The whole shebang.
The Mash Tun. I'm running a stainless steel braid in this 10 gallon cooler. Depending on performance I may construct a copper manifold at a later date, but for now this method is cost effective and should still yield reasonable efficiency since I batch sparge. This is where the grains are "mashed" to produce the sweet, highly fermentable nectar of the beer gods that is called wort.
The Keggle. This baby took some time but turned out wonderfully. No pickup tube yet; I'm waiting to see how it will perform without. It is however equipped with a full port valve, sight glass, and thermometer. This vessel will hold the wort transferred from the mash tun through the boil on the 105,000 BTU Jet Burner.
The Immersion Chiller. Cool hose water will run through 25 ft of soft copper tubing immersed in boiling wort to quickly bring the heat down to yeast pitching temperatures (around 70° F). Once the wort is cooled it will be transferred to a primary fermenter, yeast will be pitched, and fermentation will commence.
I've seen much more intricate designs than my own, but the system and basic principles are essentially identical. I'll give a more thorough walk-through of the brewing process on my next brewday.
Cheers!
Awesome setup! I'm stuck between spending money on upgrading my dispensing/lagering system (Keezer) or my brew setup. I use a rectangular cooler with a steel braid (has lasted for over 20 brews). I have a 10 gallon cooler, but I'm thinking about making another one for big brews. I really do want the Keggle though. I have a shell that's of no use so I'll have to get on that.
ReplyDeleteI'm green with envy for you, buddy. I can only dream of a keezer at present, although I've planned one out in my head. What's your keezer setup? Also, what's your average brewhouse efficiency? I can't wait to do my test batch - a basic Persica Pale Ale. Regarding that 10 gal: you can always use it for an HLT post-conversion for a larger tun. Just a thought. As far as the keggle goes - DO IT. Especially since you've already got a shell to burn. I spent ~$75 on the conversion ($20 for the bulkhead, $30 on sightglass/thermo, and $25 on the 3" faced, 4" prong thermometer, all from bargainfittings.com). A big lump of cash to drop all at once, but the way I figure it I'll never have to spend money on it again less pickup tube. AND you have the benefit of choosing your own batch size up to roughly 12gal.
ReplyDelete