Anyone wash out their HLT?

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patwestlake
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Location: Penarth, South Wales

Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by patwestlake » Sun Jul 23, 2017 11:32 pm

Recently (5 brews) started using a 3v set-up, so now have some reasonable washing up to do at the end of a brew day. One aspect never mentioned (should I know something?) is what folk do with their HLT? Plenty of pictures of set-ups show the HLT at some ungodly high point in the system (curse you up-and-over garage door!) with little hope of it ever coming down again... My HLT is a side take off and leaves a 1-2 litre heal. No issues during the brew, but afterwards I have to unplug, de-thermocouple and tip out, at which point I give it a rinse. Last time I forgot/delayed this, I was greeted with a nice musty smell that brought out the Bruclens and a (no-abrasive) scourer!

Any thoughts?

Pat
FV : #99 Highway to Helles (Munich Helles)
Next up - #100 Farmhouse in Your Soul (Saison)

Drinking :
#98 Bells Light Hearted (3.9% IPA)
#97 Decadence 64 (Mosaic IPA)
#96 Wicked Weasel (Fursty Ferret Clone)
#95 Penarth Gold (Loweswater Gold Clone)
#94 Cheeseburger Cavalry (US IPA)

Fil
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Location: Cowley, Oxford

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by Fil » Mon Jul 24, 2017 2:42 am

Yuk!! i guess something fell in n drowned ?? fwiw i have a large pile of old once white now grey towels in the brewshed, (enough to absorb 100l in the case of the worst spill possible). No floor drain ... Reason i mention it is throwing a couple of old towels in there and pulling out the water with them could be a bit of a time /back saver?

chuck a couple of bath sheets in there rinse out the tun, pull the bath sheets out and chuck in another to soak up the residual, sort out the kettle and retrieve the last towel, hang em up to dry, and have a well deserved pint perhaps?
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 :(

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Hogarth
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Location: Brixton, London

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by Hogarth » Mon Jul 24, 2017 2:46 pm

I just leave the ullage in for next time. It's not ideal to have dechlorinated water sitting around in a tank for weeks, but whenever I've tasted it it's been okay.

One day I'll change it for a conical HLT which drains every last drop. One day.

chefgage
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Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by chefgage » Mon Jul 24, 2017 3:54 pm

I used to wash mine with hot soapy water then rinse and dry. Then before use i would wash again and sanitise. I did all this because i was paranoid about infections. Now the hlt is lucky if i even give it a dust over :mrgreen:

I would do as suggested. Drain off then use a couple of towels, ring them out and keep doing this untill all the water is out then use kitchen roll to dry it off. Put somesort of lid on just cracked open untill the hlt is fully dry then fully put the lid on.

Or just brew every day, that way the hlt never needs to be emptied and dryed :lol:

patwestlake
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Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2015 1:23 pm
Location: Penarth, South Wales

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by patwestlake » Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:32 pm

Cheers all - right in line with what I suspected - that the HLT is the poor relation in the world of shiny = sexy! I think the mop out with towels I'll be my preferred method until I can put a bottom drain on it.

Regards, Pat
FV : #99 Highway to Helles (Munich Helles)
Next up - #100 Farmhouse in Your Soul (Saison)

Drinking :
#98 Bells Light Hearted (3.9% IPA)
#97 Decadence 64 (Mosaic IPA)
#96 Wicked Weasel (Fursty Ferret Clone)
#95 Penarth Gold (Loweswater Gold Clone)
#94 Cheeseburger Cavalry (US IPA)

guypettigrew
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Location: Christchurch, Dorset

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by guypettigrew » Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:47 am

With mine I just tip out the excess water then use paper towels to dry it completely. Then I spend some time polishing the outside so it stays looking shiny!

Guy

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Hogarth
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Location: Brixton, London

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by Hogarth » Tue Jul 25, 2017 2:50 pm

patwestlake wrote:Cheers all - right in line with what I suspected - that the HLT is the poor relation in the world of shiny = sexy! I think the mop out with towels I'll be my preferred method until I can put a bottom drain on it.

Regards, Pat
Bottom drains aren't necessarily all that good at emptying the HLT. I have one, and it still leaves a litre of water in there, even though it's only as high as its backnut.

bobsbeer

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by bobsbeer » Wed Jul 26, 2017 9:29 pm

I always dain mine and wipe out with a sponge. Never washed it as it has never had anything other than water and a bit of campden in there. I will occasionally bring it up to the boil and use the hot water to circulate around my system, but that isn't done very often.

republicofbeer

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by republicofbeer » Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:21 pm

I have a water hover that I use to get the last bit out. Works a treat. I agree with previous post that bottom drains aren't great. The bases on my pots are very thick so putting a bottom drain in would be painful as a q cutter wouldn't do it.


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HairyJamie
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Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by HairyJamie » Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:50 am

Interesting, what Hoover are you using?


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republicofbeer

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by republicofbeer » Fri Jul 28, 2017 4:17 pm

HairyJamie wrote:Interesting, what Hoover are you using?


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Just this one from Screwfix

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb350v ... 240v/36516


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HairyJamie
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Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by HairyJamie » Fri Jul 28, 2017 6:59 pm

And here was me thinking I didn't need anything else since buying my new HERMS set up last week ... :)

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republicofbeer

Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by republicofbeer » Sat Jul 29, 2017 8:05 am

HairyJamie wrote:And here was me thinking I didn't need anything else since buying my new HERMS set up last week ... :)

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Unfortunately I keep thinking I need nothing else but before I know it I'm buying something else. All in my question to keep improving wgat I brew and make it more straightforward on brew day. Talking of brew day, best go get the HLT turned on.....


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HairyJamie
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Re: Anyone wash out their HLT?

Post by HairyJamie » Sat Jul 29, 2017 11:32 am

I'm almost half way there on my attempt at the totally tropical pale from James Morton's book, 134g steep hops!

Image

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