Well after years of dreamin and schemin think I'm finally going to do it. I have spent the last few years compiling major components for an 80 gallon system. I have been looking into all the various necessities and I think its time to build.
Here is what I have as of right now:
1. 1 plain 80 gallon 316 ss tank. This would be used as the MLT
2. 2 80 gallon ss tanks with heats exchangers built in. These would be used for a kettle and or a fermenter.
3. A commercial tankles water heater rated for 185 degrees at a flow of 6 GPM. THis would be for both the mash water and the strike water
4. Materials for a small glycol chiller i/e pump, radiator and stuff.
Basically my plan is to cut the domed top off of the shortest tank/MLT and use it as a base for the kettle. This way I can also install a false bottom.
for sparging, and then i will have to pump it into the kettle. I dont know much about pumps but I know that a few of you out there can figure it out.
I plan on directly firing with a 300,000 btu burner under the kettle, and using the heat exchanger inside the kettle in conjunction with the glycol chiller to cool it down.
Here is where i'm not exactly sure what to do. I don't know how well the other tank would work as a fermenter because of the heat exchanger inside. I am worried there would be too many nooks and crannies for stuff to hide. Another idea I had was to just cool the wort down inside the kettle, then seal it up and ferment right inside of the kettle. The kettle would be sterile because of the temp and this would save me from having to transfer it. It would also provide me with a way to control the fermentation temp via the glycolchiller/heat exchanger combo. Make sense?
Here are some pics of the tanks I'm using. I just figured tossing this out there for all to see would be a good source of info/inspiration. I look forward to hearing your ideas. Hopefully i've given yall enough of an idea to understand my plan.
Here is what I have as of right now:
1. 1 plain 80 gallon 316 ss tank. This would be used as the MLT
2. 2 80 gallon ss tanks with heats exchangers built in. These would be used for a kettle and or a fermenter.
3. A commercial tankles water heater rated for 185 degrees at a flow of 6 GPM. THis would be for both the mash water and the strike water
4. Materials for a small glycol chiller i/e pump, radiator and stuff.
Basically my plan is to cut the domed top off of the shortest tank/MLT and use it as a base for the kettle. This way I can also install a false bottom.
for sparging, and then i will have to pump it into the kettle. I dont know much about pumps but I know that a few of you out there can figure it out.
I plan on directly firing with a 300,000 btu burner under the kettle, and using the heat exchanger inside the kettle in conjunction with the glycol chiller to cool it down.
Here is where i'm not exactly sure what to do. I don't know how well the other tank would work as a fermenter because of the heat exchanger inside. I am worried there would be too many nooks and crannies for stuff to hide. Another idea I had was to just cool the wort down inside the kettle, then seal it up and ferment right inside of the kettle. The kettle would be sterile because of the temp and this would save me from having to transfer it. It would also provide me with a way to control the fermentation temp via the glycolchiller/heat exchanger combo. Make sense?
Here are some pics of the tanks I'm using. I just figured tossing this out there for all to see would be a good source of info/inspiration. I look forward to hearing your ideas. Hopefully i've given yall enough of an idea to understand my plan.