kickflip_mj
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2008
- Messages
- 1,116
- Reaction score
- 120
Ha yeah I'm trying to kill it all in one build.. I made it so I can upgrade to a 1 barrel system with some minor work. Just weld new fittings on larger tanks.
kickflip_mj said:Ha yeah I'm trying to kill it all in one build.. I made it so I can upgrade to a 1 barrel system with some minor work. Just weld new fittings on larger tanks.
New tank getting unpacked, will fit in the walk in great!
nvrstck said:Marc, where'd you get the Bright? Thanks!
marcb said:Nah, that's the mash tun, too busy measuring and adding hops to get a good photo of the boil
Awwwwww but I did!
http://youtu.be/vxWG22aiY88
Cheers Marc, thanks for a great brewday. Happy New Year to you and the whole family.
Cleaning up the bright for our continuous hopped IPA View attachment 173393
Is that the March pump hooked up to conical?
Forgive my ignorance if I missed it somewhere in the thread, but how do you clean out the mash tuns ?
I would have expected tippies on something of this scale. Too small for man ways but very heavy to lift after sparging and too deep for easy manual clean out ????? So how do you clean them ?
Did I understand that you are running 2 x 6KW elements per boil kettle ? How long does it take to go from sparge temps (170ish) to boil ?
What drove you to put each kettle on its own rolling base ? Do you rearrange them while brewing ?
Great build ! Lots of good ideas here.
Thanks for the reply.
How high are the tops of your kettles and how do you find the height ? Are the bases hard to move when the vessels are full ?
About chest level for me, maybe 46-48"
I'm a little foggy on how you are heating your mash tun. Would you mind explaining that ? You are operating the on demand hot water heater in recirc mode in conjunction with one or more heat exchangers ?
Heating the strike water with the on demand water heater, if necessary (step or temp drop) I recirc through a stainless hex that has a 15g reservoir (my BiAB system) on the water side pumping 180 degree water continuously.
Do you do step mashes ? If so, how is the step time ?
I do although I haven't seen much difference with the heavily modified malts. Step time varies by volume and temp ramp, going from 120-152 can take 30 or 40 minutes.
Do you circulate the mash all the while its mashing ? Did I read that BCS controls mash temp by controlling the pump speed ? How does on get variable speed from the pumps ? Do they respond to variable voltage input ?
No, the BCS output is on/off voltage to fire a relay. That's how I currently do temp control on the mash tuns.
Do you notice any carmelization from the elements when boiling heavy wort ?
No, color is consistent. I think I was getting more carmelization on my old gas system, certainly more evaporation.
You have a ton of triclamp fittings. Where is the best place to buy them ?
I usually source from Brewers Hardware, Darren is a great guy. Glacier tanks is usually pretty reasonable but if not in stock orders take a long slow boat from China.
FYI, I have an on demand hot water heater too. I'm going to capture its output in a vessel (HLT) prior to mash in/sparge so that I can treat my water for hardness and pH prior to using it. Its a shame to have to capture it, but I see no other way to treat the water.
The other issue my ODHWH has is that I can't throttle it down far enough for the low demand during a sparge and the temp regulation isn't good during start/stop operation. Thus capturing is a necessity almost any way you look at it, for me, anyway.
I specifically bought my Rinnai because it had the lowest flow activation rate, things still get wonky sometimes though when slow sparging.
Thanks !
Is there any advantage going with on demand and capturing it vs just adding a large HLT with elements and heating it? I was planning on fabricating my HLT to be large enough to handle multiple brews at the same time. Then I came across this thread with on demand. I figured the on demand had to heat the water more efficiently.
Man...never saw this thread. Just thought you were a guy really interested in hop screens! LOL!
You made a good point earlier on....a lot of people move into a space prematurely...this way you have the equipment already and you know how to use it. Of course, I'm sure you have some debt to pay off, but at least you don't have a landlord! Later, you will be much wiser about choosing a space for your business....understanding codes, etc. seems to be a major factor in successful brewing mgmt.
Is there any advantage going with on demand and capturing it vs just adding a large HLT with elements and heating it? I was planning on fabricating my HLT to be large enough to handle multiple brews at the same time. Then I came across this thread with on demand. I figured the on demand had to heat the water more efficiently.
Lol, hop screens are a passion of mine ; )
This is actually my fourth brew system and with each one I have bought or built a base and then enhanced them. Eventually I want to upgrade (in some cases after one brew day!) then I sell and start over.... It's not like I went and bought a seam welder or anything!.......
I totally understand the "bug"...I've built several systems myself (of course not to this level of complexity/$$$) and know exactly what you mean by wanting to updgrade after one brew. Something doesn't work the way you imagined, and *pop* in comes another idea that you just HAVE to see through to fruition.
You mention a seam welder...ironically, the brewing bug got me really into learning other skills such as welding and machining...and those are all disciplines in their own right. I got bitten by the "Old Iron" bug when I lived around Chicago and started buying old machine tools and fixing them up....I'm on my 6th lathe (South Bend 13") and 2nd milling machine (Van Norman 12)....have MIG/TIG/Stick welders, plasma cutter, and just got an industrial spot welder. All I "need" is a slip roll and possibly a finger brake and I can make anything I want for my brewery. There's nothing cooler than doing your own R&D....:rockin:
I guess you can say I've come full circle!
Most ODHWHs are more than 80% efficient. Versus a burner and kettle at about 20% efficient. An electric burner in a HLT is 100% efficient, but electricity is slow compared to an ODHWH and you'd also need another 20 to 40A electrical feed to run elements in another vessel... so on demand wins in my books, even if its just for filling an HLT that will then be heated with something else.
Bummed you don't live closer! Do you ever get out to the SF Bay Area?
I think that is obvious to everyone.Electric element in HLT is not 100% efficient. Sure the element converts electricity to heat at 100%, but the tun loses plenty of heat in the process, unless you insulate the **** out of it. I would imagine not any better than 80%.
Nah...having 3 kids keeps me from doing coast to coast travel....
That is awesome! What system did you decide on?
Enter your email address to join: