Easy Steam Infusion Mash System

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The 1/2" silicone tubing from Morebeer is really decent quality stuff at a good price. I use it for transfer hoses with my recirc system. But it is a bit big for transferring steam. Did you see if they have smaller diameter silicone tubing?
 
I went to Lowes and got the copper tubing that fits into the Watts -A41 fitting, its 1/4in OD. How did you get 3/8 in OD copper tubing to fit into that Watts-A41?
 
I thought it might be fun to post a little video on the steam mashing setup I built. It has been a great addition to my brewery.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Denny's Evil Concoctions said:
Cool vid. How many batches before you dialed in the lag time with the thermoter? (stopping at 148 for a 153 mash?) is this the same temp spread no matter what target temp?
Click to expand...


I figured that out after the first attempt. :D

And really, I turn off the heat on the burner 5 to 6 degrees below my target temp and let the pressure cooker use up most of its steam finishing with shutting off the ball valve around 2 degrees below. Again, once you get your system figured out, it's pretty easy.

As you can see, once the steam gets cranking and you stir, the temp rises pretty quickly. That particular step in the video took me around 6-7 minutes to go from 122º to 152º.
 
Cookiebaggs said:
I figured that out after the first attempt. :D

And really, I turn off the heat on the burner 5 to 6 degrees below my target temp and let the pressure cooker use up most of its steam finishing with shutting off the ball valve around 2 degrees below. Again, once you get your system figured out, it's pretty easy.

As you can see, once the steam gets cranking and you stir, the temp rises pretty quickly. That particular step in the video took me around 6-7 minutes to go from 122º to 152º.
Click to expand...

What was your batch size in that video? Man, that mash looks to be very thin! What was your water to grain ratio? Would it work as well with a 10 or 12 gallon batch? I like the concept! May have to give it a try myself soon. I'll post back with my results. Time to go looking for a pressure cooker on Ebay I guess.
 
Steam heating works best on smaller batch sizes, but could be scaled up to larger sizes provided you have (1) a proportionally larger pressure cooker (so you don't run out of steam/water), and (2) you have an adequate heat source (which tends to be the limiting factor).

I got a 6 gal pressure cooker that I want to fire with a propane burner, but have been waiting on finishing my brew stand first. I am pretty sure I will be able to easily do 10 gal batches with that setup.
 
Catt22 said:
What was your batch size in that video? Man, that mash looks to be very thin! What was your water to grain ratio? Would it work as well with a 10 or 12 gallon batch? I like the concept! May have to give it a try myself soon. I'll post back with my results. Time to go looking for a pressure cooker on Ebay I guess.
Click to expand...

I did 11.5 gallons of a blue moon clone. The mash ratio was 1.40.

I brought 14 gallons of wort to the kettle at 1.046. 91% eff!

I've been steam mashing for over a year and have 15 or so batches under my belt. After going back and looking at my sessions, I noticed that I got better efficiency with a ratio that was 1.25 - 1.5.
 
Had a couple questions for the people who use steam like this.

1. How big is your pressure cooker compared to your batch size.
2. How much water do you start with in the pressure cooker.
3. How much water is left when you're done.

Trying to get an idea of what size pressure cooker is needed for 10 gallon batches, a large pressure cooker is not a problem but the bigger the pressure cooker, the more heat necessary before it is ready, so if I need a 24 quart pressure cooker, then I'll probably need a small gas burner rather than electric.
 
I bought a 5 gal (20 L) pressure cooker for 10 gal batches. You could probably get away with something smaller, but with a sufficient heat source a big pressure cooker is going to make things a lot easier (and quicker).
 
What is a good size ouput from the pressure cooker- 1/4", 3/8"?

I am going to be running a solenoid valve and have my steam infusion automated, so I need to know what size orifice I need on the solenoid valve.
 
Thanks FlyGuy, was hoping you would say that, have a 5 gallon canning setup already so that is one less thing I need to buy.

I'm also really interested in how your SIRMS setup turns out, I've been brewing with a friend for years who uses a RIMS rig and was originally thinking of going that route when I built my own, but I think your write-up has convinced me that using steam is a much safer and more efficient way to go. Keep up the good work.
 
cyberbackpacker said:
What is a good size ouput from the pressure cooker- 1/4", 3/8"?

I am going to be running a solenoid valve and have my steam infusion automated, so I need to know what size orifice I need on the solenoid valve.
Click to expand...

I have only used 1/4" and that works fine, but I can't speak to whether 3/8" would be better or not. Sorry.
 
THanks FlyGuy... Have you used 1/4" on any 10g batches yet, as this will be the largest size I attempt? I am definitely okay just using 1/4" if you have had success- they are a bit cheaper :)

I have a 22qt presto pressure cooker I will be using, so I think the volume is fine. Thanks again.
 
variverrat said:
Thanks FlyGuy, was hoping you would say that, have a 5 gallon canning setup already so that is one less thing I need to buy.

