New Brunswick Craft Brewers Association
Uncategorized Boards => General => Topic started by: Gil Breau on May 03, 2011, 04:27:27 PM
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Well, I was gonna buy a kit online then thought "where's the adventure in that?" :ugeek:
An hour later, got everything I needed for two brew pots for about 50 bucks.
Downside is that it's Brass & Copper....
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_cpiopoScWgU/TcBVrqXJvYI/AAAAAAAAAUE/VGdr4tV9tXQ/s640/2011-05-03%2016.17.12.jpg)
Made up of 1 Ball lock valve, 1 hose barb, 1 threaded nipple, 2 silicone O-rings, and a flange for soldering some copper piping to.
Which, while not as sexy as stainless steel, does the job all the same with proper care.
Here's the new pots: (on the left)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_cpiopoScWgU/Taxxb-fV3CI/AAAAAAAAASk/Fu1iyM8T8Gg/s640/2011-04-16%2016.17.48.jpg)
Here's the planned setup on the inside:
(http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l290/klyph333/Brewing/DSC05001.jpg)
Really simple setup, Im still working on the screen, if one is even needed for the wort kettle.
The mash kettle, I'll be getting some form of false bottom done in the next month. :D
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looks really good, I wanted to avoid brass though.
where did you get the o-rings?
how did you make such a tight turn in the copper?
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Got the o-rings at a place called Coastal Bearings, 4 for 5$. They're good for up to 300 C.
The brass, yeah, same here, but I wanted to make it a local DIY. And if it works, it cost me about 20 bucks. if I want to upgrade to SS, I'm not out much. But I read a bunch into it and so long as you're careful, brass isn't bad for your boil, its just not a slick looking.
That inside isn't mine, but it should be looking the same come tommorow. I borrowed that image from a DIY thread because mine should be coming out the same. Forgot to include that disclaimer in the prev thread :)
The tightness will come from a little stupid thing I learnt today. Seems the nipples are flared, so that the locking nuts won't make it all the way to the middle. So, put nut on, tighten till it won't turn anymore take shorter end, push through pot wall from the outside, add either second nut or the adapter like I have on shorter end and tighten. Theres about 3 full threads sticking out right now at the end with the ring on it, so it should garuntee a good tight seal when I put the nut on.
Should have mine cut and installed come tommorow. I'll post pics of it ASAP.
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Fairview fittings have listings for SS ball valves, not sure where else would have em.
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Hi Gil - please forgive me, but I'm hoping to ask a stupid question, feel free to ignore if I'm not being smart about my research...
So I have my mash tun (cooler with braided SS hose for draining) - and I have a pot (Alum 50 L) for boiling water and wort - so what are you using the "mash kettle" for? Is this basically the "cook" method for the conversion part of the process? (rather than an insulated container or mash tun for conversion)? Or is this for something different? Also, it appears the 1/4 copper tube goes into the pot - then points down? The false bottom you mentioned, that goes over this 1/4" tube assembly to filter the grain?
Thanks Gil...
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I'm guessing he means cooking... additional heat rather than insulation. Many of us use converted coolers; Gil's just gone with a more hardcore approach ;)
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Interesting - I suppose with this method you have better control over the temperature as well - like for multi-step mashing, different rest stops and that sort of thing?
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Yeah, given you have a reliable heat source.
I've been playing with my strike water the past few months, seeing if I can keep it constantly around the same few F for an hour. Definitely needs more monitoring, but its possible.
I'll probably try and make it a hybrid solution. Find a high heat insulation wrap and cover the pot's sides to help retain more heat, while fiddling with the mash heat as well.
Plus, it means I can punch a hole near the top of the pot and try and make a fly sparge system as well. Probably could do it with a cooler as well, but I like being difficult :P
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Actually....has anyone ever used a manifold in thier mash tun instead of a screen?
Something like this:
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/com.brewersfriend.images/falsebottom2.jpg)
Figure make a small manifold like that, with the dip tube pushing right to the bottom instead to increase efficency, it'd work well, no? That tube placement is horrible and could easily be fixed with a single 90degree elbow, and a deeper dip that nears the bottom of the pipe...
Bad MSPaint warning:
(http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/3281/manifoldz.jpg)
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I'm guessing he means cooking... additional heat rather than insulation. Many of us use converted coolers; Gil's just gone with a more hardcore approach ;)
I read today of people using thier ovens instead of direct heat as well....not sure if it's work well or not, but I might give it a try someday.
