New 60l Setup

[BlackRat]

Couple of brews ago i broke a part of my system that pumps wort up through the malt pipe on the second rest of a multistep mash. Couldnt fix it at the time so raced into the shed and bent a copper pipe and drilled some holes in it and set it up basically the same as your setup.
Had to dick around with the valve to get the flowrate correct but it worked fine in the end. I have since changed the rig a bit to pump up again as basically once doughed in the pid takes over and it needs no supervision which is the major benefit of pumping up versus the gravity down system.
Cheers
sean

Hey Sean, it would be great to see some shots / get some more info of your build so we can see the difference between the two.

Did you get your PID from ebay?

Cheers,
BlackRat

 

[Maheel]

Hey Hugh and Rodda

how do you reckon a copper manifold or SS braid would go in the 20L pot ?


great looking rigs

 

[bignath]

Anyone else think there should be sticky on rigs like this?

There seems to be a huge number of people currently building there own version of a braumeister, or single vessel recirculating brewery. Something seperate from a standard BIAB.
Seems a lot of people are combining the simplicity of BIAB, with some level of automation/control.

Im a couple of days away from finishing my build and posting another thread on it, so is it a good idea for a thread to combined into a central location where others can get ideas before they build there own?

 

[Feldon]

Yes please.

 

[seamad]

Blackrat,
Have posted set up , blackdog brewmaster, however have changed a bit since then. Will be brewing next couple of days so will take some picks.
Agree that a seperate topic combining all these types of rigs would be benificial as they are all over the place. Was going to post new pictures in mathos brewmater @#$%&% if im paying that...
Ive got a auber instruments multi step pid with their temp probe, excellant bit of kit.
Hopefully will brew sunday/ monday and post some new details on my system, pretty happy with it now ( made a few stuffups along the way)
Cheers
Sean

 

[Jazzafish]

Not wanting to hijack the thread but I thought i'd show you how I've been doing it and it works. Same principal as draining through bottom of pot, but I run it through a false bottom and a pickup so it comes out the side, beer is good. Big W pot for mash with false bottom, just match up the outflow to the flow into the mash and I can walk away.

As for the BM pushing up from the bottom I'd say it is to get better efficiency, as there is no compacting or channeling, grains can float around happily its like a constant stirring action. Mine does suffer avaerage efficiency, only a dollar or two in extra grain


View attachment 53549
Mash in and recirculating to clear it up a little first

View attachment 53550
Mashing, out of the pot, into the keg (with element) and out the bottom again through pump and into the mash

View attachment 53551

Mash

View attachment 53552
Boiling away.

Nice Rig!

I put up with an average efficiency in my HERMS gear for a few years. Calculated recipes at 70% hit 75% on a good day, but there were a few sad brews that were in the higher 60's.

Now I have posted this in a few other threads, but I have made two changes to my technique that has given me a consistent 80 to 85% efficiency over the last 5 brews.

Change 1: Stop the pump and stir the mash half way through. Don't worry, the wort will be HERMS clear again in a few mins or less. Basically, I was noticing a membrane of dust/fine grain forming on top of the grain bed. This was obviously resisting the flow of liquid and encouraging some channeling, limiting the sugar extraction from the grain in some parts of the mash. In addition, the grain was compacting around my false bottom - which you can really feel at the end of the paddle.

Change 2: Cut the grain bed before the sparge. I use the pointy end of a coopers spoon to cut a 1cm x 1cm grid in the grain bed all the way to the bottom. OK, not applicable for batch spargers, but the grain bed compacts when you run a pump, this amplifies if there is more grain weight in higher gravity batches. Cutting is not as aggressive as a stir but will give you control over the channeling and loosen the compaction. After a cut I collect ~ 1 liter in a jug at sparge flow rates before the wort is HERMS clear again.

2 changes, minimal time impact, 10 to 15% increase in efficiency over the last 5 brews. Works for me, give it a try.

