Upgrade of output on a shoestring?

[Francois]

Howdy folks. Looking for advice from people with more experience/better setups than me :smile:

This is my current setup, about as spartan as can be, mash tun knocked together out of 2 wilkos ferm bins, some insulation and a ball valve... and boiler is a standard peco bin with a big element in the bottom. does 5g batches nicely, spargeing the mash is easily done with a couple of maslin pans heated on the stove, fine. Pretty decent results in fact!

My question is... how can I up the output? I'm strapped for time to say the least, so if I DO get the chance to have a brew day, I need to make those four hours count. So, with that in mind, Rob at the malt miller is seemingly bashing these keggles out for £100 at the moment...

http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=2461

So basically I was thinking that I could fill two FV's rather than one, by making the peco bin my HLT for spargeing (gives my maslin jam pan a rest :lol:) mash tun stays in place (though the 23l capacity may be an issue) and the keggle will be my new boiler.... boom, two brews for the price of one!

Will it work though? And aside from getting a calor gas burner or similar for the keggle, what other outlay am I looking at? I figured a "tower" system might work (can fill the hlt with a hose, stir mash with a small ladder, keggle raised enough to use gravity to run off into FV's.)

...Suppose it's either that or invest in pumps, but food grade ones are very expensive from what I've seen...

Apologies for lengthy post, any help is appreciated. Is it worth it?

 

[Leon103]

Yes it will work if your mash tun can cope with more grain. Your brew day may be extended though. Longer to get to the boil etc. Plus bottling will be longer. I am sure I have seen SS pots that size for cheaper. Perhaps even on malt miller.

 

[aamcle]

Biab can do 10 gal but you would need a cheap pulley rig to help you lift the bag the cost would be low or a gravity fed 3V system. The only real advantage of 3V is it's ability to do larger batches and you could build in plastic to keep the cost down and there are no pumps on a gravity system.

There is also a Biab variant www.biabrewer.info/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2049 that might be what you want.


Good Luck, aamcle

 

[Dutto]

My "bottle-neck" is never at the Mash or Boil stages.

However, I do run into problems at the Ferment and Carbonate stages.

The time required to Mash and Boil a brew fades into insignificance when compared to the four weeks needed to ferment and carbonate it.

At the moment I use a Heating Pad to ferment the wort in a jacketed FV and the Brew Fridge to carbonate the beer. This means that I can brew 23 litres every two weeks throughout the year; which is just enough for me! :thumb:

To increase my output I would have to purchase more gear; but none of it would be to increase my output at the Mash and Boil stage!

 

[aamcle]

Ferment and Carbonate stages

That's what slows me down as well, I'm cold crashing a Federation Special it will be Thursday possibly even Monday before I move it on.
Usually I carbonate in the Fermentation Fridge a week at a constant 22°C does the job, but as I'm trying to build up some stock I'd like to brew again next week.
I'll have to bring the bottles and a 1/2 size PB in to the house, I prefer not to as I worry about leaks and but I do have one of those large under-bed plastic storage boxes and I'll stack them in it.

aamcle