AG#2

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bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Sun Oct 24, 2010 6:40 pm

Seems that no matter how much I recirculate, I just cant get clear runnings.
Image

I forgot to take any more pics but it all went without a hitch. I hit target, volume and target SG. Smells lovely!

Anyone got a good method for cleaning elements and removing the baked on wort?

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pas8280
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Re: AG#2

Post by pas8280 » Sun Oct 24, 2010 7:03 pm

All looking good there Dave cant help you with the element cleaning, but just wondering about your recirculating issue i batch sparge but recirculate the first 3l or so via jug poured back into the mashtun so that i dont disturb the grain bed i have a plastic plate with hundreds of 2mm holes drilled in this floats on the liqour and i slowly pour the recirculated wort over it so that the grain bed doesnt get moved, i also run off relativly slowly at the start to build up the bed layer.
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bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Sun Oct 24, 2010 7:23 pm

I use a sheet of tin foil with lots of holes poked in it. I tried recirculating slowly and after about 6 ltrs it was better than when Id started but still not great. Im sure I'll et the hang of it one day...

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Gricey
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Re: AG#2

Post by Gricey » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:29 pm

Non-clear runoff might be down to the wheat Dave.

For cleaning my elements when wort gets caked, I use those scourers that look like metal but are actually plastic (for cleaning non-stick), takes some serious elbow grease but get there eventually. I soak them in VWP as well once I'm done.
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bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Mon Oct 25, 2010 9:05 am

This may well be another floor in my boiler design. but I cant get to the elements to scrub them... Would a soak over night in diluted citric acid be any good? What about that descaling stuff you can get for kettles?

JammyBStard

Re: AG#2

Post by JammyBStard » Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:50 pm

Hi dave
Whats the mashtun design your using, is it the maifold or false bottom? last time I brewed I recirculated pretty much all of the sparge water back into my small HLT let all the grain sink, heated the sparge water upto sparge temperature and ran it through it back through raising the grain bed temp slowly up to 75 constantly recirculating back to the HLT untill the grain bed was upto temperature and then started to let it drain into the boiler. I think this is a perfectly good way of doing it and it was running very clear by the time I let it go into the boiler; It was all going great untill the HLT element burnt-out anyway then it became the usual mess sprinting to the kettle and back!

Cleaning elements: I find a good soak in one of the oxi cleaners knocks a fair bit of the dirt off (i've been using "Chemipro Oxi" pricey but good)

bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Mon Oct 25, 2010 4:11 pm

Im using a manifold grain filter. Unfortunately My HLT and my boiler are one in the same which is slowing me down drastically but SWMBO would kill me if I spent any more on equipment.

Im hoping that Gricey is right and its the wheat that's preventing the wort running clear. I'll have to do a brew without wheat to see if I thats the case.

bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:22 pm

On a side note, this brewday has allowed me to iron out the shortfall in collected wort. I upped the evap loss to 16% and it seems to have hit spot on.

JammyBStard

Re: AG#2

Post by JammyBStard » Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:30 pm

Does the manifold cover most of the bottom of the tun? and are the slots cut thin? I was listeneing to Jon Palmer (of "How to Brew" fame) talking on the Brewing Network radio the other day.
He's talking about his experiments with fishtanks and purple dye trying to work out what was the best mash tun design. With manifolds, unless the slots cut are as uniform accross as much of the bottom of the tun as possible, water finds the easiest path into the maifold so if you have one accidently large slot cut in the manifold the bulk of the wort can end up channeling through one hole at speed missing good sugars and pulling the grain through with it. I have this problem I think, I'm thinking of a new mash tun design at the moment.

HLT: you need to learn to hide things better! My HLT is (or was) a little old 10L FV with a Tesco kettle element and a youngs plastic tap, very cheap but it makes life a lot easier when you need 10 liters of boiling water quick.
Last edited by JammyBStard on Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:34 pm

My grain filter has a row of holes drilled along the bottom except for 1 slit (I started cutting and decided drilling would be quicker).

bigdave

Re: AG#2

Post by bigdave » Mon Oct 25, 2010 7:50 pm

24 hours and it's bursting the lid off! Just hope it doesn't blow over night!
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