I LOVE waking up to hot strike water. Easy as 1-2-3.

[pelipen]

Hmmm. This totally beats my wake up early, put the heat on low, and go back to bed, technique.

 

[lockwom]

Lockwom - I tried an analog lamp timer I had a few times and kept waking up to cold water. It very well could have been my timer not triggering right, but I decided it was worth the $10-15 extra to know for sure it would kick on when needed. Let us know how it works out!

Indeed I will! With work, I can't brew for at least a week despite the timer arriving today.

Fat-fingering the pins for "on" times seems more reliable than accidentally setting the digital timer for the wrong day of the week, but then again, I wouldn't be surprised if this one is just as prone to operator error. I figured $12 can't hurt to try:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0020ML730/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I'm actually excited for it. I already start yeast, RO filter water and add minerals the night before. Measuring and milling grain while I'm at it doesn't add much time.

 

[weirdboy]

OK well this morning I gave it another shot with the same beer. As an experiment, I shortened the "power on" time by 30 minutes...only to find the strike water had settled in at around 132F after recirculating a bit when I went to dough in. Now I'm thinking that when I checked it before, maybe what I was getting was stratification...the water on top was 190F~200F, but perhaps the aggregate mean temperature was closer to my target. In any case, I managed to completely screw up this beer as well...I'm starting to think that making beer 10 minutes after I wake up is a terrible idea, because I keep making really stupid mistakes early in the morning that I have never made before on many previous batches.

 

[eyedoctodd]

You do realize, if you only wake up at noon, you can still use this method to have hot strike water at 1PM? You can brew at midnight if you work third shift.:rockin:

 

[eyedoctodd]

I said that wrong... you can DREAM of brewing at midnight if you work third shift. You can only brew at midnight if you work second (or, first, or no) shift.

 

[Challenger440]

When I know that I am going to brew the next morning, I just crank up the hot water tank the night before. Generally that will put me about 5 degrees +/- of my strike temp.

Good enough for me

 

[paulster2626]

When I know that I am going to brew the next morning, I just crank up the hot water tank the night before. Generally that will put me about 5 degrees +/- of my strike temp.

Good enough for me

HOT DAMN. GENIUS!!! :hs:

 

[jiggs_casey]

Awesome! Thank you for the idea! I am definitely having much want at the moment!

 

[brew2enjoy]

Talk about shortening a brew day! Great idea!

 

[ilikeguns]

I use one of my STC 1000 fermentation temp controllers and two of these NORPRO 559 Immersion Heaters for Sous Vide cooking. I know for a fact they will heat water to 170°.
Going to use it in my HLT this weekend.

So how did it work out? I am looking to use this exact setup to heat 10-11 gallons of strike/sparge water. (170ish degrees)

Also, is the probe on the STC1000 okay to submerge in water this hot?

 

[BBFCreatureFM]

Subscribing to this post, because it seems like a brilliant idea, even for a propane and cooler guy. I will continue to monitor everyone's results. This may be worth a shot.

 

[tagz]

When I know that I am going to brew the next morning, I just crank up the hot water tank the night before. Generally that will put me about 5 degrees +/- of my strike temp.

Good enough for me

Don't they say you generally shouldn't use hot water for consumption?

 

[mrwizard0]

This is an awesome idea! In fact, I liked it so much that I added it to my control panel. I had all the parts except I had to change out one switch. I have tested it and it works, but I haven't done a brew since I added it.

 

[paulster2626]

Don't they say you generally shouldn't use hot water for consumption?

Generally, yes. But my house has a new-ish HWT and PEX piping so not really a big deal. I'd be using regular room-temp water for the sparge anyway, so things should still be okay.

 

[user 64661]

Awesome find. Do you think this could be used to step mash also? I use jkarps 2 vessel method with a ten gallon cooler and 15 gallon bk on propane.
This would be great to use to maintain temp while I'm recirculating. Save some cash on propane and don't have to worry about the flame blowing out when running it so low.

txinga

 

[user 64661]

Oh, forgot. I have a controller too for the electric part. If this will work that is

 

[Toga]

I can see this as useful for those that brew with electric rigs or have a system that takes forever to heat water. I like many heat my water on a propane burner (I use a turkey fryer burner) and it takes less than 10 minutes to get my strike water to 170 degrees.

 

[opus345]

Found one at the local TSC. Will get it after work.

 

[lockwom]

My cheapo analog timer worked great! Rather than combing sparge and strike water, I only preheated strike water (5 gallons) to see how it fared with the predicted 1.5 hours.

I was only off by about 15 degrees, so it was mere minutes before my mash tun was preheated, and my strike water ready. I'd rather aim low than high like this anyhow.

Made my brewday that much easier, thanks for sharing.

And for those considering the cheap analog timers (with proper current ratings), then consider this a positive review. Cheap 'n easy.

 

[JonnyJumpUp]

Maybe I'm missing something but this seems like a lot of work for a marginal gain. At least go the extra step and combine this with a thermostat of some kind.

