Brew Kettle blanket and other goodies!

[brewtodrinktobrew]

Hey y'all,

Just finished my MLT, MT, recirc pump and MT blankie!

I will be brewing a RyePA with it tomorrow. I will let you know how it goes.

I still need a new BK and a false bottom for the MT so tomorrow's brew will be a Brew in a bag version with this. I am pretty excited.

Ben

 

[IslandLizard]

I love the lacing (grommets and all) on your kettle's "bodice." That's a work of art! I just got a new roll of Reflectix.

Your floating mash tun lid is also a piece of great design. Ping-pong balls! I read somewhere it's beneficial to keep the sparge return under the top of the grain bed to prevent oxidation. Something to think about.

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

Island Lizard,
Thanks for the compliments! I plan on leaving the head defuser head just under the surface of the grist while recirculating.

I did the lacing so I can remove quickly to add heat, for temperature maintenance, mash steps, mash outs and cleaning. The lid fits tight but I figured the ping pong balls would keep it from falling in.

I bought the grommet kit at a big box stored for 6 bucks, the whole wrap is 4 layers in the sides and 5 in the lid. It was under 25 bucks to make.

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

Well first brew went okay. I used a brew bag in place of a false bottom but other than than I did normal all grain. It was a chocolate RyePA. 13 lbs of grain. I mashed in with 5.5(1.8:1) gallons held at 152 for 1 hour with the recirculating pump going. I heated 4.5 gallons of sparge water to 170 and mashed out to 170 as well.
This Where I think I went wrong, this is my first time fly sparging. I set my flow rates to match and I added the entire 4.5 gallons and I stopped draining when I got 6.25 gallons. Well I ended up with about 3 or so gallons of wort left in the mash tun after I was done collecting my wort for boil.

1. When fly sparging, do I only add enough water to the MT that you don't have any wort left after sparging? I feel I watered the wort down.

2. I learned that the 15 gallon boil kettle boils off a lot more than the 7.5 gallon I had before. I had just over 6 gallons and ended up with 4.5 in the fermenter.

What y'all think?
Ben

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

Well first brew went okay. I used a brew bag in place of a false bottom but other than than I did normal all grain. It was a chocolate RyePA. 13 lbs of grain. I mashed in with 5.5(1.8:1) gallons held at 152 for 1 hour with the recirculating pump going. I heated 4.5 gallons of sparge water to 170 and mashed out to 170 as well.
This Where I think I went wrong, this is my first time fly sparging. I set my flow rates to match and I added the entire 4.5 gallons and I stopped draining when I got 6.25 gallons. Well I ended up with about 3 or so gallons of wort left in the mash tun after I was done collecting my wort for boil.

1. When fly sparging, do I only add enough water to the MT that you don't have any wort left after sparging? I feel I watered the wort down.

2. I learned that the 15 gallon boil kettle boils off a lot more than the 7.5 gallon I had before. I had just over 6 gallons and ended up with 4.5 in the fermenter.

What y'all think?
Ben

 

[Carlscan26]

What size kettles are those?

Hopefully this bump brings someone around to answer your question about fly sparging.

 

[thekraken]

For the mash lid any worries about leaching any kind of off flavors (or anything else) from the duct tape or reflectix?

 

[day_trippr]

When fly sparging you continuously trickle in sparge liquor while drawing off wort, stopping that whole process based on either hitting your pre-boil volume, or hitting a terminal gravity of 1.010, or hitting a terminal pH above 5.6, whichever of the three comes first...

Cheers!

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

15 gallon 60qt Concord Kettles.

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

I have no worries of leaching, they never contact the wort. Also, I drink enough beer to kill the Ebola virus or is it I I drink enough beer, **** I am drunk again.

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

Thanks, I worked out the fly sparge on my next 3 or 4 batches. I am getting 75 to 87 percent efficiency based on beer smith. Just working on dialing in the volumes. Love this forum. Y'all keep brewing. I need to post pics of my new kezzer I built.

 

[Carlscan26]

15 gallon 60qt Concord Kettles.

In your third picture it looks like there are two different size kettles? Will two of those 15gal Concords fit on that stove at the same time? I saw it recently and thought to myself that may make an interesting BK and HLT setup if I could fit both kettles...

 

[brewtodrinktobrew]

That's one is a 7 gallon HLT(not big enough to sparge full volume, it is being used until I can afford another 15 gallon. The concord is 15 or 16 in diameter I thing. I don't think 2 would fit on a stove

 

[Carlscan26]

Thanks!