Brau Supply

[TexasWine]

Also, I'm curious how I'm going to control the pump's flow rate without a valve on the discharge. In my line of work we almost always use control valves to keep centrifugal pumps from running out on their curves. In this set up, I can see a discharge valve being handy if, for instance, the wort does not flow through the bag fast enough to keep a steady flow to the pump's suction. Being able to slow down the flow would correct that problem. Then again, I'm just hypothesizing and don't know that it will be a problem to begin with.

A buddy at work gave me a fantastic idea to use should I find there's a problem controlling the flow. I can put a flow control hose clamp like this on the discharge...

E.C. Kraus Flow Control Hose Clamp https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00838W4NC/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Itching to brew with this thing. All I need now is some free time.

 

[TexasWine]

Silicon is not like PEX that has a memory. You will need a low pressure clamp like the little fishes clamps http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007QEDV4U/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20.

Their pressure ratings are very optimistic and you need to account for the OD of your hose after it is on the barb for your sizing.

Got the hose clamps in the mail yesterday. Went with the 1/2" size. They fit, and I think they'll hold the pressure just fine.

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Onkel_Udo]

Got the hose clamps in the mail yesterday. Went with the 1/2" size. They fit, and I think they'll hold the pressure just fine.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Cool. I find I have to go about 1/8" large than they claim their diameter range is when dealing with barbed fittings. If you are under 45 PSI they should be fine. 50-100 PSI, marginally but OK if you use two. Over that is not advisable unless the fluids are never going to warm enough for the hoses to soften (if they are, tighten them another click when the hose is at its softest from prolonged heating).

 

[whovous]

I've ordered some clamps myself, but I wonder just how much pressure you think will be involved here. I'd guess not much, as there is always the other end of the tube to release the pressure. I want the clamps because I pulled a hose off by mistake, not because I think the barb cannot handle the pressure.

I am also a little confused about constricting the flow of the hose. Once the hoses are filled with wort, where is the additional air going to come from. Isn't it a sealed system at this point?

I am very new to all of this, and confess I may be missing something here.

 

[TexasWine]

I've ordered some clamps myself, but I wonder just how much pressure you think will be involved here. I'd guess not much, as there is always the other end of the tube to release the pressure. I want the clamps because I pulled a hose off by mistake, not because I think the barb cannot handle the pressure.

I am also a little confused about constricting the flow of the hose. Once the hoses are filled with wort, where is the additional air going to come from. Isn't it a sealed system at this point?

I am very new to all of this, and confess I may be missing something here.

Only reason I got the clamps is because my barb connections were leaking during the wet run. I don't expect hardly any pressure.

And the reason one might want to restrict the flow on the discharge is if the pump is pulling at a higher rate from the kettle than is flowing through the bag into the pump suction, into what I would call the "sump" below the basket bottom. You could potentially empty the sump and cavitate the pump.

 

[whovous]

http://www.modernpumpingtoday.com/detecting-pump-cavitation/

Waddaya know? Another subject of which I know nothing.

I have heard a few noises that I suppose could be cavitation, but which I thought simply meant a seal was less than complete and air was being sucked in that way. I got some bad QDs from the same batch that you got. Steven replaced them, and now I have to push the connections around to create that same kind of sucking sound. But I think I see your point, and I suspect cavitation just might be possible if the mash was thick enough.

 

[phug]

"Chill haze" is next on my learning list. Each of my gallon kit beers before this was simply all clouds all the time. This one was crystal clear in the bottle before refrigeration. I did not know before this that a bottle could be clear when warm and cloudy when cool. It is too late for almost everything I could have done to avoid a chill haze this time around, although I am going to cold condition some bottles for about five days before opening the next one. Dunno how much that will help.
Phil Anderson

go with a longer cold condition, couple of weeks if you have the patience for it, after carbonation is complete, that can drop a lot of the chill haze out.

 

[whovous]

I will wait as long as I can, but when my children call to me from the fridge, how do I tell them to wait?

 

[NTexBrewer]

And the reason one might want to restrict the flow on the discharge is if the pump is pulling at a higher rate from the kettle than is flowing through the bag into the pump suction, into what I would call the "sump" below the basket bottom. You could potentially empty the sump and cavitate the pump.

If the pump is DC could you not wire a rheostat to the pump. Is a DC pump like a DC computer fan? It would be like the homemade stirplate and a DC fan? At the same time wire a switch and you can turn the pump on and off with the switch and regulate the flow with the rheostat. Or you get a universal AC/DC wall wart that allows you to chose different voltage.

