Herms System for Concentrated Boils

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum, so I apologize if this question has been answered 1000 times, or if I put it in the wrong sub-forum.

I am slowly putting together a HERMS based Brewery system using some 15gallon Guinness Kegs I got from a local scrap yard. I am hoping to start setting up some of the equipment in two weeks time and get things moving.

My question is that the system will really be most efficient for 10-12 gallon all grain batches, but could it also be used in conjunction with a large MLT (say 20-30gallon) to make concentrated wort for imperials and/or larger batches (like how you start with 3gallon and top up to 5, just at a larger scale).

Thanks for the help in advance.

BMB

 

[LandoLincoln]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum, so I apologize if this question has been answered 1000 times, or if I put it in the wrong sub-forum.

I am slowly putting together a HERMS based Brewery system using some 15gallon Guinness Kegs I got from a local scrap yard. I am hoping to start setting up some of the equipment in two weeks time and get things moving.

My question is that the system will really be most efficient for 10-12 gallon all grain batches, but could it also be used in conjunction with a large MLT (say 20-30gallon) to make concentrated wort for imperials and/or larger batches (like how you start with 3gallon and top up to 5, just at a larger scale).

Thanks for the help in advance.

BMB

Grain takes up .08 gallons per pound of grain in a mash tun.

I you went with a 1.25 quarts per pound of grain mash ratio, you could use up to about 38 pounds of grain in a 15 gallon mash tun.

That's about a 1.094 beer for an 11 gallon batch.

Are you looking to create more than 11 gallons of a really big beer at a time? Are you looking to create more than 11 gallons of ANY beer at a time?

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

Either creating up to 11 gallons of a really big beer or diluting that wort to make say 25ish gallons of a regular beer.

I can't afford pots any bigger than 15 gallon, however, I have a line on a cheap 30gallon HDPE bucket for a MLT. I was thinking that this would allow me to create very strong worts that could then be either diluted or used for big beers.

Am I off running for Mayor of crazy town? Or is this something that others do?

 

[LandoLincoln]

In theory, you could use up to 38 pounds of grain in your mash tun if you had a 1.25 quarts-to-pounds strike water ratio.

Let's say that you used nothing but 38 pounds of 2-row brewer's malt in your mash tun.

The average PPG (points per pounds per gallon) of 2-row brewer's malt is about 32. Multiply 32 by 38 pounds and you get 1,216 points, or gravity units (GU).

If you divide 1,216 by 25 gallons of beer, you'll get an estimated SG of about 1.048. So your 15 gallon mash tun could provide enough sugars for 25 gallons of 1.048 beer with a single batch.

Do homebrewers actually DO this on a regular basis? Uh...well...no, I don't think they do. Yeah, it COULD be done. I don't know how it would affect the final product.

 

[Gameface]

He's talking about getting a 30g mash tun and boiling a highly concentrated wort in a 15g kettle then topping up with water.

I don't know the answer, OP. I've never heard of anyone doing that.

What I can say, though, is that your efficiency will suffer because you will not be running enough sparge to collect all the sugar you've made.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Yeah, I know. I'm saying that a 15g mash tun would give you a highly concentrated wort already, enough for 25 gallons of a medium OG. No need for a 30g mash tun.

 

[Black_Marsh_Brewer]

wouldn't a recirculating system result in needing less sparge water?

 

[BrewerBrad82]

The average PPG (points per pounds per gallon) of 2-row brewer's malt is about 32. Multiply 32 by 38 pounds and you get 1,216 points, or gravity units (GU).

If you divide 1,216 by 25 gallons of beer, you'll get an estimated SG of about 1.048. So your 15 gallon mash tun could provide enough sugars for 25 gallons of 1.048 beer with a single batch.

For a standard American 2-row malted barley variety 32 points/pound/gallon would be right about 85% mash efficiency. You may get 85%, but generally when maxing out a mash tun your efficiency will suffer. If you recalculate this at 75% efficiency, you will get roughly 28 ppg out of this mash resulting in an OG of ~1.043 in 25 total gallons. For 65% efficiency you ppg will drop closer to 24 leaving you with an OG of 1.036. Just thought I should point that out!

 

[LandoLincoln]

wouldn't a recirculating system result in needing less sparge water?

No, not really.

 

[Gameface]

wouldn't a recirculating system result in needing less sparge water?

It might help a little but it would be very little. Your efficiency basically doing no sparge is going to be very low. You need fresh water to rinse the left over sugars into.