Single Vessel Brewing System Temperature Stability

[Bart Taylor]

I'm not trying to convince you of anything. If you don't think a sight glass is important, great.

I've always had them for (obviously) measuring levels. But in the case of the mash tun, it was VERY useful (especially the one BELOW the false bottom). When I detected the differential in the mash tun sight glasses, I stirred the grains, which typically bought me some time, or solved the problem.

My mash tun. In left image, note the two sight glasses.

View attachment 820263

Roger. BTW I didn't mean to imply that I didn't believe that your system didn't have sight glasses. Just that the stuff I've looked at did not.

 

[Bobby_M]

Most kettles these days don't have sightglasses due to the interior etching or embossing. However, a sight glass that extends below the false bottom/bag is a great visual indicator that you're trying to recirculate faster than the bag/mash can flow. It could be the difference between a dry fire/scorched batch and not. It's not as fool proof as a float switch though, since you actually have to see the level drop on the sight glass to catch the problem.

 

[Bart Taylor]

Most kettles these days don't have sightglasses due to the interior etching or embossing. However, a sight glass that extends below the false bottom/bag is a great visual indicator that you're trying to recirculate faster than the bag/mash can flow. It could be the difference between a dry fire/scorched batch and not. It's not as fool proof as a float switch though, since you actually have to see the level drop on the sight glass to catch the problem.

Roger. Thanks for the info

 

[mhopperman]

Hey Bobby,
I'm thinking about setting up my brew kettle with your whirlpool and recirculation setup. Is the position for the whirlpool fitting important? I know on a lot of kettles it's placed higher up than the draining fitting, but it looks like on yours they're at the same vertical position.

 

[Bobby_M]

Hey Bobby,
I'm thinking about setting up my brew kettle with your whirlpool and recirculation setup. Is the position for the whirlpool fitting important? I know on a lot of kettles it's placed higher up than the draining fitting, but it looks like on yours they're at the same vertical position.

The whirlpool function works fine down lower. In a BIAB setup, it's mandatory that the whirlpool sits below the false bottom and bag to be able to stir that area.

 

[MikeCo]

I bought a Spike 15 gallon kettle with 2 horizontal ports along with the necessary pump, tubing and fittings to build a system like the one Brew Hardware sells, except that mine has a BoilCoil and no false bottom. I went with the BoilCoil because my immersion chiller would work with it. Otherwise it works like Bobby's setup - it splits wort into the whirlpool and recirculation stream during the mash. I previously had a kettle with a BoilCoil and no recirculation which was very unstable and required a lot of manual stirring to maintain my target mash temp.

I brewed a lower gravity beer a few days ago to test the system and I was VERY pleased with the temperature stability. It held my target temp perfectly and the measured temperature of the recirc wort was dead-on or one degree off. My OG was also right on target. The only (minor) thing I don't like so much is that with the Spike kettle geometry and side pickup tube I am using, about 3 quarts of wort get left on the bottom. I can tilt the kettle and get more, but then I also get more trub. But maybe it's just a matter of leaving it in the kettle vs in the fermenter. I'll see if I have less trub volume in the fermenter than in the past when I just dumped everything in.

Overall, I am very happy with this system and a big believer in Bobby's "stir while recirculating" configuration.