Wort ending up in HLT?

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

Brewed today, first day on new 3 kettle EHERMS system. setup like blichmanns pilot system with 2 3 way ball valves on the pumps. With the HLT pump and valve to the left, for whirpool in HLT, the right side of valve and the line that would send sparge/strike water to MLT was full of wort, I noticed inside the HLT was brown, obviously wort had entered. Im guessing it went through the ball valve...

Anyone else have this happen, and any ideas on how to stop this from happening? Didnt like to have to PBW the HLT as well as both other kettles.

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

Im assuming it somehow got into the left side of the valve that sent the water into whirlpool for temp stratification. No other way.

**kal** · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 1:54 pm Post subject:

Do you have flow diagrams that show how everything is set up including these 3 way ball valves and how you used? Similar to my BREW DAY STEP BY STEP diagrams?: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/brew-day-step-by-step

Otherwise it's going to be hard to understand how it's set up and what you did as your setup doesn't follow the design outlined on this website (the design that I and most people reading this use).

Now that said, you're always going to get some mixing between sides simply due to contact. There are also different types of 3-way ball valves (L vs T) that do different things:

If using a 3-way valve you shouldn't be using it for both water and wort as some contact between the two will happen no matter what.

Kal

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

Ozarks Mountain Brew · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:34 pm Post subject:

I have a no moving hose set up and I have 4 - 3 way valves and I've found that sometimes they leak the other direction and also get wort trapped inside so I do a full fly sparge cleanout right before I brew, and always get colored water out

Ozarks Mountain Brew · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:41 pm Post subject:

I forgot to mention mostly the pumps too

**kal** · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:56 pm Post subject:

Ozarks Mountain Brew · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:04 pm Post subject:

oh yes it can be confusing , I had to put directional washers on the valves and sometimes I still get confused or wrong plus I do a thorough water cleanout at the end of my brew day and still get gunk out the next brew day so it's just a routine now to do a thorough pbw then star-sans right before brewing, I don't use full water but all the pipes and valves get cleaned and it’s an extra 30 minutes or longer on brew day

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

I was totally new to electric brewing, and still am lol, only one brew under my belt so far with new system. But I got a really good deal through Blichmann, and decided to use their hose configuration. i still have to move hoses to whirpool, and divert through chiller. I dont like the leaking aspect when I move hoses, however if you put a towel under and move strategically this is really limited.

I did jump a step as i was excited, I went straight to sparge after mash, instead of raising to 168, and then heating the sparge water. So when I switched the valves I could have allowed the wort into the HLT. Not a super big deal, but I would rather not have to PBW the HLT and HERMS coil. It was a long day, at about 10 hours total from start to finish. I will do it a bit differently next time, and sanitize and soak all fermenter parts inside my conical the day before, and mill my grains the day before, as well as getting all boil additions seperated and labeled. That way as soon as I reach temps I can start brewing.

Kal I use 2 riptide pumps, and in your brew day instructions it says you run your pumps during mash circulation at full speed... When i run riptides at full speed it moves the water/wort VERY fast, is this not an issue with channeling ETC in the MLT? I think thats what slowed my heatup time after i added grains, because I limited the flow of the wort pump because I was worried about this, so it didnt heat back up to strike temp as fast as I would have liked. Will it be an issue with channeling oxidation ETC to run at full speed?

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

Ozarks Mountain Brew · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:12 pm Post subject:

sorry this is very dirty we just had a huge rain storm

**kal** · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:16 pm Post subject:

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

I have basically the same setup as yours, except two different pumps. I use the blichmann false bottom in g2 20 gallon kettles. Different HERMS coil, and I use an auto sparge, but the hose comes off of it as does yours, except mine is not as long. I will have to go back through your brewday walk through, and see if you have any videos of mashing while recirculating, to try and see how high the flow rate is up to 7 GPM. Im not sure what the pumps you use are pulling, but it comes out pretty hard.I direct it around the side of the kettle.

**kal** · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 8:43 pm Post subject:

You should have zero issues running your pumps 100%. Your pumps have basically the same flow rate as mine. There are indeed videos in my BREW DAY STEP BY STEP that show what you’re looking for. Good luck!

Kal

USMChueston0311 · Joined: 20 Aug 2018 Posts: 36

Yup, just re read and watched the mashing, and sparging videos again. Thank you, again, for all you have done to revolutionize the brewing realm, and always being there when your help is needed. Truly one of a kind.

-Steve

**kal** · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2018 10:20 pm Post subject:

Thanks! Good luck with your setup Steve!

Kal