Mash heat loss

Building system for full grain. I do not have a herms(yet), but I am wondering if I run pump during entire mash, will it affect temp too much? Should I run during last 10 or 15 min only? Want good efficiency and clarity, but need temp to stay right as well.

 

You want to use a PID controller to turn the pump on when it needs to be on and off when it needs to be off. The PID controller will turn on the pump to recirc the wort through the HEX in order to keep the mash temp within ±X° of your set-point. When the mash temp reaches the set-point, it will shut off the pump.

 

I know someone with the Sabco system and the pump remains running while the heat exchanger is what turns off.
During brew days at the brewery we leave our pump on to recirc through the grain bed to help it settle as well as saturate, we think it helps efficiency as well.

 

These are good points, I agree

 

I agree, but with my current system, after strike I have no heat exchange, with the pump running do you think I will lose too much heat since it will leave tun and be exposed to normal temps? I want to recirc the whole time but my concern is heat loss with no heat exchanger in place(yet)

 

How long are we talking about and is the tun itself heated or insulated?

I have seen vorlauf times on commercial systems from 15-60 minutes. Sometimes timed into the mash, sometimes timed separately... none of these had any way of heating the vorlauf, steam jacketing wasn't used in the tuns, the cladding alone relied on for heat conservation.

 

If your tun has a water heater style blanket to insulate it, then you could wrap your recirculating hose with some pipe insulation to minimize heat loss as it leave the MT and then gets pumped back in. Just a thought.

 

Great idea! My MT is a converted 60qt cooler. Maybe pump friction will help keep heat where i want as well.

 

We do see heat loss on our system as we have no heat exchanger. Depending on the size of the brew, we can leave our burner on at a trickle to heat the circulating wort and maintain temperature pretty well

 

Next up brew and try it! Thanks All!

 

Lost about 3 degrees brewing at 55 degrees outside. I think it will be ok! Thanks