Why a burner under the mash tun?

[freddyk]

I am building my first gravity system for 10 gallon batches. I have a 8 gallon HLT, a 10 gallon cooler for the mash tun, and a 15 gallon kettle for the boiler. I have two camp chef 60000 BTU burners. One burner for the HLT and one for the boiler.

I have seen many systems that have a kettle or keg for a mash tun and a burner under that. How does that work? Is the mash tun burner just to heat the strike water and then turned off or is the burner actually running during the 60 minute+ that the grain is mixing with the sparge water? It seems like it would be just as easy to drain the HLT for sparge water unless the center burner could be used to keep a perfect temp during the mash.

Any input on my core question or the setup I am building would be appreciated.

[Mylo]

It's called a "direct fire mash". It's what Lonnie put on his original brutus. Using it during the mash requires a recirculation, so that you don't scorch the mash, and to keep things somewhat even. Given a decent flow rate, it's probably a cheaper and faster way to do step mashes vs. a RIMS or HERMS. Many people are a little wigged out by them and prefer a slower, indirect (safer?) method of step mashing. To each, his own.

And yes, you could use it for strike water, too - but that's not its primary purpose.


Mylo

[freddyk]

Thanks much Mylo! That has always been a question for me. I think I am ok with batch sparging... at least as far as I understand. I am trying to go from a PBR drinker to a ten gallon batch brewer in one jump so while I build my system I want to try to understand as much as I can.

P.S. As I have read this forum your avatar/thumbnail has always left a strong impression.

Freddyk

[Lars]

I have the direct fired mash tin on my Brutus. I love it! I don't think I'll even build another system without one.

[freddyk]

Hi Lars

Once I get some experience under my belt I might have to try setting up a recirculating system. I am a gadget nut and I figure it is just a short mater of time before I go and over engineer my system.

[SoCalBrewer]

Also had a burner under my mash on my brutus build and loved it, Now its a electrical element and love it even more.

[freddyk]

Hey SoCalBrewer

The electrical element thing has always fascinated me for two reasons. For on it would make it possible to brew indoors which would be super cool. The other reason is that you would not need to refill propane tanks.

If I understand Mylo and Lars correctly a recirculating mash would make it less likely for your heating element to burn the mash. SoCalBrewer could you post a link to the element you are using? Can it handle a 10 gallon boil?

Thanks all for the input!

Fred

[kezgin]

Also had a burner under my mash on my brutus build and loved it, Now its a electrical element and love it even more.

how does your setup work? do you have the element directly in the wort or do you pump it to some sort of heat exchanger? i'm kicking around ideas for an all electric rig, but don't know if scorching the wort with the heating element is an issue or not