Cascaded MLT setup for high-ABV batches

[drummermattie02]

My friend and I have essentially identical brew setups, water cooler-based eHERMS with 10-gallon MLTs having standard SS false bottoms. We'd like to brew some 10-gallon (or larger) batches of higher-ABV beers for which a single 10-gallon MLT is not enough.

My thought was that we could gravity feed from MLT1 into MLT2, which is then pumped through the HEX coil and back into MLT1. Similar setup for fly sparging. Has anyone tried something like this? Any potential issues/considerations to watch out for? Obviously matching flow rate in the beginning will be important, so we'll restrict the pump accordingly so as to not run dry.

 

[drummermattie02]

Bump for the morning crowd? Otherwise, we'll let you all know how it goes!

 

[2ned-up]

I say go for it! Thats the beautiful thing about being a home brewer if you think it might work it probably will!

I have two 5 gallon igloos I use one for HLT and the other for MLT.... I can easily mash an 11.5 lbs grain bill for a five gallon batch. I want to try and brew a big beer and have thought about splitting a 18-23 lbs grain bill between the two.

 

[rossi46]

I second the "go for it". It sounds like it would work. Or just mash them seperately and combine in the bk.

 

[drummermattie02]

I second the "go for it". It sounds like it would work. Or just mash them seperately and combine in the bk.

We have done this before, but wanted to try cascading this time to take advantage of HERMS recirculation/temp control. We're in the go for it camp too, will report back on Sunday with success stories.