I would welcome some advice on possible upgrade path to my brewing setup.
It has been a steep learning curve during this first year all grain brewing, with selecting the appropriate equipment, panel build, programming PID controllers, getting my head around Beersmith and Brunwater software, and moving onto yeast slants.
In the dozen brews to date, I have been focusing on brewing technique, with small 20 pint batches.
My current set up is this:
A single 50L S/S vessel doubling up as hot water and liquor tank, a Colemans 33L cooler mash tun, and a STC 1000 controlling a fermentation fridge
Now I will never be a large scale brewer, I will only ever brew 40 pints at one brew.
Now that I have outlined my system and plans, I would appreciate your help on the following questions to help me decide the way forward.
1. With the existing set up, I have to manually jug water the measured amount (Beersmith value) from the boiler to the mash tun. This is no big deal as the quantities are not great. I also have to manually move a possible 40 pints into the 50L S/S vessel for boiling after measuring both quantities of liquor after batch sparging
What do the forum members do on their own smaller systems?
Do you have a pumped system? Is the sight glasses accurate enough when transferring liquid?
I usually only brew ale, and therefore no need for a stepped mash. That said, I feel that the general consensus that when using modified malt, it alleviates the need for a stepped mash unless you may be brewing a special lager or beer?
I am considering whether to upgrade to either a RIMS or HERMS system to maintain a constant mash temperature. The coolbox I have is OK but I wonder whether I could improve on this, albeit there is approx 2 degrees drop off over 90 mins.
What would your thoughts be on my efforts to improve my current system?
Would the benefits outweigh the expenditure and time for small brews?
A I best sticking with my current system and maybe upgrading to thermopot?
Look forward to your replies.
Best regards,
WM7793
It has been a steep learning curve during this first year all grain brewing, with selecting the appropriate equipment, panel build, programming PID controllers, getting my head around Beersmith and Brunwater software, and moving onto yeast slants.
In the dozen brews to date, I have been focusing on brewing technique, with small 20 pint batches.
My current set up is this:
A single 50L S/S vessel doubling up as hot water and liquor tank, a Colemans 33L cooler mash tun, and a STC 1000 controlling a fermentation fridge
Now I will never be a large scale brewer, I will only ever brew 40 pints at one brew.
Now that I have outlined my system and plans, I would appreciate your help on the following questions to help me decide the way forward.
1. With the existing set up, I have to manually jug water the measured amount (Beersmith value) from the boiler to the mash tun. This is no big deal as the quantities are not great. I also have to manually move a possible 40 pints into the 50L S/S vessel for boiling after measuring both quantities of liquor after batch sparging
What do the forum members do on their own smaller systems?
Do you have a pumped system? Is the sight glasses accurate enough when transferring liquid?
I usually only brew ale, and therefore no need for a stepped mash. That said, I feel that the general consensus that when using modified malt, it alleviates the need for a stepped mash unless you may be brewing a special lager or beer?
I am considering whether to upgrade to either a RIMS or HERMS system to maintain a constant mash temperature. The coolbox I have is OK but I wonder whether I could improve on this, albeit there is approx 2 degrees drop off over 90 mins.
What would your thoughts be on my efforts to improve my current system?
Would the benefits outweigh the expenditure and time for small brews?
A I best sticking with my current system and maybe upgrading to thermopot?
Look forward to your replies.
Best regards,
WM7793