When I built this system someone here said it would be too big for 3g finished batches, my math said otherwise so I went with it. I wanted the extra room for larger batches if I felt like it and not worry about boilovers. It’s fine for lower gravity beers but last week I tried a 1.067 SG batch and found the grain wasn’t completely covered. This is a 15.5 gallon Bayou Classic with the steamer basket and bag to hold the grain.
I’ve thought of a couple solutions but wanted to get the feedback from HBT.
-Do larger batches. Problem is that it takes me forever to finish 5g. I keg and I don’t really want to bottle to give it away.
-Turn the diptube a bit to leave more in the kettle and increase recipe size. This has the benefit of allowing room for trub to settle out if I wanted to start doing that. Right now hops are in a spider but all the break material goes to kettle.
-Fill up the volume below the steamer with something to raise the liquid level. Maybe I could use some CPVC tubes with sealed ends, that might float the basket though. Could fill them with water or something first though.
-Increase boil off rate to increase starting volume. I use a 5500w element with a DSPR controller set to 28% and a steam slayer. I’m getting .55 gallons per hour boil off rate.
Any other good ideas?
I’ve thought of a couple solutions but wanted to get the feedback from HBT.
-Do larger batches. Problem is that it takes me forever to finish 5g. I keg and I don’t really want to bottle to give it away.
-Turn the diptube a bit to leave more in the kettle and increase recipe size. This has the benefit of allowing room for trub to settle out if I wanted to start doing that. Right now hops are in a spider but all the break material goes to kettle.
-Fill up the volume below the steamer with something to raise the liquid level. Maybe I could use some CPVC tubes with sealed ends, that might float the basket though. Could fill them with water or something first though.
-Increase boil off rate to increase starting volume. I use a 5500w element with a DSPR controller set to 28% and a steam slayer. I’m getting .55 gallons per hour boil off rate.
Any other good ideas?