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Author Topic: Chest cooler HLT and MLT  (Read 1611 times)

Offline Cericksen

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Chest cooler HLT and MLT
« on: January 22, 2015, 05:16:14 pm »
Well everyone I am new here and have been browsing the forums for a while.  I have found some great homebrew setups and have mixed up some of the ideas I have seen.  I am not sure if this is the right place.
I am looking for some advice here.  I am planning to use coolers for my HLT and MLT as I switch to 5 gallon AG batches.  I know that I will need room for at least 10 gallons(grain and mash water) for mashing and 10 gallons in the HLT for sparging and achieving pre-boil volume.  Rather then spending the money for the round 10 gallon igloo I am thinking of going with a slightly larger chest cooler; this will leave room for a homemade cPVC false bottom and cPVC sparge arm, also I want extra room in the HLT for a copper coil for step sparging in the future.  This leads me to my first question, do you see anything wrong with using the chest coolers and would 52 quarts be big enough? 

For heating the HLT I want to use either 1 higher wattage heating coil or 2 lower wattage coils, as well as a temp controller.  I think with these combined it will take very little energy to get the water to temp and even less to maintain the correct temp.  Any opinions would be appreciated.

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Chest cooler HLT and MLT
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2015, 06:09:04 pm »
Welcome !  I'm a batch sparger and actually prefer rectangular chest coolers. This calculator will tell you exactly how much space a grain bill takes up, varying with water/grain ratio :

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

Scroll down to 'Can I mash it'.  Good luck.
« Last Edit: January 22, 2015, 06:23:11 pm by HoosierBrew »
Jon H.

S. cerevisiae

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Re: Chest cooler HLT and MLT
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2015, 06:52:01 pm »
If you are planning to continuous sparge (a.k.a. fly sparge), you will want a cylindrical tun (round cooler) with a proper false bottom.  If you are planning to batch sparge, then tun geometry does not matter and just about anything that will hold back the particulate matter will work as a mash filter.

The reason why so many people give up on continuous sparging is that the lautering technique is sensitive to technology and technique (i.e, it takes time to master).  Continuous sparging is an exercise in applied fluid dynamics. Mash tun design is critical to maximizing the technique.  When continuous sparging, one wants to avoid channeling, which means that one needs to maintain equal downward fluid flow through the bed. One of the properties of a cylinder is that fluid pressure is evenly distributed around the circumference (the reason why pipes are cylindrical).   With a square or a rectangular-shaped tun, fluid pressure is higher in the corners, resulting in non-uniform fluid flow.   We also want to achieve equal drainage across the bottom of the bed, which means that we need a proper false bottom, ideally a flat and tight-fitting slotted false bottom with 15% to 20% open space.  Sadly, the only way one is going to achieve that type of setup is to order a custom fabricated slotted false bottom.  A very nice alternative is to use one of the dome shaped slotted false bottoms that Adventures in Homebrewing (AIH) offers.  I have been continuous sparging since 1993, and the AIH false bottom is the nicest off-the-shelf false bottom that I have ever used.  The slots never clog, and my extraction rates are outstanding.

AIH slotted false bottom



With that said, unless you are willing to go through a somewhat steep learning curve, you will more than likely opt to batch sparge (what I like to refer to as multiple-infusion lautering because no actual sparging occurs).  Acceptable results are much easier to achieve with batch sparging, and the process is pretty much mash tun design agnostic.  If I were starting out today, I would probably opt to batch sparge.  However, I had mastered continuous sparging by the time that batch sparging arrived on the scene, and batch sparging does not offer me anything that I cannot get with continuous sparging.  If I made 10+ gallon batches, I might opt to switch to batch sparging because the lautering technique scales better with respect to time. However, I lauter at rate of around 1 quart per minute, and I only run off between 4.5 and 5.5 gallons because my target post boil volume is 3.66 gallons.

« Last Edit: January 23, 2015, 10:32:19 pm by S. cerevisiae »

Offline cascadesrunner

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Re: Chest cooler HLT and MLT
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2015, 09:09:00 pm »
Thanks for the pro tip on the calculator.   I have been looking to bag the bag, but fly sparging doesn't sound like my cup of tea.  So on with the batch method for starters.
Run then beer.

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Chest cooler HLT and MLT
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2015, 10:10:39 am »
Thanks for the pro tip on the calculator.   I have been looking to bag the bag, but fly sparging doesn't sound like my cup of tea.  So on with the batch method for starters.

check out dennybrew.com as well. http://www.dennybrew.com/ if you havn't already. great resource for batch sparging.
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