Medusa Rig: 2 Tier, Single Pump Setup

[Wabi_Sabi]

I decided to dive into all grain brewing about a year ago. I started by searching the web for a rig that would meet my needs. I didn't quite find what I was looking for. So, I decided to go it on my own, designing a rig that suited me.

Rig Requirements:

• Small Footprint: The rig had to be fairly compact to fit in my garage. Single tier rigs take up too much floor space, and 3 tier systems are too tall.
• Single Pump: An attempt at keeping things simple.
• Dual Purpose: Needed the ability to store my gear when not brewing.
• Flexibility: Wanted the ability to experiment with both batch and fly sparging, recirculation, etc...
• Scalability: The rig had to be able to brew 5 gallon batches, but I wanted the ability to expand to 10 gallon batches without modifying the rig.

After futzing with this for a year, I've finally settled on a system that I like. It kind of looks like the rig is having a “bad hair day” once all the silicon tubing is connected. I've brewed about dozen batches with the system, and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Cheers...


The Rig in Storage Configuration:



Close up of the Valve Setup:



Diagram Showing the Layout of the Valves:



The Rig Setup for Recirculation:

 

[Wabi_Sabi]

In the past, I've used the rig to do batch sparging. At the moment, though, I'm experimenting with fly sparging. The following pictures show how I use the valves on the rig to do this.


Initial Setup:



Priming the System:
I circulate the strike water through the system as the water warms. This ensures that the system is properly primed, and it whirlpools the strike water in the kettle. Note that the water passes by the temperature probe at the top of the valve setup.



Preparing for the Mash:
Once the temperature hits strike temperature, adjust the 3-way valve at the top of the system to send the water up to the mash lauter tun.



Recirculation:
Changing a few of the valves starts the recirculation. I only do this for 5-10 minutes to avoid losing too much heat during the process.



Lautering:
In the final step, I redirect the wort into the Boil Kettle, and then adjust the bottom valve so that it draws in sparge water from the HLT. Once lautering is complete, I'll disconnect the BK through the boil.

 

[Wabi_Sabi]

Finally, we'll reconfigure the silicon hoses so that we're able to send the wort through the chiller.


Hose Setup:



Cooling the Wort:
The ground water is pretty warm where I live. So, I'll start off by sending water (via a garden hose) into the chiller. This will only cool things down to about 100F in sunny Florida. So, after this, I gravity feed ice water from the MLT into the chiller (as shown in the picture, below). Note that the chilled wort passes by the temperature probe at the top of the setup. This gives you a good measurement of the temperature of the cooled wort. Comparing the "cooled" temperature to the temperature of the wort left in the BK will give you a good feel for how efficiently the system is cooling.



Clearing the Wort from the System:
Once cooling is complete, I send a bit of water from the HLT into the system. This flushes the wort from the valve assembly.



Fill the Carboy:
Adjusting a few more valves, sends the wort to the carboy.

 

[Wabi_Sabi]

I'll let the wort aerate in the carboy while I start the cleaning process. I start off by sending about a gallon of hot water from the HLT into the BK (see the picture, above, that's labeled "Flush Wort from System"). Once that's complete I'll start the backwashing process.


Backwashing the Chiller:
Changing 3 of the valves will redirect the water, sending it backwards through the chiller. I'll also add some cleanser to the hot water in the HLT, letting this circulate through the system. Finally, I'll disconnect the BK and set it aside for cleaning. I'll let the cleanser circulate through the system for about 10 minutes.



Final Flush with Fresh Water:
For the final cleaning step, I'll send some of the fresh water left over in the MLT through the system. This ensures that all of the cleanser is flushed from the system.