ConiferAles
Active Member
I'm sure there are a million and a half threads on this, and I've read some of them, but we all like to talk here, so...
-In researching all kinds of options I just thought of a potentially easy system with which to boil/lauter/sparge in. One pot. Poke holes in it please, I will appreciate all feedback (including feedback implicating me in partaking of too much crack):
*~*~*I'd like to do this with a drawing, but I don't know how, so bear with me*~*~*
Imagine an SS strainer bucket shaped strainer with a mesh size equivalent to what is necessary for sparging/lautering. This mesh bucket would be able to fit inside of the brew kettle which would ideally be a modified half barrel keg. The mesh bucket may stop say 3-4 inches from the bottom, and the keggle would have a drain valve/sight glass/thermometer.
So, with that in mind:
-You'd heat the mash water to desired temperature (while heating sparge water in a separate vessel) with the strainer immersed. Once desired temp is reached you dough in and here's where I'm thinking of two potential situations for mashing:
1) You keep it on the burner to allow for holding the temperature, and design an insulating jacket for it as well.
2) You design an insulating jacket that the whole shebang (keggle) can be dropped into (pre-warmed of course), and hope you built it sell enough to hold the mash temp.
***I'm voting for # 1 at this point, if you need to raise the temp a bit you just flame it for a second, though I know minor temp increases can be difficult with a 50,000+ BTU burner...
Hence, the insulating jacket.
Now, here's the interesting (to me) part. At the point where you normally would drain the first runnings into the boil kettle and begin the sparging process, you would instead have a design built into the keggle/strainer combo to lift the strainer out and suspend it above the sweet first runnings, whilst beginning a flame beneath to raise to a boil.
The hole that I see at this point is with the sparge process itself. In a normal sparging situation you keep what, 2"-3" of sparge water soaking the grain bed as you drain? In my proposed setup the sparged runnings would be free-flowing through the grain as opposed to marinating a bit more. Would this be a problem?
Then after sparging to the correct amount observed through the sight glass (can you have a sight glass on a boil kettle?) you could lift the entire mesh bucket out and dump the spent grains (and feed them to your chickens), wash it, then re-immerse into the keggle for the remainder of the boil, removing it at flame out to catch all of the spent hops.
So, am I the guy on the right
or onto something?
I personally do not agree with the prolonged plastic contact with 150+ degree water going into something I and my friends will be consuming. I've stopped myself multiple times at the hardware store from buying one for this reason, I want to start with stainless, and make it good the first time. Those coolers are simply not designed for heated consumable liquids...
Ok, go!
-In researching all kinds of options I just thought of a potentially easy system with which to boil/lauter/sparge in. One pot. Poke holes in it please, I will appreciate all feedback (including feedback implicating me in partaking of too much crack):
*~*~*I'd like to do this with a drawing, but I don't know how, so bear with me*~*~*
Imagine an SS strainer bucket shaped strainer with a mesh size equivalent to what is necessary for sparging/lautering. This mesh bucket would be able to fit inside of the brew kettle which would ideally be a modified half barrel keg. The mesh bucket may stop say 3-4 inches from the bottom, and the keggle would have a drain valve/sight glass/thermometer.
So, with that in mind:
-You'd heat the mash water to desired temperature (while heating sparge water in a separate vessel) with the strainer immersed. Once desired temp is reached you dough in and here's where I'm thinking of two potential situations for mashing:
1) You keep it on the burner to allow for holding the temperature, and design an insulating jacket for it as well.
2) You design an insulating jacket that the whole shebang (keggle) can be dropped into (pre-warmed of course), and hope you built it sell enough to hold the mash temp.
***I'm voting for # 1 at this point, if you need to raise the temp a bit you just flame it for a second, though I know minor temp increases can be difficult with a 50,000+ BTU burner...
Hence, the insulating jacket.
Now, here's the interesting (to me) part. At the point where you normally would drain the first runnings into the boil kettle and begin the sparging process, you would instead have a design built into the keggle/strainer combo to lift the strainer out and suspend it above the sweet first runnings, whilst beginning a flame beneath to raise to a boil.
The hole that I see at this point is with the sparge process itself. In a normal sparging situation you keep what, 2"-3" of sparge water soaking the grain bed as you drain? In my proposed setup the sparged runnings would be free-flowing through the grain as opposed to marinating a bit more. Would this be a problem?
Then after sparging to the correct amount observed through the sight glass (can you have a sight glass on a boil kettle?) you could lift the entire mesh bucket out and dump the spent grains (and feed them to your chickens), wash it, then re-immerse into the keggle for the remainder of the boil, removing it at flame out to catch all of the spent hops.
So, am I the guy on the right
or onto something?I personally do not agree with the prolonged plastic contact with 150+ degree water going into something I and my friends will be consuming. I've stopped myself multiple times at the hardware store from buying one for this reason, I want to start with stainless, and make it good the first time. Those coolers are simply not designed for heated consumable liquids...
Ok, go!
