Lawrence Brewers Guild

Ive been batting around some ideas, specifically about a MT upgrade. I thinking about taking another 25g Mega pot like my current ones and converting it to a MT. What I'm thinking is and maybe this is to complicated vs a bottom direct fire is to weld up a SS jacket around the outside of the Mega pot. This jacket doesn't need to be pressure rated. What Id use it for is to circulate hot water inside the jacket for temp control during the mash. (Jacks Steam Kettle does this). Id also weld in a SS thermowell and have one of my controllers on my Love box (I have a box with 2 Love controllers/SSR/switched outlets) that will control the flow of hot water around the jacket. But...

Id also have a burner under it to heat strike water in the MT. Yea, I know, why dont I just use a direct fired circulating wort system to control mash temps? I plan on using a Manifold instead of a False Bottom. A direct fired tun using a FB in my mind will be more likely to scorch and burn the wort and grist since the grist is suspended from the bottom of the Tun, whereas a Manifold sits on the bottom and then so will the grist.

Stupid, inefficient idea or what?

I think making basically a double boiler for you MT is a good idea. Like you said, it doesn't have to be pressure rated, it actually doesn't have to hold pressure at all, but hot water under pressure is more heat-efficient than an open system.

What are the gains over what you are doing now, other than the overall MT size?
Couldn't you simply use your HERMS/RIMS setups with your 25gal kettle to maintain you mash temps?
Or, is it summer and you simply want to have a project to knock around?

Bill,
I have a 5g electric HERMS and of course a propane Keggle HERMS like others use. I was just thinking up different and new ideas. The use of the 5g electric HERMS and a direct fire burner would probably work better. But its the sameo-sameo concept. Just wanting something different.

so, it's summer and you are looking for a project

I like the idea of making your own steam jacket. You could direct-fire the steam jacket or make a setup like Jack's and use an external keggle to heat the water and circulate it through as needed. You could then use the water, if you feel it is clean enough, as your sparge water.

With the steam jacket I wouldn't think that a direct-fire would cause any scorching as there is the layer of water between the grist/wort and the flame.

Sounds good, crank it out

I may add that I plan on knocking down my upper tier and going with a single tier setup. I guess i can make room for the 5g electric HERMS and for sure a built in Grant. I also want to redesign my pump and plate chiller mounts. I want to add in my Love box, but make it removable so it can also be used elsewhere in the brewery. I still do not want anything hard plumbed.