Keep It Simple: Single Tier, No-Sparge, RIMS

[Ibrewaletx]

I just brew with a 8gal pot and batch sparge from a 48qt cooler- I heat up my water (HLT) in a 5 gallon stainless pot borrowed from the kitchen. I am looking to set up something that is a real brewery, so will look this route.

Interesting about not using the RIMS tube and recircing- that may be a step I take to start with.

 

[nyx]

It works OK. Ultimately I got tired of having to watch the mash temp. The insulation helped a lot though, as did slowing down my recirculation rate. A tight fitting lid would help even more. And short hoses. Anything to minimize heat loss.

It was good experience, and I feel more confident with my new design having done some recirculation mashing already. Also, I was able to repurpose all of the equipment, so in that sense it didn't cost anything.

 

[nyx]

Well, I brewed on this last weekend and I can't say I was thrilled.

It was fun throwing the valves and watching the wort move from one kettle to the other, but the three way ball valves are hard to control precisely and I was shocked at how much equipment loss I had between the RIMS tube, the chiller, and all the hoses.

I'm already planning out a radical redesign which I think will work much better. Stay tuned.

 

[cfeags]

You don't need to redesign just do a test run and account for equipment loses next time