Mash tun vs boiler...?

[Waylander87]

As always, I apologise if this is covered elsewhere, but there are 134 pages of "general brewing equipment discussion" and I am but one (confused) man.

Mash tun. Boiler. HLT. :hmm:

Is there a difference? If there is, what is it? What does HLT mean?

My basic understanding is that you boil/heat the grains, hops etc (called a mash) to release the sugars in the ingredients, ready for fermenting. Making a wort.

What does a mash tun do that a boiler doesn't do?

I've heard the term "sparge" thrown around a bit as well in relation to these mystical heating thingys. Whilst you're at it you could explain this too?

 

[PD]

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=493

 

[abeyptfc]

the mash tun is where you steep your grains, alot of us use coolboxes with a tap fitted.
the HLT stands for Hot Liquor Tank, basically where you heat up the extra water to 'sparge' or rinse the additional sugars after your grains have been steeped. alot of people, me included, just use their boiler as an HLT

hope that clears it up!

 

[marksa222]

the mash tun is where you steep your grains, alot of us use coolboxes with a tap fitted.
the HLT stands for Hot Liquor Tank, basically where you heat up the extra water to 'sparge' or rinse the additional sugars after your grains have been steeped. alot of people, me included, just use their boiler as an HLT

hope that clears it up!

When using your boiler as a HLT, what do you do with the wort you're draining out whilst sparging? Can that go in an fv or something until you've finished using your boiler as a HLT?

 

[LeithR]

Your HLT is used to get water up to around 72 Deg C so you can pour some of the liquor (say 3 Gallons) onto the grains to steep them and extract the sweetness from them this steeping process is carried out in the Mash Tun. When that operation is finished then another couple of gallons is slowly sprinkled over the grain bed to extract as much of the sweetness as possible from the grain, this operation is called sparging and various approaches are adopted to do this - one of which is the rotating sparge arm. At the end of sparging you can check your grain to see if there is any more sweetness to be extracted by taking a small amount into a saucer and putting a couple of drops of iodine onto the grain. If it changes colour then there is more sweetness to be extracted. You can do more sparging with water at around 65 - 68 Deg C to get this sweetness. Once sparging is finished then you need to boil the wart. You may be lucky to have 2 boilers one to act as the HLT and one to act as the boiler.

OR you can ignore all the above series of convoluted activities and go BIAB which is Brewing in a Bag. For this you need one boiler, all of your grain is in a thin viole bag sat in the water which you have brought up to around 72 Deg C, you the dunk your bag of grain and switch off the heat to your boiler while monitoring the brew's temperature for 90 mins. Once this operation is complete you can test your grain again in the same way with Iodine as above. If necessary you can leave the steeping process for longer if you desire. The brew just needs to be maintained at 66Deg C during this process. Once you are happy with this - remove the bag and boil the wart for 90 min or whatever the recipe calls for. Once that is complete you need - and this applies to both approaches - bring the temperature down as rapidly as you can. An Immersion cooler or a re-circulating cooler is the best approach to do this. I also have a couple of sanitized plastic 1 Litre milk bottles which have been 3/4 filled with water then frozen in the freezer - must be pre-planned as they take about 24 hrs to freeze, I drop these into the brew to help quickly cool it down.

Hope the above ramblings help adjust your understanding. there are so many approaches to brewing using slightly different equipment it takes time to get it sorted out in your head before taking the plunge.

I can only wish you the best of luck with whichever approach you decide to adopt. :thumb:

 

[abeyptfc]

the mash tun is where you steep your grains, alot of us use coolboxes with a tap fitted.
the HLT stands for Hot Liquor Tank, basically where you heat up the extra water to 'sparge' or rinse the additional sugars after your grains have been steeped. alot of people, me included, just use their boiler as an HLT

hope that clears it up!

When using your boiler as a HLT, what do you do with the wort you're draining out whilst sparging? Can that go in an fv or something until you've finished using your boiler as a HLT?

yeah keep it in the fermenter then after sparging put it into the boiler.

 

[Waylander87]

Thanks all.

Some good advice, and a cracking link to a "how to". Perfect.

So to dumb it down even further (because if my analogy is right I've likely I've understood it):
Mashtun is essentially a "teapot".
Sparging is rinsing the "tea leaves" to extract all the "flavour".
You take the resulting brew (wort) and then boil it. Boiling all the wort reduces it down, then you cool it to the yeasts working temp. From that point it's essentially the "kit" process of fermentation and bottling/kegging.

(This ignores addition of hops etc are different stages)

Do you HAVE to cool the wort rapidly? Or can you just let it cool to room temp over time? Obviously the second option greatly increases the duration of your brew day.

 

[Rolfster]

Slow cooling increases the risk of infection, and can make it more hazy.

A way round this seems to be to use plastic water carriers, that have been well sterilised. You push all the air out and leave them to cool (cool cubes or something). This reduces the risk of infection.

Not tried it though!

R

 

[Fil]

Biab or one pot brewing is a great way to start as your new equipment investment is in a 'boiler' and a grain bag.. :)
my first brew was a biab and while a procedural cock up produced a VERY quaffable beer :)


while 3 dedicated pots are perhaps the most convinient method and if you get a big a kick from ag as many you may find yourself investing in a full 3 pot setup, but many find biab a top notch solution... and the top of the range brewmeister brewing machines are essentially a mechanised biab system..

get stuck into a brew and the advantages of 3 dedicated pots will become apparant, if worth investing cash or effort in your gonna be in the best position to judge for yourself :)

 

[Waylander87]

Thanks man, particularly sage advice.

I've been staring in awe at Vossy's "how to make a stainless steel boiler/hlt" - it appeals to my DIY ego.

I'll give biab a go I think. As you say, slightly less outlay at first with the bonus in 1/3 parts of the 3 part "system" ticked off the list if I ever expand.

25-30 Ltr an ok size for biab method? Would that be a sufficient size later down the line for the 3 pot expansion?

 

[Fil]

25-30l would be a bit small and would probably end up being the first thing you replaced with something bigger.

to contain a rolling boil comfortably you really want a good (6L+?) headroom between the liquid surface and the boiler lip, a boil over is Very messy and a tragic waste, and your starting with 5-7l or more? than you will end up with at the end of the boil.

A very good starter vessel imho is the 40l buffallo boiler for about £110, for a biab with hops in a sock it shouldnt need any mods to get you going. (tho it may need an overboil protection bypassed?, easily done and shown in here and on utube..)
the copper kettle sell PP buckets 33l and 67l sutable for making boilers, i use a 67l one as a hlt:)

small vessels are a false ecconomy as with ag the brewday is much longer than with a kit (can be 6hours+ in my case) so every pint counts :)

 

[Waylander87]

Looks like I'm investing in one if these then:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-litre...pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item43bd96643e

Which looks exactly like Vossys "how to" build, but without the faff for me AND investment in tools etc. just need some kettle elements.

Cheers for all the advice gents (and potentially ladies)

 

[Fil]

25l to 100 in one bound nice one ! enjoy it the brewday and all the results...