Unboxing the Nano from CO Brewing

[wyowolf]

Wow, good to know, It doesnt seem like it could hold that much, but obviously it does... highest so far was 23 i think... and that seemed to be alot...

So my yellow rose came in with an OG of 1.07. That's a 11.5 gallon batch with 32lbs of grain. That about maxed out the kettle with 18 gallons of strike water View attachment 352979

 

[30Bones]

That's kind of my thoughts as well. The Pro model gets you better valves it appears, but I have my existing table I could just set this on top of and be good to go. Worst case build a shorter table if need be, but that is easy and cheap

 

[jready]

Looks like a good table but you may want it lower. Probably no more than 18-24 inches. I'm amazed that the stand doesn't heat up at all. Being used to propane that's a big change

 

[jlongstreet]

Looks like a good table but you may want it lower. Probably no more than 18-24 inches. I'm amazed that the stand doesn't heat up at all. Being used to propane that's a big change

The heat's going directly into the liquid -- the kettle is only getting hot because of the hot liquid in it. So the kettle will never get hotter than 212F.

 

[milo_leon]

So my yellow rose came in with an OG of 1.07. That's a 11.5 gallon batch with 32lbs of grain. That about maxed out the kettle with 18 gallons of strike water View attachment 352979

Thank you for sharing! Did you think it would be possible to do a ~40 lb batch or would that make the mash too thick? I make huge beers occasionally so was curious about maximum capacity, but that may mean a 5 gal batch instead of 10.

 

[jready]

Thank you for sharing! Did you think it would be possible to do a ~40 lb batch or would that make the mash too thick? I make huge beers occasionally so was curious about maximum capacity, but that may mean a 5 gal batch instead of 10.

40 lbs might be tough, thinking you may have to break into two batches, but, then again, you are talking to the guy who has a whole two batches under his belt on this system! I will say that start to finish this is a much faster brew day so if you did have to do two you could roll through pretty fast

 

[pretzelb]

Quick question - how big of a beer can you make in a 20G nano for a 10 gal batch? It seems from this thread that most people are maxing out at ~20-25lbs of grain?

Don't forget that you don't HAVE to do a full volume mash. In fact, it is probably best that you don't. You can just find one of the many online calculators to see what will fit in a typical 20g mash tun. To be safe you could use 19g to factor in displacement of the basket. Just plug in a 1.25 qt/lb ratio for a typical mash. Then when done, hoist the basket and sparge with the remaining volume. I am fairly certain I read that the sparge water can even be room temperature. The main drawback is you might struggle to do a recirc with a really thick mash. But for example Green Bay Rackers shows that for 40g and a 1.5 qt/lb ratio the mash will take up 18.2g of space.

Also has anyone ever tried using a immersion chiller for BIAB - seems most people here will use a counterflow/plate chiller with the pump.

I've considered this. The folks from Jaded are marketing pretty hard that their products can do it. I might pursue this in the future if I get tired of the plate chiller. But I feel like I need to try more than 3 batches.

 

[DarkStormBrewing]

I have the "build your own Nano" 20G kettle on order.

Reading through your struggles reminds me of my first couple of brews on a Kal Clone with CFC. Kinks will get worked out along the way. You have already ironed out a lot of them. No system is perfect and with new realms like pumps, changing hoses, CFCs, and propane to electric, I had a large learning curve. Thanks for sharing your experiences and keep us updated as you learn from it.

 

[30Bones]

Ordered! :rockin:

 

[Howhownow]

Ordered! :rockin:

Congrats! Now get ready to wait. I ordered mine (just kettle and basket) on 3/11. Tracking says it's on the truck to be delivered today!
Wait aside, they have been great to deal with, and very responsive in communication.
I'll update when it comes in!

 

[30Bones]

I am in no rush, I don't even have the wiring in place to run it yet.

 

[jready]

Ordered! :rockin:

Congrats man! The wait is tough! It will be so worth it though!

 

[ajbeckwith]

I had a similar thought so I tried to find a large stainless steel ruler. It turns out they aren't easy to find without cork on the back and without ink for numbers.