I'm also really interested in how your SIRMS setup turns out, I've been brewing with a friend for years who uses a RIMS rig and was originally thinking of going that route when I built my own, but I think your write-up has convinced me that using steam is a much safer and more efficient way to go. Keep up the good work.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are set, then. I'll be sure to do up a post when I finally finish my stand and SIRMS system.

Cheers :mug:
 
Definitely do that, and I will do the same...

My intent is to have a SIMS with recirculation just for the last 10-15 minutes of the mash.

Good luck.
 
Hello folks, new member here. Apologies for resurrecting this thread - it seemed like the most appropriate place for my question. I'm a long time lurker with grand plans for steam driven mashing using a pressure cooker.

I'd prefer an all-electric solution for steam generation, and I've got 220v power available. I've not been able to find any external heating in the 4000+ watt range except for band heaters which would get expensive.

There's another thread that shows a heating element built into a corny keg for steam generation. My thoughts run to modifying the pressure cooker to take a heating element. That probably means drilling through the side of the cooker and mounting the element there. And heck, let's drill another hole for a temperature probe while we're at it, so I can run it with a PID. Goal would be to automate the system to maintain pressure at some point below 15 psi.

To note, I'm speaking of modifying a 23qt aluminum pressure cooker already in my posession. I'd leave the other safety features in place: pressure relief valve & emergency pop out pressure relief valve (present on this model).

Given appropriate mounting and leak testing, do you think the structural integrity of the pressure cooker would be significantly affected? Dangerously so?
 
Is the concensus that a SS braid manifold will not work for steam injection, because there are too many holes/the holes are too big so that the all of the steam goes out of the first couple of openings in the braid leading to hotspots? Has anyone actually verified this? I think I can borrow a pressure cooker from my IL's and rig it up to test it with just a cooler of water, wonder if it's worth exploring.
 
Just a bump to see if anyone is certain that this will not work with a SS braid. I'm thinking of giving it a try with a MLT full of water to see if it has potential unless I get a few resounding NOs!!!
 
Kladue on here is extremely knowledgeable about steam, I believe he does it professionally... maybe pm him and ask him. He is the steam guru. When you get an answer, then post it for the rest of us!
 
FlyGuy said:
To test the system, I heated 5 gallons of water from 122 degrees F to 152 F. Using only steam for heat, I was able to raise the temperature of the water in the cooler in about 15 minutes. I was a bit disappointed, since Brewman was able to heat water with his system at about twice that speed.

I did some trial and error with finer hose (1/8" silicone tubing), and a manifold made from smaller 1/4" copper tubing (see below). While the smaller diameter tubing and manifold increased the pressure of the steam injection, it did little to change the heating times (in fact it took longer).

7346-SIMS5.jpg


I discussed this with Brewman across multiple, multiple PMs :) and we decided that the bottleneck in my system was the heat source. Through some fancy calculations based on heat transfer in the cooler, Brewman calculated that I was delivering the equivalent of 2.4 kw of energy with this system, which is approximately the output of the burner on my stove. We also decided that a larger pot, which holds a greater volume of water, would be able to deliver more heat to the manifold because it has a greater capacity to store energy in the form of heat and pressure. I confirmed this with my system – I had an initial rise in temperature that was very fast for the first few minutes of steam injection, and then the heating dropped to a lower but consistent rate (apparently as the pressure in my pot dropped and the stored energy was transferred). Brewman’s system was presumably more efficient because he has a 4.5 gallon pressure cooker that can store 4 times the heat.

Bottom line: If you want faster heating, a larger pressure cooker and/or a hotter heat source (e.g., a gas burner??) is necessary. However, the heating time in my system seems reasonable for achieving a multi-step mash. I am going to try one tonight when I brew an AG hefe-weizen recipe, and I will report back with my success.
Click to expand...

I see that you have the steam manifold below the SS braid. I use a false bottom. Would that pose a problem - or just place the steam manifold atop the false bottom?

thanks! great work.....
 
I don't think I've read anywhere about how much water you put into you pressure cooker..
 
I only put about 4 litres in the pot, and surprisingly most of it is still there after the step mash. Since then, however, I have upgraded to a 5 gallon pressure cooker (performs better, but still uses very little water).
 
Cool. I'm in the process of trying to get mine all up and going and I have a 5 gallon pressure cooker (bought it originally for yeast slant,etc) and was wondering the amount of water. So how much do you put in your 5 gallon?
 
If I am using it to sterilize equipment, then just an inch of water or so.

If I am using it for steam injection in the mash, then I put about 3 gals in it. You will never come close to using all of that, but it provides a lot of thermal mass so that you can really transfer a lot of heat to your mash tun at once.
 
killian said:
Thanks for writing this up fly, any update on the SRIMS?

Is there a concern with using too much heat under the cooker?
Click to expand...
Last month I finally got all the parts I need to finish the build. Time has been hard to come by lately, though. I have the itch to brew and finish the build, but sometimes life just gets in the way.

