Switching from BIAB to Keggle

[Imburr]

I have 2 keggles, and I have just been using 1 to brew in a bag then boil. My beers are not coming out great, and the abv is low. I am switching to no bag.

I have 1 keggle with sight glass, thermometer, and false bottom with down turn pipe. This is fit with a quick release fitting. I assume after mashing I would drain it into my boil keggle. Problem is that the drain from my valves tends to be relatively slow. How long do I have to drain from mashing into boil? Also draining from boil kettle to fermenter though my counterflow chiller is very slow... the chiller gets the beer as cold as I want, but it takes ~45m to drain. Not trying to buy a $200 pump, and I have tried the highest elevation I can for gravity to work.

Looking for any tips here from anyone with a 2 keggle setup.

 

[thekraken]

I have 2 keggles, and I have just been using 1 to brew in a bag then boil. My beers are not coming out great, and the abv is low. I am switching to no bag.

I suspect that the biab in of it self is not your problem. It shouldn't take that long to drain your mash, what ID are your fittings? You're using a length of tubing to get a good siphon effect, right?

You can buy pumps for under $100. https://brausupply.com/collections/hardware-and-accessories/products/brau-120v-brew-pump-1-2-npt

 

[Imburr]

Also, does it make sense to use my boil keggle as a hot liquor tank, then mash in my mash keggle, then drain back into my boil keggle for boiling? Or should I just do HLT and MLT in the one?

 

[thekraken]

Also, does it make sense to use my boil keggle as a hot liquor tank, then mash in my mash keggle, then drain back into my boil keggle for boiling? Or should I just do HLT and MLT in the one?

For full volume mash that works great. If you do cold sparge that'll be fine too.

 

[Imburr]

I suspect that the biab in of it self is not your problem. It shouldn't take that long to drain your mash, what ID are your fittings? You're using a length of tubing to get a good siphon effect, right?

You can buy pumps for under $100.

This is my tubing 3/8 ID: https://www.mcmaster.com/#3038K22 and ther length is maybe 4 ft.
This is my fitting: https://www.mcmaster.com/#6739K64

I think the problem might be my counterflow chiller. It was home made by someone else. It cools so well, but gosh is it slow.

 

[thekraken]

Are you compacting your grain bed? When you open your valve do you do it slowly and gradually? If you go from closed to wide open too quickly the siphon can pull the grain bed down and slow/stop your run off.

Keep in mind that in regard to "not coming out great and low abv" we'd need to know much more about your process.

 

[Imburr]

Are you compacting your grain bed? When you open your valve do you do it slowly and gradually? If you go from closed to wide open too quickly the siphon can pull the grain bed down and slow/stop your run off.

Keep in mind that in regard to "not coming out great and low abv" we'd need to know much more about your process.

Well actually, I have never used the false bottom, to date it has only been BIAB. When I open valve I open it full then pinch the line until it fills a little bit, then release and repeat. Lat brew took 45 minutes to drain 5 gallons through the chiller. The temp coming out of the chiller was like 65-70 degrees I think.

The low ABV is due to a variety of factors I am sure, such as missed temps (last time I mashed I was off by 3 degrees) all of which add to low efficiency.

 

[Imburr]

Also a side note- when I pipe boiling water through chiller, it flows fine. I think the problem is partially due to the amount of gunk I have in my wort after the hop additions- I brew big IPAs and they have lots of sediment. What can I do to boil kettle to prevent sediment from slowing down the flow?

 

[processhead]

Also a side note- when I pipe boiling water through chiller, it flows fine. I think the problem is partially due to the amount of gunk I have in my wort after the hop additions- I brew big IPAs and they have lots of sediment. What can I do to boil kettle to prevent sediment from slowing down the flow?

Any sediment in the kettle can slow down or completely stop draining if it blocks the entrance to the pickup tube or whatever opening goes to the kettle drain.

Whirlpooling your kettle at the end of the boil can help relocate the bulk of the sediment to the center of the kettle and a pick up tube nearer to the side will not be subjected to as much sediment.

The solution that works well for me is a fairly large surface area, fine mesh screen filter that surrounds my pickup tube and filters out the vast majority of the solids.

I had to up-size it quite a few times to improve its effectiveness, because any filter will eventually block flow unless it has a large enough surface area.

With this setup, I can consistently gravity drain my boil kettle through a 3/8 inch I.D. 25 foot CFC and associated tubing in under 30 minutes. All the associated valves and plumbing are also 3/8 inch I.D. as well

 

[thekraken]

The solution that works well for me is a fairly large surface area, fine mesh screen filter that surrounds my pickup tube and filters out the vast majority of the solids.

I had to up-size it quite a few times to improve its effectiveness, because any filter will eventually block flow unless it has a large enough surface area.

Do you have a picture of your dip tube filter?

 

[processhead]

Do you have a picture of your dip tube filter?

Here is the screen I am using on my keggle dip tube

 

[Bobby_M]

It's likely that the screen is collapsing under the suction of the wort drawing out. Even if the whole thing doesn't collapse, the very bottom directly under the diptube is getting sucked up against the diptube opening making the filter area less than 1 square inch.

 

[thekraken]

If it works it works. If it were a problem I imagine fixing the upper portion somehow like with a hose clamp, and in the tip of the dip tube fixing tines to the end (or cutting them out with a dremel) to hold the screen away

 

[Imburr]

I purchased a 12v DC pump and also a 12" bazooka screen. Also, I bought a 50' immersion chiller to ditch my old/slow counterflow. So I am going to cool with the immersion, and then drain directly into my fermenter with the bazooka inside. If it is slow, I will hook up the pump and let it work a bit (the pump will be using for sparging as a main role).

 

[Imburr]

At this point I am trying to decide if I should use my keggle for mashing, or purchase an igloo mash tun. Any thoughts on it?

 

[processhead]

At this point I am trying to decide if I should use my keggle for mashing, or purchase an igloo mash tun. Any thoughts on it?

Igloo Cooler

Pros - A cheap and easy to implement solution for those who may be less "handy".
Cons- Potentially not as durable as a keggle MLT. That said, you will get several years of use from a Igloo cooler.

Keggle

Pros - Practically indestructible, durable, flexible
Cons - Cost, Needs to be insulated, more labor intensive to convert for use as a MLT, conversion requires fittings and attachments that are more expensive and time consuming to implement.

 

[thekraken]

I'd add that if you're doing 10 gal batches that the 10 gal igloo water cooler might be a little small, but should be great for most 5 gal batches.