I'm a Civil Engineer by trade so I'm just throwing something out that maybe someone with more knowledge can confirm or deny!!

 

[whovous]

It is definitely 24V DC.

 

[brausupply]

I throttle the pump from the ball valve of the kettle. No problems whatsoever. I haven't had any cavitation from these pumps as they don't pull so hard like a chugger would.

 

[brausupply]

I have a question for you all. Should I be supplying hose clamps with the systems? I haven't for ease of cleaning and didn't find more than the odd drip but if you are experiencing more than that I will definitely make the change.

 

[brausupply]

Thanks, Steven.

It tasted a whole lot better than anything I've brewed before. My stepson said that if this was served to him in some $7 a glass craft beer bar he'd be very happy with it. Granted, not the toughest audience, but it was good.

The recipe was mine. I tried to follow BJCP guidelines for APAs. The bitter is very clean and not especially long lasting. Aroma is just OK, at least to my aging nose. Taste is reasonably complex and quite "juicy." Color is OK. Mouthfeel is pretty smooth and round, and where I wanted it to be.

Head is not very long lasting and the bubbles are too large. Lacing is light.

This is after two weeks in the fermenter followed by a three day dry hop in the fermenter. No cold crash. Thirteen days in bottles followed by one day in the refrigerator.

"Chill haze" is next on my learning list. Each of my gallon kit beers before this was simply all clouds all the time. This one was crystal clear in the bottle before refrigeration. I did not know before this that a bottle could be clear when warm and cloudy when cool. It is too late for almost everything I could have done to avoid a chill haze this time around, although I am going to cold condition some bottles for about five days before opening the next one. Dunno how much that will help.

Still, while there are lots of faults to be found, I am over the moon happy with how this came out. I made a bunch of mistakes while familiarizing myself with a new system, and it is still a darn tasty brew.

Phil Anderson

Very good! Sounds like it's working great.
I have to be honest, I have never bottled even one beer. I started with kegging and also haven't tackled the chill haze issue. I do a cold crash to 35 for 24 hours when fermentation is complete and right before I keg. Supposedly that helps with chill haze but I'm unfamiliar with bottling protocol. The first time I did it I sucked up my airlock water and stressed about it for a week waiting for it to carbonate but it turned out without infection luckily.
So now I pull out the airlock when crashing.

 

[daves21lax]

I have a question for you all. Should I be supplying hose clamps with the systems? I haven't for ease of cleaning and didn't find more than the odd drip but if you are experiencing more than that I will definitely make the change.

I haven't had any leaks at all with your supplied hardware. The silicon hoses included are a nice tight fit over the barbs. The only leak I've had so far was from a different suppliers silicon tubing I used from the pump to plate chiller that was a little loose on the barb.

 

[whovous]

I'd say yes. I've had only the odd drip myself, but I managed to pull a hose completely off without trying very hard and made a bit of a mess that way. My fault, obviously, but protecting the customer from his own idiocy is a well respected principle of commerce.

 

[TexasWine]

I have a question for you all. Should I be supplying hose clamps with the systems? I haven't for ease of cleaning and didn't find more than the odd drip but if you are experiencing more than that I will definitely make the change.

I'd say either throw in some hose clamps or find some hose that has a slightly tighter fit around the barb. Sounds like I've had larger drips than others here. Not sure why. It made quite a mess on the counter top but was thankfully only water. During auto tuning I simply tightened some zip ties around the connections and the leaking stopped.

I was hoping to avoid hose clamps for the very reason you mention, ease of cleaning. But here are the clamps I bought.

Two Little Fishies ATL5415W 6-Piece Plastic Hose Clamp Set, 1/2-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00025674Q/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

They're easily removed once the brew day is complete. I think I'll be happy with these.

 

[TexasWine]

I throttle the pump from the ball valve of the kettle. No problems whatsoever. I haven't had any cavitation from these pumps as they don't pull so hard like a chugger would.

I did the same thing when I was tinkering around the other day. My engineering side was screaming "NOOOOO!", but it was with cold water so there was plenty of NPSHa and the risk for cavitation was slim to none. It seemed to work, but made me nervous.

