HLT Blues

[J.W. Stillwater]

So I worked a bunch of OT over Christmas so I'm ready to throw some cash at an all grain (hopefully electric) system. Mash tun, pump, elements, PID, camlocks... all the good stuff! But, I hate to waste so I was hoping to convert my 5.5 gallon boil kettle into a HLT. I realize it would be on the small side for 5 gallon batches but I figure I could do strike/sparge water in a spaghetti pot and use my brew kettle for housing a HERMS coil to maintain mash temperature.

But, the diameter of the kettle is only 11" so I can't find a 1/2" I.D. stainless steel HERMS coil that will fit my pot. I read somewhere that 1/2" tubing is necessary for proper flow. Apparently 3/8" I.D. is too restrictive but it's all I can find in <11". So, a couple questions. Can you coil 1/2" stainless steel to a small diameter (8")? Can copper be coiled "tighter" than SS? Is 3/8" really too restrictive? Should I give up and go back to extract brewing?

 

[RM-MN]

Should I give up and go back to extract brewing?

Absolutely not. There are a number of ways to brew all grain and it looks like you are trying to make it as difficult as possible. Take a look in the BIAB section of HomeBrewTalk and see what some of the easiest methods are and start there. You can then decide if you want the complexity of a 3 vessel system or if you would like to just stay simple a brew beer. I started all grain with a 5 gallon pot and a paint strainer bag and after a few successful small (2 1/2 gallon) batches moved up to a 7 1/2 gallon turkey fryer and did a few 5 gallon batches (requires a sparge as 7 1/2 gallon pot is really too small for a 5 gallon no sparge) before reverting to the 2 1/2 gallon batches.

 

[Dustin_J]

So I worked a bunch of OT over Christmas so I'm ready to throw some cash at an all grain (hopefully electric) system. Mash tun, pump, elements, PID, camlocks... all the good stuff! But, I hate to waste so I was hoping to convert my 5.5 gallon boil kettle into a HLT. I realize it would be on the small side for 5 gallon batches but I figure I could do strike/sparge water in a spaghetti pot and use my brew kettle for housing a HERMS coil to maintain mash temperature.

But, the diameter of the kettle is only 11" so I can't find a 1/2" I.D. stainless steel HERMS coil that will fit my pot. I read somewhere that 1/2" tubing is necessary for proper flow. Apparently 3/8" I.D. is too restrictive but it's all I can find in <11". So, a couple questions. Can you coil 1/2" stainless steel to a small diameter (8")? Can copper be coiled "tighter" than SS? Is 3/8" really too restrictive? Should I give up and go back to extract brewing?

A small-ish HERMS HLT isn't such a bad thing, it gives you the ability to ramp temps more quickly (if you're interested) due to a decreased amount of HLT water that needs to be heated. With that said, Stainless Brewing sells a variety of 10" diameter stainless HERMS coils with 1/2" tubing.

I have this one in my HLT: http://stainlessbrewing.3dcartstore...s-25-x-12-x-035-OD-Tubing-304304L-_p_256.html, but it's probably a pretty tight fit (if at all) in an 11" kettle, though, because of the extra room needed for fittings.

The 10" with vertical bends would probably work, though: http://stainlessbrewing.3dcartstore...Tubing-304304L-HERMSFermentor-coil_p_265.html

Copper would work fine too - 1/2" tubing can be bent/coiled a lot tighter than 10" diameter. Check out some of the DIY chiller builds, many of the dual/multiple coil ones have bends like that.