[rayallen]

Ok, I will be drawing up plans here soon to build a single tier brew system.

Plan on going to All-Grain in the near future.

I know I will use direct fire because of simplicity, ive been reading but still do not yet completely understand everything.

What I know.

1.) I will have a Mash/Lautner Tun for steeping the Mash/grain to release all its sweet goodness. Will have a stainless kettle screen
2.) I will have a boil kettle to obviously boil the ready wort and hops
3.) I will use a food grade pump to circulate wort from one kettle to the next.
4.) I will have 3 burners ran by a propane tank.
5.) I plan on using somekind of quick disconnects with silicone seals.
6.) I will be using silicone hoses.


What I dont know.

1.) What is the use of the third Kettle the Hot Liquid Kettle aka HLT?
2.) Is a electric panel a must, or does it just make life a little easier + it looks cool.
3.) Food grade pump. Can one pump run the entire system or will I need 2.
4.) Id like to make this a safe indoor setup. what the best way to do so
5.) Is it in order of MLT, HLT then Boil Kettle? Or HLT, MLT, Boil Kettle? Im sure this will be answered when I know exactly what the HLT is for?


Ive been reading about sparging using a system to sprinkle water but ive noticed most home-brewers do not do this, usually only brewing companies. So I assume this is not needed.

List of parts needed

I have 3 cut and drilled 15.5 Sanke Kettles

Need Weldless therms and spiggots with ball valves
Stainless steel screen for mash tun.
silicone hosing
pump
gas burners and lines
propane
Electric panel of somesort if I deside to do so.


Sorry if this comes across as a little slow, so far ive only done stove top brewing. If I can Id like to get this as close to correct on the 1st go. Like ive said ive been reading but obviously im still unclear on several areas.

Any Answers, thoughts, ideas and suggestion are most welcome.

Happy Brewing  

[micsager]

HLT is to heat water prior to begining the mash.  Here's basics:

1.Heat water in the HLT to strike temperature
2.Add grain and heated water to mash tun
3.sparge into your boiling pot.
4.cool, move to feremntors and add yeast

I used 2 pumps.  From 1-2 and 2-3.  Gravitly from 3-4.

[rayallen]

thanks Misager

You answer put it into better simple perspective.

You use a seperate pumps to get the hot liquid to the mash tun, and the wort to the boil. Is this so that you can contoll the speed?

What is the optimal GPH for the pumps? Im in the aquarium hobby and have used lots of pump through the years some ranging from 20gph to 2000gph.

[micsager]

It was just easier with two pumps, as they were placed in different spots.  You could do it with one.  On a side note, I no longer use this system.  Splurged on a Top Tier from Blichman last summer.  Now it's gravity the whole way.  I just got the stand and burners, those biolermaker pots are cool, but very $$$$$.  I still use my old sankey keggles.

[denny]

thanks Misager

You answer put it into better simple perspective.

You use a seperate pumps to get the hot liquid to the mash tun, and the wort to the boil. Is this so that you can contoll the speed?

What is the optimal GPH for the pumps? Im in the aquarium hobby and have used lots of pump through the years some ranging from 20gph to 2000gph.

You don't even need to worry about that.  Just get the March 809 HS pumps,which are the standard pumps for homebrewers.

[hopfenundmalz]

thanks Misager
You answer put it into better simple perspective.
You use a seperate pumps to get the hot liquid to the mash tun, and the wort to the boil. Is this so that you can contoll the speed?
What is the optimal GPH for the pumps? Im in the aquarium hobby and have used lots of pump through the years some ranging from 20gph to 2000gph.

You don't even need to worry about that.  Just get the March 809 HS pumps,which are the standard pumps for homebrewers.

That is what I would say, Denny.

I also have water in both the mash tun and the HLT, added the night before.  The mash tun is preheated with a bucket heater, so that I just add the pre-crushed grain to begin the brewday early in the morning.  The HLT fire is lit a little before the step to mash out, so it will be at temp for the sparge.  Once the brew kettle has enough wort to cover the bottom, that burner gets lit.  These steps cut some idle time from the brewday.

[rayallen]

Thanks Denny for the info on the pump.

Also going to get the glass sights while im at it, a few more $s and a nice feature.

Just a thought.

Where do you tend to cool your wort? In the boil kettle? Id assume the HLT is empty seeing its the 1st step in the process, does anyone go from the boil kettle back to the HLT using their wort chiller. Would it not cool faster this way?

Any advice on the use of indoor burners, Im going to have a section of the house near the kitched for brewing. I see that most brew outside or in the garage, but there are some with indoor setups.

Thanks guys for the quick info, im sure I will have more questions as I go along and actually start the build.

