Moving To All Grain

[Sprungmonkey]

I am looking at moving to AG and am just about ready to purchase an urn and stockpot and thought I would just mention my plans just incaswe there is something I have missed (especially with regards to the size of vessels).

Firstly the plan is to buy a Birko 40l urn and 70L Robinox SS pot - I already have a mash tun just about ready (40 litres)

Have I chosen these sizes to enable me to do both single or double batches - well thats the plan - Is a 70 L stockpot to big for single batches?

Also looking at using the italian spiral burner with med pressure reg

I am going to get a 1/2 inch ball valve welded onto the 70 L pot - what position (ie how high of the base) should I weld on the ball valve?

Thanks all - will post pics of set up once under way
thanks
sprung...

 

[ledgenko]

Hey ... 70 l stock pot is sweet !! I am incrdibly jealous !!! m: ) but in saying that .. Ohhh my move to WA made for sweet growth .. 2 beautiful 50 lt stainless steel kegs have happened to fall into my hands :-O ..... HHHOOOOORRRRSSSSEEEESOME .... HAVE A LOOK AROUND .. A 70 LT URN with a 100 lt esky as a tun ... and a 50 - 60 lt keggle .. life is sweet .. esp if you want to make big beers... any brewing is good .... say good bye to those cans of goo ... hello grain and no artificial preservatives !!!


Beer is awesome !!!!

 

[Thirsty Boy]

70L is probably bigger than "ideal" for single batches - but it is a pretty damn good compromise size for someone who will mainly brew singles but wants the ability to do doubles. I have a 65L pot and thats why i chose that size - mostly singles, but able to do doubles.

Your burner will be more that sufficient - Your urn is perfectly sized for a single batch, but for a double you will most likely need to top it up after you mash in so you will have enough water to sparge with. Sometimes it will be fine, others you will fall an annoying few liters short without a top up. Depends a little on how you plan to brew.

 

[Sprungmonkey]

sounds like im on the right track with vessel size - now to purchase and weld on the ball valve

how close to the base should i get the valve welded??? as close as possible??

Thanks ledgenko and Thristy boy

 

[Malted]

sounds like im on the right track with vessel size - now to purchase and weld on the ball valve

how close to the base should i get the valve welded??? as close as possible??

Thanks ledgenko and Thristy boy

I am just setting up too and here's what I have found.

Weld a socket into the pot, not the ball valve.
That way you can attach a pickup tube inside to suck from the outside edge of the pot, to allow whirlpooling or you could attach a hop screen of some sort in the pot (there are many options). Weld a ball valve in and you may not be able to screw anything into it from the inside. Where to put the socket in may depend of what you put in the inside.
Having said that most pots have a curved base, if you put the bottom edge of the socket through the wall where it becomes vertical this will end up a little bit up from the inside bottom surface thereby allowing enough room for a nut to spin around (say a compression fitting nut for example). Maybe the socket may have to go up just above where the side becomes vertical for a nut to clear on the inside.
Think about what you may want to put inside the pot, you may not want to put anything in it now but you may very well want to later on.
Food for thought hopefully.

 

[Mark Van Moolenbroek]

Hey Sprung,

For my 42l kettle I got a weldless fitting with a ball valve which from memory is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches from the base with a pick up tube on the inside resting on the bottom of the pot. Not sure if ideal and how some of the better brewers do it but seems to work fine for me, after 5 AG brews through it. First run out of about 500ml has the trub in it from around the pick up tube but otherwise drains clean close to the bottom of the pot, the initial run out settles in a jug so you can recover most of the initial wort as well.

Cheers Markvm

 

[Malted]

Hey Sprung,

For my 42l kettle I got a weldless fitting with a ball valve which from memory is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches from the base with a pick up tube on the inside resting on the bottom of the pot. Not sure if ideal and how some of the better brewers do it but seems to work fine for me, after 5 AG brews through it. First run out of about 500ml has the trub in it from around the pick up tube but otherwise drains clean close to the bottom of the pot, the initial run out settles in a jug so you can recover most of the initial wort as well.

