Recirculating Help

[Bradyj23]

I currently brew in a keggle and just got a small pump to recirculate prior to sparging. My buddy uses a similar setup and uses tubing placed on top of the grain bed. I was looking at the loc-line and I think I would like to use that. However I have no idea what to get and have a few questions.

1. My buddy uses tubing that T's at the end to spread out the liquid and he wants to go to 4 outs to spread it out even more. The loc-line just has the one outlet and I am afraid it will cause issues with channeling or disrupting the bed or keep the entire area from being heated evenly. What do people use to prevent this? Or does it just not happen? Spray it against the wall?

2. Whats the best way to hook it to the side of my keggle? Camlocks? Weldless bulkhead?

3. If it is camlocks where can I find info on using camlocks? They seem awesome but I have no idea what I am looking at/for.

4. How many pieces of loc line do I need? What other parts?

5. Is there a difference between the blue loc line parts and the black parts?

Thank you all for your help. It is much appreciated. If there is a thread that answers these questions please let me know. I didn't find what I was looking for when I searched earlier. Thanks again.

 

[ColoHox]

Check out brewhardware.com. Bobby_M is a member here and sells very high quality stuff. He also ships fast and safely.

I use black lock line into my boil kettle for filling and recirculation right before knockout. I drilled a hole in the top side of my kettle (right under where it starts to curve up), and attached a 1/2 camlock to the lock line (plus a washer and gasket to seal the inside). I bought the locline kit he sells. I use camlocks for all my connections and they are fantastic (again, all from brewhardware.com). I tried using the locline for recirculation in my mash tun, but it didn't distribute the liquid very evenly, like you mentioned. Here is my mash recirc flow:

MLT out - valve - male cam - female cam - hose - female cam - male cam - pump in - pump out- male cam - female cam - male cam with 1/2in hose barb - silicone hose with holes punched. I lay the hose on top of my grain bed and the holes allow for easy distribution. Various sparge arms (or manifolds etc) can be built/bought easily.

You need to map out your system on a piece of paper or something to make sure you are getting all the right pieces.

To start, use the female cams on the ends of your hoses and male cams on the kettles/pump. Then, count out how many you will need to make each connection.

If you want, I can post some pictures.

 

[AnOldUR]

 

[blizz81]

I have my locline attached to a weldless bulkhead with a hose barb. Camlocks could provide quicker disconnect if you want to switch hoses around to allow the pump to do different jobs - in my system this is unnecessary as the pump serves a single dedicated purpose.


Provided I'm getting a consistent, good flow, it seems if I lay the locline down parallel to the grain bed just under the surface of the liquid and have it running in a circular motion around the outside of the vessel, it gets a decent circular flow going with minimal channeling. You mention "keep the entire area from being heated evenly" but that's the only mention of you applying heat...did you have another plan along with simply recirculating to where you'll be adding heat? Direct fire? I can mention with RIMS, the temps measured all over the place in the mash are within 0.5 degrees.


I ordered my locline with the associated hardware from Bobby and got the extra lengths added on to make sure I'd have room to still lay it down "flat" on less-full mashes.

 

[TechyDork]

you could use this https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/mashrecirculation.htm

with this

https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/mashspargering.htm

Bobby has killer products and awesome customer service.

 

[Bradyj23]

Thanks everybody. I use direct heat to heat everything up while recirculating. I have been looking at Bobby's site and will probably buy from there. I was wasn't sure what all that I need.

ColoHox thanks for that description of the camlocks. It really helped.

Bliz81 how many lengths did you get? I really can't figure out how long each section would be.