New Brew Rig. Advice?

[Curly79]

Gday all, finally getting off my arse and beginning my 4V build. I've got a few different ideas but I'm looking for different opinions so any advice is appreciated.

Here's what I'm thinking. From right to left. 100ltr HLT with ball valve at the bottom and yet to be fitted temp guage half way up.

50Ltr Keggle for my mash tun. Temp guage also needs to be fitted and false bottom with pick up tube to existing ball valve on front of Keggle.

60 Ltr kettle. Still needs a valve fitted. Only had the top cut out so far.

I also have these these two with pre drilled holes?

I'll be rigging up a HERMS or RIMS for recirculating to and from the MT.

I'll also be using gas burners under the HLT and Kettle. Don't have any pumps yet either. Cheers. [emoji106][emoji481][emoji481][emoji481]

 

[timmi9191]

Im assuming you will be using an STC-100 or equiv to control the herms or RIMS. Why wouldnt you use the same to control the HLT and have better control for strike water and sparge water temp?

 

[Curly79]

I probably will timmi. I should have said that. The thing is the power to my shed is a bit pox so I'll pre heat with gas then swap to the rims

 

[JDW81]

FWIW I'd use the bigger pot for you kettle and the 60L keg for your HLT.

If you're running a RIMS/HERMS you can put hot water from your home hot water system in your MLT and then use the recirc to bring your strike water up to temp, leaving 60L for your sparge.

You won't regret having a bigger kettle, as it gives you more versatility as far as batch size goes. Even if you're doing an 80-90L boil, your 50L MLT will be more than big enough, and if you pre-heat your strike water in the MLT your 60L HLT will be ample volume.

I had a 50L HLT, 60L MLT and 50L kettle and the kettle was the limiting factor in making bigger batches.

Just my 2c based on the upgrades I've made to my 3v RIMS over the years.

JD

 

[JDW81]

Where do you live, Curly?

 

[Curly79]

Cheers JDW. This is exactly the sort of advice im after. I was thinking of using the bigger vessel as my HLT as I don't have hot water on demand down the shed and it's about 60 mtrs from the house.

 

[droid]

Hey Heath how are ya?

Are you going to go 3 tier gravity or part thereof?

Can you weld stainless? I wouldn't use two 50ltr kegs joined up to make some kinda 75ltr tall skinny kettle but they would work as a good HLT ! if you can get them welded up for HLT they don't need to be awesomely sanitary welds either. Cut the top off one and the bottom of the other and Bobs ur Uncle.

 

[mstrelan]

Probably fit that temp gauge lower than half way, unless you will always have at least 50L of liquid you want to measure.

 

[Curly79]

Where do you live, Curly?

Kinglake. Bout an hour north of Melbourne

 

[Curly79]

Hey Heath how are ya?

Are you going to go 3 tier gravity or part thereof?

Can you weld stainless? I wouldn't use two 50ltr kegs joined up to make some kinda 75ltr tall skinny kettle but they would work as a good HLT ! if you can get them welded up for HLT they don't need to be awesomely sanitary welds either. Cut the top off one and the bottom of the other and Bobs ur Uncle.

Gidday there John. No mate. It's all gunna sit on a level bench. That's a great idea[emoji106]. I have a mate up the road who can TIG. I was leaning away from the 2 Kegs in the last photos as they had holes where I didn't want them but it might work your way.

 

[TwoCrows]

Check out this youtube video, this sounds like the setup you my be after. This is the rig that Denobrew has put together.





Check out the "show use your brew rig" in gear and equipment section, hundred of posts that will give you plenty of idea's.

 

[droid]

Gidday there John. No mate. It's all gunna sit on a level bench. That's a great idea[emoji106]. I have a mate up the road who can TIG. I was leaning away from the 2 Kegs in the last photos as they had holes where I didn't want them but it might work your way.

When I look at those kegs and look at the one with two holes I think of a tap in the lower hole and thermowell in the one above, then the other keg could be spun half a turn and then welded for a recirc port or a water in port or whichever works, put the thermowell there instead and recirc above the tap.

