Building an HLT/sparge vessel - stainless steel pot or cooler?

[welly2]

Hey all,

I'm was planning on building a sparge vessel in the next week or so (expecting the rest of my all grain gear to turn up soon). I'm trying to decide on which way to go. The first thought was to use my boiling pot to heat up the water and then to dump that into a 37L Keep Cold 37L for sparging to keep the temperature consistent through the sparge (I'm going to be fly sparging).

The boiling pot I've got on order is a 70L affair from Craftbrewer and I had another thought this lunchtime that perhaps I should just buy a second one of those as an actual HLT as they're only another $40 on top of the price of a Keep Cold cooler.

The advantages of a second 70L pot being that should I decide I want to start brewing up more than 20 odd litres of beer at a time, I've got a big boiling pot, a big HLT and would only need a bigger (or second) fermenter and a bigger mash tun - currently have a 37L Keep Cold cooler.

My question is, how important is temperature control while sparging? Can I heat up the sparge water to temperature and just sparge away or would I need to keep the water temperature consistent? The advantage of the cooler is it will do just that, which is why I was originally going to grab a second one. But I suppose with the 70L and a heating element stuck in it, I should be able to control the temperature that way.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Cheers!

welly

 

[welly2]

Just going to give this a nudge before I throw any money at something Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

 

[boybrewer]

Temp control whilst sparging is not that critical . Qld Kev sparges with cold water but that's another topic . I was never able to reach mash out temp when I batch sparged . Only because you are limited to the volume of sparge water , to reach your pre boil volume .My sparge water was heated up in a bucket of death . The temp for the sparge water was around 85* C to try and increase the mash temp whilst mashing out , got to 72*C and still ended up with a good efficiency .So heat up the water and sparge away .

 

[Fat Bastard]

I used to use a non temp controlled 20l urn as a HLT for sparging with my old rig. It worked quite well as long as you remembered to check the temp regularly so it didn't go above 78o while you were waiting for the mash to finish. It wasn't really much of a pain in the arse, just another thing to think about on brewday.

I'd go the 70l pot. If you've got some way to heat it and are prepared to watch the temp, you could even do stepped mashes with your esky mash tun. Then when you are ready, you can add a controller to take another load off your mind on brewday.

 

[welly2]

I've got a 2400w hand held heating element that might work well with the 70L pot. Perhaps I should just go for that and stick another heating element in it for a proper HLT. Probably makes sense to go for the big pot for the extra few $ it's going to cost. And like you say, a controller could be added later.

 

[Yob]

I use a 70l pot as my HLT, hooked up to an STC1000 and with a recirc pump on the side of the pot (12v LBP)

Great bit of kit, set, forget = win

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=69793

*ed: like zis

 

[S.E]

I use a 70l pot as my HLT, hooked up to an STC1000 and with a recirc pump on the side of the pot (12v LBP)

Great bit of kit, set, forget = win

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_rel_module=post&attach_id=69793

*ed: like zis

Why did you want to recirc your HLT yob?

 

[sp0rk]

Eliminates hot spots

 

[Yob]

Correct, makes the liquor uniform.

 

[S.E]

Correct, makes the liquor uniform.

Ok so why do you want to make the liquor uniform if you don’t mind me asking? I can understand wanting to keep the mash temp uniform but not the hot liquor. Do you sparge at a precise uniform temp?

 

[jonnir]

Heat rises. Where would you take your temperature reading?

Before I added recirculation to my hlt I used to have cool spots all over. I use electric, might not have same issue with gas

 

[sp0rk]

If my temp probe is in a cool spot, I'm not going to be adding the correct temp sparge water to my mash, am I?
Recirculating eliminates this problem

 

[Yob]

I also use it for strike, so I can tailor my mash in, heat to 53, mash in and let the hex take over, refill HLT and set to 78'c and walk away.

I got real sick, real quick, of trying to do things manually.

 

[S.E]

Fair enough I’ve never been that fussy about sparge temp, Just heat to around 80c and turn the gas off.

 

[Yob]

It's not just sparge temps, it's mas in and sparge temp and I'm able to walk away from it knowing the controller will reach and hold the set temperature, I don't need to monitor it and was simple to set up. pretty Damn cheap too.. Before I had it recirculating I was getting some pretty annoying temperature fluctuations.

Those were dark days...

 

[S.E]

It's not just sparge temps, it's mas in and sparge temp and I'm able to walk away from it knowing the controller will reach and hold the set temperature, I don't need to monitor it and was simple to set up. pretty Damn cheap too.. Before I had it recirculating I was getting some pretty annoying temperature fluctuations.

Those were dark days...

Don’t you find you need to control or adjust mash temp in your mash tun before strike anyway though, or do you pre heat the tun first?

I fill my cold mash tun from a HLT but find it absorbs varying amounts of heat depending on ambient.

 

[Yob]

Heat exchanger that's also controlled

 

[S.E]

Heat exchanger that's also controlled

But wouldn’t the heat exchanger heat and hold the liquor to the correct temp in the mash tun anyway? Why would the temp need to be so precise leaving the HLT?

Sorry not trying to pick holes in your process, I’m re building my brewery soon so looking at different ideas.

 

[Yob]

Mostly just for system efficiency, if the hex is cold when I mash in it takes heat from the mash and then needs to equalise, it the doh in and the hex are at roughly the same temp it settles much faster

 

[Camo6]

I recirc my HLT for a few reasons. Accuracy and consistency are two of them but the main reason is that I run two pumps and it seems a travesty to let one sit there while the other does the lion's share.
I have my HLT probe at about the same level as the element so I can utilise as much volume from the HLT as possible before probe or element are exposed. Without recircing I'd be getting temp variations of at least a few of degrees. Certainly not critical when its mainly for sparging but anything that helps with consistent repeatability is a boon in my books. I find it's also handy for mixing any brewing salts added to the water.