The MaltMother™

A forum to discuss one pot automated brewing systems.
dbambrick996
Piss Artist
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:56 pm

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by dbambrick996 » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:32 am

cerbera84 wrote:
dbambrick996 wrote:
Sun Oct 01, 2017 11:45 am
Where dld you get the stainless legs for your malt pipe?
Hi - check out https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/162626023290 - i took the rubber ends off
Thank you, looks good

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:44 pm

2nd round of testing for the MaltMother last night:

ImageScreenshot_2017-09-30-19-40-26 by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

Highlights:
Got 23 litres into fermenter at 1.042 = I've reached the dizzy heights of 62.5% efficiency!
Pump working again
Mesh false bottom worked well
Clear runoff to fermenter with no whirlpool

In an attempt to raise efficiency, I stirred the mash halfway through, raised to mashout temps and cold sparged 5 litres. I recall reading that a hot sparge may raise efficiency?

Overall, very happy with how well the MaltMother works so far. Does anyone have any suggestions for raising its efficiency higher?

Cheers,

Ben
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

dbambrick996
Piss Artist
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:56 pm

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by dbambrick996 » Wed Oct 04, 2017 2:42 pm

Hi Ben

The obvious things to look at are grain crush size and doing a sparge.

I built a very similar system and get 75% efficiency with a sparge or 70% full batch. I recently started to crush my own grain, so I am playing around with crush size at the moment


cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:33 pm

dbambrick996 wrote:
Wed Oct 04, 2017 2:42 pm
Hi Ben

The obvious things to look at are grain crush size and doing a sparge.

I built a very similar system and get 75% efficiency with a sparge or 70% full batch. I recently started to crush my own grain, so I am playing around with crush size at the moment
Cheers Darren - yes, I do buy malt pre-crushed at the moment, so that will be a factor. I did a cold sparge of 5 litres on the last brew, I think I may try a 75 degrees or so sparge on the next brew and see if that raises the efficiency any higher. The wort didn't rise and enter the overflow at any point so the drainage is sufficient through the false bottom. Got a few brews lined up for the next few weeks so time will tell.
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

dbambrick996
Piss Artist
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:56 pm

The MaltMother™

Post by dbambrick996 » Thu Oct 05, 2017 12:20 pm

If you are able to step mash try a mash out at 75 for 10 minutes , then sparge at 75 to. 80 degrees, this is my normal routine. Wouldn’t worry about it too much, grain is cheap, time isn’t

Fil
Telling imaginary friend stories
Posts: 5229
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 1:49 pm
Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by Fil » Fri Oct 06, 2017 6:25 pm

+1 dont let a 'low' BHE dominate your brew thoughts when its simply rectified with a lil more base malt in the mash.
Also its a New setup your brewing with. it has taken me a few brews to get 'back to normal' when i have made significant alterations to the brewday procedure and equipment.
ist update for months n months..
Fermnting: not a lot..
Conditioning: nowt
Maturing: Challenger smash, and a kit lager
Drinking: dry one minikeg left in the store
Coming Soon Lots planned for the near future nowt for the immediate :(

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Sat Oct 21, 2017 8:24 pm

Third round of testing

Coffee Oatmeal Stout

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

Brewday went well, 4.5 hours start til finish (including heating strike water). The mash needed a good stir a few times to keep the flow going, but not a major issue. Might be due to the oats? Haven't had this problem before. Used my no-chill cube for the first time, I'm not sure whether I'm supposed to squeeze out the air - the cube is pretty hot with wort so I didn't want to be heavyhanded with it. Might even ferment in it, but it might be a struggle to clean afterwards. Its currently outside chilling. I'm in the process of making a CFC so no-chill looks to be a temporary thing.

Recipe is a bit of a mash up of Mikkeller (without the crazy IBUs) and a few other recipes online. Planning to add the coffee after 4/5 days fermenting. End volume checked - 23 litres @ 1.060, which is 65% efficiency.

Cheers,

Ben
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

User avatar
floydmeddler
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4160
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
Location: Irish man living in Brighton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by floydmeddler » Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:09 pm

Fantastic build. I'm planning on something similar.

