New member with ideas and questions.

[tehnick]

Hey everyone.

I have been using extracts and doing partial mash brewing probably for around 6 months and am starting to feel limited. I am going to make the splash to all grain brewing as soon as possible once the finances allow. The cheaper costs with all grain are extremely attractive, especially since more people are wanting to get their hands on my beer and I'd like to be able to brew more to share and stash.

I was going to look into some brew kettles that have either a false bottom or a small divot below the ball valve to whirlpool and catch any debris. I guess what I would like to know is at flame out, how long should the wort sit before it is cooled down to pitching temperatures? Does it cause issues if you let it sit for too long without cooling it down quickly? I have read that some people let the wort sit for about 20 minutes to let everything settle and then follow their process for cooling the wort and pitching the yeast. I just don't want to run the risk of contaminants or causing damage to the wort. I figure it's mainly just sugar water so it should be alright, but I am too OCD for my own good.

Another thing that I have been toying with in my head is building a RIMS type of system, but pretty basic. I have been able to figure out where I need to keep the gas range dialed in to keep temperatures between 153-156 degrees for mashing. What I had planned to do was use a kettle with a ball valve and temp gauge (blichmann style) to drain water down into a coleman rectangular cooler with a false bottom, then use the ball valve to drain to a pump and cycle it back to the brew kettle. Has anyone tried doing something like this? I would probably install a T at the cooler to split the water path to keep channels from forming and use a wort aerator on both hoses. I will drill into the lid and use O-rings to secure the hoses. Would it be best to keep the water level slightly above the grain? Does this sound like a reasonable way to build a RIMS on the cheap? I figure if I can get the strike temp acceptable it should retain the heat without too much fuss.

Thanks in advance, this place has been a good resource and I don't know why I took so long to join.

 

[acidrain]

With what you've described, here is what I would do...
You're going to need two kettles, or at least a grant to catch the wort runnings.
Heat the strike water in a kettle to temp, and use the cooler to mash in (it will hold the temp). You can add re-circulation later if you want. If you add re-circ, you'll need a way to add heat as the hoses and pump will dissipate heat.
Heat sparge water while mashing.
Drain the wort into the BK or a grant.
Add sparge water and drain into the BK or grant.
Once you've collected the pre-boil volume begin the boil (you can wait a bit of time here if you need).
Boil and add hops.
Chill immediately (after it's chilled you can wait a bit of time here if you need).
Airate/oxygenate the cooled wort, then pitch yeast.

 

[tehnick]

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely take note. What I has planned on doing is using the BK as a combo BK/HLT unit and using my gas stove to maintain the temp while it recirculates since I've been able to dial in the temperature with the gas flow. Essentially it would drain by gravity from the stove into the cooler on the floor and I would keep the valve on the cooler open and feed to a pump that would bring it back to the BK/HLT and continue the circle of life for the 60 min.

I was thinking this could be a way to settle the grain bed while the constant moving water would pull more sugars and give a higher efficiency in the mash. The stove should help keep the temperature maintained from dissipation but I may just have bite the bullet and experiment since grain is pretty cheap.

I just don't have 6-7K for a Brew Magic system and think the best way to do it is go mad scientist/MacGyver on it.

 

[acidrain]

That sounds good, except why circulate through the cooler first? Is it to avoid pulling a vacuum on the grain bed?
I direct-fire recirculate, and I also have an electric rims tube to hold the temp, but honestly, with the recirc going, and the false bottom keeping the grains off the bottom of the kettle, it's really easy to maintain the temps just recirculating from the drain valve/pump/back to grain bed. They key is to have a temp probe at the center of the grain mass, AND at the output of the wort back into the kettle.
You'll still need a way to catch the first runnings (the cooler) so you can use the HLT to sparge before beginning the boil.
The reason I suggest this is because the longer the hoses, and the more equipment you're recirculating through, the more heat loss you will have.

 

[tehnick]

Mainly due to space. I figure I can get the mash started, get any dough balls taken care of, then start moving the water from the cooler to the kettle on the stove and back to the cooler for the mash period, but now that I think about it, I'd need the hotter water at the end for the sparge. I'd be keeping the grain in the cooler and use the kettle to maintain the temps while recirculating it. I have my basic kettle now that I could use to heat the sparge water. Hmm, maybe this won't work the way I thought it originally could or could I still recirculate the sparge water after adding it to the loop? I expect to have no more than 12' total of hosing.

 

[acidrain]

Everybody has a little different method. I'm sure you'll get it all dialed in.

My hoses are about 3' each... out of the MLT, through the pump, back into the MLT.

Another thought... You could mash, and while that's going, heat sparge water and store it in the cooler.
Then, mash and lauter directly into the BK, add sparge water from the cooler, and sparge directly into the BK until you have your pre-boil volume.
There are lot's of ways to do it.