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Author Topic: All Grain setup  (Read 11736 times)

Offline Jeff M

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #15 on: January 31, 2014, 06:14:17 pm »
So i bought a rubbermaid with a ss falsebottom when i converted to allgrain.  After having 2 brews with stuck sparges due to grain getting under the false bottom due to stirring and s***ty design, i have since made a denny braid and havent had a problem since.  In the end the shape of the mash tun doesnt matter at all, but go with the braid denny suggests and never worry again.


I do also have issues keeping my MLT from leaking.  Takes me about an hour every brew day to get it the way i want it and i test with hot water, big PITA.

If i had to do it again id just go via dennybrew.com

2drunkcents
Jeff
Granite Coast Brewing Company.
Building a clone of The Electric Brewery to use as a pilot system for new recipes!

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #16 on: January 31, 2014, 06:29:34 pm »
I've always tried to figure out what the need would be for a fancy engineered drain system if you are running off in batches. As long as it doesn't get plugged who cares. Everything is in solution, and then run it off. I get it if you're recirculating or sparging on the fly.

I use a false bottom now because I direct fire recirculate my MT. But a bazooka screen or Denny style screen is all you need for batching.

Offline euge

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #17 on: January 31, 2014, 09:15:20 pm »
Dude get a coleman extreme 70qt! Make sure you get the right color. Best bang for buck!
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

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Offline ccfoo242

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #18 on: February 01, 2014, 10:08:30 am »
And for either cooler type use a bazooka type screen to save yourself some work over making something out of the stainless washer hose.


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Offline Jeff M

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #19 on: February 01, 2014, 10:25:15 am »
And for either cooler type use a bazooka type screen to save yourself some work over making something out of the stainless washer hose.


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my SS hose took about 3 minutes and a pair of pliers & wire cutters to make.  Would of been faster if i broke out the hack saw....  its also a lot finer then a bazooka tube.
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Building a clone of The Electric Brewery to use as a pilot system for new recipes!

Offline denny

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #20 on: February 01, 2014, 11:36:40 am »
And for either cooler type use a bazooka type screen to save yourself some work over making something out of the stainless washer hose.


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my SS hose took about 3 minutes and a pair of pliers & wire cutters to make.  Would of been faster if i broke out the hack saw....  its also a lot finer then a bazooka tube.

I use a hatchet and just chop off the ends!
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline Jeff M

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #21 on: February 01, 2014, 12:43:35 pm »
And for either cooler type use a bazooka type screen to save yourself some work over making something out of the stainless washer hose.


Sent from the future using Tapatalk

my SS hose took about 3 minutes and a pair of pliers & wire cutters to make.  Would of been faster if i broke out the hack saw....  its also a lot finer then a bazooka tube.

I use a hatchet and just chop off the ends!

Have you lost a kneecap yet?;)
Granite Coast Brewing Company.
Building a clone of The Electric Brewery to use as a pilot system for new recipes!

Offline denny

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2014, 06:56:27 pm »
And for either cooler type use a bazooka type screen to save yourself some work over making something out of the stainless washer hose.


Sent from the future using Tapatalk

my SS hose took about 3 minutes and a pair of pliers & wire cutters to make.  Would of been faster if i broke out the hack saw....  its also a lot finer then a bazooka tube.

I use a hatchet and just chop off the ends!

Have you lost a kneecap yet?;)

I cut my own firewood for the winter...I'm a pro!  All body parts intact...so far...
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

Offline ccfoo242

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #23 on: February 05, 2014, 07:38:16 pm »
Sorry to be pedantic but buying a premade item is less work than building one. Regardless of your hatchet abilities. ;-P


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Offline Jeff M

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #24 on: February 05, 2014, 08:00:44 pm »
Sorry to be pedantic but buying a premade item is less work than building one. Regardless of your hatchet abilities. ;-P


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Building an item tends to be cheaper then buying a premade item;)  Most people tend to have more time than money if you look at it the right way!

/pedantic
Granite Coast Brewing Company.
Building a clone of The Electric Brewery to use as a pilot system for new recipes!