[rayallen]

thanks Misager
You answer put it into better simple perspective.
You use a seperate pumps to get the hot liquid to the mash tun, and the wort to the boil. Is this so that you can contoll the speed?
What is the optimal GPH for the pumps? Im in the aquarium hobby and have used lots of pump through the years some ranging from 20gph to 2000gph.

You don't even need to worry about that.  Just get the March 809 HS pumps,which are the standard pumps for homebrewers.

That is what I would say, Denny.

I also have water in both the mash tun and the HLT, added the night before.  The mash tun is preheated with a bucket heater, so that I just add the pre-crushed grain to begin the brewday early in the morning.  The HLT fire is lit a little before the step to mash out, so it will be at temp for the sparge.  Once the brew kettle has enough wort to cover the bottom, that burner gets lit.  These steps cut some idle time from the brewday.

What is your ideal Sparge temp? On the stove top ive been steeping my grain at 155°F. Id assume a little higher is best for the HLT, maybe 170~° so while you are sparging the temp doesnt fluc to much from the HLT to the MLT.

[denny]

Thanks Denny for the info on the pump.

Also going to get the glass sights while im at it, a few more $s and a nice feature.

Just a thought.

Where do you tend to cool your wort? In the boil kettle? Id assume the HLT is empty seeing its the 1st step in the process, does anyone go from the boil kettle back to the HLT using their wort chiller. Would it not cool faster this way?

Any advice on the use of indoor burners, Im going to have a section of the house near the kitched for brewing. I see that most brew outside or in the garage, but there are some with indoor setups.

Thanks guys for the quick info, im sure I will have more questions as I go along and actually start the build.

Yes, you chill in the kettle.

Ray, I'm gonna spew a little heresy here....you're looking at building a complicated system and yet you're not sure what all the parts do or how to use them.  Just maybe you should step back and slow down a little.  How about going with a less complicated system (like my Cheap'n'Easy) while you learn the basics of AG brewing?  Then you'll get a feel for the process and also learn more about what you really need and how to use and configure it once you're ready to step things up.  You can use a lot of the stuff (kettles, pumps, etc.) from a basic system when you go to a more "complicated" system so you really won't be losing anything.  Just this last weekend, I had a chance to brew on a pretty much automated 20 gal. Morebeer system.  By the time the day was over I was wondering why I'd ever want to change from my cooler system!  I'm not saying that everyone would feel that way, but keep in mind that there's more to brewing than the equipment you use.

[tschmidlin]

I agree with Denny, it's not a bad idea to build a cheap system and use it a few times to figure out what you really want and need.  Everything from Denny's system can be reused in the new system, and the cooler can be used as a cooler again.

But if you're moving forward, it sounds like you plan to use propane burners indoors, near your kitchen?  The reason most people brew in the garage or outside is because propane burners can produce a lot of carbon monoxide and you want to have good ventilation.  People who brew inside generally use natural gas or electricity.  So my advice on indoor burners is don't use propane or install a high flow ventilation hood.

[denny]

But if you're moving forward, it sounds like you plan to use propane burners indoors, near your kitchen?  The reason most people brew in the garage or outside is because propane burners can produce a lot of carbon monoxide and you want to have good ventilation.  People who brew inside generally use natural gas or electricity.  So my advice on indoor burners is don't use propane or install a high flow ventilation hood.

I've even heard of people's insurance policies being cancelled when it was discovered they used propane indoors.

[tschmidlin]

You could just keep a canary nearby, and when it dies you open a window.

[denny]

You could just keep a canary nearby, and when it dies you open a window.

Assuming you can still make it to the window!

[richardt]

Denny beat me to it; but I second his sentiments.

For someone with no AG experience, there's much to be learned about all-grain brewing, e.g., recipes, grain varieties, mash schedules, pH and temps, water chemistry.  So I'm kindly suggesting you do a few group brew days with a bunch of homebrewers first if you haven't done so already.  It gives you a chance to see all types of systems (and they all work, albiet some better than others).

After watching several veteran homebrewers, I realized that bigger, electro-mechanical brewing systems with pumps, fittings, and hoses were not necessary (or even efficient) for producing great beers.  My advice:  "simple is better."  

It has already been said elsewhere on this forum that people are not impressed as much, or at all, by shiny equipment or complicated processes producing bland, harsh, astringent, flawed beers as they are by great tasting beers (that were produced on humble converted coolers and boil kettles sitting atop banjo burners) by brewers who knew what they were doing.

[maxieboy]

+1 on Denny's advice. Get 2 kettles set up, build a cooler MT, and go with a single infusion, gravity setup. It's how I started and will probably stick with for a long time. Once you get a handle on the process and are brewing great beer, plan for the fancy rig. I like gadgets and toys as much as the next guy but I also am a huge fan of KISS. Obviously, YMMV. Good luck!