Todays conversation on Aqueduct Brewing is going to cover "LAUTERING" & "SPARGING" your grains. When my ex-partner and I started brewing in the converted kegs we used a hose to start lautering the wort and sparge water. That was short lived as we got our first and only stuck grain bed. What is a stuck grain bed you ask? When you start lautering expecting great flow and instead of flowing the wort stops due to a very tightly packed grain bed. You must stir and try again.
What we ended up doing was taking a short pipe drilled small holes for aeration and curved it to match the curve of the pot.
https://www.facebook.com/AqueductBrewing/photos/pb.164252793713971.-2207520000.1394232634./216443285161588/?type=3&theater
This was our first effort to run the pipe. Then we bent it a little more and we got it right.
https://www.facebook.com/AqueductBrewing/photos/pb.164252793713971.-2207520000.1394232634./216441128495137/?type=3&theater
The best advice I can give on the flow is go very slow. We used a pump and managed the flow with the ball valve at the out, closing and opening the valve will slow or quicken the flow. One thing to remember is you need to keep the water above the grain bed. That way you keep pulling through all the grain and not get channeling.
We also used a sight glass to watch the wort pass into the boil tank. This is not a must but is cool to watch.
https://www.facebook.com/AqueductBrewing/photos/a.216440988495151.47513.164252793713971/216441065161810/?type=3&theater
The boil is for the next post. See you then.
Cheers!
Good stuff and good luck. I too was challenged in my first effort to run the pipe but with a little bending got it right.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your future post on potash.
gdm