BrewEasy + RIMS Rocket?

[Normans54]

Hi all,

I am likely going to buy a Blichmann BrewEasy but have some concerns regarding the process it uses. In particular, it is my understanding that the BrewEasy is like a BIAB system because you mash with your entire water volume except that it is more difficult to control mash thickness because there is no bag for you to lift out of the mash tun and cold sparge. As a result, I am concerned about efficiency (which according to what I have read is one of the main issues with the BrewEasy system.) However, I happen to have a RIMS Rocket lying around. As such, I was thinking about controlling my mash temp by circulating just the strike water through the RIMS rocket (rather than by circulating the full water volume through the boil kettle), adding the water heated in the boil kettle after mash out to sparge (thereby using it as a pseudo HLT), and then circulating my full water volume during the sparge process. Would that address my efficiency concerns at all? If so, can you think of any drawbacks to this approach and ways to mitigate those drawbacks? Thanks for the help and happy new year.

 

[swimIan]

Hi I think it might. Try mashing like you described above. Then add your sparge water from your pseudo-HLT to your very slowly (1 quart per minute). Make sure the less dense water is layering on top. Next drain slowly drain into your boil kettle. This could give you a pseudo fly sparge which could address your efficiency concerns. I’ve only done this using a stainless basket in a single vessel and my efficiency went up like 5%.

 

[Normans54]

Hi I think it might. Try mashing like you described above. Then add your sparge water from your pseudo-HLT to your very slowly (1 quart per minute). Make sure the less dense water is layering on top. Next drain slowly drain into your boil kettle. This could give you a pseudo fly sparge which could address your efficiency concerns. I’ve only done this using a stainless basket in a single vessel and my efficiency went up like 5%.

Thanks for the response. Other than by adding the sparge water slowly, how would I ensure the less dense water is layering on top? Also, given that the goal when fly sparging is to always to keep water flowing through the grain bed, why is it better to add the sparge water to the mash tun and then drain rather than circulating all the water through the system during the sparge?

 

[swimIan]

Thanks for the response. Other than by adding the sparge water slowly, how would I ensure the less dense water is layering on top? Also, given that the goal when fly sparging is to always to keep water flowing through the grain bed, why is it better to add the sparge water to the mash tun and then drain rather than circulating all the water through the system during the sparge?

Slowly layering will keep the less dense water on the top but it has to be slow. I think it’s called a concentration gradient. Think about oil/water mixtures, the two stay apart as long as you are pouring slowly and not agitating.

If you were to recirculate you will dilute the sugar derived from the mash into the now larger volume of water, as opposed to rinsing additional sugar (via sparge) that would otherwise be trapped in the grain.

Try it both ways and see what you prefer! I stopped doing this because the efficiency gains and slightly more complicated process wasn’t worth it to me. Either way you will make beer!

 

[Bago-0]

I see how you can recirculate the mash using the RIMS rocket however when done mashing and you start adding the water from the boil kettle to sparge, are you going to start draining the mash tun? If so as soon as it drains down into the boil kettle it will mix with the water and then recirculate. Not sure how much you will gain with this. I use the BrewEasy as is and get 70-72% efficiency. Not sure its worth the trouble to get a few extra points.

 

[swimIan]

I’m sorry I did not say it clearly enough. I was suggesting that you drain the mash tun after you add all the Sparge water to the top of the mash.

 

[Bago-0]

I figured thats what you meant but its going to be a tight fit unless using a large mask kettle and doing a small batch size.

 

[doug293cz]

Thanks for the response. Other than by adding the sparge water slowly, how would I ensure the less dense water is layering on top? Also, given that the goal when fly sparging is to always to keep water flowing through the grain bed, why is it better to add the sparge water to the mash tun and then drain rather than circulating all the water through the system during the sparge?

If you add the "sparge" water and recirculate before draining, that is essentially the same as doing a full volume mash (no-sparge.) The lauter efficiency will be exactly the same. Think about it.

Sparging is rinsing the grain bed with fresh water to remove some of the sugar in the wort that is left clinging to the grain bits after initial draining. In fly sparging you are draining from the bottom while simultaneously adding sparge water on the top. The idea is to minimize mixing of the sparge water with the existing wort.

Brew on

 

[Genuine]

I built my system based off of the SOP of the BrewEasy - I use the full volume of water needed, recirculate for an hour before draining to the mash tun. Since this video I've added the auto sparge so that I don't need to worry about the water level between the kettle and mash tun. I usually get 72% efficiency out of mine and around 69% for High OG (1.080+) beers. I don't make those too often so I'm pretty happy with the consistent 72% eff.

 

[Moose_MI]

I brew 15G bateches in the 20G BE which has 30G MLT and BK.

I dont use the full volume for mash. I reserve about 4Gal and do a mini sparge as part of draining to BK.

If you need more than 70% eff then I would suggest you look at a different system.