In Hot Water

[Bobb25]

I have four Extract based 5 gallon brews under my belt ( literally ). I have ordered the basic equipment for the next phase and will soon start a partial mash brew as my first step to all grain. Thinking through the process, I have a question. I will heat the mash water in a brew kettle on a burner stand on the floor near the garage door. I will have an Igloo cooler for the mash process, and it can sit on a stool/stand, and it will have a valve to drain into the kettle. How do I get the hot water ( 155 deg. ) from the kettle to the mash cooler? I asked one feller, and he said just pick it up carefully, and dump it in. Errr..... are there any other suggestions ?
Bob

 

[poptarts]

almost all of us started by dumping hot water like you are talking, then either after getting burned or just tired of risking lifting up a boiling vat of liquid we get pumps.

 

[bbohanon]

What I normally do is put my cooler near the HLT, use oven mitts or fireplace gloves and pour my hot water into the cooler before I stir/mash in the grains and place the cooler where it will be during its sach rest. As long as the lid will stay open and you have handles on the cooler to move it around, its pretty straightfoward. Just make sure you are not barefoot in case a minor spash occurs...Been there and it hurts.


Also some tips:
- Heat your strike water to 15-20 deg higher than your intended mash temp..If you put 155deg water in the cooler with grains(at room temp), your mash will most likely be about 15-20 deg cooler(135-140deg) than your target temp(155) which will not be good and you will end up scrambling. Its always easier to add cold water to bring the temp down a tad than hot water to bring it up(especially if you just dumped all the hot water you had into the cooler).

- Preheat your cooler with hot water before mashing in..It will help offset water temp loss. I usually just dump a gallon of hot tap water into the cooler as I fire up the strike water and dump it out before I add the strike water. The cooler will be nice and warm.

- Make sure you dont have any doughballs in your mash..This hurts efficiency. I usually stir as I pour in the grains..helps to reduce the doughballing effect.

- A partner is a good thing to have. I usually have my daughter helping on brew day. An extra set of hands to help is never a bad thing.

- Have fun and dont stress too much! This is the most important tip I can give you.

 

[Hello]

Many heat the water and dump into an HLT that is above the MLT. So maybe get another cooler that will hold the temp of the HLT water. The issue though, at least for me, would be getting the cooler full of water to the top tier. This is pretty much why I own a pump. I've done the dumping method like you and was fine. It was just a PITA.

 

[GrogNerd]

I use a 2-quart pitcher and bail from kettle into the tun until the weight of the kettle + water is more manageable, then pick it up and dump the rest in

sometimes I bail back and forth to get the temp up to strike if it's too low

 

[hunter_le five]

I just (carefully) pick it up and dump it in the cooler whilst wearing oven mitts. Not the best method, but it will work if you're careful and can physically handle the weight.

If your boil kettle has a ball valve, you can just elevate it above the mash tun and drain it that way.

You might also consider investing in a pump, as has been suggested. I finally bought a pump and a kettle with a valve, but haven't had a chance to use either yet.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I just heat up the strike water, pop in the voile bag, and add the grains. Coolers are for ice and beer!!!

( aw, C'mon... you KNEW that one was coming!!!)

 

[TexasWine]

Not trying to be a smarty pants, but BIAB and you don't have to worry about it.

 

[guitarguy6]

I agree with texas, if you're only doing partial mash I would just BIAB. When you move to all grain you'll want an HLT (I use another converted Igloo cooler) to hold your sparge water. If you don't BIAB I'd use a pitcher to transfer the hot water into your mash tun.

 

[Hopper5000]

I would put the cooler below the BK, drain into the cooler and then lift the cooler onto the stand. That is what I usually do.

 

[pvpeacock]

That's why I have a ball valve on my brew kettle. I just put the igloo mash tun on the ground next to the burner/brew kettle, attach a hose to the ball valve using a camlock quick connect, drop the end of the hose into the igloo and open the ball valve. Voila, no burns, no spills and no lifting (until I have to lift the igloo onto a table to drain and sparge it.

 

[thekraken]

I just scooped water out of my keggle and into the MLT using a ss sauce pan. Using oven mitts, move the kettle next to the mlt, or vice versa, and tip the kettle a bit to get maximum scoopage efficiency. Worked fine for me a for a couple batches, but I'v just installed a ball valve so no more of that for me.

 

[RM-MN]

I agree with texas, if you're only doing partial mash I would just BIAB. When you move to all grain you'll want an HLT (I use another converted Igloo cooler) to hold your sparge water. If you don't BIAB I'd use a pitcher to transfer the hot water into your mash tun.

I haven't yet wanted an HLT in 4 years. BIAB is so easy, so efficient, why bother with a mash tun.

 

[guitarguy6]

I haven't yet wanted an HLT in 4 years. BIAB is so easy, so efficient, why bother with a mash tun.

I find it easier to hold the temp in a mash tun. I also get %85-90 efficiency lately using batch sparging.

 

[RM-MN]

I get about 85% efficiency with a 20 minute mash and a small pour through sparge BIAB. Not much temperature loss in only 20 minutes with nearly the full volume of water.