One more element positioning question

Feurhund · Joined: 01 Feb 2011 Posts: 89

Aesthetically it bothers me to see the housing for the BK and HLT at different heights. Is there a disadvantage to mounting the HLT at the 4 inch height recommendation for the BK so they match? Thanks.

ajt012 · Joined: 21 Dec 2010 Posts: 54 Location: Miami

off the top of my head, if you put the element higher in the HLT, then you'd have to raise the SS coil aswell.

Feurhund · Joined: 01 Feb 2011 Posts: 89

That wouldn't be a problem just a couple more gallons of water and only an inch higher. I was looking to see if there was some unforeseen reason it might cause other problems. Let me know if anyone can think of any. I just would like the two kettles to look symmetrical

rosenjm · Joined: 21 Dec 2010 Posts: 249 Location: Ballston Spa, NY

The lower the element and the HERMS coil, the longer you have before the HERMS coil is uncovered. The water in the HLT is pumped out during the strike and sparge. Depending on what you are making and how much strike water and sparge water you need, you'll either end up uncovering the coil or you'll have to heat up that much more water. Keep in mind I haven't actually used this system yet, but it seems like raising the HLT element an inch wouldn't really have an adverse affect other than making you heat up a couple more gallons of strike water.

**kal** · Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:43 pm Post subject:

What rosenjm said.

I always fill my HLT to the 20 gallon mark no matter how much beer I'm making. That said, I've always made 12 gallons of wort (post boil) to end up with 10 gallons of final product in kegs. I've never made 5 gallons.

(20 gallons is also perfect for de-chlorinating with exactly 1 campden tablet with my city water.)

On my HLT, the upper coil valve is at the 12 gallon mark:

An 'average' beer on my setup (5% ABV, 1.25 -1.5 qt/lb mash thickness) requires 6-7 gallons of strike water. A stronger IPA will use about 8 gallons.

So after I dough in (add strike water) I usually have 12-14 gallons left in the HLT. This keeps the entire coil submerged. It is 50' long however, so even if it was sticking out 1-2" I doubt it would make a difference.

The most strike water I've ever used is almost 13 gallons when I made 10 gallons of 12% ABV barley wine. But in that case I actually did it bit differently and filled both the HLT and MLT with water first and used about 1.5 campden tablets. Normally I don't do that. Normally all water is treated/heated in the HLT first and then some is moved to the MLT to dough in with the grain.

Kal