Easy Steam Infusion Mash System

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
FlyGuy said:
Yes, there is a needle/angle valve installed on the pot. If you look at the third picture in the thread (under the title Parts List), you can see it. It is brass and I tapped and threaded it right into the lid of the pot. Sometimes, if you are lucky, your pressure relief valve might be the same thread, so you can insert a tee and run the needle/angle valve off it.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't remove the pressure release valve....it's a good idea to have a second way of releasing pressure were something to go wrong with the valve.
 
I took your recommendation and bought the next size (9 litres) at Canadian Tire when it was on sale.

I just built this thing today, so I haven't tried it yet, but the plan is to steam and lauter through the same manifold. Definitely need to find a better heat source with the pressure cooker. My glass-top stove elements don't cut it. I'm going to try it at the girlfriends on her normal stove and see if it's any better.
 
Swagelock ! That is an expensive valve. Any small brass valve will work too.
 
brewman ! said:
Swagelock ! That is an expensive valve. Any small brass valve will work too.
Click to expand...
Free for me.:mug:

I'm an instrument mechanic and have tons of this stuff laying around.
 
Shockerengr said:
I wouldn't remove the pressure release valve....it's a good idea to have a second way of releasing pressure were something to go wrong with the valve.
Click to expand...
Absolutely do not remove the pressure release valve!

But what you can do is put a tee in it's place, screw the pressure relief valve on one connector and the needle/angle valve on another.
 
I agree, I left both relief valves in my cooker. Better safe than sorry. A few years ago some employees at KFC here couldn't get the pressure cooker (full of hot oil) open. So one of them used a screwdriver to pry the lid off. It exploded and 3 people were burned bad. Just be safe around these things.
 
I was getting lots of hot and cold pockets initally, but a bit of stirring fixed that
Click to expand...

Did you think about making the holes directional, in all the same direction? This would work best with the round cooler tun.

It might cause a spinning "whirlpool" circulation, effectively dispersing heat more efficiently and evenly. And perhaps, dare I say, no need to stir, so less heat loss from the open lid.
 
That's an interesting idea. I've been toying with the idea of a motorized stirred mounted on the lid. Anybody have any thoughts on this RPM wise?
 
marosell said:
Did you think about making the holes directional, in all the same direction? This would work best with the round cooler tun.

It might cause a spinning "whirlpool" circulation, effectively dispersing heat more efficiently and evenly. And perhaps, dare I say, no need to stir, so less heat loss from the open lid.
Click to expand...
It is an interesting idea, but typically the mash is so thick that steam jets wouldn't be enough to get it moving (self-stirring). However, one could integrate the steam manifold into a stirring arm that is attached to a low RPM electric motor. I think someone here mentioned this using a motor from an electric ice cream maker.
 
it may not cause a whirlpool, but i definitely think it will keep it circulated.

any kind of motor will have too many tiny places to clean mash out of. better off with a strong magnet stirrer
 
FlyGuy said:
However, one could integrate the steam manifold into a stirring arm that is attached to a low RPM electric motor. I think someone here mentioned this using a motor from an electric ice cream maker.
Click to expand...
I think it's time for a trip to Princess Auto and dig through the junk. I had thought about a rotating steam manifold, but then I would still need a manifold to drain the mash, so I think I'll go with a straight up stir device. Then with my temperature controller and solenoid, I can drop the lid, set it and forget it. lol:ban:
 
mr x said:
I think it's time for a trip to Princess Auto and dig through the junk. I had thought about a rotating steam manifold, but then I would still need a manifold to drain the mash, so I think I'll go with a straight up stir device. Then with my temperature controller and solenoid, I can drop the lid, set it and forget it. lol:ban:
Click to expand...
Cool -- if you do it, I would love to see how it works. Been thinking of something similar for myself.
 
Having a hard time finding a motor/gear setup that would be suitable. They have bins full of old 12v/115v motors there, but I can't tell what the rpm is. I think I'll try to get to the local hobby shop and see what they have. I may be able to use gears or pulleys of some sort to reduce speed if necessary, but I would like to keep things as simple as possible. I have an old cordless drill that could be sacrificed for the motor. The only problem then is the speed - I'll have to see how convenient it is to keep it down. On the plus side, the aluminum fan blades there look useful as stir paddles.
 
Hmmm, drill motors don't like extended use, but lusing one at such a slow rpm may work...I wouldn't want to risk the drill on it, though.

I think your biggest challenge will be finding a motor at the right RPM with enough torque. It would probably be easiest to find a higher RPM motor and use a pulley/gear system to increase the torque and decrease the RPM.

What is your design for the mixing spoon/arm/blade? A symmetrical on either side of the crankshaft will likely be the easiest to balance and mount.
 
I was going to use a basic farm equipment type aluminum fan blade on a ss shaft. I can run as many blades as I want on the shaft. pretty easy to set up.

You are right - the problem is finding a low RPM motor with ooph. My Craftsman 14.4 has become expendable now that the batteries are shot, so I may play with it a bit, see what I can come up with.
 
Windshield wiper motors sound like a very good choice. Anybody know if they run at 6V for low and 12V for high, and if so, is this usually done internally?
 
This guy is very nice and very informative. I talked to him a couple of years ago about his fermenter.http://www.luco.co.za/llewsbrewery/

This is what he uses for his mash tun setup.
photo013.jpg


And here is his HLT setup.
photo008.jpg


And what got me interested to talk to him....
photo050.jpg


Hope this helps a little.
 
