50L Brewing System Build

[Kyle_T]

Good morning fellow brewers!

A friend and I have agreed to pool our resources and 'set up shop' in his garage with a permanent 2 tier, 50 litre brewing system, part gravity fed and part pump driven. This will require buying new equipment as my mash tun of 55 litres has had it and the addition of a new 50 litre boiler.

The general idea behind the venture is to enable us to buy grain in bulk and brew regularly without having to set up and take down for each brew day. However this has raised a few questions we need some advising on, the agreed system we have worked out is:

HLT - 50L, Hop Strainer, 15mm Ball Valve, 1 x 2.3Kw Element, Male Hosebarb.

MT - 38.5L Thermopot, False Bottom, 15mm Ball Valve, Insulated, 90 Deg Compression Elbow and Male Hosebarb.

BLR - 50L, Hop Strainer, 15mm Ball Valve, 1 x 2.3Kw Element, 90 Deg Compression Elbow and Male Hosebarb.

10L Wort Transfer Bucket (Collects run off), 15mm Bulkhead Fitting and Female Hosebarb.

1 x 12V Solar Pump with 2 x Female Hosebarbs.
1 x Rotating Sparge Arm.
1 x Copper Coil Immersion Wort Chiller.
1 x STC-1000 Temperature Control Unit and Temperature Probe.

FV 1 & 2 - 2 x 25L Fermenting Bucket.
CDN FV - 2 x 25L Wine Fermenter, Bung, 2 Piece Airlock, Drum Tap.
BTL FV - 2 x 25L Fermenting Bucket, Bottle Tap + Stick.

Question number 1: What is the best way to power the Solar Pump if flow rate is not an issue, does it have connectors or just stripped cable at the end?

Question number 2: Is it worth buying a rotating sparge arm or build your own sparging device?

I have read a lot about the sparge arms and the opinion seems very divided, some say its excellent but others say there is an issue with it not working at all if the flow rate is too low. I have been doing the old litre jug and tin foil job but we are planning to do double brew days and would like to reduce the labour slightly so we can have an extra cup of tea.

And last question: Will the bulkhead fitting from The Malt Miller be usable on a small 10L converted fermenting bucket or is it for SS vessels only, if so what would be best to use?

Any and all advice is welcome as we are looking at buying all the needed parts by the end of next month at the latest. Also if you know anything we should be aware of please feel free to shout it out.

Many Thanks

Kyle

 

[Dads_Ale]

With reference to the rotating sparge arm, I have used one for a while now and find they are very good although you will find they slow down as the head of water decreases and as said they will stop if the flow gets very low.

I have always found I have used enough sparge water by the time it stops.
Counteract this by having the HLT as high as possible if using gravity and with plenty of sparge water..

 

[Kyle_T]

That's useful to know, I was planning to fill the HLT nearly to the brim as I have worked out all my dip heights and volumes in relation to that, then I can drain off my mash liquor, refill, drain off my sparge liquor, refill and repeat the process that way as there should be ample time to reheat the water between mashes, the volume in theory should never be below 12 - 15L.

We are only doing 23L brew lengths, just twice in one day. Will that be enough to keep the sparge arm spinning?

 

[Dads_Ale]

It should be. I put about 23 litres in my HLT for sparging and there is a couple of litres left because my tap is raised up a bit. I find this enough for a 27 litre final volume.

 

[Kyle_T]

Fortunately for me I can fit around 48L in my boiler with a little room to spare, should be more than enough to use the sparge arm without problems, every time I drain a bit off just fill it up and reheat. Will have to look at some form of recirculating later on.

 

[DethApostle]

Not sure of the need to put a Hop Strainer on the HLT as it'll only have water in it? Wouldn't do any harm but looks a bit excessive if you're concerned on costs mounting up!

Also if you are ordering from homebrewbuilder I think he does a bottom draining MashTun. may only be 50l actually... but at least that would give you plenty of space for a big ABV beer. (or a double brew sized mash)

DA

 

[Jabo1428]

I've got two pumps in my system: one from HLT to MT and one from MT to boiler (single tier system). I bought a couple of cheap transformers off ebay, cut the adapter off the end of the cable, stripped the wire and soldered the wires to the stripped ends of the pump wires. Been going for a couple of years now with no problems. I also bought a couple of in-line rocker switches and passed the cable through them from the transformer to the pump, but that's simply to make access to switching them on and off easier.
As for the sparge arm, I've never used a rotating arm. Instead I drilled holes in some copper pipe and soldered the pipe to make a frame which is suspended above the mash. I pump water through this from the HLT and it sort of dribbles all over the mash and filters through it.
Design your system based on your budget and practical skill level.

 

[Nickbo]

Hi kyle. Yes as post above the pumps come with bare wires which you can connect using a terminal block. I have two of those pumps (the little brown ones), and they work well. If they stop working it seems often to be that they are glued up. They are completely submersible so you can just soak them and they free up no worries. Its only happened once to me and i think that was due to not pumping enough hot water / cleaner through it after using it. Good luck with your build.
Www.whisperingcatbrewery.blogspot.com

 

[steveshep8676]

If your starting a fresh why not go into a HERMS system much more consistent results, hardly any sparging needed, clearer wort, cheaper to run, less space, they pretty much run themselves.