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For me the brass manifold is of no benifit plus get ready for the needed use of rice hulls when brewing dont ever forget the KISS method if its not broken dont fix it for me the SS braided hose does exactly what you need it to 75-80% efficiency you will not get any better than that with the copper tubing its just something to make your brew day long through assebling and disassembling extra cleaning of each small part
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Unless, of course, you want to fly sparge, in which case you will need to use the manifold design.
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Well some day soon I'll be implementing that, so good thing I went and made one :D
I got the two pots fitted. Ones dribbling a leak so I gotta take it apart and grind down the sides more. I'll post pics tonight showing the two setups, manifold included.
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Fly sparging provides no real benifit to home brewers so not sure why people bother to be honest you may get a slightly better efficience but not worth the extra effort may save yourself 15 cencts per batch its just another peice of equipment that may not function properly
Gil on a side note have you constructed a brew stand as of yet ?
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Yeah but theres an inequation to consider
Worth of Effort < Interest and Sense of Accomplishment when it works
:D
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Brew stand is gonna be made sometime this month I hope. Now that I have the three pots all fixed up its feasible to make it.
Need to find the metal to work with first, but then its just a weekend of welding it together hopefully.
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Yes, fly sparging increases efficiency only slightly (usually), but those who WANT to do it for the sake of trying it will need a manifold in order to do so.
Doing a double decoction may not drastically improve a beer (there have been side-by-side experiments that have shown that even for several German lagers, decoction brewing did not improve the beer quality), but people still like to do it sometimes, just for the method alone.
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Man got point, but Shawn: can you think of any benefit to fly sparging other than efficiency. I got to side with Dave if not.
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I think I was misunderstood here...
I never said you SHOULD fly sparge. Dave said there was no point in building a manifold, I just gave my opinion that if you WANTED to fly sparge, you would need a manifold.
I have never fly sparged, and don't intend on it. I use a SS hose in my mashtun. And I agree that fly-sparging likely only offers a small increase in efficiency, as I noted above...
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So is double docoction used to get better efficiency in a mash that has multiple grain types? Like for example, adding unmalted grain (like maybe a wheat or rye for example) to a mash with maybe half or more malted 2-row?
I saw this chart on Homebrewtalk "Gelatinization Temperatures for different grains" - is gelatinization part of the mash process that single infusion deals with properly because all the grains are malted? Maybe I'm way off here... (I'm still reading on these topics)...
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I've never done a double-decoction before, but my understanding is that it is often used for certain types of beers (some German lagers, for example... Bock, Oktoberfest) to enhance the maltiness in the flavor. Some swear that it makes a difference, and others say that it doesn't.
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The only reason I'm even looking at fly sparging is simply because it lends itself to a gravity fed system so well.
Simply open the valves, fly sparge, and start heating to wort as its doing it's thing. It's not a matter of efficiency, its a matter of its integrating in my goal system, and the fact its another project that I can work on.
Well, that and the autosparges blichmann makes are just so damn cool. >.>
(http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/product_images/uploaded_images/autosparge2.jpg)
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Shawn: Apologies; I missed your post at 1:06 pm.
I read that decoction mashing can lead to a maltier beer, and that the long decoction mashes are only really worth doing with bad quality grain (so not an issue)... It seems a fairly simple logic: boiling the mash (meaning the actual water + grist mix) would caramelise some of the sugars closer to the heat source... I think :P
Or maybe it's yet another brewing superstition/tradition.
Shawn: Do you have a link to that side-by-side article?
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Richard: I'll take a look for it, I'm sure I can find it. I'm actually thinking that it was done by Jamil on one of his podcasts, with some of his cronies.
I was planning on brewing an Oktoberfest in the next couple of weeks... I'd like to try decoction mashing sometime, but right now it's still a little intimidating...
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Potentially on their clone brew show, I'm guessing.
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Possibly; either that, or Brew Strong.
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Finished pots:
Pot+Bulkhead
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dsoKmdR9hRA/TcceDVSY8xI/AAAAAAAAAUk/QSRHSZyMBVw/s200/2011-05-08+15.44.58.jpg)
Manifold in the mash kettle
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iM2b3v2bdn0/Tccd5yFNSfI/AAAAAAAAAUc/leb78MlEoJY/s200/2011-05-08+14.51.50.jpg)
Works extremely well, efficiency went up over the cooler mash tun for sure.
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how is the temperature fluctuation with that pot as the mash vessel?
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It's...interesting
I kept it mostly between 147 & 151, but it's definitely a challenge
I'm going to try your insulation method to try and help
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It looks as though Gil's obsession has begun you can thank me anytime Gil :)