Space Between Malt Pipe Base and Element

[Econwatson]

Hi all,

Apologies to make a new topic about this but I am brewing today and would appreciate some insight.

How much distance should between the bottom of the malt pipe and the element? The element is LWD 3KW. I reckon I maybe have a cm of a gap. The problem is my return arm needs to go over the top of the malt pipe and in order for that to happen I need to put the malt pipe pretty low in the kettle.

Would appreciate any advice!

 

[Florian]

Hard to tell without knowing what your vessel/rig actually looks like.

I can only say that on a BM there is virtually no distance, the malt pipe finishes of at the bottom of the vessel and the element is draped around the pipe, with the pump obviously mounted below the vessel. Pump in and out are at the bottom of the vessel, inside and outside of the malt pipe.

Not sure if this helps, I'm assuming your rig is somewhat different but not sure in which way.

 

[Econwatson]

Hi Florian, thanks for your help. I brewed today and the small gap did not seem to be an issue. However, my 19L pot really struggled to hold the grain bill for the batch but I guess there isn't much I can do to combat that. I had another couple of post-brew questions if you wouldn't mind?

1. My malt pipe was almost overflowing because of the size of the grain bill. It was an IPA with 6 kilos of grain so I am assuming that normally I won't be using so much grain. However, it caused my mash to be very dense, and I'm not sure how this will have affected the mash? I was expecting an OG of 1.061 but only got 1.053 which is quite disappointing.

2. I also noticed another phenomenon. During mash-out The outside wort temperature was much hotter than the internal, so much so that the external temperature was about 85 and the malt pipe temperature was reading only about 70 or so. Is this a problem that has resulted because of the density of the mash? Should I perhaps increase the flow rate of my pump or cut more holes in my malt pipe? Or should I just wait until the mash reaches 79 regardless of external temperature?

Thanks again

 

[Florian]

1. Did you sparge? If not, this will increase your efficency.

2. yes, probably to do with mash density. i had similar problems once when I reversed the flow direction on the BM. not sure if increasing pump flow will help or make things worse, eg compacting your mash even more.

again, without knowing your system it's hard to give any advise and really only guesswork.

 

[Econwatson]

Hi Florian, Cheers for your response again. Attached are some pics! Hopefully they will give an insight into what my system is like:

I have never tried sparging before on any system, but definitely keen to give it a go in future brews. I definitely got most of the wort out of the pipe, but a sparge would have probably helped!

 

[Six O'Clock Swill]

Econwatson,

Like the set up mate simple and effective. I'm no expert but I think the wort may be tracking straight through your grain bed in one place due to the fact that it's coming in at a central point, this could account for the reduction in efficiency and reduction in heat transfer to the rest of the grain bed. If you go online and have a look at the Sabco Brew Magic they use a silicon tube which circulates the wort around the top of the Mash Tun allowing the wort to be absorbed across the majority of the grain bed. This system may be worth a try.

 

[Econwatson]

Hi mate, thanks for the compliments on the rig, and for the response

Wondering if one of those wide-headed 'Rainforest Shower' Heads could maybe achieve something similar?

 

[Six O'Clock Swill]

It probably would do a good job but you'll oxidise your wort which from what I've read is not a good thing at elevated temperature .

 

[adryargument]

It probably would do a good job but you'll oxidise your wort which from what I've read is not a good thing at elevated temperature .

I doubt it would be an issue. Considering your boiling all the oxygen out 60 minutes later.

 

[micbrew]

g day econ

Im building a system similar to yours ,

have you overcome those issues ??? keen to know how if so

I have a 70 litre pot ..still trying to source a mash tun ... I gave up on the big w pots ..found it was to small
are you using the gryphon brewing element from Nev .. I just purchased one from him

I still not sure which way to plumb to the pot ????

keep me posted im very interested to hear youre thoughts

thanks mick