concept: 2 tier electric, HERMS, 1 pump, 1 heater

[mwill07]

so I'm working on a new concept. I'm sure someone else has come up with this, I'd be very curious to see it implemented. This concept is designed to be (relatively) cheap and scalable.

The down side is that it will involve lots of hose switching.

required equipment:

• HLT/BK - keggle, or 15 gal pot to accommodate 10 gallon batches
• MT - 10 gallon igloo cooler with false bottom
• Grant - 5 or 10 gallon vessel. could be cooler, could be anything that can be cleaned.
• 220V heater & associated PIV, SSR
• march pump
• immersion chiller
• associated tubing

Schematic:

Here's the general concept:

• combine HLT and BK. An immersion chiller can be used to recirc wort thru BK for temperature control.
• emlpoy a 5 (or 10) gallon cooler as a grant. MT gravity drains into grant while HLT is busy fly-sparging.
• igloo coolers are cheaper than large SS pots.
• 2 tier (including floor) means the highest pots are at counter-top level. I'm not a tall man, I'm not all that keen on things being up high.

Process:

1. heat water in electric BK/HLT and pump into MLT, add grain. Can use pump to promote uniform and accurate heating.
2. recirculate from MLT, thru copper immersion chiller placed in BK/HLT.
3. once mash is complete, drain from MLT into grant and begin fly sparge.
4. once BK/MLT is empty, pump wort from grant into BK/HLT, begin boil.
5. after boil is complete, run cold water thru immersion chiller.
6. once cooled, gravity drain wort into carboy.

upgradable:

• it would be easy to add a second pump and separate the MLT/BK if desired.
• could easily add CFC chiller and use immersion chiller as a pre-cooler - ground water here in South Carolina doesn't always get very cold.
• if needed, could use grant to prevent compaction during recirc.

Does anyone out there run a system like this?