 

[TexasWine]

If the pump is DC could you not wire a rheostat to the pump. Is a DC pump like a DC computer fan? It would be like the homemade stirplate and a DC fan? At the same time wire a switch and you can turn the pump on and off with the switch and regulate the flow with the rheostat. Or you get a universal AC/DC wall wart that allows you to chose different voltage.

I'm a Civil Engineer by trade so I'm just throwing something out that maybe someone with more knowledge can confirm or deny!!

This makes sense, but I'm a chemical engineer and past experiences tell me that electricity doesn't like me.

I wonder if something like this would work...

Lutron TT-300H-WH Electronics Plug-In Lamp Dimmer, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BYEF6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[whovous]

Those dimmers work great on my lamps, but if you are plugging your wall wart into one of these, you just throttle down the AC current to the converter. My guess is if you feed 90v to that converter, it will still put out 24v DC.

I think you need to plug the wart into the wall and put the rheostat/dimmer into the circuit after that.

 

[madscientist451]

I will wait as long as I can, but when my children call to me from the fridge, how do I tell them to wait?

Sounds like you need to build up a beer inventory for those thirsty children.

 

[whovous]

Oh, definitely. Just dry-hopped the next batch last night.

 

[TexasWine]

I think you need to plug the wart into the wall and put the rheostat/dimmer into the circuit after that.

Ah, now that makes sense.

 

[RM-MN]

I think you really want one of these instead.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...lator&sprefix=pulse+width+modulator,tools,214

The lamp dimmer may be something similar but it's hard to see inside that white plastic cover.

Rheostats work by inserting a variable resistance into the circuit. Pulse width modulators give full power but for a variable amount of time.

 

[TexasWine]

I think you really want one of these instead.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...lator&sprefix=pulse+width+modulator,tools,214

The lamp dimmer may be something similar but it's hard to see inside that white plastic cover.

Rheostats work by inserting a variable resistance into the circuit. Pulse width modulators give full power but for a variable amount of time.

Thanks RM-MN. Sparky type stuff is usually well beyond my comprehension, so please excuse what may be an ignorant question. If I were to use a pulse width modulator would I install it between the power supply plugged into the wall and the pump motor?

I think I need to brew with the system a few times to determine if something like this will be beneficial. Then again part of the fun is perpetually tinkering.

 

[whovous]

They both control the effective voltage that reaches the pump, but it seems the PWM does it in much "cooler" fashion. Still goes between the wart and the wort pump.

 

[brausupply]

Thanks RM-MN. Sparky type stuff is usually well beyond my comprehension, so please excuse what may be an ignorant question. If I were to use a pulse width modulator would I install it between the power supply plugged into the wall and the pump motor?

I think I need to brew with the system a few times to determine if something like this will be beneficial. Then again part of the fun is perpetually tinkering.

Hmm..
I agree. DC motor speed controllers are correct for the application if you did feel the need. Again, I just use the ball valve and it hasn't cavitated even once. You could just install another ball valve on the outflow of the pump to satisfy?

I have another question for you all. Any excess foaming during the mash? And if you have experienced foaming, do any of you have any theories on this?

 

[whovous]

I have not noticed any foaming during the mash, but I have kept the lid on most of the time, so I suppose foam could have come and gone.

For my second cook, about two weeks ago, I saw what to my limited experience was the mother of all cold breaks, but I don't see how that could be anything other than a good thing. If I get both of the breaks like that on a regular basis, I gotta think clarity is going to come along very quickly. My first batch was clearly clearer (sorry, couldn't resist) than my prior efforts with pots on the stove, so I am sure this is going to happen.

 

[singybrue]

Questions for you owners, especially the mini system-
Any blockage when using the kettle tub screen? Do you think it's really needed?
Has anyone compared the probe temp reading with the actual mash body temp? Are they the same?
Thanks!

 

[whovous]

I've had plenty of trub on my screen. Not nearly enough to stop the flow of wort, but plenty to make me think the screen is necessary.

It strikes me as unlikely that the probe and mash body temp would be the same. The key thing is that the probe provide consistent and repeatable results. If it consistently says 156 when the mash is consistently 152, you can simply apply a -4 degree adjustment to all temps via the controller.

 

[daves21lax]

I think the kettle screen is definitely necessary. While I don't get a lot of trub, the screen is almost always covered. Is never been blocked but there's enough of a coating where I wouldn't want to drain without it there.

As for the foamy mash, were you using wheat at all? I've only gotten foam during my one wheat brew. I've done an American ale and Porter with no foam at all.