Hi,
I have a nice eBIAB system, it works fine but I am tired of cloudy wort and average beer.
I usually brew 12 gallons so I get 10 gallons of beer after fermentation.
I am want clear wort, so I want to try a no sparge (continuous) type mash and drain/filter the wort through the grain bed.
I also have a march pump.
Looking at building something like a Blichman breweasy system or ???
What can I build/add to get something with the ease of eBIAB but clearer wort. I want to be able to do a step mash/ramp up as well. I want some sort of RIMS setup I guess I am saying.
If I added another pot, the mash tun, with a false bottom, have it gravity feed back into my ebiab pot and pump it back up into the top of the mash tun, with float switches and a valve on the output of the pump would this work?
Is there a simpler, better way I am missing to get the ease of eBIAB and clear wort?
EDIT - looks like something that I am trying to build is called a kettle rim or K-RIMS setup? Any tips for continuous sparging with this setup? Where to put the temp probes?
I have found a few electric K-Rims setups and they all seem fairly straight forward. Heat the water in the the eBK and pump it up to the mash tun, gravity feed back to the eBK, continue… They are doing continuous sparges.
Besides having the pump output valve cracked open, any tips or tricks to getting the flow right to doing a continuous sparge? I assume the temp probe should be at the the input of the MT but if the water is heated in the BK there is a temp loss to be considered.
I continuously recirculate my mash. I simply pump strike liquor under the grain to mash in. I then recirculate from under the false bottom, thru a pump, thru a RIMS tube, and into the top of the mash/lauter tun with the return just slightly under the level of the grain bed to as to not oxygenate the wort.
I should have a manometer to take pressure from under the grain bed mounted to the side of my mash tun but I don’t. Another recommendation is a grant but I don’t use one of those either. I do have a linear flow control valve vs a ball valve to control flow with much more precision from the pump.
I do have a manometer plumbed into my tun and it helps me to know how much to throttle my flow. Placing your temp sensor immediately downstream of your heat source is the best way to avoid overheating your wort.
Thinking about a 70 qt cooler to keep the temps a little more consistent between the kettle and the mash cooler.
This would also be big enough to do a complete no sparge mash for 12 gallon batch.
When you are done mashing do you fill the mash tun and let it all drain into the kettle and start heating?
What efficiency to you get doing continuous sparge?
Its a 7 gal bucket with bubble wrap around it, a 5 ft length of stainless braid connected to a copper pipe outlet, and a hardware store metal fitting ported through the bucket near the bottom and attached to a vinyl tube that is attached to the side of the bucket to serve as a sight glass. The braid is off an ice-maker water supply line and it winds across the bottom of the tun with stainless wire holding the individual loops of braid in place on the bottom. It works well enough.
If I am understanding you, I think you have it well thought out.
A cpl points: ensure the temp bulb controlling the RIMS element is positioned near the element on the output side of the tube. That way you don’t overheat the wort denaturing your enzymes.
Also, consider opening the MLT drain wide open to flow to the pump input. Only control the flow on the output side of the pump.
Ensure you maintain good flow across the element while it’s firing.