Finn
Well-Known Member
Seems like every post I read involves mashing and lautering in a converted cooler. Am I the only one around who mashes in a pot on the stove and lauters in a double bucket?
Is anybody else still using the bucket-in-bucket system?
- Thread starter Finn
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I am new to AG brewing, but I did my first 5 or so batches using this method. At best I could get 55% eff. I think the reason for this was all the heat I would lose in the transfer. The real kicker to make the switch to a cooler was when I added too much hot water to the LT and hot wort pushed up between the buckets, about a gallon. Man the wife was ticked...I was mopping sticky wort for a week.
Wade E
Beer Buster
I dont know since Im a newbie but would like to learn your method as im a little low on funds to build a MLT right now with 2 kids a mortgage and these home heating and gas prices. Can you explain your method to me and Ill join you in your lonely method. Much appreciated.
I do not recall ever seeing anyone post about it, so I'll say:
Yes!
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I did two batches with a system like that. I thought it was a PITA. But if it works for you, no reason to change!
Yes!
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I did two batches with a system like that. I thought it was a PITA. But if it works for you, no reason to change!
I didn't do bucket in bucket, but I did mash/lauter in a bucket with false bottom and a spiggot. Got around 75%. Then I bought my kegs and built a tower.
Bernie Brewer
Grouchy Old Fart
Wade E said:
I had the standard two bucket starter kit that I converted by drilling 3/16 holes "uniformly" over the entire bottom of the bucket without the spigot. I would insert the false bottom bucket into the bucket with the spigot. With the mash in the bucket I would do a standard batch sparge and let the runnings flow into the brew pot. I think it would work better if you used a false bottom in the bucket with a spigot. Maybe even wrap it with some insulation and use it to mash in as well.
Bad Shark Brew
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If I'm not mistaken, William's Brewing actually sells this type of set up as their AG option. I believe it also includes some type of insulated cover that fits over the whole assembly. Might be worth looking into for those going this route to help maintain proper temps.
You know, I never did the bucket-in-bucket thing. I just went for the cooler and never have moved off that.
TL
TL
I never seriously considered the bucket-in-bucket system after realizing how easy and cheap it was to make a cooler mash tun. It just seemed like such a PITA to have any semblance of temperature control. I mean, what's the advantage other than it maybe being a couple dollars cheaper?
The only advantage I have ever conceived is that it makes for a true lauter tun, but for very little money. If you wanted to brew more than one batch in a day, you could start mashing the second batch while lautering the first.
TL
TL
I still use mine. I initially used it becuase I wanted to get into AG cheap. And FWIW, it is not a "couple dollars cheaper". I already had the bottling bucket, the only piece of equipment needed was the bucket. So it cost me <$5. Whereas a cooler setup is going to be $30ish. That being said, I do eventually plan on going that route, but I have been waiting for a good deal on a 10 gallon round cooler.
The thing is, I have no reason to change. It is a very convenient system for me, it is what I am used to and I am almost always above 75% efficiency. If I do a decoction, over 80% is not out of this world.
The thing is, I have no reason to change. It is a very convenient system for me, it is what I am used to and I am almost always above 75% efficiency. If I do a decoction, over 80% is not out of this world.
jay075j
Well-Known Member
Wade E said:
Wade-
That method is detailed pretty well in Charlie Papazian's book "The Complet Joy of Homebrewing." It's a great book!
Wade E
Beer Buster
I actually have that book (2nd Edition)and have only gotten halfway through it. Me thinks Im to busy reading on this site then reading the book!
blacklab
Well-Known Member
Yeh, seriously, go for the cooler. I just started AG brewing a few months ago and I was concerned I'd mess up making the MLT. It was really easy. Check out Flyguy's instructions, they are sticky at the top of the AG thread.
The temp will not waver 1 degree over an hour. Mine is solid for 90 mins, too.
The temp will not waver 1 degree over an hour. Mine is solid for 90 mins, too.
wanabeer
Active Member
I am currently using this method with good results. The idea of batch sparging in a cooler just never appealed to me (it's a perception thing, I'm sure).
Anyway, I was desperate to try my first all-grain which required about 15 lbs. of grain (so sparging with a grain bag was pretty much out). I already had a large brew-pot, a bottling bucket, and a drill so all I needed was another bucket and a drill bit (the one I need is always missing from my set, it seems). So it was kinda cool to be able to by-pass all the expense of a new cooler and the hassle of dealing with copper tubing. I was on my way with one trip to the hardware store and a good charge on the drill, sweet!
