After scorching a very precious 10 gallon partigyle batch of a Maibock and Helles,on a direct fired recirculating mash tun, I decided to switch to herms. Followed the advice of many collective experiences on this forum, and went with a 50 foot coil of 1/2 inch copper cool. I bent it around a 5 gallon better bottle, trying to make the coil have its maximum diameter and still fit inside the keg. That way, the water level inside the HLT would not be required to be as high to submerge the full coil, compared to forming the copper around a corny keg. I had to rotate the coil to fit one turn at a time. Looking back, I would have soldered on copper elbows and a short piece to connect to the bulkheads. I will probably go back and do that at some point. Outside the keg I used male camlocks, but realize now I need a valve on the bottom one at least. I also added a whirlpool port to spin the water in the HLT, opposite direction of wort. A coupe more hoses and ready for a test run.
I made a 5 gallon batch of Helles. Nailed my numbers and didn't have any major issues. For a mash, I did a protein rest at 122 for 30 mins and 154 for 30 then mash out for 10. I was able to ramp temp a little more than one degree per minute. The temp in the HLT when firing at full for steps was 2-3 degrees higher than the wort.
I was hoping for a faster ramp so will do just a water test before next batch to see what can be tweaked. But the constant temp holding, which will be what i do most (single infusion mash), was dead on. Very easy to recirculate the whole time and hold a temp.
Of course now, I'm zeroing in on automation. I spend most of the time lighting and snuffing the burners, while watching the temp. Would be so nice to set the temp of the HLT on the panel and then just monitor with a brew in hand...
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416977918.804411.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416977956.227037.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416978014.897968.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416978124.912340.jpg
Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch), Oatmeal Brown Ale
Secondary:
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA, Mojave Red, Black Magic Stout
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
I made a 5 gallon batch of Helles. Nailed my numbers and didn't have any major issues. For a mash, I did a protein rest at 122 for 30 mins and 154 for 30 then mash out for 10. I was able to ramp temp a little more than one degree per minute. The temp in the HLT when firing at full for steps was 2-3 degrees higher than the wort.
I was hoping for a faster ramp so will do just a water test before next batch to see what can be tweaked. But the constant temp holding, which will be what i do most (single infusion mash), was dead on. Very easy to recirculate the whole time and hold a temp.
Of course now, I'm zeroing in on automation. I spend most of the time lighting and snuffing the burners, while watching the temp. Would be so nice to set the temp of the HLT on the panel and then just monitor with a brew in hand...
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416977918.804411.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416977956.227037.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416978014.897968.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1416978124.912340.jpg
Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch), Oatmeal Brown Ale
Secondary:
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA, Mojave Red, Black Magic Stout
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
