New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association
Brewing => Equipment => Topic started by: Kyle on May 08, 2011, 05:03:42 PM
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Thought I'd share,
To shorten the time it takes to get to a boil, I added about 7 layers of Reflectix duct wrap (1' by 25' roll from home depot for $25) and adhered it with the aluminum foil tape ($6 from home depot).
I also made a hop sock so I can add pellets with out getting them stuck on the kettle false bottom (which is a SS hose). The hop sock is your standard PVC sewer fitting with holes in it that wooden dowels go through. The cloth is clamped to the fitting with a 5" SS worm clamp.
The fabric is from Fabricville and it is white "cotton gauze solids". I used a 1.2 metre square of it. Hops float freely in it and the cotton can easily withstand the boil. All the hops goo stays in the bag, and the hop goodness goes into the wort.
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I really like this!
I'm having some technical difficulties with the mash kettle that I got up and running today (gonna post pics later) in keeping a consistent temp, even monitoring it all the time, so I'm betting this'd definitely help it out.
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I've had some spray-on insulation for a while I was planning to do something similar with. I'd been stalling on doing so because I didn't know what to wrap it with (I think you answered that), and whether or not it could really stand the heat without burning or something. I'll probably give it a go, now.
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just make sure whatever you use is non toxic... you can call the manufacturer for temp rating. Also, trim it so that it is not going to be in direct contact with the stove burner
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The hop sock extends down to the bottom of the brew pot.
It took very little time to drain the brewpot into the carboy when using this, it was less than a couple of minutes.