The ST-1000cost me $25 to purchase and to get all wired up. If you plug the STC-1000 into a $10 analog timer that turns say 2 hours before hand you could have strike water at the exact temp and not have to worry about changing ambient temps etc... theres a lot of factors here. A thermostat elimates them and instead of something close you get something exactly right.

Also with the way I brew the first thing I do is fill the HLT and put it on the burner. By the time I carry all my other equipment out, clean it and put the grain in the mash tun the water is within 5-10 degress of where it is. So this wouldn't really save me much....

 

[JonnyJumpUp]

Also whoever asked the STC-1000 probe is waterproof, its advertised as an aquarium thermostat, how could it not be waterproof?

If thats not enough just google STC-1000 waterproof and you will find many testmanents from those who have submerged the STC-1000 probe.

 

[kopher]

I had one of these bucket heaters I used to help do a full-boil on my small gas stove-top. After 4 or 5 brews it stopped working. I was about to just buy another one but was looking at some of the amazon reviews and saw one where the guy emailed the manufacturer to ask if it was safe to use for heating beer or drinking water.
http://www.amazon.com/review/RJTQGTM1FXNDI/ref=cm_srch_res_rtr_alt_1

He got this response:

"It is not approved for heating drinking water. While the solder that we use is RoHS compliant, thus containing no lead, there has been no testing to determine compliance for use with potable water. Also, the units are manufactured in an industrial environment as opposed to a clean room, therefore, we do not condone their use for heating water for human consumption... It is probably not dangerous but not necessarily safe either. I do not know what sort of chemicals are used in process the metal parts."

I don't know anything about this stuff, but does this worry any of you??

 

[bja]

I don't know anything about this stuff, but does this worry any of you??

No. What would you expect them to say?

 

[kopher]

No. What would you expect them to say?

I dunno, do you really want to use brew equipment that isn't rated food-safe? Again, I don't know if it's something that we should worry about, just asking.

 

[paulster2626]

I dunno, do you really want to use brew equipment that isn't rated food-safe? Again, I don't know if it's something that we should worry about, just asking.

YOu ever smell a bbq the first time you fire it up? NASTY.

I would just run this thing for an hour or so in some water then dump it. After that it should be okay.

 

[stoneBriar]

Forgive me if I missed this, but has anyone had luck using that stick in a cooler? Do those metal foils keep the main element far enough away from everything so as to not melt the plastic?

 

[wilserbrewer]

Forgive me if I missed this, but has anyone had luck using that stick in a cooler? Do those metal foils keep the main element far enough away from everything so as to not melt the plastic?

Yes it should be fine in a cooler, it is designed to be used in a plastic bucket afaik.

 

[eyedoctodd]

@stoneBriar: The heating element does not get *HOT* when it is submerged in water like it needs to be. I have touched it with my finger underwater.

@kopher - I would expect the manufacturer to say something very CYA like that. As someone else said, test it out in some water that you throw away, and you're good.

Also @JonnyJumpUp - there is no single technique or method that works for everybody, since everybody's process is a bit different. This saves me a ****LOAD of propane heating 12 gallons to strike temp and gets me close to that temp while I'm doing something else (sleeping). Also, I am trying to work within SWMBO limitations on how long a brew day should take, since I am pretty much JUST brewing when I brew. This shortens my day by getting some stuff set up the night before so in the AM I can let 'er rip. From the time I get up, my 10 gallons is in the fermenter and equipment is all cleaned and put away in 4 1/2 hours. This works very nicely for me. I don't personally see the need to complicate things with a temp controller, as this gets me very close and I can just run the burner for 5 mins to dial it in exactly.

 

[ilikeguns]

Also @JonnyJumpUp - there is no single technique or method that works for everybody, since everybody's process is a bit different. This saves me a ****LOAD of propane heating 12 gallons to strike temp and gets me close to that temp while I'm doing something else (sleeping). Also, I am trying to work within SWMBO limitations on how long a brew day should take, since I am pretty much JUST brewing when I brew. This shortens my day by getting some stuff set up the night before so in the AM I can let 'er rip. From the time I get up, my 10 gallons is in the fermenter and equipment is all cleaned and put away in 4 1/2 hours. This works very nicely for me. I don't personally see the need to complicate things with a temp controller, as this gets me very close and I can just run the burner for 5 mins to dial it in exactly.

This is what sold me. After the family goes to sleep, i can measure my water, grains etc and prep most of my brew day. Having the temp controller for me means not having to keep a constant eye on the strike/sparge water temp and frees me up to feed the kids, relax etc. I'm guilty of overshooting the water temps because i didn't babysit my kettle on the propane burner.

 

[ilikeguns]

So I am using this now in a converted keg heating up 7 gallons of water. Temp at the bottom of the keg where the probe was resting was 19C but the keg felt hot so i tested the water at the top.. it was 47C!!!!! That is a HUGE difference.. anyone having similar results? I'm thinking if I insulate and use with my STC1000 temp controller there will be much less of a temperature gradient.

Thoughts?