Dissolving the sugar

[tacomaguy20]

Pretty soon, I'm going to try my first run and I have some questions. I was going to try a sugar recipe first because it seemed easiest. I notice a lot of the sugar recipies call for dissolving sugar in water (along with other ingredients) and then mixing that in with cool water to bring down the temperature.

For a 13 gallon fermenter, how much water should be boiled with the sugar and how much cooled water should be mixed in to bring down the temperature?

Also, should I add the cooled water to the fermenter first, and then add in the sugar mixture?

The fermenter is HDPE. Is there a temperature limit that should be watched or is adding the boil to the fermenter first just as good?

I've also seen beer brewers use wort chillers to bring down the temperature of their homebrew, is something like that recommended?

I plan on using a 15 gallon keg as a boiler for a boka mini with a triclamp and a 2" collumn. How much can you safely fill a 15 gallon keg boiler?

I was going to use the temperature gauge at the standard location on the mini but have seen some temperature guages on the boilers too. Is this wise?

[big worm]

use enuff boiling water to disolve or invert the sugar, adding cool water back into it just gets the temp back down to pitch the yeast without killing it. some times you still have to wait for it to cool down some, just follow the instructions for the recipe and you'll be fine. a 13 gal wash in a 15 gal boiler is just about right. as far as a thermomoter in the boiler...don't its just another place to have a leak, the boiler temp don't mean nothing...just don't do it trust me on this.

[HookLine]

How much can you safely fill a 15 gallon keg boiler?

Depends on what you are putting in the boiler. Molasses or grain washes (and maybe some fruit washes), fill it about 2/3. Plain sugar washes or low wines, fill it about 4/5. Always leave a little boil room at the top.

[tacomaguy20]

thanks for your answers. I also have a spare keg that I was going to cut the top off of to turn into a kettle / keggle like I've seen done in some of the postings here. It seems like that is overkill for some of the recipies here. Do you think a 15 gallon pot is too big? What do you think about putting a ball valve on the bottom for easy transfer into a fermenter?

[blind drunk]

I would love a 15 gal BOP. Not too big if you have the room. A valve at the bottom sounds good too. I have one on my keg boiler and it's an easy way to get the backset out while it's still nice and hot. You could also use the valved BOP as a final racking container to clear your wash just before it goes into your boiler (I sometimes wait a day our two, depending.) You can then just drain off the clear stuff into your boiler and clean out the sediment after. Cheers, bd.

[tacomaguy20]

that sounds like a good idea. I think i'll go that route. I've seen weldless fittings for the Keg drains before. Would that be good? I have no idea how to weld stainless steel but I'm sure I could get someone to do it for me if the weldless fittings are no good. I think I would need to have someone weld on the keg that is going to be the boiler because of my setup, because the keg will be pretty much still intact with me using the tri clamp and not cutting a big hole on top.

[rubber duck]

I have a weldless fitting on a kettle of mine and it works ok, but if your going to have a valve welded into your boiler might as well get the kettle done also. You will be happier with a welded one.

[tacomaguy20]

would having a spigot on the boiler make it easier to clean? Seems like it would to me.

[goose eye]

ole boys use gate valves. think spikets got washers

so im tole

[HookLine]

Gate or ball valves are best, I have a ball valve for the drain on my boiler. Personally I only use stainless valves, not brass. Worth every penny of the extra cost, and will last your lifetime.

For a boiler drain valve I highly recommend you get one with a locking tab on it, so you cannot accidentally bump it open during the middle of a run. A gushing stream of boiling (and possibly flammable) liquid can mess your day up pretty seriously.

[tacomaguy20]

I see.. thanks for the tips. Since the inside cannot be accessed on the boiler because I'm using the tri clamp, does this make it harder to weld?

[HookLine]

The pro who did the welding on my rig (and did a damn fine job too), didn't have any trouble welding the 1" half socket onto the outside of the keg. I cleaned up the welds with phosphoric acid at about 25-30% strength, left it on overnight. (Cleaned up the surfaces to be welded the same way before the welding too.)