 

[hughman666]

That looks to be on the money, I've cut the bottom out of my original mash pot and will give it a bash with the false bottom as per my original plan.

If I still find the runoff to be too slow I'll have a bash at your method. The thing I like about your method is no splashing on returning the wort to the kettle. I can just re-use the thermowell hole for the inlet to the kettle. Just thinking having an elbow joint on the inside of that return would then double as a whirlpool...

More pics would be great too!

Thanks!

Not wanting to hijack the thread but I thought i'd show you how I've been doing it and it works. Same principal as draining through bottom of pot, but I run it through a false bottom and a pickup so it comes out the side, beer is good. Big W pot for mash with false bottom, just match up the outflow to the flow into the mash and I can walk away.

As for the BM pushing up from the bottom I'd say it is to get better efficiency, as there is no compacting or channeling, grains can float around happily its like a constant stirring action. Mine does suffer avaerage efficiency, only a dollar or two in extra grain


View attachment 53549
Mash in and recirculating to clear it up a little first

View attachment 53550
Mashing, out of the pot, into the keg (with element) and out the bottom again through pump and into the mash

View attachment 53551

Mash

View attachment 53552
Boiling away.

 

[rodda]

Maheel, I reckon the SS braid may colapse but the copper should do the trick

Big Nath, Thats a great idea, I used the RIMS and HERMS threads to get ideas.

Thanks Jazzafish, I give it a whirl today, sounds the goods.

hughman666, having the open bottom pot was my original idea too, can't really remember what swayed me this way, Think it was to control the outflow and I liked the idea of recirculating to get rid of the big bits (set up a grain bed) before I ran it over the element. If yours works well I may even change it. Seems easier. Yep having an elbow was the next thing to use as a whirlpool!

Here is the bottom of the mash pot, Just a brass pipe that is just off the bottom as a pickup and the nut lets me anchor the falsie.


the element is one of those standard SS jobs that you can get all over the place. Goes wel,l Ive got a drain in the bottom you can just see that goes straight to...well..a drain. Cleaning is a breeze.

 

[fergi]

i see you have tri clover fittings in there, very easy to pull apart, nice setup Rodda.



fergi

 

[notung]

Anyone else think there should be sticky on rigs like this?

Great idea.

 

[hughman666]

Ok so I got the new pot, fittings etc.

This is how the revised mash pot looks:

Elbow at the bottom to return wort to the kettle



Inside...



With the mash return:



The elbow returning the wort to the kettle (there is 4" of silicone hosing attached to the elbow, submerged approx 2" below the surface of the wort, to avoid splashing):



Mashed in, continually sparging at 65c. Flow control set at the kettle ball valve and it's been sitting 2" above the grain bed for the whole mash. Perfection!



Really happy with this now. Final steps are:
- move the thermowell to the side of the mash pot:
- add an elbow and ball valve to the original thermowell spot for whirlpool
- build housing for the electrics and pump...

Thanks to Rodda for showing me a different way of doing the mash pot!

 

[rodda]

No dramas, that looks great! I'm sure it works a treat too. Once you get the flow matched up it is basically hands off
Great stuff

 

[black_labb]

What are your thoughts about placement of the temp probe, in the mash or in the reservoir waiting to be pumped? Have you checked the difference in temp between the mash and the reservoir as the circulation progresses?

Also what do you think about using the 20L mashing vessel? is the size reasonable for a double batch and how much grain do you think you could effectively use in there?

Looks great.

 

[dkaos]

What are your thoughts about placement of the temp probe, in the mash or in the reservoir waiting to be pumped? Have you checked the difference in temp between the mash and the reservoir as the circulation progresses?

Also what do you think about using the 20L mashing vessel? is the size reasonable for a double batch and how much grain do you think you could effectively use in there?

Looks great.

From reading other threads black_labb I've seen 5-6kg seems to be the max that will sit in a 19L BigW pot. So use that as a benchmark.

Cheers,

Clint