And yes, you can overheat a pressure cooker. They are only meant to withstand the heat of a stove, so if you put it on a Cajun cooker or Banjo burner or something, it could be very bad for your health. Even on the stove you should watch it.

ChillyP said:
I was curious at what pressure do you open the valve at? 15psi?
Click to expand...
Yes, I let the pressure cooker come to full boil, purge the cooker to expel any air in the cooker, then hook up the transfer hose to the MLT. Once it is back to a full boil and 15 PSI, then it is ready to use.

:mug:
 
FlyGuy said:
If I am using it to sterilize equipment, then just an inch of water or so.

If I am using it for steam injection in the mash, then I put about 3 gals in it. You will never come close to using all of that, but it provides a lot of thermal mass so that you can really transfer a lot of heat to your mash tun at once.
Click to expand...

I also put about 3 gallons in. Two weeks ago I did two 12 gallon batches back-to-back and had an inch of water left in the pot.

Is anyone using a false bottom in place of a manifold? Any problems with this?


I would like to add, that I have been using this technique for countless batches, and just wanted to thank the author for the innovation.
 
I went from a cooler to a keg MLT. Here's what I did:

Cooler with drain/steam manifold, batch sparging:
IMG_1108.jpg


Keg with false bottom and separate steam ring, fly sparging:
IMG_1949.jpg

IMG_1905.jpg


The holes in the ring point at different angles to evenly distribute the steam.
 
First of all, this thread is AWESOME, lots of cool ideas. I have a couple of questions...

dstar26 - have you used your setup yet? Is the recirculation enough movement to not have to stir? That would be really ideal

Anyone - If i get a 23 qt pressure cooker, fill it half way with water upstairs and start get it up to pressure. Would there be enough stored energy in it to do a step mash without it being on direct heat? I'm trying to avoid putting a burner in by my RIG.

Thanks
 
Still have to stir, there is a lot of instant heat in the steam.
You're going to need a burner under it and I wouldn't recommend carrying around a pressurized pressure cooker anyway.
 
killian said:
what type of burner are you guys using? The info that came with my pressure cooker said not to use a "turkey fryer" burner, should I just ignore this?
Click to expand...

I think the reason it say not to use a Turkey fryer is because it's designed for a stove top. Mine said the same thing but I've used it on a turkey fryer. I also think its because a turkey fryer is normally rated to be higher BTU then a stove (don't quote me I'm making an assumption) and that people might step inside the house when running it to do something. I've noticed on mine that once it is pressured, it goes up pretty quick in PSI and I can see someone stepping in for a split second and the relief valve blowing out or worse the pressure cooker goes Chernobyl. Just my two cents.....I'm probably totally wrong. If you use a TF watch it closely.
 
I use a SQ-14. When adding steam to the mash, it's on full blast and the steam pressure still goes down. I have to let it recharge 1-2 times when going to mashout, depending on grain bill.
 
airving said:
Hello folks, new member here. Apologies for resurrecting this thread - it seemed like the most appropriate place for my question. I'm a long time lurker with grand plans for steam driven mashing using a pressure cooker.

I'd prefer an all-electric solution for steam generation, and I've got 220v power available. I've not been able to find any external heating in the 4000+ watt range except for band heaters which would get expensive.

There's another thread that shows a heating element built into a corny keg for steam generation. My thoughts run to modifying the pressure cooker to take a heating element. That probably means drilling through the side of the cooker and mounting the element there. And heck, let's drill another hole for a temperature probe while we're at it, so I can run it with a PID. Goal would be to automate the system to maintain pressure at some point below 15 psi.

To note, I'm speaking of modifying a 23qt aluminum pressure cooker already in my posession. I'd leave the other safety features in place: pressure relief valve & emergency pop out pressure relief valve (present on this model).

Given appropriate mounting and leak testing, do you think the structural integrity of the pressure cooker would be significantly affected? Dangerously so?
Click to expand...

I'd like to do the same.
My idea is to drill and tap for 1" NPT in the side of the pressure cooker and thread in the water heater element. Any thoughts on this before I potentially destroy a 80$ vessel or inadvertently create a steam rocket?

Great thread. I've read the entire thing =D
 

Similar threads

bumpkinbrews
How to get decoction results in a single infusion mash, Pilsner Urquell
Replies
17
Views
2K
AlcheMania
AlcheMania
U
Efficiency, decoction mash versus single infusion?
2 3
Replies
95
Views
5K
VikeMan
VikeMan
Hop
Ongoing Review: BrewHardware Premium Recirculating BIAB Package
Replies
4
Views
845
Bobby_M
Bobby_M
SpikeBrewing
NEW Product Announcement - Spike Solo Panel
2
Replies
78
Views
5K
We2smart
We2smart
Jack Arandir
Mash Tun Upgrade
Replies
7
Views
2K
Genuine
Genuine

Latest posts

Back
Top