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Author Topic: Rate my system!  (Read 16342 times)

Offline Bret

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #30 on: March 29, 2011, 02:15:30 pm »
But I like the whirlygig thing  ;D
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Offline gordonstrong

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #31 on: March 29, 2011, 02:21:21 pm »
I did too.  But when you realize it's just a shiny object to distract you from the fact that your sparge water is actually 20 degrees colder than you expected, then you adjust your thinking.

They actually worked fine for me, as long as you were careful not to lose the little silicone stoppers from the ends.  I sold it off along with my 10 gal Gott cooler when I went to a half-barrel Pico system.
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Offline Beer Monger

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #32 on: March 29, 2011, 02:21:58 pm »
Thankfully, I haven't had any big issues w/ Phil's Sparger. 

It can stop spinning when my hot liquor tank is nearly empty, but I don't see that as an issue.  I generally don't have a problem hitting/holding my mash temp either. 

I also adjust the height above the grains as much as I can - so the water doens't have to fall too far before making contact.  Also, my setup means the water doesn't travel very far between leaving the hot liquor tank and exiting the sparger.  I'm quite certain I'm not losing anything close to 20 degrees. 

I guess I'll keep using it until I find something better or it breaks...


« Last Edit: March 29, 2011, 02:29:16 pm by beer_monger »
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Offline Bret

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #33 on: March 29, 2011, 02:28:15 pm »
I did too.  But when you realize it's just a shiny object to distract you from the fact that your sparge water is actually 20 degrees colder than you expected, then you adjust your thinking.

They actually worked fine for me, as long as you were careful not to lose the little silicone stoppers from the ends.  I sold it off along with my 10 gal Gott cooler when I went to a half-barrel Pico system.

20 degrees??!!  :o It's toast!

Thanks Gordon.
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Offline dannyjed

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #34 on: March 29, 2011, 02:32:48 pm »
I have to chime in.  I have a buddy who has a fancy tier sculpture with pumps and counterflow chiller that he made and constructed by himself and his brew day takes about 6-8 hours.  His beer tastes great.  I use the Denny / batch sparge method and my brew day takes about 5 hours.  I think my beer tastes great.  To each their own.  I'm just glad that I found this cheaper (and in my opinion simpler) method of all-grain brewing which I believe produces equal results because i was reluctant to get into all-grain thinking I had to spend thousands of $ for new equipment.  Denny states this better in the last Zymurgy issue, but anyway thanks Denny for helping this guy take baby steps in equipment upgrades and giant leaps in beer quality.
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Offline denny

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #35 on: March 29, 2011, 02:35:37 pm »

As for your last question, I would never let my beer anywhere near my camping coolers!  Let's just say the sanitization standards are a bit different!

Thanks for the reply, Denny. Cheers.

:)  What I meant was that maybe you should think about trying batch sparging with your current setup rather than your camping coolers.
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Offline denny

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #36 on: March 29, 2011, 02:38:43 pm »
thanks Denny for helping this guy take baby steps in equipment upgrades and giant leaps in beer quality.

Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline Bret

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #37 on: March 29, 2011, 02:40:23 pm »

As for your last question, I would never let my beer anywhere near my camping coolers!  Let's just say the sanitization standards are a bit different!

Thanks for the reply, Denny. Cheers.

:)  What I meant was that maybe you should think about trying batch sparging with your current setup rather than your camping coolers.

Yeah, I knew that, I was going for the easy joke about my camping coolers.  And I will be batch sparging my next brew--an easy pale ale that I am very familiar with so I can gauge the difference. I can expect 115% efficiency, right?
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Offline denny

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #38 on: March 29, 2011, 02:44:23 pm »

As for your last question, I would never let my beer anywhere near my camping coolers!  Let's just say the sanitization standards are a bit different!

Thanks for the reply, Denny. Cheers.

:)  What I meant was that maybe you should think about trying batch sparging with your current setup rather than your camping coolers.

Yeah, I knew that, I was going for the easy joke about my camping coolers.  And I will be batch sparging my next brew--an easy pale ale that I am very familiar with so I can gauge the difference. I can expect 115% efficiency, right?

Yeah, and if it's a blue cooler, maybe even more than that!   ;D
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 Bret

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #39 on: March 29, 2011, 02:50:22 pm »
...gallon cylindrical cooler (blue) for a mash tun due to space constraints...

Oh yeah!
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Offline Beer Monger

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #40 on: March 29, 2011, 02:50:32 pm »
I did too.  But when you realize it's just a shiny object to distract you from the fact that your sparge water is actually 20 degrees colder than you expected, then you adjust your thinking.

They actually worked fine for me, as long as you were careful not to lose the little silicone stoppers from the ends.  I sold it off along with my 10 gal Gott cooler when I went to a half-barrel Pico system.

20 degrees??!!  :o It's toast!

Thanks Gordon.

My setup means the water doesn't travel very far between leaving the hot liquor tank and exiting the sparger.  I'm quite certain I'm not losing anything close to 20 degrees.  If I was, I'd never hit my target mash temp.  
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Offline gordonstrong

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #41 on: March 29, 2011, 02:56:18 pm »
That's what it was on my system way back when.  But go ahead and measure it yourself.  Adjust your temperatures so that you hit the temp you want in the mash tun, not anywhere else.

You mash in using the sparger?  Isn't that slow?
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Offline tschmidlin

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #42 on: March 29, 2011, 11:21:38 pm »
Interesting.  Maybe I'll look into building my own sparger.  Perhaps a ring w/ lots of holes in it.....
Check out Denny's website and consider batch sparging.  I don't, but a lot of people do with great results.  I'll probably try it in a few batches.

Dude, am I gonna have to come up there and walk you through it?  ;)
That might motivate me to make the change :)  I'll try it eventually even if you don't come visit though.
Tom Schmidlin

beveragebob

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #43 on: March 29, 2011, 11:34:17 pm »
"I think it'd be hard to lift a kettle full of water to that top tier, this is what I don't get about 3 tier systems."

Beersk,

I have three three tier gravity systems. I just use a hose that runs up to the kettle. Either from a GAC filter or straight in(when I use camden tabs). Only time it's a little challenging is when I'm using RO water but, I have brewing platforms I can stand on securely and "pour in". Not a big deal. I've had a pump that I hardly use being that gravity has not broken on me yet  8)

Offline Beer Monger

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Re: Rate my system!
« Reply #44 on: March 30, 2011, 07:09:22 am »
That's what it was on my system way back when.  But go ahead and measure it yourself.  Adjust your temperatures so that you hit the temp you want in the mash tun, not anywhere else.

You mash in using the sparger?  Isn't that slow?

Lol.  Whoops!  No.  I mis-spoke.  I was thinking about the mash rather than the sparge.  D'oh! 
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