pulse's All Grain Herms Build

[pulsetech]

Ok guy I have been promising this for a few weeks but life has managed to get in the way so far. I'm not going to put a time line on this but I hope to get through it in 4 weeks.
The plan at this stage is to build a simple Herms the prettty much anybody can build at home without too much in the way of equipment. My goal as always in this hobby is to produce the highest quality spirts and cost while always a concern in not my priority.

I have access to a few 50L beer kegs that have been legally acquired from a closed brewery (I have connections through work) so I plan to use them to keep costs as low as possible.
Today I'm starting on the mash tun. I have a nice keg that I'm cutting the top out of. I will update this thread as offten as possible with pics to show the process.

[Urrazeb]

I look forward to seeing your creation :-D

[pulsetech]

I'm working on it now. Got a stripping run of Mac rum on the go at the same time. Photos soon.

[pulsetech]

Ok Got stalled on the weekend. Everything that I started I was missing something. got halfway through the cut of the keg and ran out of Dremel Discs.
Laptop that has Solidworks died so no CAD drawings :( > nothing even worthy of a photo yet.

After doing a shit load of research I have come up with a plan. I will now have 2 x 50L Kegs

First 50L Keg will be the Mash Tun. I have a false bottom ordered that should be here through the week (I Also have BIAB's to fit)
I also ordered a bunch of stainless fitting for connections. I plan to attach to the side a Home Made Heat Exchanger. Im trying to think up
a good way to build a sparge arm. I have visions of a dishwasher spinning with the pressure of the liquid. I don't want too much assembly
so I may just go with a stainless coil on the top with holes drilled to spray out the wort over the grain.

The heat exchanger will consist of 400mm of 4 inch copper pipe filled with a Copper coil (3/8 as much as I can fit in 1 single coil)
It will have at the bottom a single 2400W FSD Element and a Thermo Well for the PID Probe. Im thinking the Top should be easily removable
for filling / refilling. Maybe looking at a cap and 4 inch tri clover clamp. The coil ends will exit just below this. Was also thinking that this could double
as a Chiller to knock down the temp but after watching the No Chill method I think that is the go.

The Second Keg will simply be a Boil Kettle and will be positioned above the Mash Tun. It will be fitted with a Thermometer and a Drain Valve.
and another FSD 2400w Element.

I Have ordered a March Pump to Circulate the Wort through the Heat Exchanger. its the best I could afford at this stage
as Im saving hard for a 4 inch bubbler.

Welcoming all feedback / Constructive criticism please

[sp0rk]

First 50L Keg will be the Mash Tun. I have a false bottom ordered that should be here through the week (I Also have BIAB's to fit)

You don't really need the bags if you've got a false bottom, both do more or less the same job (separating the grist from the liquor), unless I'm reading this wrong and you just already had the bags laying around...
When you say Boil Kettle do you mean you're using it to boil your wash to sterilise it, or you're boiling your water/liquor for the mash? (TBH, I'd use it for both)
A 2400W element in your boil kettle is going to take a LOOOOONG time to get up to boil and possibly won't get a good rolling boil either, I'd go a second 2400W element (esp if you're doing 40L mashes)
That March pump (good choice of pump, btw) will work well for pumping between the vessels as well
No chill is another great Aussie invention, I've been using it for my beers ever since I went all grain and will be using it for my all grain washes as well, it's awesome for if you want to brew one weekend but not put it on to ferment for a couple of weeks (or as with some of my beers, a few months) as long as you get the wort/wash into the cube while it's still close to boiling

[pulsetech]

Yeah I already have the BIAB's .I see your point with the boiler kettle elements and I will add a second. The plan is to use the kettle to boil the water for the mash and sterilize.

[pulsetech]

Ok massive change of direction. I went to bunnings today to grab more dremel discs and what did I find ?
50L Roto moulded esky's on clearance for $50. It got me thinking along with all the you tube videos I have been watching on all grain brewing that I might be over complicating the whole situation. I bought a cooler and I'm going to convert it into a mash tun. This way I have almost everything I need without having to build a Herms heat exchanger. It might not be as sexy or as good as a Herms but I think I was out of my depth at this early stage. I have drawn up awesome plans for a Herms and I will do it just not now. I want to save as many $$$$ for the bubbler I want from Mac.
I'm going to photo document the work on the kettle and mash tun in this thread.

