Central Valve Manifold

Im not really sure Ill be able to describe this properly but Im going to give it a shot.

Im looking for ideas,pics or suggestions on how to design a central valve location, a manifold of sorts for my stovetop 3 vessel setup. Kinda like an automated setup but Ill throw the valves. Currently Im attaching/detaching hoses,carrying pots. I want to be able to just setup and brew.

So if you could picture a 3v setup with 1 march pump handling all the pump duries. By attaching a fresh water supply, and strategically placing a bunch of valves within this manifold I want basically to be able to:

Fill my HLT...throw a valve...Transfer to MT...throw a valve...Vorlauf...throw a valve...Transfer to brew kettle...throw a valve...Sparge...throw a valve...transfer to Brew Kettle...throw a valve...circulate through plate chiller and transfer to fermenter. Make sense?

Does this make sense or does it looks like I have been hitting the liquor cabinet too much. I searched the site looking for ideas as to how to do this but I keep coming up with MT manifolds. Im probably making this sound more confusing than it really is..so I apoligize for that. Thanks!

This post is over a year old, but your idea definitely makes sense. I arrived at the following plan by looking at other's hard plumbed systems and removing the pipe connections between the valves. I'm planning on using silicone tubing and QDs instead of piping, so I was looking to reduce the number of connections.

I've drawn it out a few times, and its basically a manifold made up of Tees, Crosses, and Ball Valves. I'm still pricing everything out, so the cost may prove to be too high. I've also looked at constructing it from several 3-way valves, but at $40 a piece, it looks like building it from ball valves and fittings might work out cheaper.

There will be two manifolds, one for the drain side, and one for the return side. The drain side will basically be 5 ball valves, connected in whatever way is cheapest. Currently I'm thinking that will be 3 Tees and ball valves, or 1 Cross and 1 Tee and ball valves. (TTT), or (T+)

The return side will be 6 ball valves, again connected in the cheapest way I can find. I'm thinking that will be 2 Tees and a Cross, or two Crosses connected together. (TT+) or (++)

I've also started looking for pre-made valve manifolds that will do the trick, but so far I've only found ones made for PEX, which I could adapt to work with my camlocks. It all just depends on what option is more cost effective, and what material it's made of. I'd like to do all stainless.

My brew stand will be a single tier with two pumps, with the mash tun in the middle. I'm going to try to use my counterflow chiller as a HEX for HERMS, and then again for cooling after the boil. I'll have to test that out to make sure it works. The manifolds will be mounted to the frame, one in front of and one above the mash tun. I can probably reduce the number of valves needed, but I wanted to avoid moving hoses around during the brew day.

Hi -LizardRuss,
I ran into this post, what you described about your brewing stand is exactly (almost) similar to what I have. Single tier with two pumps, with the mash tun in side "not middle" HRMS, counter-flow chiller, add a grant only.
If you ended up making a manifold please post a picture I need to copy or come up with one for my system.

Thanks

Majd said:

Hi -LizardRuss,
I ran into this post, what you described about your brewing stand is exactly (almost) similar to what I have. Single tier with two pumps, with the mash tun in side "not middle" HRMS, counter-flow chiller, add a grant only.
If you ended up making a manifold please post a picture I need to copy or come up with one for my system.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi Majd!

I'm still working out the issues with my system, but here's the current iteration...

The first image is the pump output manifold. The left side is the HLT return, the middle is the MLT return, and the right side is the BK return. The two inputs at the front are connect to my CFC, which is then connected to my pumps. I have this manifold supported so that the MLT connects directly it.

The second image is the pump input manifold, and is somewhat similar to the return. The left side is the HLT drain, the middle front is the MLT drain, and the right side is the BK drain. The middle back is just there so I can drain everything at the end of the brew day. Each pump has a tee on it, where the front valves are used for priming the pump or taking samples, and the top is the output for my wort chiller.

I'm still ironing out my process, but here are some challenges I learned from along the way:

- Pump priming: without the tee & ball valves I found that liquid could get trapped on the output side and prevent the pump from priming.

- Heating the mash: I originally thought that I could keep the HLT near sparge temperature and use it to heat the MLT. While this worked, it can work too well and you run the risk of denaturing the enzymes that pass through the CFC.

- Mash outs: Since I've run all my plumbing through the CFC, if I want to sparge with 170 degree water, I have to raise the MLT to 170 degrees for a mash out. Otherwise, the wort will cool the sparge water as it's being transferred to the BK. I thought about adding a bypass for the CFC, but the systems already complicated, and it's not needed if mash out.

- Mash Temperature Control: I'd recommend keeping the HLT just above your mash temperature, and recirculate both the HLT & MLT. Then when it's time to sparge you can mash out by recirculating both and heating the HLT. Since my system is manually controlled, I plan on recirculating it every 15 minutes or so instead of watching it the entire 60-90 minutes.

- CFC Sanitization: I recirculate the BK right as the boil is complete. The hot wort should be enough to sanitize everything. You can recirculate during the boil, but be ready for the temperature to drop enough to lose the boil.

- Cleaning: This is something I'm still figuring out. My next brew day I'm going to try using a ShopVac to clean out all the spent grain and hop debris. Then I'll scrub everything down, rinse and drain. Finally, I'll run hot PBW through everything, rinse with water, and let it all drain. The big issue is getting everything dry. I'm thinking about rigging the ShopVac so that it pulls air through all the hoses & fittings and maybe that will help. The manifolds trap a decent amount of water, so who knows...