HLT Water

[Liveforliving]

I'm finalizing my new brew system and have heard that I can use my HLT for both my MT water and for the BK water. This setup also makes it easy to use for a HERMS system. All I have to do is fill up the HLT without any initial measuring, then disperse it as needed.

Using the HLT for the BK makes sense, you sparge the water from the MT into the BK till you get to your desired pre boil amount, which I assume you do through making a mark on the tank or using a sight glass.

But, I'm a little confused on how to use the HLT to put in the correct amount of water for the mash. Do I fill up the MT with water first and use a glass sight to know how much is in there? Does it matter if it is off by some? I'm curious to know how different people handle this.

 

[WayFrae]

Using the HLT for the BK ...

So you want to use your HLT as your BK? Where do you plan to run your first runnings in to? If the HLT has your sparge water in it you can't use it as your boil kettle. You would need to either run your wort into a temporary vessel until your sparge is finished or just have a dedicated HLT, MLT, and BK.

The volume doesn't really have to be exact. I have volume markings in my MLT so I can see how much water I put in it before I dump the grains in. Some people even do full-volume mashes where you use all of the water at once and don't even sparge.

 

[TungstenBeer]

you sparge the water from the MT into the BK till you get to your desired pre boil amount, which I assume you do through making a mark on the tank or using a sight glass.

Correct!

But, I'm a little confused on how to use the HLT to put in the correct amount of water for the mash. Do I fill up the MT with water first and use a glass sight to know how much is in there? Does it matter if it is off by some? I'm curious to know how different people handle this.

Correct again! It doesn't matter if it's off by a little bit. If you need 4 gallons of strike water, it's no big deal if you put in 4.5 instead. Hell, your beer will probably be fine if you end up using 7, you'll just have a very thin mash.

 

[Liveforliving]

So you want to use your HLT as your BK? Where do you plan to run your first runnings in to? If the HLT has your sparge water in it you can't use it as your boil kettle. You would need to either run your wort into a temporary vessel until your sparge is finished or just have a dedicated HLT, MLT, and BK.

The volume doesn't really have to be exact. I have volume markings in my MLT so I can see how much water I put in it before I dump the grains in. Some people even do full-volume mashes where you use all of the water at once and don't even sparge.

I guess I didn't write that well. I was trying to say that it makes sense to use the water from the HLT for the sparge water. What doesn't seem to be clear is to know how much water you've poured into the MT to do the initial mash.

What you wrote makes sense, I need to put the water in the mash tun before the grains. Glad it doesn't need to be exact, the books make it sound like it does.

 

[WayFrae]

I guess I didn't write that well. I was trying to say that it makes sense to use the water from the HLT for the sparge water. What doesn't seem to be clear is to know how much water you've poured into the MT to do the initial mash.

What you wrote makes sense, I need to put the water in the mash tun before the grains. Glad it doesn't need to be exact, the books make it sound like it does.

If you add volume markings in all of your vessels it makes it much easier to know what volume of water you have. I did all of my markings myself (except in my cooler MLT since it came with markings).

I used a thread here for the instructions:

How to add permanent volume markings to a kettle (illustrated)

Hope it helps!

 

[Liveforliving]

If you add volume markings in all of your vessels it makes it much easier to know what volume of water you have. I did all of my markings myself (except in my cooler MLT since it came with markings).

I used a thread here for the instructions:

How to add permanent volume markings to a kettle (illustrated)

Hope it helps!

That is really cool and informative! Thank you for the link! Is there an advantage to doing that over installing a sight glass?

 

[Slow_Day]

What you wrote makes sense, I need to put the water in the mash tun before the grains

I used to add the water to the MLT first.

I saw Bobby_M recommend in one his videos to add the HLT water from the bottom of the mash to prevent dough ball formation. This works great! Dry malt in the MLT. Add water through the MLT drain valve. Stir after all water is added.

No dough balls. Period.

 

[Liveforliving]

I used to add the water to the MLT first.

I saw Bobby_M recommend in one his videos to add the HLT water from the bottom of the mash to prevent dough ball formation. This works great! Dry malt in the MLT. Add water through the MLT drain valve. Stir after all water is added.

No dough balls. Period.

But at that point, how are you measuring the amount of water you put into the MT? Are you measuring the change from the HLT?

 

[WayFrae]

I have never had any problems with dough balls but I use a huge whisk instead of a spoon or paddle.

 

[Slow_Day]

But at that point, how are you measuring the amount of water you put into the MT? Are you measuring the change from the HLT?

I have always measured the amount in the HLT. Put it all in the MLT. Batch sparging involves subtraction.

 

[Slow_Day]

I have never had any problems with dough balls but I use a huge whisk instead of a spoon or paddle.

Well, dough balls aside, filling from the bottom also looks cool. Smoooth.

 

[fimpster]

If I understand what you're asking (perhaps not?), I have a sight glass on my HLT. I subtract the volume I want to add the MT from the total volume in the HLT and drain the HLT into my MT until it reaches the subtracted volume on the sight glass. An example if it wasn't clear; if I have 8 gallons in my HLT and I want to put 3.5 gallons of water into my MT, I drain the HLT until the sight glass reaches 4.5 gal. I never worry about being exactly perfect, but this gets me more than close enough.

 

[Liveforliving]

If I understand what you're asking (perhaps not?), I have a sight glass on my HLT. I subtract the volume I want to add the MT from the total volume in the HLT and drain the HLT into my MT until it reaches the subtracted volume on the sight glass. An example if it wasn't clear; if I have 8 gallons in my HLT and I want to put 3.5 gallons of water into my MT, I drain the HLT until the sight glass reaches 4.5 gal. I never worry about being exactly perfect, but this gets me more than close enough.

That makes perfect sense. Thanks for the explanation!