Klarstein mash kettle grain basket?

[MrSarge]

Hi all, done a couple of brews so far and im noticing quite a bit of difference between the temp on the display and the actual temp of the grain bed while mashing. Recirculation while mashing will help but because the grain basket has solid sides im finding it overflows into the kettle while trying to brew with large grain bills... i was wondering if anyone knows where i could pick up a mesh basket like the clawhammer supply setup??

 

[Mugatu78]

Hi. Im a beginner but i have the klarstein aswell and hv same issue, mines doesnt habe recirc but i was going to add it diy i kist assumed if you slowed the flow down it wdnt overflow. At the moment i jist loft my basket up and down a few times while mashing in and seems to help i use a digital saltzer thermometer and just go with temp in basket. Once its right it does keep the temp for the duration of the mash. Hope that helps somehow. Oh ive seen the mesh ones on ebay but didnt check the sizes out you could measure a d have a look at ebay

 

[Mugatu78]

Just be careful when lifting it up and down as it can over flow also and spill your grain down into the kettle

 

[crowcrow]

I've found that wrapping the outside of the kettle in a couple of thick towel, during the mash and also boil, helps it keep and hold a temp much better. The heater barely came on twice during my last mash.

This is during the post mash sparge as the water was heating to boil. Just two thick towels with pegs - could make something better but this works well for now.

I know a chap here uses a nylon bag to hold the grain, klarstein sell one.

 

[crowcrow]

Got a feeling one of these my cost more than the klarstein but worth asking them? https://www.inoxia.co.uk/products/mesh/fabrication/round-mesh-basket

https://m.alibaba.com/product/60527501600/13-x-10-9-3-4.html alt from China?

 

[crowcrow]

This is the bag that I believe @Rodcx500z uses to mash in, I imagine sticking your recirculation pipe the the middle of this would work well and would not have any issues with volume of through put. https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...ccessory-Filter-Insert-28-cm-200-m-Nylon.html

 

[MrSarge]

I like the look of those mesh baskets. Will need to pop them a message and see what the price would be. Im wary of using a bag in the kettle incase it scorches on the bottom.. although i suppose sone kind of standoff would make it work

 

[Rodcx500z]

This is the bag that I believe @Rodcx500z uses to mash in, I imagine sticking your recirculation pipe the the middle of this would work well and would not have any issues with volume of through put. https://www.klarstein.co.uk/Home-ap...ccessory-Filter-Insert-28-cm-200-m-Nylon.html

Yeah that's the one it works really well, never tried it with a pump but I may in the futher

 

[crowcrow]

Yeah that's the one it works really well, never tried it with a pump but I may in the futher

Do you find you need to keep it away from the bottom to prevent scorching?

 

[Rodcx500z]

Do you find you need to keep it away from the bottom to prevent scorching?

There is a false bottom that comes with the kettle the bag sits on that so no probs with scorching, its a cracking little kettle well worth the money when its on special offer,

 

[Keats]

Has anyone seen this bag at a cheaper price? £25 is around a quarter of what I paid for my whole system including the bag.

 

[AdeDunn]

If you are getting overflow, 1 of 2 things (or both) is probably happening: 1) you're getting a stuck mash, try adding some oat husks/rice hulls (4% usually, rinse well) to improve circulation through the grain bed, 2) you're trying to run with the re-circ valve fully open, try slowing it down a bit as you don't need to. Also, check you're not putting more grain in than the machine is rated for, they do have a maximum that they can cope with.

Oh, and check the sparge plate if you're using it, they're prone to clogging up. Thanks in part to the massive holes in the bottom of the grain basket on Klarsteins.... I've taken to milling my own grain, then given it time to settle after doughing in before I turn on the re-circulation, so it doesn't suck all the small stuff down before the husks have a chance to form a filter bed. When I don't do this, my sparge plate clogs constantly, and if I don't use it and run re-circ directly into the basket, the grain bed never settles.

Finally, you are removing the plug from the overflow pipe after you've doughed in? As the only time it should be able to overflow the sides is if you leave this in, otherwise it should just overflow down the overflow pipe if you get a stuck mash etc. I mean, once you get the hang of not getting a stuck mash, how fast to run recirc you don't need the overflow pipe so much, but before that, ending up with the sides overflowing, and the pump sucking air from under the basket and elements heating a dry bottom isn't so good.

Oh, and the baskets in brewers are designed the way they are for a reason, so that the liquid goes all the way through the grain. If you put an open sided basket in there, it'll take the route of least resistance and go straight out the sides, skipping most if not all of the grain. When you use a BIAB bag in a DIY setup, it presses against the sides of the boiler, so most goes down and out through the bottom as that's the route of least resistance, my last bag actually had a more open bottom than sides too. I'm not convinced that pumped re-circulation would be overly useful with a totally open basket like that, as it would just go in the top and out the sides.

I started out with an ACE boiler by the way, which was identical to a Klarstein Fullhorn kettle, but came with the bag included. I modified it with a recirc pump system. I then moved on to a DIY eBIAB rig that I built myself. I'm now learning to use a Klarstein Brauheld Pro. It's thanks to the Brauheld I know about turning the recirc down with the valve at the top, about the sparge plate been prone to clogging and the big holes in the grain basket letting particles through, especially if you use pre-crushed malt.