My new 10 gallon All Grain system

i've been brewing extract kits for roughly 5 years now... so I finally decided to step up to all grain. Critique my new setup

3 MoreBeer 15 gallon SS pots... 1 Boil Kettle, 1 HLT, and 1 Mash Tun with false bottom
1 Camp Chef burner
1 march pump
im still undecided about going with the Blichmann Therminator or a plate chiller from duda diesel...
I will be using 1/2 ball valves where I can, SS quick disconnects, and 1/2 hi temp tubing.
for a sparge arm im gonna grab the one MoreBeer offers with their sculpture's.

I do plan on building some sort of flat stand just not sure what I want to exactly do.

You have one burner, so I am presuming that you will be using propane. I would recommend having a second burner, too. I find it helpful to be able to have two kettles on burners at the same time. This allows me to more easily do two batches in the same brew day. More importantly, it helps me to heat the various liquids without having to do too much lifting (which is one of the reasons I got a pump). Those are some of my thoughts.
Mark

Sounds like you're gonna have some fun!

One thing - I'd consider using camlock fitttings vs. the morebeer SS quick dis-connects. You will save a TON of money. Don't get me wrong - the B3's are nice; I've used them for a year. I recently switched to camlocks b/c it was getting ridiculous whenever I needed to add a fitting.

I bought mine from Brewhardware - http://brewhardware.com/fittings

cheers

LuiInIdaho said:

You have one burner, so I am presuming that you will be using propane. I would recommend having a second burner, too. I find it helpful to be able to have two kettles on burners at the same time. This allows me to more easily do two batches in the same brew day. More importantly, it helps me to heat the various liquids without having to do too much lifting (which is one of the reasons I got a pump). Those are some of my thoughts.
Mark

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I meant to say 2 as I already have one thank you

jammin said:

Sounds like you're gonna have some fun!

One thing - I'd consider using camlock fitttings vs. the morebeer SS quick dis-connects. You will save a TON of money. Don't get me wrong - the B3's are nice; I've used them for a year. I recently switched to camlocks b/c it was getting ridiculous whenever I needed to add a fitting.

I bought mine from Brewhardware - http://brewhardware.com/fittings

cheers

Click to expand...

I do agree about the cost of the fittings... ridiculous to say the least
thank you

paint94979 said:

im still undecided about going with the Blichmann Therminator or a plate chiller from duda diesel...

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Just used the 30 plate long Duda Diesal chiller for the first time this past weekend. Very satisfied. Had to run the wort through at full blast just to keep it above 60 degrees F.

I wouldn't look twice at the blichmann considering the price difference.

Barnesie said:

Just used the 30 plate long Duda Diesal chiller for the first time this past weekend. Very satisfied. Had to run the wort through at full blast just to keep it above 60 degrees F.

I wouldn't look twice at the blichmann considering the price difference.

Click to expand...

Is this the one you are referring to?

http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX2330BWC

paint94979 said:

Is this the one you are referring to?

http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX2330BWC

Click to expand...

Looks about the same. I got mine from Bobby_D here on the forum. Here's a link to the page:

http://www.brewhardware.com/plate-chiller

How are you controlling the temp of the mash? Direct fire?

I assume you will fly sparge?

I think you may need need 3 burners and 2 pumps.

I have a morebeer 15 gallon brew pot and I find it just a tad small for making 10 gallon batches.

maida7 said:

How are you controlling the temp of the mash? Direct fire?

I assume you will fly sparge?

I think you may need need 3 burners and 2 pumps.

I have a morebeer 15 gallon brew pot and I find it just a tad small for making 10 gallon batches.

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Yes direct fire and yes fly sparge. Why 2 pumps?

paint94979 said:

Yes direct fire and yes fly sparge. Why 2 pumps?

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If you have a single tier system AND fly sparge, you will need two pumps. One pump moves the sparge water from the HLT to the MLT and grain bed. The second pump moves wort from the MLT To the boil kettle. If you fly sparge and have a two tier system, you can get by with one pump. Gravity replaces the second pump. A three tier system does not require any pumps for fly sparging. I hope this helps. Mark

LuiInIdaho said:

If you have a single tier system AND fly sparge, you will need two pumps. One pump moves the sparge water from the HLT to the MLT and grain bed. The second pump moves wort from the MLT To the boil kettle. If you fly sparge and have a two tier system, you can get by with one pump. Gravity replaces the second pump. A three tier system does not require any pumps for fly sparging. I hope this helps. Mark

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You're right ill just have to buy another pump

Its occurred to me a couple times that it should be possible to fly sparge using a single pump if you have an air-tight mash tun. It actually should make the whole process simpler, since you'll guarantee that the sparge water coming in exactly equals the volume of wort pumped out to the boil kettle.

This may or may not apply to the OP's system. I'm not sure you could make one of those kettles airtight, though I bet you could with a properly sized rubber gasket and some specially made clamps.

Does anyone else thing this could work? I've been meaning to try it with my coolers just to see what happens, but I'd need to add a sparge port in one of the lids and have been too lazy.

Some issues I can think of that may make this non-workable:
1. Positive pressure created by steaming mash may reduce the amount of sparge water coming in below the rate of wort being drained.
2. Pump may not be able to pull hard enough to create enough vacuum to keep sparge water flowing. May also cause cavitation or loss of prime.

paint94979 said:

Is this the one you are referring to?

http://www.dudadiesel.com/choose_item.php?id=HX2330BWC

Click to expand...

I have this plate chiller and have been extremely happy with it's performance. You will not regret the purchase.

That plate chiller is nice. I have the 40plate shorty from dudadiesel. I like it a lot. Once you go plate chiller, you never go back.