..there are also those bulkhead plugs for unwanted 1/2bsp holes...from that guy we both know... clever ****

just thoughts

 

[Mr B]

I would use the 100L for the boil, 60l for the mash, and 50l for the HLT

As above, you can heat your strike with the herms in your mash tun.

I have sorta similar.

90L kettle, 50l mash inside 90l pot (pump recircing Herms) and a 50L HLT.

Normally 50-55L batches.

Heat strike in kettle (about 45L), pop mash in and recirc. The mash tun is a bit of a limitation in batch size here. You are looking at about 13 kilos of grain for a ~5.5% batch. If it wasnt sitting inside the kettle I would have volume issues, as some sits in the kettle with the mash tun full. While its mashing I heat about 30-35L of sparge water in the HLT - no rush here, dont need it ready earlier. So your 60L keg is just perfect mash size.

Seriously, do it this way I reckon. Worth investing in a pump, you would only need one and just swap hoses.

Edit: Your boil kettle is going to limit batch size, I dont think its worth mucking around with welding kegs considering the mash tun and HLT are more than adequate. But definitely go 60L mash and 50L HLT.

 

[Camo6]

To add my 2c, I'd be using the 100l for the kettle, 60l for the MT and 50l for the HLT.


Reasons being:

• Kettle will always dictate final volume (diluting methods aside). The bigger, the better.

• A 50l keggle MT won't always cut it for that 90l batch of IPA. (Most likely, neither will a 60l!)

• A 4V setup will reduce the need for a large HLT as you've got an independant heat exchange to reach strike temps (although the extra volume can be handy for clean up).

• A 50l HLT will supply enough sparge water for a 90l batch.

The most limiting factor in my brewery is always kettle volume. Of course, you might not think you'll want to brew 90l batches but trust me, that dillusion will pass. Also, gas-fired kettles are very basic. If you were to upgrade the kettle you could repurpose the old one as a HLT or MT.

Heaps or variables to consider, heaps of money to expend and heaps of fun to be had. Keep us posted.

 

[malt junkie]

I like the 100 hlt, 50 mash (good for 13kg of grain) and 60 kettle, you'll knock out standard doubles and big singles. Down the track if you wanted to expand use one of the other 50's as a second mash and grab another 60.

 

[Zorco]

To add my 2c, I'd be using the 100l for the kettle, 60l for the MT and 50l for the HLT.

Agree with this completely.

I have a 4V system and I find that the HLT (mine is 70) can prep cold water well and truly quick enough for each of the brewing phases. The large BK is a gem for brewing quads, maybe some good management with boil over.... but I expect with spray gun on mist and you'll have it under control.

Bang on with the MT in the middle. That is a volume for plenty of grain and you can make some monumental gravities with that much capacity | Even in a triple.

 

[JDW81]

Kinglake. Bout an hour north of Melbourne

Fair old way from Werribee, but you'd be more than welcome to head down to mine next time I'm brewing and have a look at how my system is put together (50L HTL, 70L MLT and 115L kettle) and how it works for me.

JD

 

[Curly79]

Thanks mate. I'm liking the idea of the bigger kettle and using it to heat the strike water, the using the smaller MLT for Sparge water [emoji106]

 

[Curly79]

Here's a little bit of progress. After everyone's input im thinking left to right, 100 Ltr Kettle which will be used to heat up my strike water. 60 Ltr MLT and 50 Ltr HLT.

Just got my MLT tigged up today. My mate did a sweet job. Went with a socket on the bottom for draining the wort instead of a pick up tube and cut the top off a spare keg and had him attach it to the bottom to get the clearance.

Temporary spiral burner for the kettle which seems to heat 90 Ltrs of water up quicker than expected. I'll upgrade later if need be.

My only ****** so far is i drilled the hole too big for the temp guage on the Mash Tun. It was supposed to be a weldless Blichman temp guage but will now be a 1/2 inch jobby. Still need to get my RIMS or HERMS and a pump etc[emoji106][emoji481][emoji481].

 

[Curly79]

What's the best thing to use for buffing up the kegs on a 5" grinder?