So I'm planning a gott cooler HLT (5 gal) and picnic cooler mash tun (15 gal). The water out of my tap comes out at 140F.

I'd planned to put my strike water at 140 directly in my mash tun and my sparge water into the HLT. This is where I planned to use steam to raise them to the appropriate temps.

Does this seem like a reasonable plan? How big a of a pressure cooker do I need? I had expected to get one as big as I could find.

I suppose I could heat the sparge water from 140 in my kettle and have the steam dedicated to the mash tun, since that's where the temp control really needs to happen.. right?

Any help greatly appreciated, Thanks
 
In my experience, what limits your steam is the heat source - the size of the pressure cooker is secondary to that (assuming you are doing 5-10 gallon brews). I'm somewhat happy with my 9 quart pressure cooker, but I'm convinced it would work much better off gas than a 1500 watt element.
 
mr x said:
In my experience, what limits your steam is the heat source - the size of the pressure cooker is secondary to that (assuming you are doing 5-10 gallon brews). I'm somewhat happy with my 9 quart pressure cooker, but I'm convinced it would work much better off gas than a 1500 watt element.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree. I tried my pressure cooker on my propane burner and it went like nuts. But if you have a good heat source (e.g., propane burner from a turkey fryer), then you will definitely appreciate a larger pressure cooker. If I were to upgrade my little one, I would definitely go with a 10 qt minimum, and probably a 20 qt model.

Hopleaf, do you really plan to use hot water straight from the tap? I always thought drinking from your hot water tap was a no-no -- something to do with the heat dissolving nasties from your water lines IIRC. Further, if your water is treated with chlorine/chloramine, that needs to be removed before you brew (although I suppose you could just add a campden tablet to remove it, especially if your water is good tasting otherwise).
 
FlyGuy said:
Yes, I agree. I tried my pressure cooker on my propane burner and it went like nuts. But if you have a good heat source (e.g., propane burner from a turkey fryer), then you will definitely appreciate a larger pressure cooker. If I were to upgrade my little one, I would definitely go with a 10 qt minimum, and probably a 20 qt model.

Hopleaf, do you really plan to use hot water straight from the tap? I always thought drinking from your hot water tap was a no-no -- something to do with the heat dissolving nasties from your water lines IIRC. Further, if your water is treated with chlorine/chloramine, that needs to be removed before you brew (although I suppose you could just add a campden tablet to remove it, especially if your water is good tasting otherwise).
Click to expand...

I'm going to use my propane burner and see if I can find a 20 qt cooker if I can find one a little cheaper.

As far as the pipes, I never really thought about it but then again my pipes are all about 1 year old. I think my water utility was only built in the last 10 years. The thinking being the lead solder from older homes, right? So my pipes *should* be fine but that assumes my builder or someone didn't screw something up. Guess I'll stick to cold tap.
 
There are two ways to get your steam. Make it as you need it or use the stored up steam.

With a 9Q pressure cooker, you don't have much stored, so you pretty much have to have a big burner. With a 20Q pressure cooker you can store up enough steam to do most of the mash pretty easily. I'd go with a bigger pressure cooker before I put it on a flame.

I'd call the manufacturer before I put the pressure cooker on a powerful propane burner.
 
I don't see too much of a problem with the pressure cooker I am using. I looked through the manual, and there were no warnings about excessive heat input or gas burner warnings. It still has the safety valves to relieve pressure.

I'm not talking about using a massive burner, just something better than electric. A quick trial run will get you in the ballpark of the heat you will want to input without getting excessive.
 
As I read through this thread, my mind is racing with possibilities!
One interesting thought is (as mentioned earlier) using a counterflow chiller with steam as the heat source in a HERMS system... the steam would sterilize the chiller! What a wonderful benefit!
 
mr x said:
I don't see too much of a problem with the pressure cooker I am using. I looked through the manual, and there were no warnings about excessive heat input or gas burner warnings. It still has the safety valves to relieve pressure.

I'm not talking about using a massive burner, just something better than electric. A quick trial run will get you in the ballpark of the heat you will want to input without getting excessive.
Click to expand...

The problem is that the bottom of the pressure cookers if flat and aluminum. Aluminum loses strength fast as it gets hot. One hot spot in the wrong place could cause its failure. I'd email the manufacturer and ask.
 
The manufacturer says follow the instructions. The instructions say gas is OK, just don't have flames coming up the sides. So as long as you aren't using an insane heat source, you shouldn't get and hot spots as long as you don't boil the thing dry.
 
I found an ancient 16 quart pressure cooker that works awesome. I have used it for hefes step mashing from 111 to 155, only took maybe 10-15 minutes, and I was using a gas stove.
showimage.php
 

Similar threads

bumpkinbrews
How to get decoction results in a single infusion mash, Pilsner Urquell
Replies
17
Views
2K
AlcheMania
AlcheMania
U
Efficiency, decoction mash versus single infusion?
2 3
Replies
95
Views
5K
VikeMan
VikeMan
Hop
Ongoing Review: BrewHardware Premium Recirculating BIAB Package
Replies
4
Views
775
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
SpikeBrewing
NEW Product Announcement - Spike Solo Panel
2
Replies
78
Views
5K
We2smart
We2smart
Jack Arandir
Mash Tun Upgrade
Replies
7
Views
2K
Genuine
Genuine
BrewSwag 300

Latest posts

Back
Top