I know this is late - but you could try a stainless carpenter square - Stanley makes a bunch that are just engraved/stamped, no ink. Cold just cut off the short side...

 

[pretzelb]

Quick report on batch #4 and the first 10g batch. I picked a petite saison recipe I have brewed before. After scaling to 10g it ended up 16.5 lbs in grains and 6 oz of hops. I put my mill back to .039 and this time I tried conditioning the grains a bit. I also added 4 handfuls of soaked rice hulls since I had 1.75 lbs of wheat. I used 15.25g of water in a full volume mash and treated according to Bru'n Water. I mashed at 149 for 90 minutes even though I read a recent test showing low temp mash might not have a huge impact.

First the bad. My numbers are still terrible. I'm not even sure how the OG reading I got could be correct. It seems my pH meter is dirty or broken so I wasn't able to confirm mash pH. My readings for pre boil seemed accurate. I'm also not hitting volume estimates. I think with 10g I might want to bump the trub from .5 to 1g. I will post pictures in another post where you can see the extra trub. Another side note on the negative side, the wort was very "dirty". I'm not sure why. I've used rice hulls and wheat before and never seen something like this. But that isn't the fault of the system. Finally, I'm taking way too long with these sessions. Hopefully this gets better with time.

Now the good. The recirc on the mash worked. I think having a full 10g batch will help. But I'm still not sure how to "best" recirc. I started with no hose and the mash flowed but didn't whirlpool. I added a hose and tried to adjust the depth. I could get a whirlpool but it seemed to be just the top portion. If the hose was put deeper then no action on the top. I assumed the wort was then just going right down thru the mesh. But it wasn't stuck and it drained well. I also did a decent job on the volumes but not perfect. The chill plate seemed to be working well again once I went back to the normal routine. Finally, I bought a few connectors from Bobby and my cleaning process to a big turn for the good. I was able to hook my garden hose right up to the pump which was still hooked up to the chill plate. This allowed me to flush both into the driveway. I also got some tri-clover caps from Bobby and this made cleaning the kettle a bit easier.

FWIW, I racked my 3rd batch (a big American stout) to a secondary to try and clean it a bit. The sample I took tasted amazing. The 2nd batch (Yoopers 60 min IPA) also tastes great even though I have debris. To be fair I think the improved tastes are due to me finally getting a handle on the data from Brun Water. But maybe having mash temp control is a factor too.

OK, if I have energy I will post the pictures later.

 

[pretzelb]

Quick summary of the pictures. Conditioned grains with new mill setting. Shots of the mash during and after with the hose. Quick picture of the dirty mash. Wide picture showing all the hoses for climbing. Quick photo of final volume. Then one image of the connector used to flush the chiller and pump.

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[sikkingj]

Dirty mashes settle out, so I don't think that will be much of a factor. I BIAB, so your crush looks enormous, but this is the size you need to make the pumps function?

I'm curious to know how things taste as this s my long term "goal" system - perhaps I'll need to buy to different pot size. One for 10 gallons and one for 5 gallon batches...

 

[pretzelb]

Dirty mashes settle out, so I don't think that will be much of a factor. I BIAB, so your crush looks enormous, but this is the size you need to make the pumps function?

I'm curious to know how things taste as this s my long term "goal" system - perhaps I'll need to buy to different pot size. One for 10 gallons and one for 5 gallon batches...

The crush does look insanely big but 039 shouldn't be all that bad. I think factory default is 035. My last crush was 031 and that caused issues. This was the first time I tried spraying the grain with water so maybe that is part of why it looks that way.

One observation that I forgot is I'm not sure how I could manage a fully indoor brew day. A 20g pot just seems too big for a normal sink. I suppose you'd need good planning for the work area. My area is good but I never planned for cleaning a large kettle.

