I have probably had this thing 10-15 years. It has served me well. Little by little I started seeing more "play" near the neck and finally took a good look at it and there was a separation in the weld. Debating on cutting off the offending area and just adding new clamp. I will lose 1-2" at most... Seems doable. I could also replace but unsure of what to replace it with. I would like to speed up the sparge a bit. Takes about 15-20m for batch sparge. I reduce the 1/2" to 3/8" line. I tried going all 1/2" but would would get stuck. Maybe fixing it will help? Curious what some ideas you may have as I am sorta out of the loop with the latest gear. Thanks in advance.
Repair/replace bazooka tube or upgrade?
- Thread starter zwiller
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Sure, just shorten it and re-clamp. For batch sparging there's nothing critical, as long as you stir well after adding the sparge water. Let rest a couple minutes to settle out, then vorlauf and lauter. I keep a double piece of aluminum foil on top of the mash with a few small holes punched in it. I pour the vorlauf on top of that so it doesn't disturb the grain bed. Also keeps the heat in better during the mash. I can lauter in 10 minutes, tops, probably faster. I use a 1/2" ID hose.
zwiller
Well-Known Member
Thanks Lizard. Fixed it last night. Upon disassembly there was some serious funk that was not visible. I gave it a good cleaning while I was at it.
I will definitely try the foil. I do the old Papazian pour over the back of the spoon thing... I hope the repair allows me to use 1/2" throughput. My brewing time is a precious commodity with a young family and any time I can shave off is a good thing. Working toward the mythical 2 hour session and am well under 3hr when the planets align
I will definitely try the foil. I do the old Papazian pour over the back of the spoon thing... I hope the repair allows me to use 1/2" throughput. My brewing time is a precious commodity with a young family and any time I can shave off is a good thing. Working toward the mythical 2 hour session and am well under 3hr when the planets align
YVW!
I understand how precious time can be. Longer blocks of time especially. Been there. Read around here (or search) and you'll see that some do 30 minutes mashes, and even only 30 minute boils, using a little more grain and hops to make up for less boil off and utilization.
If you leave the wort cool naturally in your kettle (lid on), you can siphon out the clearest wort you've ever seen the next day, leaving all the trub on the bottom. Or do no-chills.
I understand how precious time can be. Longer blocks of time especially. Been there. Read around here (or search) and you'll see that some do 30 minutes mashes, and even only 30 minute boils, using a little more grain and hops to make up for less boil off and utilization.
If you leave the wort cool naturally in your kettle (lid on), you can siphon out the clearest wort you've ever seen the next day, leaving all the trub on the bottom. Or do no-chills.
zwiller
Well-Known Member
I love cutting the time out of the session anyway. I have no desire to fire up a cigar and spend 6-8 hours brewing... Definitely picked up a lot of things here and there that helped. 30m mash was the game changer for me. That and building a 50' 1/2" chiller. In summer I chill to <100F and park it in fridge overnight. Definitely thinking 30m boil might be next to try...
What is your crush gap? I was doing .020" for a while to get max conversion at 30m and then started running into issues when adding adjuncts. Opened it up to .030" and it is better. Wonder if I might need to go near .040" to get 1/2" throughput.
What is your crush gap? I was doing .020" for a while to get max conversion at 30m and then started running into issues when adding adjuncts. Opened it up to .030" and it is better. Wonder if I might need to go near .040" to get 1/2" throughput.
I'm interested in this concept. When you say leave the wort to cool naturally, do you mean post sparge\pre boil or post boil?
dsniegocki
Well-Known Member
@zwiller I've been using a BIAB bag instead of a bazooka tube or false bottom in my mash tun... besides not having to worry about stuck sparges, the biggest plus is the time savings. There is no assembly, I just drop the bag in the mash tun. No disassembly/cleanup of bazooka tub/false bottom etc. And what used to be a messy, time-consuming ritual of scooping out the spent grains and cleaning them out of every nook and cranny takes no time at all anymore - I just lift the bag out when I'm done, dump it all at once, flip it inside out and rinse.
zwiller
Well-Known Member
I'll let lizard confirm but the "no chill" IMO is post boil. Put a lid on the kettle after boiling and let it cool. From memory the Aussies developed. Nice technique but will mess your hop calcs. The hybrid technique is what I posted. Just get most of the heat out and chill overnight. I like 100F others will go higher. The hardest and longest is chilling to pitch temperature.
Used to BIAB when I first started brewing. Something to look at for sure. Cleaning the tun is not too bad for me. I dump into lawn waste container (OMG during the summer!), hose down few times, and soak Oxyclean until teardown. Yes, scooping would be a PITA...
Used to BIAB when I first started brewing. Something to look at for sure. Cleaning the tun is not too bad for me. I dump into lawn waste container (OMG during the summer!), hose down few times, and soak Oxyclean until teardown. Yes, scooping would be a PITA...
.020" maybe a bit too narrow even for BIAB. Now with some rice hulls you'll make the mash less dense.
Barley 0.028-0.032" (~credit card or a little tighter). So that's in the range you use.
Wheat, rye, and other small kernel grain as well as flaked goods 0.022-0.026" (American Express junk mail CC, or a little tighter).
That's on a Monster Mill (MM2) 1.5" rollers.
I wouldn't go any wider than those or your efficiency will tank, especially on small kernel grain. I believe in a fine crush both for mash speed and efficiency.
The commercial brewers use continuous agitation which helps to speed up conversion even at their .045-065" crush. But they use different crushers so we can't compare, really. I still wonder if they run small kernels through a different mill. Wheat and rye would fall mostly uncrushed through a .065" gap. Maybe the other rollers take care of that.
That's right, post boil. Unless you want to venture into wild fermentations and kettle souring.
The Aussie no-chill method drains the hot wort into a food-grade plastic container (like a jerrycan or cubitainer) that after capping has no air space left. Then let it sit until cool. The 190-200°F hot wort sanitizes it and since it's sealed airtight, nothing can get in.
When naturally chilling in the kettle there is a small risk airborne bugs get sucked in through the narrow gap between kettle rim and lid, but I haven't seen any wide-spread reports on that happening. If you chill it down to say 160°F or 140°F there will be minimal contributions from the extended "hop stand."
Your hybrid method is great! Again there's that small risk of infection, which may not have any merit.
zwiller
Well-Known Member
Hmmm. I researched the pro brewing forums relating to the ultra fast mash time often quoted (15m) and I found that many are milling much finer than us. (<.020") Which is why I tried it. They use mash pads made of something similar to scotchbrite I guess. In any event, I agree with .030" for the best trade off of speed and efficiency on the homebrew level. Cracks me up with CC references... I use a feeler gauge. Happy MM2 owner as well.