[sp0rk]

Yeah, a herms is good and all, but you can create perfectly good AG worts/washes with just brew in a bag or an HLT, mash tun and boiler
You can even do your wort using just your boiler and the esky
heat up in the boiler to 70deg or whatever your system needs, mash in with the amount you need to use, let it sit for 60 mins
while that's doing it's thing heat your sparge water to the temp it needs to be
drain the mash tun to a big bucket or a fermenter, then sparge using your sparge water in the esky
now your boiler should be empty so you can pour your first runnings into the boiler and then either pump the sparged liquor to your boiler (with your march pump) or again drain it to the bucket and fill
whirlpool/kettle finings if you're using them (gets rid of the protein/trub in the wort)
Bring it to the boil then boil for 15 minutes, then drain to your no chill cube

voilà!

That or just go BIAB for a few batches and use the single boiler for everything :D

[pulsetech]

Well I was thinking there is no reason I can't use my still boiler as the boiler kettle. It already has 4800 watts of heating. So build a HLT and a mash tun and I should be good to go.

Process
Heat my wort water in the HLT
Drain into my mash tun.
Mash in.
Let is sit as long as needed.
Drain into my boiler.
Sparge with water from my hlt
Drain sparge water into my boiler.
Boil for required time .
Drain into no chill cubes.

Sounds ok to me.
What about you all grain gurus ?

[pulsetech]

Some pics to get this thread moving

[pulsetech]

More

[pulsetech]

Water tank bulkhead fitting. Food grade nylon

[sp0rk]

using your still boiler may work, but I usually get a bit of scum built up around the top of the keggle and it sometimes takes a good scrubbing to get off (though it's likely this is mostly hops crud), a gerni or a soak with hot water and sodium percarbonate (napisan) works well though
Still boiler will probably work, just don't overload it (I've had it foam up with 30 litres), wort tends to foam up a bit when it boils and you may get a nice spout of boiling foam shoot out the top if the boiler is full enough and it goes crazy
your voltage controller should work well here to have the boil just rolling, not going off chops

Have you decided what you're doing in regards to drainage in your esky?
Personally I'm currently building a copper manifold for my new rig, but the esky false bottoms from Beer Belly look pretty schmick
http://shop.beerbelly.com.au/falsie-kit.html

[pulsetech]

Thanks spork.I can pump in. Back to the HLT.maybe that's a better bet. I like my still pristine and I didn't take that into account

[stretch69]

For the false bottom, this is a cheap way to get in to it

How to make a Mash Tun from a cooler: http://youtu.be/ftY_HZAFJFc

[pulsetech]

Yeah I have seen those mate thanks.
I need to do some building so I think I am going to go with a copper tube
false bottom. Its no fun if its all to simple.

Just hope I can get a decent efficiency with the single step mash.
If I have to use more grain the so be it for now

[sp0rk]

Don't expect much above 8-10%ABV from an allgrain (with great efficiency)
I struggle to get much above 6.5% ABV from BIAB without a good sparging or using a tonne of extra grain

[pulsetech]

yeah 8 -10% is fine. im just re reading Brendan's all grain bourbon recipe. might try that one first.
I will have to boil the corn then transfer into the mash tun. and I will do a NO Chill instead of using a chiller to drop the temp.

[tipsy]

Yeah I have seen those mate thanks.
I need to do some building so I think I am going to go with a copper tube
false bottom. Its no fun if its all to simple.

Just hope I can get a decent efficiency with the single step mash.
If I have to use more grain the so be it for now

I used a slotted copper tube for my first false bottom and then upgraded to the Beerbelly one.
The Beerbelly looks great an all but it didn't improve my efficiency.
Stepped mashes in an esky are easy if you use a program like Beersmith.

[pulsetech]

Yeah I plan to use beersmith. I have been watching John palmers how to brew videos and he mentions it a few times