I love your recirculation set up. What fittings did you use to spray the wort out like that?

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:37 pm

floydmeddler wrote:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:09 pm
Fantastic build. I'm planning on something similar.

I love your recirculation set up. What fittings did you use to spray the wort out like that?
cheers - i used https://www.bes.co.uk/1-2in-flanged-plug-with-undercut and drilled six holes in the undercut section - costs just over £1
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

User avatar
orlando
So far gone I'm on the way back again!
Posts: 7197
Joined: Thu Nov 17, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: North Norfolk: Nearest breweries All Day Brewery, Salle. Panther, Reepham. Yetman's, Holt

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by orlando » Wed Oct 25, 2017 7:47 am

cerbera84 wrote:
Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:33 pm
yes, I do buy malt pre-crushed at the moment, so that will be a factor. I did a cold sparge of 5 litres on the last brew, I think I may try a 75 degrees or so sparge on the next brew and see if that raises the efficiency any higher. The wort didn't rise and enter the overflow at any point so the drainage is sufficient through the false bottom. Got a few brews lined up for the next few weeks so time will tell.
The Malt Miller crushes grain to order so it might be worth asking for a finer crush to see if this helps. The problem that might arise is a greater possibility of a stuck mash. In my view efficiency is not really worth chasing, getting the process to produce predictable results is more important.
I am "The Little Red Brooster"

Fermenting:
Conditioning:
Drinking: Southwold Again,

Up Next: John Barleycorn (Barley Wine)
Planning: Winter drinking Beer

User avatar
floydmeddler
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4160
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:37 pm
Location: Irish man living in Brighton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by floydmeddler » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:41 am

cerbera84 wrote:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:37 pm
floydmeddler wrote:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:09 pm
Fantastic build. I'm planning on something similar.

I love your recirculation set up. What fittings did you use to spray the wort out like that?
cheers - i used https://www.bes.co.uk/1-2in-flanged-plug-with-undercut and drilled six holes in the undercut section - costs just over £1
Genius!! Thanks

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Thu Nov 02, 2017 9:38 pm

Coffee Oatmeal Stout hit 1.010, 50g of ground coffee cold steeped in 500ml boiled then cooled water, for 6 hours in fridge. Added to fermenter, kegged 48hours later. Tastes great already!
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:40 am

Hi guys,

First brew of 2018 on the MaltMother on Friday night:

6kg pale malt
0.25kg torrefied wheat
Cascade 60g 60mins
Cascade 30g 15mins and copper finings
Cascade 30g + Centennial 30g 5mins
Cascade 80g + Centennial 20g 0mins (30min steep)

I've upgraded the system a little bit, I've put a tank connector in as a bottom drain and added some 15mm copper connected to a Grainfather pump filter. I've also replaced the external pipework on the system and added a new recirculation arm. I hit 70% efficiency on this brew. Ended up with 23 litres at 1.060 so added 4.5 litres of water to bring it down to around 1.050.

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Ben, on Flickr

I'm planning another system build with my 50L Thermopot and my 120L stainless steel hot water cylinder - considering making a BrewEasy type system and might increase my brews to 50/60L batch sizes.

Cheers,

Ben
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

Haydnexport
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 637
Joined: Tue Jan 06, 2015 2:12 pm

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by Haydnexport » Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:00 pm

looks a smart setup, how did that filter cope with all them hops?

cerbera84
Piss Artist
Posts: 262
Joined: Thu May 01, 2014 8:06 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: The MaltMother™

Post by cerbera84 » Sun Mar 25, 2018 7:34 pm

Haydnexport wrote:
Sun Mar 25, 2018 12:00 pm
looks a smart setup, how did that filter cope with all them hops?
Terribly! :lol: I mean, I did throw 250g of pellet hops at it, and most filters would struggle with that. I tried to give it a scrape and that helped a tad. I think it might be time to switch to leaf hops...
Planning: BrewEasy system build; possibly a Wychwood Hobgoblin Gold clone
Fermenting: Simcoe SMASH
Drinking: Cascade Centennial Pale

Post Reply