Got to test out the Tower of Power last night

[gwfrankpsu]

I've got the controller and tower working and I can keep the mash at a constant temperature. The temperature will show a variance of +/-~5 to 10 percent of desired temperature on the controller. But I have a thermometer in the mash and the temperature is steady throughout the mash. Remember the system is pulling wort from the bottom of the tun and as the flame was on, it is hot. This thing works great and if I could get the controller to talk to the computer, it would be near perfect.

 

[eastoak]

I've got the controller and tower working and I can keep the mash at a constant temperature. The temperature will show a variance of +/-~5 to 10 percent of desired temperature on the controller. But I have a thermometer in the mash and the temperature is steady throughout the mash. Remember the system is pulling wort from the bottom of the tun and as the flame was on, it is hot. This thing works great and if I could get the controller to talk to the computer, it would be near perfect.

are you having problems with the connection or do you not have the cable?

 

[dermotstratton]

What kind of efficiencies are people getting with ToP? I'm hitting 63-67% average over last 10 batches.

I am getting a channeling problem during sparge, I think.


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[weirdboy]

What kind of efficiencies are people getting with ToP? I'm hitting 63-67% average over last 10 batches.

I am getting a channeling problem during sparge, I think.


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I don't have a Tower of Power, but I do a recirculating mash. One way you can help alleviate channeling like that is to mash with a higher ratio of water:grain.

 

[ne0t0ky0]

What kind of efficiencies are people getting with ToP? I'm hitting 63-67% average over last 10 batches.

I am getting a channeling problem during sparge, I think.

Larger crush and longer mash also help. How's the flowmeter look? the ToP has one; in the blichmann boilermaker manual, there is some documentation about flow-rate (http://www.blichmannengineering.com/sites/default/files/BoilerMakerManual.pdf -- page 10).

 

[pfgonzo]

[edit] neOtoky0 posted as I was typing the below, and there's some overlap. I'm curious about what your brewing efficiency was before you got the ToP? [/edit]

No ToP, but I recirculate as well. Weirdboy's advice is good. Minimum ratio of 1.5qt/lb, and I shoot for 1.75 (or even 2) if my recipe/kettle allows it. I think the ToP instructions call for this as well.

Here's another tip: Slow your sparge/lauter WAAAAAY down.

I always assumed my lautering process was 45 minutes or so, and then I finally timed it: only 15 minutes. You literally want a small trickle/stream going into your boil kettle. I just made a traditional bock and ensured my lauter actually took 50minutes. Guess what? My efficiency jumped from 75 to 85%.

Another way to improve efficiency (and which I did in my bock recipe), is to pull 7 gallons and do a 90m boil, or how ever long the boil takes to get to your desired recipe volume. What OG were you shooting for? Bigger beers result in lower efficiencies unless you pull a ton from the mash and boil it way down to concentrate it.

Parting thoughts: Check your crush? My LHBS recently had an issue with their house mill being out of alignment, resulting in a bigger crush and a lower efficiency for brewers. It's fixed now, but couldn't hurt to ask at your place.

 

[dermotstratton]

Thank for the feedback. A little more details about my setup.

I usually use 1.25-1.5 qt./lb for my mash thickness. I don't get how increasing the ratio (i.e. 1.5-2 qt/lb) will result in less channeling.

I have tried to set the flow rate as slow as possible. Once I go below 1 gal/min, the wort stops flowing. I can usually get it to hold steady at 1 gal/min, so I try that. I usually lauter and transfer into the boil kettle at the same rate, so for my 10 gallon batches, I'm usually collecting 13 gallons of wort at 1 gal/min over, so ~ 13 minute sparge. I can't seem to go any slower without the flow stopping altogether.

I have figured out how to hit my desired OG by just factoring in my lower efficiency, I just don't get why I am getting 65% efficiency, it seems low.

The main thing I do not like about the current Blichmann set up is that when sparging the you are setting up a whirlpool with the autosparge set up. I think it would be much better if there was a way to diffuse the water with a sparge arm.

I suppose I should try 1 thing at a time:

1. Increase water:grain ratio
2. Introduce sparge arm.

Anything else anyone suggests?

 

[weirdboy]

I have tried to set the flow rate as slow as possible. Once I go below 1 gal/min, the wort stops flowing. I can usually get it to hold steady at 1 gal/min, so I try that. I usually lauter and transfer into the boil kettle at the same rate, so for my 10 gallon batches, I'm usually collecting 13 gallons of wort at 1 gal/min over, so ~ 13 minute sparge. I can't seem to go any slower without the flow stopping altogether.

This should NOT be the case. How are you setting up your recirculation?
Where is the valve relative to your pump? Is it controlling the input flow to the pump, or the output flow from the pump?

FYI it should always be the latter...never put a valve on the input.

You should be able to set your flow rate to anything from a drip to a torrent, and anything in between. For a good sparge without channeling, you need to control the flow rate effectively. Also, as I mentioned the water:grain ratio should be a bit higher typically, and as well you should always have some level of liquid above the grain so as to help avoid channeling.

 

[pfgonzo]

Humm, I've seen mashes get stuck if one tries to set the flow rate too high, but never by slowing it down. If you can run a gallon a minute, slowing it down shouldn't cause it to stop entirely. Strange!

 

[dermotstratton]

So, the Tower of Power Manual suggest a minimum recirculation rate of 0.75 gal/min for a 10 gallon batch. I use their standard tower setup where the the mash tun drains to a march pump inlet, which then pumps out through flow meter and to the blichmann 2 way valve that allows to to flow wort either back to mash tun (for recirculation) or to boil kettle (for lautering).

It is not that the mash get's "stuck", but the flow just stops. To reduce flow, you just close down the two way valve to reduce flow. I continue to close down the valve until flow rate reduces. Once I get to about 1 gal/min and reduce more, the flow stops. It is as though the pump cannot provide enough pressure to keep liquid flowing.

 

[ne0t0ky0]

I don't have have a ToP, but I do have a march pump and I have had similar issues where the flow has just stopped even though the ports are open. Opening the output on the pump a bit more usually addresses this.

However, I suspect that this is actually grain bed compaction, usually made worse by attempting to direct-fire heat the mash temp up. Sometimes, if I'm applying too much heat, this can cause boiling action under the false bottom which causes loss of prime and gums up the falsebottom; other times it just appears to be a highly compacted grain bed, which is only more compacted by opening the ball valve more on the pump.

My best solution so far as been to

a) increase the crush size so that the bed filters faster (IIRC Electric Brewery uses Blichmann and a 0.45" crush and 90 minute mash)
b) make sure the grain bed has been 'set' by waiting 10 minutes at the start before opening the ball valve, and only opening the mashtun ball value 1/4 of the way.

 

[pfgonzo]

Also with b) stir the crap out of it a few times while it sits to dislodge all the tiny trapped air bubbles that naturally happens when you dough in.