Preparing for my first AG

[timmah84]

Hello all,

I am preparing my first AG 5 gal batch and I have a few questions / fishing for opinions.

I built my own HLT and MLT using recommendations for FlyGuy's DIY kit. I bought a false bottom instead (still pining if I should put split tubing around it) of the SS braid.

I am contemplating trying the fly sparge technique as I had the HLT converted from a cooler.

Now comes my questions:

Will I need to preheat the HLT so the sparge water is spot on? What degree change should I be expecting? (House is at 65-70 degrees)

I don't have a brew rig. I do have a table outside, but I figure I'd need a much more elaborate (ghetto) stand to work with. I was contemplating getting some milk crates from the container store and standing the HLT on those on the table. If I went this route, how would I get the water to the HLT (as it is a cooler) without breaking my back? A heat resistant water pitcher? Thoughts?

Should I just forget about the HLT (maybe return it) and go with batch sparging?

Contemplating either a Mac and Jack clone (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/zach-jacks-african-amber-52052/) or an Amber Ale recipe (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/caramel-amber-ale-167880/)

Thanks!

 

[Double-R]

Will I need to preheat the HLT so the sparge water is spot on? What degree change should I be expecting? (House is at 65-70 degrees)

Preheat the MLT{Mash Tun}.. HLT{Hot liq Tank} holds the hot water.

I don't have a brew rig. I do have a table outside, but I figure I'd need a much more elaborate (ghetto) stand to work with. I was contemplating getting some milk crates from the container store and standing the HLT on those on the table. If I went this route, how would I get the water to the HLT (as it is a cooler) without breaking my back? A heat resistant water pitcher? Thoughts?

If your HLT has a Valve/spigot,put it higher then the MLT then drain.
If not use pitcher,until you get the point you can lift.

 

[ajf]

I do 5 gallon batches using cylindrical coolers for MLT and HLT. I fly sparge. This is what I do.
I have a sophisticated 3 tier brewing rig.
The bottom tier is the kitchen floor onto which I place the kettle.
The middle tier is a chair at the end of a kitchen counter, onto which I place the MLT. (10g cooler with false bottom)
The top tier is a footstool on the kitchen counter onto which I place the HLT (5g cooler).
I use a rotating sparge arm fed by about 2 ft tubing to deliver the sparge water to the MLT.
I heat the sparge water on the kitchen stove to 185F, and drain it to the room temperature HLT. (I don't know how much temperature drop occurs during this step.)
I put the lid on the HLT, and lift it to the top tier. This is not hard work.
I do a mash out with near boiling water, and stir really well. This raises the grain bed temperature to about 165F, and increases my efficiency by about 10%. It also reduces the required sparge water by the volume of the mash out water.
I then vorlauf and start the sparge. By the time the sparge water has traveled through the 2 ft tubing out the sparge arm and into the MLT, the grain bed temperature still stays under 170 (but it does get a bit warmer than the starting temp of 165).
Then I move the kettle with 7g wort to the propane burner in the garage, boil, and move the 5.5g boiled wort back to the kitchen counter top for chilling and racking to the fermenter.
I chill using a CFC into a carboy, aerate and pitch the yeast, then I move the full carboy to my fermentation chamber. The only parts of these operation that require more than modest physical effort are moving the wort from the kitchen to garage and back again, and moving the full carboy to the fermentation chamber. When I start to have problems with these operations, I will start weight training at least 3 days per week instead of just 1.

Hope this helps,

-a.

 

[tre9er]

If you're using a cooler as an HLT, first of all, I've never been in love with that setup unless you have pumps. Otherwise it requires you to heat in one vessel, transfer to another, then lift that vessel up high. I know it keeps the sparge water hot, but I don't see a huge benefit to that anyways.

I'd batch sparge. Unless you have a dedicated HLT that heats the water, and a dedicated BK that the runnings go into, you're going to be lifting something in this setup. You need a pump or a heated HLT to avoid lifting with fly sparging. I'd batch sparge or test out the lifting with cold water and see how bad it is.

 

[timmah84]

Awesome A! That is a great write up and something I can visualize in my kitchen. Quick question regarding the following:

I use a rotating sparge arm fed by about 2 ft tubing to deliver the sparge water to the MLT.

Think I could use the 2" water buffer and use silicon tubing floating instead of the arm? I couldn't find a good rotating sparge arm (was looking at midwest supplies), and was assuming I could make something, if necessary.

tre9er, would you happen to know of any pumps that are efficient and on the cheaper spectrum? I agree, I may end up doing batch sparges to start and save myself the 60 bucks on the HLT.

 

[tre9er]

I don't use pumps, but there have been crazy sales on pumps lately just over $100. Some others (vendors?) Can provide specifics.

 

[ajf]

Awesome A! That is a great write up and something I can visualize in my kitchen. Quick question regarding the following:



Think I could use the 2" water buffer and use silicon tubing floating instead of the arm? I couldn't find a good rotating sparge arm (was looking at midwest supplies), and was assuming I could make something, if necessary.

tre9er, would you happen to know of any pumps that are efficient and on the cheaper spectrum? I agree, I may end up doing batch sparges to start and save myself the 60 bucks on the HLT.

I'm sure you could use the 2 inch water buffer instead of the sparge arm.
I bought the sparge arm in 1993, and have been using it ever since. I like it because it squeaks and lets me know that the sparge water is flowing without opening the lid to the cooler. I'm sure I could do it differently, but I'm used to it and it works.

The other thing you could do would be to batch sparge. I only fly sparge because that was how I learned, and I'm used to it. I tried batch sparging a few times, but found it more difficult because I was not used to it. If I were starting out from scratch, I would probably choose a batch sparge.

Good luck.

-a.

 

[ndinh]

I'm also new to AG. My first 2 batches were done using a make-shift setup (from top_bottom): HLT (10 g round cooler) on a chair that was on a long picnic table, MLT (10 g round) on the picnic table, BK on a turkey fryer on the floor, 6 g carboy on the floor. It was clumsy and messy and I never hit my target mash temp. I'm sure a large part was due to my inexperience in AG brewing. I'd have to boil the water to 170 and then carry it up a step stool to pour into the HLT. For safety reasons, I finally just invested in an inexpensive brew stand (actually a bayou fryer stand w/ 2 burners $150), a pump ($150+$30 attachments) and another kettle for the HLT($160). So now the only lifting I do is to put water into the HLT before heating it up. ~$500 of the best brew investment ever. BTW, I batch sparge using a bazooka. Good luck.