By the way, my first all-grain was the Edmund Fitzgerald clone that i got from ohiobrewtus which I converted to a fly-sparged 5-gallon version. I just bottled it last week. I tasted it after checking the gravity (6.1% ABV) and so far it tastes awesome! Maybe a little hoppy for a porter at this point (my fault), but that will likely tame down with proper conditioning. I'm a hop-head anyway, so I'm not worried.
Anyway, I was desperate to try my first all-grain which required about 15 lbs. of grain (so sparging with a grain bag was pretty much out). I already had a large brew-pot, a bottling bucket, and a drill so all I needed was another bucket and a drill bit (the one I need is always missing from my set, it seems). So it was kinda cool to be able to by-pass all the expense of a new cooler and the hassle of dealing with copper tubing. I was on my way with one trip to the hardware store and a good charge on the drill, sweet!
By the way, my first all-grain was the Edmund Fitzgerald clone that i got from ohiobrewtus which I converted to a fly-sparged 5-gallon version. I just bottled it last week. I tasted it after checking the gravity (6.1% ABV) and so far it tastes awesome! Maybe a little hoppy for a porter at this point (my fault), but that will likely tame down with proper conditioning. I'm a hop-head anyway, so I'm not worried.
justbrewit
Zythos Conisseur
right now because of cash flow, i use a bottling bucket and a large grain bag. my first brew i made with this system had 15lbs of base grain and another lb of speciality grains. i added a half pound of candy sugar and ended up with a gravity of 1.090. i haven't taken the time to check my eff. but it worked for me, its making beer so i'm happy.
of course i'd like to make a 3 keg system but right now cash is low. i'll use this system until i can afford to build another but so far, i'm ok with the little ghetto AG system i'm using!! i don't even have a big enough pot to do a full boil, i have to use 2 pots, boil them both and as they boil down i add to my biggest pot(turkey fryer, around 6 or 7 gallons i think) i do every thing on the stove. to make sure i don't lose too much heat during the mash, i wrop the bottling bucket with about 4 towels. so far it works!
of course i'd like to make a 3 keg system but right now cash is low. i'll use this system until i can afford to build another but so far, i'm ok with the little ghetto AG system i'm using!! i don't even have a big enough pot to do a full boil, i have to use 2 pots, boil them both and as they boil down i add to my biggest pot(turkey fryer, around 6 or 7 gallons i think) i do every thing on the stove. to make sure i don't lose too much heat during the mash, i wrop the bottling bucket with about 4 towels. so far it works!
Finn
Well-Known Member
Wade E said:
Sorry I was away from the computer for a few days! Anyway, I got started with the bucket system because I happened to have two food-grade buckets left from when I bought strawberries from the Kiwanis Club. I just drilled about forty dozen 1/8" holes in the bottom of one, installed a tap in the other and tried it.
I don't mash in the buckets. After an hour in there, the mash would be about 120 degrees, even with the tun covered in towels. The actual mashing is done in a pot on the kitchen stove -- so I'm starting out with two pots on there, the mashing tun and the canning kettle full of strike water. The strike water goes in at 172 degrees for a 9-10-pound grainbill and the mash ends up in the mid- to high 150s. Judicious heat inputs get it right where I want it within about 10 minutes, and at :50 I turn it up to medium heat to get a 170-degree mashout. This kicks my efficiency up noticeably when I go to lauter. Meanwhile I'm heating that canning kettle back up, with 4 gallons of fresh strike water inside, on the way to 175 degrees.
When mashout is done, I pour strike water into the lauter tun until it's up to the level of the inner bucket (skipping this step guarantees a stuck sparge) and put the mash in it. The mash is 170 degrees by now. It loses about five degrees going into the buckets and being messed around with, not enough to worry about, and soon I'm pouring 175-degree sparge water onto a coffee can lid on top of it. It stays hot enough for this process to work.
Now, here's the best part. The buckets are translucent plastic. When I put the mash in, I can watch the liquid go up into the space between the two buckets. When I start my mashout, I open the taps up until the wort is drawn down to about 2 inches above the bottom of the inner bucket, then close it down just enough to hold it there. At this point I'm mashing out exactly what's perking down from the two inches of sparge water I'm keeping on top of the grainbed. This virtually guarantees I will not overdraw my grainbed and stick the sparge even with very gooey mashes like Irish stout (with three pounds of flaked barley -- mmmmm!). If I want a little more pressure on the grainbed, I bring the level down to a half inch or so. It's like a pressure gauge for my lauter tun. I have total control of flow rate and pressure on the grainbed, and -- through the sparge water -- adequate control of the temperature. And it also gives me a surprisingly good efficiency with 9-pound grainbills, especially considering I'm only mashing out about four and a half gallons of wort. And did I mention it's super easy to clean afterwards?
