Hey guys,
Sorry it took me so long to get back with you on this, the forum never emailed me even tho I'm subscribed to this thread. My process takes a smidge of the "easy" out of breweasy, but it was worth it. I have the 10 gallon electric version.
First off, yes I did treat my water. This I believe is the biggest factor, it was my first time using a digital ph meter. I was using the spreadsheet before and just guessing based off my city water report, and it turns out it wasn't quite accurate. After initial spreadsheet additions, my mash ph settled at 5.8-5.9. I then tweaked it down to 5.5. so PH is big.**it effects this system way more than a traditional system.**the second is temperature.*
I have been having a very hard time trusting the controller for temps because my calibrated brewmometers always showed significantly different numbers.
*I sort of picked up on it when i was reading these forums.**One guy said (MN I think?) he uses the 2gpm orifice to get up to strike temp then swaps orifices to .75 After dough in.... i was like wondering would he do that, seemed like unnecessary work.**but i see why now.... it takes forever for the brewmometers to match the controller. Generally the reason for this is that once you set your auto sparge, it's only letting in as much water as your orifice is letting drain out... So adding .75 gallons per minute of 156 degree water to 8 gallons of 132 degree water will result in a very very slow ramp up time, even though your controller is reading 152 or 156 at the pump outlet.**Usually the controller reads 156 but the middle of the mash tun is still at 135.... and at .75gpm it takes almost an hour for the two to match... i think I (we) have been mashing way too cold.
The solution to this is to either recirculate faster or add hotter water to the tun... And I did both. Before you add grain, recirculate as fast as possible to quickly arrive at dough-in temps. After you dough in, you can't recirc that fast without getting a stuck mash, so if you want to increase temps after dough in, you must ramp the controller up significantly above your desired temp to get there in a reasonable amount of time. When trying to get to dough in temps, it was taking forever for the tun and the controller to match temps...as soon as i stopped and swapped In the 2gpm, the temps came right up and matched in 5 mins.**I added grain at around 130 (guessing, don't have my notes) and let it rest for 15 minutes. Once the rest was over, I switched to the .75 orifice and began ramping up to mash temps.
previously, as soon as i saw the controller stay at target mash temp degrees for 5 mins i started the clock on the mash... and i almost remember last batch that my brewmometer wasnt reading into the 150 range til the last couple mins of the mash. So though my controller said I was at mash temp, in reality the grain bed was way too cold for conversion.**this time, i ramped the controller up to 170 after dough in, and it brought the temp up to my desired 156 in the tun in about 10 mins, then i backed it down to 156 once they matched, and temp on the controller and the mash tun brewmometers were nailed for the whole mash.**
I recirced at .75 gpm for a 7.5 gallon batch... Slower the better in my opinion. And then I ramped the temp up to 175 before I drained. With the .75 orifice it takes quite a bit to raise the temp up to 175 on the brewmometer. I actually ended up having to shut the pump off 3-4 times and let about 4 gallons drain down into the brew kettle, heat to 175, then turn the pump back on... The auto sparge does not let a ton of heated liquor up into the mash tun once you've reached your proper level, so ramping the temp up would've taken hours without doing this.. Even tho your controller says 175, the mash temp is still significantly lower. I also think this could've helped efficiency as I washed the grain bed several times through this process.... Letting half the pre boil wort drain down to the kettle then pumping it back into the tun a few times is sort of like sparking multiple times... In my mind anyway.
Once the center of the tun hit 175 I held for 15 minutes. I then drained with the smallest orifice.
In summary, the two things I did that seemed to help significantly were use salts/acids with a digital ph meter, and also make sure the mash tun brewmometer temps match what the controller was saying before I started the clock on the mash. It made the mashing process about 2-3 hours instead of 1-1.5... But well worth it and I think it'll go quicker next time now that I know the trick.. The extra time for conversion can do nothing but help.
17.5 pounds of grain for a 7.5 gallon stout recipe.
I *believe* I used 14 gallons of total water but I'd have to go back to my notes. It was either 13 or 14. That volume is a bit high but with a smaller batch on this system you'll have a thinner mash... Mainly because you need 5 gallons minimum in the bottom kettle to keep the electric element submerged.. Had to build on full power for 90 minutes (it was a 90 minute recipe) to hit final volume.
Hit 7.5 gallons on the nose into the fermenter at 1.055 OG according to a calibrated refractometer with ATC.... My brew software estimate 1.050 at 70% efficiency. Needless to say I was very pleased for the first time with this system.
Sorry for the long winded write up, most of it is incomprehensible ramblings, but it makes sense in my mind so hopefully it makes sense for some of you
By the way, I got a kettle kart. In true blichmann fashion, horrible instructions, overpriced, and 8 months later than promised, but quite a nice little product.
Cheers!