 

[Howhownow]

New brewery was waiting at the front door Friday!
All components look to be present and accounted for, and the box looked to be in comparatively better shape (though it is much smaller than the full nano system).
Kettle welds look extremely clean (didn't get a close-up). Fitting welds look OK- I think they will be fine.
Finished my brew stand over the weekend since I finally had the kettle in hand. A few more controller items to clean up, and I should be brewing before end of week.
Will post pictures of testing and first brew.

 

[wildseedgrrrl]

I was just headed out the door to work when I saw this pop up. Had to stop and admire! Looking forward to seeing it all put together and brewing on your new stand.

 

[jlongstreet]

Just in case anyone had the same issue I did:

One of the screws that holds the mash recirc fitting onto the side of the basket was missing in my system. I'm guessing it fell off in the box and got lost somewhere, but one way or another, I only had one. Turns out it's a #10-32 machine screw with a round combo head, 1/2" length (although longer or a little shorter would work fine).

 

[Carlscan26]

Why are there two clamps between the valve and the kettle? Is that a small spacer in between them?

 

[Howhownow]

Just in case anyone had the same issue I did:

One of the screws that holds the mash recirc fitting onto the side of the basket was missing in my system. I'm guessing it fell off in the box and got lost somewhere, but one way or another, I only had one. Turns out it's a #10-32 machine screw with a round combo head, 1/2" length (although longer or a little shorter would work fine).

Yes! Thank you. I figured this was missing- it sits on the pot lip so well that I couldn't tell. Definitely want something to secure it better.

 

[Howhownow]

Why are there two clamps between the valve and the kettle? Is that a small spacer in between them?

That's actually the super nifty pickup tube fitting. You thread it through the pot TC connection and the first clamp is to secure that. The second clamp secures the fitting to the valve. It looks (and will function) like 2 pieces, but the pickup can be easily unclamped and independently removed. If you didn't want the pickup fitting, you could do valve -> pot with a single clamp.

If that explanation is hard to follow I can get a pic if you'd like.

 

[Carlscan26]

That's actually the super nifty pickup tube fitting. You thread it through the pot TC connection and the first clamp is to secure that. The second clamp secures the fitting to the valve. It looks (and will function) like 2 pieces, but the pickup can be easily unclamped and independently removed. If you didn't want the pickup fitting, you could do valve -> pot with a single clamp.

If that explanation is hard to follow I can get a pic if you'd like.

A picture would be awesome. Is it possible to remove the pickup tube without disconnecting the valve from the pot? It almost sounds like the pickup tube is threaded into the fitting in between the pot and the valve?

 

[jlongstreet]

Here's a triclamp dip tube, not the CO one, but it's the same concept. The TC flange closest to the the dip tube attaches to the ferrule on the outside of the kettle, and the valve attaches to the one furthest from the dip tube.

https://www.brewershardware.com/1-Tri-Clover-Tri-Clamp-Style-Pickup-Tube.html

 

[Carlscan26]

Here's a triclamp dip tube, not the CO one, but it's the same concept. The TC flange closest to the the dip tube attaches to the ferrule on the outside of the kettle, and the valve attaches to the one furthest from the dip tube.

https://www.brewershardware.com/1-Tri-Clover-Tri-Clamp-Style-Pickup-Tube.html

Ahh OK I get it now. Thanks!

 

[Eamster]

Haven't yet tested mine out and probably won't for a few weeks but here is my setup. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1462834823.024031.jpg

 

[pretzelb]

Haven't yet tested mine out and probably won't for a few weeks but here is my setup. View attachment 353750

I'm eager to hear how the controller and the CFC work for you. I had my eye on both.

 

[jready]

Haven't yet tested mine out and probably won't for a few weeks but here is my setup. View attachment 353750

Wow! Looks great man!

 

[jready]

New brewery was waiting at the front door Friday!

All components look to be present and accounted for, and the box looked to be in comparatively better shape (though it is much smaller than the full nano system).

Kettle welds look extremely clean (didn't get a close-up). Fitting welds look OK- I think they will be fine.

Finished my brew stand over the weekend since I finally had the kettle in hand. A few more controller items to clean up, and I should be brewing before end of week.

Will post pictures of testing and first brew.

Great stuff when you going to brew?