Like I said, it's a small-capacity system. Anything with an O.G. over about 1.055 I have to spike with DME. Ten pounds of grain are the absolute maximum it can handle. But it works very well for me for the beers I like to drink, and gives me a lot more temperature control than I could manage using a cooler with no heat source inside ...
One other thing. If anybody's thinking of making one of these, don't do what I did -- which is flip the bucket upside down and punch holes in it with the drill from the bottom. The hot wort will soften the plastic enough to close most of these holes back up when you fill 'er up. Drill down from inside the bucket so the "lips" the drill bit makes as it pushes through point downward. And do yourself a favor -- get a pair of five- or six-gallon buckets to do this in. My four-gallon ones really big enough to use comfortably.
Sorry for the long-a** post, but Wade asked (thanks Wade!) Brew strong, bros!
Good post! You reminded me of how simple but effective way it's to use Charlies old bucket in bucket lauter tun set up. I've been using a grain bag in a bucket for lautering in the house. I use my keg system when brewing 10 gal or big beers. I'll be drilling a bucket to use instead of the grain bag as it's more effiecent. I do agree clean up is much quicker and easier with the bucket set up. I can also brew in the house with that set up. Tomorrow I'll be using the keg set up on the deck because I'll be making a Bock which needs a good amount of grain.Finn said:Sorry I was away from the computer for a few days! Anyway, I got started with the bucket system because I happened to have two food-grade buckets left from when I bought strawberries from the Kiwanis Club. I just drilled about forty dozen 1/8" holes in the bottom of one, installed a tap in the other and tried it.
I don't mash in the buckets. After an hour in there, the mash would be about 120 degrees, even with the tun covered in towels. The actual mashing is done in a pot on the kitchen stove -- so I'm starting out with two pots on there, the mashing tun and the canning kettle full of strike water. The strike water goes in at 172 degrees for a 9-10-pound grainbill and the mash ends up in the mid- to high 150s. Judicious heat inputs get it right where I want it within about 10 minutes, and at :50 I turn it up to medium heat to get a 170-degree mashout. This kicks my efficiency up noticeably when I go to lauter. Meanwhile I'm heating that canning kettle back up, with 4 gallons of fresh strike water inside, on the way to 175 degrees.
When mashout is done, I pour strike water into the lauter tun until it's up to the level of the inner bucket (skipping this step guarantees a stuck sparge) and put the mash in it. The mash is 170 degrees by now. It loses about five degrees going into the buckets and being messed around with, not enough to worry about, and soon I'm pouring 175-degree sparge water onto a coffee can lid on top of it. It stays hot enough for this process to work.
Now, here's the best part. The buckets are translucent plastic. When I put the mash in, I can watch the liquid go up into the space between the two buckets. When I start my mashout, I open the taps up until the wort is drawn down to about 2 inches above the bottom of the inner bucket, then close it down just enough to hold it there. At this point I'm mashing out exactly what's perking down from the two inches of sparge water I'm keeping on top of the grainbed. This virtually guarantees I will not overdraw my grainbed and stick the sparge even with very gooey mashes like Irish stout (with three pounds of flaked barley -- mmmmm!). If I want a little more pressure on the grainbed, I bring the level down to a half inch or so. It's like a pressure gauge for my lauter tun. I have total control of flow rate and pressure on the grainbed, and -- through the sparge water -- adequate control of the temperature. And it also gives me a surprisingly good efficiency with 9-pound grainbills, especially considering I'm only mashing out about four and a half gallons of wort. And did I mention it's super easy to clean afterwards?
Like I said, it's a small-capacity system. Anything with an O.G. over about 1.055 I have to spike with DME. Ten pounds of grain are the absolute maximum it can handle. But it works very well for me for the beers I like to drink, and gives me a lot more temperature control than I could manage using a cooler with no heat source inside ...
One other thing. If anybody's thinking of making one of these, don't do what I did -- which is flip the bucket upside down and punch holes in it with the drill from the bottom. The hot wort will soften the plastic enough to close most of these holes back up when you fill 'er up. Drill down from inside the bucket so the "lips" the drill bit makes as it pushes through point downward. And do yourself a favor -- get a pair of five- or six-gallon buckets to do this in. My four-gallon ones really big enough to use comfortably.
Sorry for the long-a** post, but Wade asked (thanks Wade!) Brew strong, bros!
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