Noob AG brewer

[rhltechie]

Hi All,

I've been extract brewing for a little over a year and have gotten that process down pat. i've made some really good beer. sooo...i'm ready to make the jump to AG and make even better beer. I've read so many threads here that have helped this jump. I am in the process of having my dad help with me with a rig. I'm vertically challenged and well...weak..lol. so I really cant be lugging around gallons and gallons of water. I'm basing my build of off several I have seen here (shawn, diatonic). a single tier. that's not really my question though. I don't have the money to go buy huge pots and I cannot find a sanke keg to save my life. i've posted wanted on CL, i've called my local bud distributor. i've checked scrap yards....it seems my only option would be to buy a keg of something from my liquor store and not return it! that doesnt seem quite right to me. soooo...I have 2 30QT kettles. Is it feasible to think that I can use one of these for my HLT, one for my MLT and buy a larger BK? I am doing 5G batches only right now. I would be batch sparging. i dont brew big beers...i love ales so I have not seen a grain bill higher than 11lbs for all i have brewed. is it feasible to think i can heat my mash water and then heat my sparge while i am mashing? just looking for some reasons as to why i shouldnt use what I have to get me going.

thanks for this awesome forum!!

M

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Really you should be fine with having just two kettles. The problem you are going to run into is sparging. Unless you have a way to drain the sparge water, you're not going to be able to, well, sparge. You may have already looked into drilling one of the kettles and adding a spout. If not, that would definitely be an option to remedy your problem.

You could also follow the BIAB technique, in which case you are sparging the grains by taking the grains out of the sparge water, instead of taking the sparge water out of the grains.

The other issue you'll need to be concerned with when using a kettle for mashing is that you'll have a harder time keeping the temperature steady, since the metal walls of the kettle will bleed out heat quicker than other mash tun designs. Not saying it can't be done, but it will require dilligence and making sure you add heat slowly and sparingly to keep temperatures steady.

 

[rhltechie]

Really you should be fine with having just two kettles. The problem you are going to run into is sparging. Unless you have a way to drain the sparge water, you're not going to be able to, well, sparge. You may have already looked into drilling one of the kettles and adding a spout. If not, that would definitely be an option to remedy your problem.

You could also follow the BIAB technique, in which case you are sparging the grains by taking the grains out of the sparge water, instead of taking the sparge water out of the grains.

The other issue you'll need to be concerned with when using a kettle for mashing is that you'll have a harder time keeping the temperature steady, since the metal walls of the kettle will bleed out heat quicker than other mash tun designs. Not saying it can't be done, but it will require dilligence and making sure you add heat slowly and sparingly to keep temperatures steady.

thanks for your reply! I had in fact planned on putting spouts on both kettles..along with thermos and a sight glass. I've seen a lot of people that use coolers as their MLT. So apparently that's the easiest way to start? how do you pros keep your mash temp up? constant fire?

thanks again!!

 

[HotbreakHotel]

I have a 5 gallon system -- when I brew outside I use my kettle for my mash water and then when I heat my sparge water (runnings going into said kettle) I just use a cheap little 10 quart, and just fill and heat it twice, once for each batch sparge (if I need two sparges).

You can either use direct fire and just stir a lot and watch the temp (with a thinnish mash, much easier to stir) or you can try getting your mash up to temp then wrapping the kettle in some kind of insulation. A friend of mine has used this method for 25 years, but I'm not sure exactly how he insulates.

 

[WVbrewer]

I use a 10 gallon SS pot for my mashtun, and I have no problem holding temps up to 75 min without adding heat (ok...I may lose 2 degrees or so..). No insulation. I think the key is to use a fairly thick mash 1.25qt/pd. The majority of my brews have a grain bill from 8-11lbs. Hope that helps and get brewing!

 

[modernlifeisANDY]

I brew outside on a propane burner and I use a 5-gallon insulated cooler for my MT. It's not the most elegant solution if you're looking for something super nice looking (Home Depot orange doesn't really go with anything...) but I think most of us would choose function over form any day. My MT keeps my temps for an hour easy, and was cheap and easy to build. If you're just starting out and aren't building something that's direct fired, start with a cooler.

I heat my strike water in my boil kettle (7.5g capacity) and while I'm mashing I heat my sparge water in two separate equal batches in my 5g kettle (leftover from brewing extract indoors).

 

[shortyjacobs]

You can certainly use the two 7.5 gal pots as hlt and mlt. When I used my 7.5 gal as an MLT, I just wrapped it in an old sleeping bag, (see pics in my sig link). It lost less than 2 deg / hr, better almost than my new cooler MLT. If you are doing single tier, you can direct fire and recirc with a pump too to hold temps. I could run about 14 lb grain in my 7.5 gal with a braid at 1.5 qt/lb without overflowing...more if I dropped down to 1.25 qt/lb.

 

[maida7]

I think you should buy a cooler. Coolers are cheap and with a few mods they make fantastic a MLT. Most people already own a cooler but if you don't head to walmart and you can get a good sized one for under 40.00. That's a whole lot less then buying a pot.

Use one of your pots as a HLT for heating the mash and sparge waters. Use the 2nd pot as a brew kettle and your good to go!

 

[rhltechie]

the cooler is sounding better and better for keeping my mash temp. thinking of making a copper manifold as well. thanks for all the replies!