Offline euge

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #25 on: February 06, 2014, 07:57:08 am »
Plus building/crafting yourself allows for personal specifications. Not so with off the shelf that might not be harmonious with the rest of the system thus prompting more fiddling/adapting and ultimately more upgrades to get it to work properly. :(
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

S. cerevisiae

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #26 on: February 09, 2014, 10:22:14 pm »
In the end the shape of the mash tun doesnt matter at all, but go with the braid denny suggests and never worry again.


Mash tun geometry does not matter if one is batch sparging.  However, mash tun geometry does matter if one is using traditional continuous sparging.  Commerical mash tuns are round for a reason.  It's simple fluid dynamics.

Most set mashes are the result of using grain that was too finely crushed with a 2-roller mill.  The result is substantial husk damage.  Too fine of crush is also a reason why a false bottom can be ineffective at filtering husk material from runoff.   I crush my grain with a mill set at 0.40" (the non-raised portion of a credit card easily passes through the rollers on my mill).  I use a round beverage cooler, a proper false bottom (a braid leads to channeling when continuous sparging), and continuous sparging with a moderate flow rate.  I routinely achieve 31 to 33 points per pound per gallon mixed grist extraction rates.   That's an efficiency range well in excess of 80%.  Once mastered, continuous sparging is less physical work than batch sparging because there is no stirring, and one only has to vorlauf once. I have been continuous sparging for so long that I set the hot liquor back and mash/lauter tun flow rates and go do something else while the sparge is running.  I use a second round beverage cooler as a hot liquor back.


S. cerevisiae

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #27 on: February 09, 2014, 11:08:26 pm »
A nicer two beverage cooler setup can be built for substantially less using industrial yellow Igloo beverage coolers from Zoro Tools (the cheapest source on the Internet plus free shipping), stainless ball valve assemblies from Bargain Fittings, and a very nice 16% open space false bottom from Adventures in Brewing.  Unlike modern Rubbermaid "McCooler" beverage coolers (the older Rubbermaid Gott coolers were heavier built), yellow industrial Igloo coolers do not warp or crack when used to hold hot liquids. 

I recently built a custom 3.5 gallon brew house using two 5-gallon industrial Igloo coolers and the hardware mentioned above.  I did not penny pinch, and the cost to build was around $160.00.  The false bottom assembly used in the build cost me around $40.00 with shipping.  A braid can be installed for far less if one is batch sparging.   The entire brew house fits on a card table.






The kettle is completely custom.  It started out as a Vollrath Optio 3506 27-quart stockpot (this stockpot was selected because it is induction ready and has a 1:1 height to diameter ratio).  The nipple was welded by a local sanitary welder.  NorCal fabricated the false bottom to my specifications.  I cut, bent, and flared the pickup tube.  I also drilled the pickup tube hole in the false bottom (I originally had the false bottom sitting on a stand).  I use a false bottom in my kettle because I use whole cones exclusively.  A false bottom, whole cones, and immersion chilling leads to clear cast-out wort.







Edit:  The cost to build the mash tun and hot liquor back was around $160.00.   The kettle cost substantially more than that figure to fabricate.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2014, 11:11:56 pm by S. cerevisiae »

Offline flbrewer

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #28 on: February 14, 2014, 08:57:47 am »
Bumping this to ask a similar question...for all grain setups that don't include plastic coolers, what are the advantages and disadvantages? Including the brewing towers, racks like a Sabco setup. Thanks folks!


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Offline morticaixavier

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Re: All Grain setup
« Reply #29 on: February 14, 2014, 09:00:27 am »
Bumping this to ask a similar question...for all grain setups that don't include plastic coolers, what are the advantages and disadvantages? Including the brewing towers, racks like a Sabco setup. Thanks folks!


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I think the main disadvantages are cost and complexity. anytime you add lots of complexity it adds lots of places for failure.

The advantages are the bling factor, the fact that they are discrete units, relatively easy to move around, and automation. I'm sure people who have actually used them will have more thoughts on the advantages
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