Cheers Markvm

I have used all weldless fittings. It is a PITA with getting the silcone washer just right so they don't leak and you have to have much tighter than I expected, so much so that the washer shape is deformed (yes I had good clean holes in the pot).
If you can get a socket welded in and it is a good weld, I am sure it would be better in the long run.

 

[mje1980]

I am looking at moving to AG and am just about ready to purchase an urn and stockpot and thought I would just mention my plans just incaswe there is something I have missed (especially with regards to the size of vessels).

Firstly the plan is to buy a Birko 40l urn and 70L Robinox SS pot - I already have a mash tun just about ready (40 litres)

Have I chosen these sizes to enable me to do both single or double batches - well thats the plan - Is a 70 L stockpot to big for single batches?

Also looking at using the italian spiral burner with med pressure reg

I am going to get a 1/2 inch ball valve welded onto the 70 L pot - what position (ie how high of the base) should I weld on the ball valve?

Thanks all - will post pics of set up once under way
thanks
sprung...

You could use the URN money to buy a 50 litre pot, and an electric element ( hand held or screw in ). 70 litre boiler is a good size, i get away with 50 litre boiler. Mash tun could be bigger, but should be ok for standard strength beers ( double batch ), high gravity single batches will be ok too. I have a welded fitting about an inch off the base. No dip tube, just a socket and valve, worked well for many years. My 50 litre HLT, 50 litre boiler, and 47 litre mash tun is good for high gravity singles ( triple, strong ale ), and i've done 5% double batches no problems. I think i could probably go 6% doubles, but i usually go from 3-5%, to over 7%, not much in between, so works out sweet.


Many ways to do it, and what you've listed will work, though as said, you might need to fill up HLT after strike water is in

 

[TidalPete]

I have used all weldless fittings. It is a PITA with getting the silcone washer just right so they don't leak and you have to have much tighter than I expected, so much so that the washer shape is deformed (yes I had good clean holes in the pot).
If you can get a socket welded in and it is a good weld, I am sure it would be better in the long run.

A welded socket is the best way to go as you can get the socket welded down past the radius on the bottom of the kettle rather than have to drill the hole further up in order to get a flat surface for the washers to grip to. Having said that, I've been using my 70 litre Robinox for over 5 years & just used a short length of ss all-thread & ss nuts as a home-made version of a bulkhead fitting which has never leaked yet thanks to the use of soft copper washers on both sides of the fitting.
You will probably find that owing to the large surface area of the Robinox you will get an evaporation rate of about 18%-19%\hour (a good rolling boil) which in turn will require a single batch volume of around 34 litres for a 23 litre batch of a 5.0% brew using 3.25litres\1KG & allowing for trub wastage, etc. So I can safely say that your 70 litre Robinox is not too large for single batches even if you choose to use less than 3.25 litres\1 Kg.
My 2 cents.

TP

 

[Sprungmonkey]

excellent thanks all - this definately helps

will definately weld on a socket to the kettle - are people welding on the female "socket" or male 'thread' --- tomato tomarto.

 

[TidalPete]

are people welding on the female "socket" or male 'thread' --- tomato tomarto.

All sockets are female.

TP

 

[mje1980]

All sockets are female.

TP

But the male is called a nipple!?

 

[Sprungmonkey]

Just wondering if there is any benefit to welding on a socket (female) as a pose to a nipple (male thread).

Thanks again to all who have posted - makes me feeling a lot better and confident when clicking on purchase.

 

[Malted]

Just wondering if there is any benefit to welding on a socket (female) as a pose to a nipple (male thread).

Thanks again to all who have posted - makes me feeling a lot better and confident when clicking on purchase.

Speculation and observation only:
The outside of the female socket won't have a thread on it which could make it easier to weld in place.
A male nipple would have a thread on the outside that could potentially be a PITA to clean, harbouring nasties etc and may be trickier to weld to the pot wall.

The flip side is a valve on the outside or fittings on the insde would screw straight onto a male nipple whereas a female socket would require a male-male jobby in between. You may be able to get male threaded valves but most appear to be female threaded.

My 2c.