Greetings folks,
I've decided that it's time for me to get a little bit crazy with a fun design for a hybrid system for brewing All-Grain 10 gallon batches. Here are my goals:
1) Re-use old 10-gallon Polarware kettle as an Electric Hot Liquor Tank.
2) Build a 60-quart square cooler with CPVC manifolds for false bottom and fly sparging.
3) Build and use a new MoreBeer 15 gallon kettle (with two ports) for boil and whirlpool. Re-use current Blichmann Floor Burner with propane for heating.
4) Invest in a single pump (expandable to two) to save my poor back and legs on brew day.
Expanding on those thoughts:
1) Electric Hot Liquor Tank: Since I only need 5-8 gallons of water at a single temperature for most of my single infusion mashes, I will acquire a 120V 2000W Camco High Density Element from Home Depot (search #15120) and use a weldless bulkhead drilled into my old kettle about 3" from the bottom. I'm using the 120V element because I want to be able to use the system anywhere. Would like some suggestions on this, I'm considering a 240V 4500W element as well.
Online calculators estimate that I can reach 170F in 64 minutes with 8 gallons of strike water. It's a bit long but I think if I start heating water immediately, by time I'm ready to mash in I'll be at temp. With a 4500W element it's a 29 minute heat time.
Controlling this element will be likely be a STC-1000 controller, initially with the wired probe floating in the water and later on with a probe built in. I'm thinking that using this will allow me to "set it and forget it", which will be helpful, because with propane I'm constantly watching the temperature and I've overshot more than once! In the future I can upgrade to a PID controller but I think the STC-1000 will work for now.
2) Today I purchased a 60 quart Rubbermaid cooler. I also purchased parts to build a manifold for a false bottom and a manifold for fly sparging. This simply consists of 1/2" CVPC and a variety of 90's and T's. I'm going to build it in sections to make it easy to clean. The "false bottom" will have a series of slits cut in about 1/3 of the way and the fly sparge arm will have a series of 1/8" holes drilled in it to allow water to drip continuously. The outlet is a 1/2" ball valve with a 3/8" barb fitted into the existing hole with a threaded CPVC adapter that the false bottom will plug into.
The fly sparge arm will use some sort of "hook" system to allow it to hang down in the cooler 2-3 inches and it will have a central T pointing vertical with a female threaded adapter and barb to allow me to make it into a RIMS system with the pump.
There will be no thermometer built in, I will likely use a thermopen or other gadget to check temps.
3) The new kettle is a MoreBeer 15 gallon that I am buying locally. It has two 1/2 ports, one at the bottom and one about 6" above that. I will use the bottom as a drain with a small pickup tube and the top one with a stainless 90 to use as a whirlpool arm. Easy peasy.
A local brewhouse manufacturer is doing something interesting with their boil kettles and is including a 2 degree sloped floor and a small piece of curved steel welded on the bottom on the same side as the outlet. In conjunction with sloped floor and a solid whirlpool, this steel is a "trub dam" and will keep all the trub from entering the chiller or fermenter. I will likely ask this manufacturer if they would be willing to install such a device on my kettle.
4) Pump: it will be a simple March or Chugger pump mounted on a piece of wood with a light switch for on/off. Since all of the ports and tubing will be the same size, I should be able to use only one for the time being (for mash in, then gravity-feed the sparge while pumping slowly into the kettle.
Well, that's a really long description for what will be a relatively simple system. I'll keep this post updated as I build and offer any hints I may come across. Cheers guys! Happy Friday!!
-Jason
I've decided that it's time for me to get a little bit crazy with a fun design for a hybrid system for brewing All-Grain 10 gallon batches. Here are my goals:
1) Re-use old 10-gallon Polarware kettle as an Electric Hot Liquor Tank.
2) Build a 60-quart square cooler with CPVC manifolds for false bottom and fly sparging.
3) Build and use a new MoreBeer 15 gallon kettle (with two ports) for boil and whirlpool. Re-use current Blichmann Floor Burner with propane for heating.
4) Invest in a single pump (expandable to two) to save my poor back and legs on brew day.
Expanding on those thoughts:
1) Electric Hot Liquor Tank: Since I only need 5-8 gallons of water at a single temperature for most of my single infusion mashes, I will acquire a 120V 2000W Camco High Density Element from Home Depot (search #15120) and use a weldless bulkhead drilled into my old kettle about 3" from the bottom. I'm using the 120V element because I want to be able to use the system anywhere. Would like some suggestions on this, I'm considering a 240V 4500W element as well.
Online calculators estimate that I can reach 170F in 64 minutes with 8 gallons of strike water. It's a bit long but I think if I start heating water immediately, by time I'm ready to mash in I'll be at temp. With a 4500W element it's a 29 minute heat time.
Controlling this element will be likely be a STC-1000 controller, initially with the wired probe floating in the water and later on with a probe built in. I'm thinking that using this will allow me to "set it and forget it", which will be helpful, because with propane I'm constantly watching the temperature and I've overshot more than once! In the future I can upgrade to a PID controller but I think the STC-1000 will work for now.
2) Today I purchased a 60 quart Rubbermaid cooler. I also purchased parts to build a manifold for a false bottom and a manifold for fly sparging. This simply consists of 1/2" CVPC and a variety of 90's and T's. I'm going to build it in sections to make it easy to clean. The "false bottom" will have a series of slits cut in about 1/3 of the way and the fly sparge arm will have a series of 1/8" holes drilled in it to allow water to drip continuously. The outlet is a 1/2" ball valve with a 3/8" barb fitted into the existing hole with a threaded CPVC adapter that the false bottom will plug into.
The fly sparge arm will use some sort of "hook" system to allow it to hang down in the cooler 2-3 inches and it will have a central T pointing vertical with a female threaded adapter and barb to allow me to make it into a RIMS system with the pump.
There will be no thermometer built in, I will likely use a thermopen or other gadget to check temps.
3) The new kettle is a MoreBeer 15 gallon that I am buying locally. It has two 1/2 ports, one at the bottom and one about 6" above that. I will use the bottom as a drain with a small pickup tube and the top one with a stainless 90 to use as a whirlpool arm. Easy peasy.
A local brewhouse manufacturer is doing something interesting with their boil kettles and is including a 2 degree sloped floor and a small piece of curved steel welded on the bottom on the same side as the outlet. In conjunction with sloped floor and a solid whirlpool, this steel is a "trub dam" and will keep all the trub from entering the chiller or fermenter. I will likely ask this manufacturer if they would be willing to install such a device on my kettle.
4) Pump: it will be a simple March or Chugger pump mounted on a piece of wood with a light switch for on/off. Since all of the ports and tubing will be the same size, I should be able to use only one for the time being (for mash in, then gravity-feed the sparge while pumping slowly into the kettle.
Well, that's a really long description for what will be a relatively simple system. I'll keep this post updated as I build and offer any hints I may come across. Cheers guys! Happy Friday!!
-Jason
