nakeddog
Well-Known Member
Hey all. Sorry to have this as my first post here, but I am brewing with a new setup and am getting strange results.
I just put together a new brew setup where I am currently living. I have brewed in the past when I was still in NY, but this is my first time since moving to Helsinki almost 3yrs ago.
I have a small all grain brewing setup. Since my apartment is on the smaller size, I decided to do 1/2 batches of 2.5gallon all grain brews. I am using an 18l SS pot as my kettle and a second 18l SS pot as my MLT. I have a circular copper manifold attached to a ball valve outputing from the MLT. I've tested it with no grain for flow, and it was weak at best, but flowed well enough that I didn't think twice about it.
But now I am in the process of lautering out of the MLT into my kettle to begin my boil. It is going VERY slowly. So slowly that I have to check to see if it is still moving. No matter how many times, or how hard I get suction from the valve, the rate of drain is slow. But I don't think I have a stuck sparge, since when I do put suction on the hose, I get great flow. It's just not keeping up when it's on it's own.
So my question is this, is it a problem? I can wait all night, but I'm worried about temperature dropping. Already it has to be 15deg down from the 160 I started the sparging at. I was starting with a fly sparge, but with the slow rate I thought batch sparging it might speed things up with the added amount of liquid, but it did nothing.
Any thoughts?
I just put together a new brew setup where I am currently living. I have brewed in the past when I was still in NY, but this is my first time since moving to Helsinki almost 3yrs ago.
I have a small all grain brewing setup. Since my apartment is on the smaller size, I decided to do 1/2 batches of 2.5gallon all grain brews. I am using an 18l SS pot as my kettle and a second 18l SS pot as my MLT. I have a circular copper manifold attached to a ball valve outputing from the MLT. I've tested it with no grain for flow, and it was weak at best, but flowed well enough that I didn't think twice about it.
But now I am in the process of lautering out of the MLT into my kettle to begin my boil. It is going VERY slowly. So slowly that I have to check to see if it is still moving. No matter how many times, or how hard I get suction from the valve, the rate of drain is slow. But I don't think I have a stuck sparge, since when I do put suction on the hose, I get great flow. It's just not keeping up when it's on it's own.
So my question is this, is it a problem? I can wait all night, but I'm worried about temperature dropping. Already it has to be 15deg down from the 160 I started the sparging at. I was starting with a fly sparge, but with the slow rate I thought batch sparging it might speed things up with the added amount of liquid, but it did nothing.
Any thoughts?
