G'day with question

[Samson]

G'day everyone,

I am making the transition to all grain brewing after a period of time brewing from a kit. After a bit of research and costing I am thinking of this sort of set up.

1 x 40L Crown Urn as HLT (Possibly modified and used as a heat exchange to maintain heat of the wort)
1 x 46L Stainless Mash tun
1 x 46L Stainless Boiling Kettle

Could anyone please let me know if they run a similar setup. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[boybrewer]

First question . What type of heating are you going to use ?

1. Gas
2. Electricity

If both you could use the urn as a HLT for your sparge water and gas for the boil kettle .

Second question . The SS mash tun will it be insulated to maintain the grain bed temp ?

Third question . Do you have a pump ? If so then you could use the urn as the HX and HLT for sparging . Although using an urn as a HX maybe a little slow on ramp times due to the volume of water you will be using in it .

I run a HERMS in a 7 Lt pot with PID control and a march pump , 50 Lt mash tun insulated and a 50 Lt boil kettle come HLT gas fired .

 

[Samson]

hey Beer belly, thanks for the reply

electric for the urn. My thought was that it could be used as a HX for the SS mash tun so pretty much what you were thinking. I don't currently have a pump but was planning to get one as I was thinking this would require one.

What I was thinking is that the 40L could be warmed to the first mashing temp e.g. 70C, then 20L be used in the mash, this could then be recirculated into the remaining 20L in the URN to maintain temp. With this in mind I had ruled out insulating the SS Mash Tun. I'd looked at insulation for the Mash tun but didn't find a solution also looked at purchasing a insulated SS Mash tun but they are quite costly. Could you let me know what you are doing to insulate your Mash Tun?

Gas would be used for the boil kettle only.

any chance you'd be able to post a pic of your setup?

 

[Yob]

You can get insulation material from Clarke rubber called "form shield" its self adhesive and comes in 3 sizes, I used the 10mm stuff for my HLT and am well pleased with it.. Its not cheap but its worth it.

Cheers

 

[MastersBrewery]

for me I would look at a slightly larger kettle, 60-70L this would allow double batches in line with the size of the rest of your system. Buy once buy right and leave room for growth!

 

[Camo6]

^ I agree with MB. Pretty soon you'll want to punch out bigger batches. I use a 50l kettle and 38l batches is the most mine can handle without topping up in the fermentor. And even then you have to watch it like a hawk for boilovers.

 

[SimoB]

You can get insulation material from Clarke rubber called "form shield" its self adhesive and comes in 3 sizes, I used the 10mm stuff for my HLT and am well pleased with it.. Its not cheap but its worth it.

Cheers

I used this as well. I got it for $25 a metre. My HLT got to temp in half the time once I applied it.

 

[1974Alby]

I used this as well. I got it for $25 a metre. My HLT got to temp in half the time once I applied it.

I assume this can only be used in conjunction with an immersion type electric heater? ..or is it flame proof stuff that can be used on a keggle and burner set-up?

 

[SimoB]

I assume this can only be used in conjunction with an immersion type electric heater? ..or is it flame proof stuff that can be used on a keggle and burner set-up?

I only use it on my HLT and MLT. My HLT is electric. I don't think it would go well with direct flame.

 

[boybrewer]

I you look under gear and equipment , then go to brew rigs mine is posted on page 44 . I used a yoga mat and some 100 mile an hour tape for the mash tun and the same for the herms . You can also see the PID system that I built hanging off the end of the frame .

 

[Yob]

I only use it on my HLT and MLT. My HLT is electric. I don't think it would go well with direct flame.

Its other uses include fire wall lining in cars etc, so while it does have some resistance, Id probably not like to use with naked flame repeatedly..