I'm sure this has been brought up a bunch of times already, but I need a bit of advice. I recently had a buddy weld up an adaptor for my brinkmann turkey fryer burner so I can put my keggle on it for a boil pot. It turned out really nice and I was talking to him about brew sculptures. He was getting really excited about the idea if welding something more for me. Another coworker over heard us talking and I said I just need another keg then we can get going on it. He chimed in "I have a keg at my dads house that's about 10 years old" ... I'm getting that keg on Friday. My question is now what... I have a boil keggle already. I'm thinking I might make this one a mash tun. I really don't want to make a direct fire mash tun. How well do these thing hold heat? I'm still doing extract batches and am looking to switch to all grain very soon. Any suggestions?
Keggle mash tun.
- Thread starter Rys06Tbss
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barryfine
Well-Known Member
I have a false bottom in my keggle mlt and it works great! I just split a piece of silicone tubing lengthwise and wrapped it around the false bottom. This creates a nice seal and it doesn't move around with it there. Just make sure that you cut the hole big enough for it to fit. My hole was a little too small, but luckily I was able to bend it a little and force it in.
I have a really cool solution for insulating a keggle mlt too. I don't lose more than a degree of heat over my hour long mash even in the winter!
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Rys06Tbss
Well-Known Member
That is a good idea. I haven't seen the keg yet hopefully it's as clean as my other one.
So you just heat the water in a separate pot and transfer to the mash tun. I guess I could always lift my boil pot up to the stand
So you just heat the water in a separate pot and transfer to the mash tun. I guess I could always lift my boil pot up to the stand
barryfine
Well-Known Member
Yeah, you heat up your strike water in a different vessel and then add it to the mash tun with your grain. The water you add needs to be 10-15 degrees warmer than what you want your mash temp to be as it will cool from the grain and keg. It can vary a good bit depending on the season. Beersmith does a pretty good job of telling you what temp water you should use.
SleepyCreekBrews
Well-Known Member
You might wanna consider using the 2nd keg as a HLT. The two largest vessels you need for all grain are the HLT and the BK.
When you make the move to 10 gallon batches, you'll need 15 gallons of water (strike & sparge), so the keg is perfect.
Also, the only time you need a mash tun larger than 10 gallons is for big beers (with like 26 or more lbs of grain), so a 10 gallon Igloo conversion is a good fit for the mash tun.
hope that helps
When you make the move to 10 gallon batches, you'll need 15 gallons of water (strike & sparge), so the keg is perfect.
Also, the only time you need a mash tun larger than 10 gallons is for big beers (with like 26 or more lbs of grain), so a 10 gallon Igloo conversion is a good fit for the mash tun.
hope that helps
barryfine
Well-Known Member
When I only had one keg, I used an igloo cooler for my HLT (with an electric element) and one for my mlt. You really only about 7.5 gallons of water at a time so you can make 10 gallons of beer with a 10 gallon hlt as long as you heat up more water during your mash.
Not the way I do it...
I heat my strike water in the Keggle MT, add the grist and mash in the keggle.
My HLT is much smaller (8 gal), and is only needed for sparge.
If you have a direct fired MT, why would heat strike water with a HLT?
If you aren't using the keggle MT for direct fired, why would you even start with a keggle?
I heat my strike water in the Keggle MT, add the grist and mash in the keggle.
My HLT is much smaller (8 gal), and is only needed for sparge.
If you have a direct fired MT, why would heat strike water with a HLT?
If you aren't using the keggle MT for direct fired, why would you even start with a keggle?
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Rys06Tbss
Well-Known Member
I currently have a single keggle that Im using as my boil pot. Im planning on using the new keg as a MT. I really dont want to direct fire it... Since I only have one burner, But I guess that would probably make the most sense. Ill just have to lift the heavy ass pot up when i want to transfer to the boil pot. I wont be buying a pump just yet
Huaco
Well-Known Member
If you are not going to direct-fire the MLT, you should SERIOUSLY consider bottom draining the MLT!!!! You WONT be sorry you did! Search around here for "bottom drain". I have all three of my keggles bottom draining in my Electric Brewery. Love it!
MrNatural
The Original, beware of imposters.
Monster Mash
Well-Known Member
I agree with this. It is much easier to heat your strike water in the MT then it is to heat in another vessel and transfer.
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Rys06Tbss
Well-Known Member
Ok so now that I think about it... Maybe Ill just get another burner so I can direct fire the strike water. What sort of burner should I get? I was looking at something like this http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047O3PRK/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Or this one
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047O3PSO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
It doesnt specify BTU's though
Or this one
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0047O3PSO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
It doesnt specify BTU's though
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Rys06Tbss
Well-Known Member
NM... I just ordered this http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...&productId=202038918&R=202038918#.URQG4aVEF5E
Figured I could just mount it to the stand or take the burner and regulator out and reuse that
Figured I could just mount it to the stand or take the burner and regulator out and reuse that
Huaco
Well-Known Member
Now your're cooking with gas!
Baaahh....
Huaco
Well-Known Member
Yes
No
Depends...
You will find several options available for false bottoms in keggles. Check JayBird here on HBT.
You don't need a sight glass in a MLT. You know exactly how much water you are putting into the HLT by ways of subtraction from another vessel and it's sight glass or by means of measuring with known transfer tools such as a 2 quart pitcher...
Are you recirculating your mash? Fly Sparging? Batch Sparging? I recirculate my mash with a HERMS system and take my temp reading from the wort as it exits the MLT and always while it's in flow. You get a much more accurate reading of the mash temp that way IMHO... However, If you are Batch Sparging, you would probably want to place the thermometer somewhere around the 1/3 to 1/2 mark on your keggle. Do you mostly do 10 gallon batches? If not, and you do smaller batches, you will need the thermometer lower to read the mash temp on smaller mashes.
No
Depends...
You will find several options available for false bottoms in keggles. Check JayBird here on HBT.
You don't need a sight glass in a MLT. You know exactly how much water you are putting into the HLT by ways of subtraction from another vessel and it's sight glass or by means of measuring with known transfer tools such as a 2 quart pitcher...
Are you recirculating your mash? Fly Sparging? Batch Sparging? I recirculate my mash with a HERMS system and take my temp reading from the wort as it exits the MLT and always while it's in flow. You get a much more accurate reading of the mash temp that way IMHO... However, If you are Batch Sparging, you would probably want to place the thermometer somewhere around the 1/3 to 1/2 mark on your keggle. Do you mostly do 10 gallon batches? If not, and you do smaller batches, you will need the thermometer lower to read the mash temp on smaller mashes.
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Rys06Tbss
Well-Known Member
I don't do anything now, I do extract batches. This is my entry into all grain. As far as batch size, I'm going to start with 5 then go to 10. Drink 5 gallons way to
fast. Givin the fact that I only have this equipment and no pumps at this time I'm going to be batch sparging? I'm guessing.
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