers using a lawn sprinkler for sparging.
Go for it.

OK you asked...here's what I think:

http://www.azpartsmaster.com/images/catalog/ishop/i18436.jpg

sorry to be blunt, but I would not feel comfortable trying that drilled lid as a false bottom. What do you not like about the wire braid you are currently using that you feel compelled to try a fb?

Is a lawn sprinkler food grade w/ hot sparge water??

Mike

Nope.. you are certain to fill your brew with lots of carcinogenic plasticy yuminess by putting it through anything that is not food grade. Hell, even food grade plastic will emit dioxins when heated to sparge temperature. All of this means you are taking a wonderful and healthy (in moderation) beverage and turning it into a somewhat toxic beverage that could cause you to develop cancer in any number of ways.

Nostrildamus said:

Hell, even food grade plastic will emit dioxins when heated to sparge temperature. All of this means you are taking a wonderful and healthy (in moderation) beverage and turning it into a somewhat toxic beverage that could cause you to develop cancer in any number of ways.

Click to expand...

Wouldn't that also apply to the coolers that almost everyone uses as a MLT?

wilserbrewer said:

OK you asked...here's what I think:

http://www.azpartsmaster.com/images/catalog/ishop/i18436.jpg

sorry to be blunt, but I would not feel comfortable trying that drilled lid as a false bottom. What do you not like about the wire braid you are currently using that you feel compelled to try a fb?

Is a lawn sprinkler food grade w/ hot sparge water??

Mike

Click to expand...

That "Drilled lid" is was made from the food grade lid from my bottling bucket.

Lawn sprinkler "FOOD GRADE"? WHY? The sparge water is only going to be in contact with the sprinkler for a matter of seconds.

You guys are a paranoid lot, aren't you....

The main reason I'm going to make this change in my system is ease of use, and better brewhouse effiency. I went to a clinic on Decoction mashing last Saturday and learned alot to trim down my own system by watching how others brew single infusion.

The single infusion mash guys got like 85% brewhouse efficiencey... 26 Lbs of malt in a 10 gallon batch and both hit 1.070+ PRE boil and 1.082 when the pitched after a 90 minute boil.... Ofcourse the guy that did the decoct was 1.090, or so, but that's a whole different story. I didn't even hang around for his boil, but I understood where he was coming from...

The really cool thing about this clinic is that I get to go back in 5 months and sample the 3 beers that were brewed that day.

Bottom line....

I'm going to make this change...

If I die because I brewed tainted beer... So be it....

Nostrildamus said:

Nope.. you are certain to fill your brew with lots of carcinogenic plasticy yuminess by putting it through anything that is not food grade. Hell, even food grade plastic will emit dioxins when heated to sparge temperature. All of this means you are taking a wonderful and healthy (in moderation) beverage and turning it into a somewhat toxic beverage that could cause you to develop cancer in any number of ways.

Click to expand...

Crap better throw my MLT cooler, Ale Pails, and all my hosing away....

Naw, I'll risk the cancer.

When I was a kid we drank from the garden hose that we passed around from mouth to mouth and never even thought about it.

And I'm still alive today...

Beer has one thing on it's side to protect us from nasties that may make us sick...

Alcohol...


So there....

i die with jeffro....

if we have to go... meat smoke is carcinogenic, cell phones... now my homemade beer.

At least I will move on gving it all I had had with love!

why not do the same instead of the sprinkler and make a manifold and drill it? many others are doing it and it doesnt cost much.

Nostrildamus said:

Hell, even food grade plastic will emit dioxins when heated to sparge temperature. .

Click to expand...

do you have any documentation or links to support the leaching of dioxins from food grade plastic?

I bet if its above its normal use temperature. But Ive heard many people mashing directly in the bucket, im sure its safe and I notice no plastic taste.

OnlineHigh-density polyethylene - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
It says 120C for short periods 110C continuous. Mash doesnt even get to 100C

Jeffro,

Just to clarify, my comment on the lid turned false bottom did not concern the plastic. I was trying to state that it appears to me to not have enough holes and may be a candidate for a stuck sparge??

I wish you well in your brewing endeavors and your quest for greater efficiency.

I've also seen people fashion three tier setups using shower heads to sprinkle the sparge water. Something to consider.

We're all going to get cancer somehow, Might as well have good beer before we die.

But whatever you decide to use, incorporate a ball valve. You'll want on the fly adjustability.

The deed is done... The system performed flawlessly, just as I suspected it would.

The wort ran clear after only about 2 quarts, no stuck sparge and I had close to 80% efficiency. 1.052 using only 11 Lbs of grain is pretty good in my book.

The porter I brewed today is happily bubbling away as I type this.