New Pot And Pick Up

[stew.w]

Got a new 80L aluminium pot the other day put the sight glass, temp guage and outlet valve on it last weekend.
Today i made a pickup tube strainer as ive got some whole hop flowers to use.
I bought a s/s strainer for $7 from woolies and cut the handles off it got a bit of 1/2" copper and bent it up and made some fittings up so i can have the pipe going through the strainer but also clamping the strainer. which meant i can have the strainer pushing down on the bottom of the pot and making a reasonable seal. Theres another piece of copper inside the strainer also so it siphons almost all the liquid out.
Havnt used it in a brew yet but i will be this week. See how it goes :icon_cheers:

Heres some pics:




Cheers,

Stewart

 

[gregs]

I think that looks the goods Stew, let us know how it gos.

 

[manticle]

Whole damn brewery looks pretty schmick to me chief.

 

[Cocko]

Whole damn brewery looks pretty schmick to me chief.

Agreed, awesome looking rig.

Couple of Q's:

Why did you do your pick up tube in an upward arch design? Not being smart just wondering if there is some reason for it?

Also, do your gas bottle get warm from your kettle burner there?

 

[stew.w]

Agreed, awesome looking rig.

Couple of Q's:

Why did you do your pick up tube in an upward arch design? Not being smart just wondering if there is some reason for it?

Also, do your gas bottle get warm from your kettle burner there?

because it goes through the strainer vertically through the top it means its pushing the strainer lip into the bottom of the pot square, giving a better seal (smaller gap) at the bottom. the whole things airtight so it siphons well (did a test run with water before). see how it goes this week, might need to re-do the pipe so it sits off to the side and not so much in the middle, but ill see what happens.

gas bottle doesnt get warm there as there is a fibro sheet separating the burner side from the mash tun and gas side. i did have issues with this when i did my first test run with water, i could smell my mash tun heating up . I massively underestimated the power of the mongolian burners.

:icon_cheers:

Stewart

 

[schooey]

Nice looking rig, well done.. :beer:

The only thing I would ask is won't putting your pick up right in the centre defeat the purpose of whirlpooling? Unless of course you don't intend to... I find those strainers will not keep out trub or hop material from pellets. Anyway, good luck with it

 

[Cocko]

the whole things airtight so it siphons well

If it siphons then who cares how it is shaped... run a roller coaster for shits and giggles!

Schooeys point is a good one tho?

 

[stew.w]

yeah thats why i was thinking i might move it to the side as much as i can.
itll probably be a bit of trial and error, im doing 3 40L batches this week as ive run out for the first time in ages and need to catch up .
So i should hopefully have it sorted by the end of the week

Cheers,

Stewart

 

[Cocko]

Iron out the creases mate and you will have a killer rig!!

Keep us posted on you PU tube sitch....

Cheers
Cocko
:icon_cheers:

 

[stew.w]

Well i used my strainer tonight for its maiden run.
It worked really well, hardly any hop material coming through (with pellets and no hop sock).
Took a bunch of photos while i was filling the cubes:









I dont think ill bother moving the strainer to the side for the time being as it worked more than well enough tonight, didnt block up either. :beerbang:

Cheers,

Stewart

 

[Cocko]

Awesome mate!! Looks like it di more than a good job!

No whirlpool then?

 

[stew.w]

no i didnt whirlpool it either, i was also doing no chill in cubes so no need to stir for the a chiller coil anyway.
seems to have worked really well though, cant really see any hop material in the bottom of the cubes.
pretty cheap to make, strainer itself only cost $7 and the rest of the stuff i had anyway but wouldnt cost much if you had to buy it.

Cheers,

Stewart

 

[Steve]

Looks great Stew! Good idea.
Cheers
Steve