My first AG - a problem with volumes.....

[hambrook]

Following up from my first thread; my solutions to the lessons learned from my first AG brew:

The fiddly, stupid fly spare arm that would not spin; well putting a bit of 15mm copper a stabilising sleeve; and supporting it (not the final solution) and adding the pump made this work very well. BTW what do you use as a variable pump speed control?

My solution to connecting the whirlpool recirculation pump using only copper and Speedfit fittings. JG Speedfit are rated at 95 degrees maximum so I would run the immersion chiller for a minute before kicking off the pump.

Stainless steel rule which I have filled with 40 litres at a rate of 1 litre at a time:
Wort Boiler with Bazooka Hop Filter
Litres mm
1 11
2 19
3 27
4 36
5 45
6 54
7 63
8 72
9 81
10 90
11 98
12 107
13 115
14 124
15 133
16 142
17 151
18 160
19 168
20 177
21 186
22 195
23 203
24 211
25 220
26 229
27 238
28 247
29 256
30 265
31 273
32 281
33 290
34 299
35 308
36 316
37 325
38 334
39 343
40 351

Also I have measured all the liquid below the tap in each vessel;
Capacity Losses Litres
HLT 1.75
Mash Tun 2.3
Wort Boiler 1.75
TOTAL 5.8

[Rick_UK]

Thats a lot of lost wort!

I don't tolerate any losses to deadspace as I just tilt the boiler or MT until it's all out - usually via a used hop bag or fine sieve from boiler to FV to catch the worst of the break material - break material in the FV isn't an issue though as it will drop out through fermentation, it also helps yeast growth by providing a greater surface area.

Don't get too hung up on exact volumes and measurements other than mash and fermentation temps. Brewing is more of an art than a science - experience, common sense and knowing your equipment count for a lot more than highly scientific measurements. Brewing software definitely helps once you know your efficiencies and other variables. Try the Brewers Friend free app which has lots of good calculators for various parts of the brewing process.

Rick

[hambrook]

Thats a lot of lost wort!

I don't tolerate any losses to deadspace as I just tilt the boiler or MT until it's all out - usually via a used hop bag or fine sieve from boiler to FV to catch the worst of the break material - break material in the FV isn't an issue though as it will drop out through fermentation, it also helps yeast growth by providing a greater surface area.

Don't get too hung up on exact volumes and measurements other than mash and fermentation temps. Brewing is more of an art than a science - experience, common sense and knowing your equipment count for a lot more than highly scientific measurements. Brewing software definitely helps once you know your efficiencies and other variables. Try the Brewers Friend free app which has lots of good calculators for various parts of the brewing process.

Rick

Better results today; managed to start with 40 litres end up with 24L. Tipped the Mash Tun but due to the female to female extension and hop filter in the Boiler you can't completely drain them.

Due to stupid fly sparge arm falling into the grain bed half a dozen times and giving up did not get as good efficiency so 1044 OG vs 1050 OG expected. But all seems happy in the FV. Also got the process down to 5 hours! could easily get 30 mins off that with batch sparging!

[Fil]

all coming together


Im confused by the volume/mm list you posted, it seems a litre can vary between 5-9mm of depth, If your kettle is a cylinder somethings wrong??

do what u can to minimise deadspace, the usual trick is employing the siphon effect with an internal dip tube leading down from the side entry taps to hover a mm or so over the pot base, with a hose attached to the outlet dipping below the bot bottom and a lil tip forward at the end of the drain a minimal deadspace can be achieved in most pots.. fwiw my 100/80/100 system has a total deadspace of 100ml or so, the forward tip to get the last runnings is the trick

JG fittings a super, as we dont have anything like domestic water pressure in our pipes the worst that will happen is a lil weep if that at temps above what they are rated for,, But they are only designed for X number of connect/disconnect cycles 15-20 irrc. Fwiw i now use camlocks and they too have their features.. for example they pick up the heat of a mash or boil when used with hi temp liquid transfer needing an insulating rag to operate. - if u go camlock get em all from the same supplier the 'standard' they adhere to only specifies the pressure of the seal, so a 1/2" camlock in SS wont mate with a 1/2" camlock in PP and may not match one in SS from another supplier.. for servicable JG fittings look for the ones designed for SS tube these can be undone and the orings replaced easily.

dont forget the rests between batch sparges

[Rick_UK]

Batch sparging is by far the better option if you have capacity in your MT.

I only fly sparge when I'm doing a double brew length (50l) and just trickle the sparge water into to MT (via a length of silicone tubing) with a perforated foil plate protecting the grain bed but keeping the water level about an inch above the grain bed.

Using either method I always get at least 85% efficiency. I usually heat the sparge water to between 85 and 90'C.

Rick