Question about all grain setup.

[wowzers]

I am about to step up to all all grain brewing and had a quick question about my equipment.

I have a ten gallon brew pot and would like to avoid buying another pot. Would it work to heat my sparge water in the brew kettle than transfer it to another cooler before I sparge? That way I could use the one pot to collect in and sparge out of the extra water cooler.

 

[topend]

That could work if you single batch sparge. It may pose problems if you double batch sparge because your first sparge water needs to be much warmer than your second sparge. This is because your first sparge needs to get your mash up to 170 degrees, and the second sparge doesn't need to increase the temperature at all.

If you already have the second cooler then you should be all set. If this method will require you to get another cooler, you might consider getting cheap enameled kettle. I bought one at Target for about $20 and it holds 5 gallons of water. I do a hybrid batch/fly sparge, so I need the extra kettle.

 

[estoppel]

Why don't you collect your runnings in the cooler and that way you can still control the temp of your sparge water? I collect my runnings in a canning pot and throw them on the kitchen stove to keep warm while I am doing my double batch sparge. That way I can use my kettle to heat my sparge water.

Edit: I should note that lots of guys collect their runnings in a bucket, which is basically the same thing as your cooler.

 

[JetSmooth]

Search for the countertop Brutus thread. I have a scaled-up version of that.

I heat strike water in my kettle, pump it up to the mash tun. Then, during the mash, I heat sparge water. For mash out, I recirculate.

It's not the most common setup, but works and keeps the equipment size down.

Heheh, "equipment size."